Pikmin 4 offers a profoundly tranquil experience that allows you to play at your own pace and embrace the new world you are exploring. As you walk around lush worlds with your Pikmin army, looking to collect treasures and assorted items to progress to the next area, you can’t help but feel content and safe. It makes it easy to finish the four to five-hour main story—but then the game hits you with a big curveball.
Pikmin 4’s main quest revolves around saving Olimar, and if you rush through the game, you can complete this quest in just a few hours. Upon finishing, a cutscene will play, the credits will roll, and you may, like me, wonder, “Is that it?” I felt robbed of a complete gameplay experience.
Little did I know, however, that this was Nintendo’s plan to fake everyone out. After the credits roll, the game fades to black, suggesting you won’t be able to continue or go back to collect anything you might have missed. Then, when all seems bleak, a flash appears, and a brand new cutscene plays as you return to the planet and slowly realize that (thankfully) there is a lot more content to come. There is more of the world to explore. And the post-game is about to begin.
Post-game rewards
After beating Pikmin 4’s main story, you gain access to more missions, mini-games, alternative stories, sub-quests, and objectives that did not exist in the main quest line. There are also four new areas to explore and a new story villain to take down. This sudden burst of new content is locked behind several hours of gameplay, despite feeling like the main chunk of the game, but getting there never feels like a slog.
Instead, Pikmin 4‘s main story and quests feel more like a tutorial for the bigger game awaiting you. While the game feels easy at the start and slowly brings you into the world of Pikmin and its mechanics, it never feels dull and only makes the post-game reveal feel like more of a payoff where you can take everything you have learned to a bigger playing field.
Related: Nintendo’s original Pikmin designs are pure nightmare fuel
I was thankful for that tutorial because the difficulty increases dramatically in Pikmin 4 post credits, with the game becoming harder and more Pikmin types being introduced, along with mechanics that make the most of each Pikmin’s unique abilities. For example, the Red Fire Pikmin is required to burn down straw-like obstacles that block new areas. This means that sometimes you need to return to base specifically to get a Fire Pikmin, as its the only one that can hold onto the red fireballs needed for the task. This makes Pikmin micro-management key to progressing and completely levels fast.
Pikmin 4‘s post-game content also introduces a new Olimar side game that feels like the original Pikmin from 2001, where you travel the map looking to ship parts to repair Olimar’s ship in the space of 15 days. Completing this side game is worth doing as it unlocks a super secret gauntlet mode in a base camp that gives you access to White and Purple Pikmin Onions that you can’t unlock otherwise.
It’s a shame, however, that not all the new features you unlock are this good. Night Missions, intended to be a key selling point of the game, feel like a grind. In Night Missions, instead of having free-roaming adventures, you get locked into tower defense mini-games where you use your Pikmin army strategically to keep your main base alive from hoards of foes overnight. Each Night Mission (of which there are several) takes place in specific parts of areas you have already visited, and the mode is required to play to 100 percent clear the game.
When I first heard about Night Missions, the thought of taking on dangers in the dark sounded like a dream—that sadly became a nightmare. The mode is a sour blight on a near-perfect post-game that offers a lot to do and accomplish for those wanting to enjoy what the game has to offer.
The Final Exploration
Even with this pet peeve, it is hard not to feel satisfied with the wealth of content awaiting you in Pikmin 4. The game starts slow and easy before quickly ramping up in difficulty, but it never feels unfair. It builds the player up to be the best Pikmin pro they can be. Most starter areas are small and simple to move around, but then Nintendo brings out the big guns to test your resource management skills and what you are capable of. The final area’s last dungeon, where you can complete the story and take on the final boss, is equally grueling and makes full use of everything you have experienced and learned throughout the game. I don’t want to dive too much into this, though, as I believe it is something you should experience yourself.
Pikmin 4 is a great game with an even greater post-game that truly opens up the world. While many players might not get that far, those that get through the first few areas and complete the main quest will be rewarded plentifully for their efforts.
