It has some rts-like elements.
The first game your biggest adversary is time, you have 30 in-game days to retrieve all 30 missing ship parts or you lose. An in-game day is something like 13 minutes long. The pikmin have the simplest mechanics in this game. Red do more damage than Blue or Yellow and are immune to fire. Blue can swim. Yellow can be thrown higher, and also can use bomb rocks. The key to success is multitasking to make the best of your available time. Only one playable captain in this game. This is like a perfectly paced game. The time limit isn't as bad as it initially sounds, and with enough practice and skill, and you can complete the game in like an hour.
2 shakes up the formula with 2 playable captains simultaneously, and 2 new Pikmin types. You can switch between either captain with the press of a button so you can divvy up tasks between them easily. Purple Pikmin have the strength of 10 Pikmin, and can stun enemies when they slam on top of them, but they're very slow. Some treasure require Purples to carry them. White Pikmin can dig and are immune to poison, and if enemies eat them they take poison damage. There's also infinite time to complete your goals. This time around you aren't trying to repair a ship to survive, you're trying to hunt for treasure to pay off your boss's debt then later to make as much money as possible. Most of the action takes place inside of randomly generated dungeons, and when you're inside the dungeons time doesn't progress. This game is okay. Some people say it's the best one, I disagree, I think it's the weakest of the three. The dungeons have random bullshit that you can't predict like bombs and enemies falling out of the sky and killing your Pikmin at the worst time. And imo the game starts to peter out and feel repetitive about halfway through.
3 on the other hand. Oh boy, Pikmin 3 is amazing. Once again you're trying to survive a crash landing. You have 3 captains that you can switch between, and give orders to remotely and the name of the game here is efficiency and multitasking. Your goal is to collect as much fruit as possible while searching for a missing character. You have a time limit again, but it's like a moving time limit. The more fruit you claim, the more days you get to achieve your goals. There's 2 new Pikmin types. Rock Pikmin are kind of like a replacement for Purples in combat. They aren't slower or stronger for carrying, but you can throw them to break fragile objects and deal contact damage, and they're effectively immune to most damage types. But outside of the damage they do from being thrown, they're fairly weak in combat. Flying Pikmin are cute and pink, and they can fly(wow!). They can pull certain types of plants out of the ground, they can move certain obstacles for you, lift certain gates or make bridges that other Pikmin can't. And because they fly, when carrying they can sometimes take shortcuts that other Pikmin can't. In battle though they're really bad. They're necessary to fight some enemy types, but they shouldn't be your go-to.
Pikmin 4 is looking like it's going to be closer to 2, than 1 or 3. But it looks like you only have one playable captain again. 2 new Pikmin types, ice and glow. Ice can freeze water they touch, and glow can only be used at night. There's also the dog Oatchi that looks like it can do all the things Pikmin can, and the Pikmin can ride on him. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out, but it's looking like it will be a pretty beefy game. I'm excited.
Nintendo Network ID: papercups
3DS FC:
4124 5916 9925