Pikmin 3 Deluxe | Preview

As we spent the first few hours with Pikmin 3 Deluxe, we never stopped wondering why Nintendo hadn't pushed one of its most inspired series more. Although it is now clear the will of the Japanese giant to transpose all the first party productions previously landed on the unfortunate WiiU, we still cannot understand the nature of an operation like that of Pikmin 3 Deluxe.

Non get us wrong, we are talking about an incredibly current, fun, long-lived title that, undoubtedly, deserves to be played by anyone who owns a Nintendo Switch ... but for these important reasons we are increasingly convinced that Nintendo should have further promoted a series whose first chapter dates back to 19 years ago.

Our fear is that such a production risks passing "on the sly" in that chaos of upcoming releases in this very crowded end of 2020 and we are really curious, as well as hopeful , to see how the third chapter of a saga that many Nintendo Switch owners will hardly know will be received by the younger audience.

But what is it Pikmin 3 Deluxe? It is difficult to try to categorize a production that is "genre unto itself" but we can try to describe it as a real-time strategic game with puzzle game elements and a strong vote for exploration. In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, in fact, we will play different characters, in this case of the bizarre astronauts who, after an emergency landing on an unknown planet, will make the acquaintance of the Pikmin.

These small and docile creatures, which we do not hide from you have always reminded us of the Lemmings historians, will begin to follow our protagonists, helping them to overcome the pitfalls of the hostile planet. The game mechanics are very basic, the player will move one of the astronauts in the game environment being constantly followed by the Pikmin. Whenever an obstacle, or an enemy, parries in his path, he can use the Pikmin as a small personal army to remove debris, defeat opponents, build bridges and so on. Each action will require a specific number of Pikmin to be accomplished so it will be up to the player to study the best solutions to not lose too many creatures, create new ones and be able to increase the ranks of his small personal army.

If the mechanics at the Pikmin 3 Deluxe base may seem very simple, a series of gameplay choices intervene to keep the gameplay inspired. The Pikmin, in fact, will be of different types and will have different abilities that you will need to know better to allow Brittany, Alp and Charlie to survive the dangers of the planet Pnf-404.

The creatures, moreover, will be decidedly inclined to die and it will be up to the player to constantly decide how many Pikmin to take with them and to have the tender aliens "recycle" the defeated enemies inside their ship in order to make new creatures sprout. Furthermore, the Pikmin will be able to reproduce in other ways but we refer to our complete review the task of analyzing the various game mechanics in more detail. What we wanted to explain, in this short preview, are the innovations that Nintendo has introduced in Pikmin 3 Deluxe and which, we are sure, will delight lovers of the original title.

One of the two most important innovations is certainly the introduction of a Lock system that allows the player to hook the various elements present on the screen, guaranteeing a precise game action and allowing you to govern the Pikmin available in the best way. A command dedicated to the use of all the creatures at the same time covers another important novelty: once you have identified the enemy to attack, or the obstacle to remove, just press X and all your Pikmin will attack at the same time. moment.

A small change that goes to polish the imperfections, in terms of AI, present in the original chapter. Instead, the controls through the Nintendo Nunchuck (which many hoped would be converted for Joy-Con) have been removed, creating a unique command system for the various modes in which Pikmin 3 Deluxe can be enjoyed.

The second big news of Pikmin 3 Deluxe, however, consists in the introduction of cooperative local multiplayer. In fact, it will be possible to enjoy the entire campaign of the title in the company of a friend by simply connecting two controllers to the Switch and starting a game, or continuing one already in progress, by activating the co-op mode.

The game world it will remain the same for both players, as well as the number and type of Pikmin available, but through the split screen it will be possible to undertake completely different exploration paths by collaborating, dividing the Pikmin available, to complete the missions more quickly. game or to go in search of some collectibles while the other player will take care to solve the various puzzles located on Pnf-404.

A solution as simple as it is functional and which has guaranteed us a handful of hours of pure fun, in company. In view of the full review we will undoubtedly spend a good amount of hours with the multiplayer mode because in these first moments it presented us with a completely new way to enjoy Pikmin and that could turn it into a really interesting multiplayer experience.

Play Pikmin 3 Deluxe at maximum difficulty

If you are one of those players who have already fleshed out the third installment of the Nintendo series on WiiU, you may want to test the new features introduced by Pikmin 3 Deluxe, at maximum difficulty possible. In this case you will be pleased to know that if you complete the game demo, available from today on the Nintendo eShop, not only will you be able to transport your saves to the final version of the game but you will have access from the beginning to the maximum difficulty selectable in Pikmin 3 Deluxe. . A nice incentive to preview the new game mechanics in view of the next October 30th.

The new features introduced in Pikmin 3 Deluxe, however, do not stop there. In addition to a general balance of difficulty, the inclusion of clues for players less like puzzles and the introduction of an achievement system, very stimulating for completists, we find a new level of difficulty and content for single player, totally unpublished, which will be added to the various extra modes already present in the original title.

There is also the so-called "refresh" to the graphics sector that shows itself in perfect shape both on the small Switch screen and on a generously sized monitor dimensions, always returning a satisfying overview and in line with current productions. We just have to invite you to read our full review of Pikmin 3 Deluxe, out in a few weeks, to be able to find out together if we are again faced with a Killer App for Nintendo's hybrid console.

If you're just waiting to immerse yourself in the fantastic world of Pikmin 3 Deluxe, you can pre-order your copy here.