Pikmin 4

I went into Pikmin 4 expecting a charming but niche Nintendo curio and came out the other side having lost a week to it. That kind of conversion story is exactly what this game is built for. Released on Nintendo Switch in July 2023, it is a real-time strategy game stripped of the genre's usual friction, where you command squads of plant-creature hybrids called Pikmin to collect treasure, defeat enemies, and rescue castaways across a miniaturized world that makes everyday objects feel enormous and strange. The core loop is deceptively simple: you throw Pikmin, they carry things or fight things, you grow your squad, you unlock new areas. What makes it work is the layering. Nine Pikmin types are in the game, each with distinct traits, but you can only field three types at once per excursion, which keeps every area feeling like a small puzzle about which tools to bring. Red Pikmin tank hits, Ice Pikmin freeze water and enemies solid, Glow Pikmin handle the night shifts. Then there is Oatchi, a rideable space dog who is far more than a gimmick. He carries Pikmin over obstacles, tracks treasure, rushes enemies, and levels up through a separate upgrade tree, giving the whole thing a light RPG texture without ever slowing down the moment-to-moment momentum. The upgrade and invention system does introduce one genuine friction point: raw materials are shared between crafting gadgets and unlocking new map paths, which can funnel you back into already-cleared zones to grind. It is not a dealbreaker, but it is noticeable. The standout addition is Dandori Battles, timed head-to-head competitions where you and an opponent race to collect the most value from a shared field. They show up in the story and in a standalone multiplayer mode, and they crystallize everything the game is actually teaching you about efficiency and multitasking into sharp, exciting bursts. Night Expeditions flip the script into a tower-defense style mode where Glow Pikmin hold a perimeter against waves of nocturnal enemies. Neither mode overstays its welcome, and together they keep the pacing from ever going flat. For completionists, Olimar's Shipwreck Tale is an optional side story that reintroduces a strict day-limit to add the pressure the main campaign largely avoids. The onboarding does run long. The early game holds your hand past the point of necessity, and a supporting character named Collin delivers tutorial dialogue at a rate that will test patient players. Once the game opens up, though, that slow start is easy to forgive. A post-launch update added selectable difficulty modes including a Relaxed option where enemies stay passive and a Fierce mode that caps your Pikmin count, which meaningfully extends the game's reach to both casual players and series veterans hungry for a challenge. Pikmin 4 is not the most visually ambitious Switch release, but its world design is so inventive that the hardware limitations rarely register as a problem. This one is for players who want strategy that feels approachable rather than punishing, for Switch owners who enjoy games that reward attention to environmental detail, and for anyone who has bounced off real-time strategy before because of the mechanical overhead. Genre newcomers will find it surprisingly intuitive. Series fans get the most content and variety the franchise has ever offered in a single package. The rough edges are real but minor.

Alex · Scout Team

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