Miyamoto wonders why Pikmin hasn't sold more and why people think the games are difficult
Miyamoto wonders why Pikmin hasn't sold more and why people think the games are difficult
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto wonders why the Pikmin series hasn't sold more and why people think it's so difficult.
Pikmin 4 is due out for Switch on July 21, 2023
It’s the time limit.
That’s it.
People hate time limits in games like this.
I feel like it’s a lot like the weapon breaking in Breath of the Wild - one of those systems that imposes heavy limits on players to enforce their creativity and flexibility in their approach.
I know a lot of people approach every game in a completionist, meticulous way where they do every quest, never use any consumable items, etc; and it often ruins the fun. It’s also why Ubisoft had the somewhat crazy idea in Far Cry 5 of actually forcing you to do story missions after game progress, trying to use designer mechanics to push some variety into people’s game sessions.
In Pikmin’s case, and I think Dead Rising / Persona too, the time limit is meant to get you to prioritize path planning so you get as much as you can done in a certain span. The core gameplay of Pikmin just isn’t all that interactive when you have all the time in the world for it - it’s built around the benefits of delegation and synchronization.
I haven't played Pikmin but when it comes to BotW/TotK I still would prefer if weapons didn't break. Seems to me that it creates grind and it takes away flexibility, because more situational options take the same slots as raw power, and get spent just as quickly. Comes to mind also how XCom 2 insisted on turn limits, and one of the first mods it got was to remove the turn limits.
Sometimes designers insist on certain limits to prevent that players "optimize the fun away" but they don't realize that some players legitimately do have more fun without those limits.
And yet removing the time limit was disastrous for my enjoyment of Pikmin.
I don't know if difficult is the word I'd use, but I couldn't stand Pikmin 3, and I imagine I couldn't stand Pikmin 1 either, because of the time limits. I want to be able to take my time, strategize, and explore at my own pace. It ruins the fun to know that I only have 30 days, or that I'll lose if I don't collect X amount of fruit per day.
Pikmin 2 is so far the best game in the series, in my opinion. If I want to spend three days building up my Pikmin army and stockpiling the sprays, I can do it without worry that I'm running behind now. I don't need to rush through the game, and can take it at my own pace.
If only there were a mod for Pikmin 3 that removes the juice mechanic, or gives unlimited juice from the start.
Never played pikmin 3, but I had a funny experience with the day limit in pikmin 1. You have way more than enough time to complete the game in the day limit, even if you play very suboptimally.
Despite that, in my initial playthrough I still hated it for all the reasons you listed. Theoretically, I could see how a day-limit could be good for the game. Adding tension and the like. But on that first playthrough when I had no idea how much time is worth, I always felt the need to rush. As it turned out, I could have easily taken a few days to just explore or strategize. But there's no way to know that at the start. Maybe it could work better if the game could communicate somehow if you're ahead of schedule or something.
I haven't played Pikmin 4, but may experience with Pikmin 3 was, that game is interresting to play with a friend, but i try the single player mode a lot later. I don't know, didn't feel fun with it anymore. I feel the tutorial was terrible childish, because i have already played the game so it was horrible. I didn't like the camera view anymore (don't know why that wasn't a problem with the wii U). I don't feel the game with it's characters and world. Maybe it was just the wrong time for the game for me. I could try Pikmin 4 if i ever get it cheaper. But i don't think it's difficult
Thankfully, in the Pikmin 4 demo you can skip all cutscenes which include cutscene tutorials. The tutorial section is still pretty long, but skipping the cutscenes makes it much more bearable.