Pikmin 3 Review
Unexpectedly for a game about being a squat little extraterrestrial on an alien planet, Pikmin 3 evokes a subtle, sweet nostalgia for its foreign world. Exploring its miniaturised woodlands and ponds recall childhood autumns spent kicking through leaves, or summer afternoons digging through soil to examine the bugs at the bottom of the garden. This beautifully organic planet is home to wonderfully inventive creatures unlike anything we have on Earth, but there’s still just enough familiarity to raise a smile when the aliens rechristen things like plums, grapes, and lemons as Lesser Mock Bottoms, Dawn Pustules, and Face Wrinklers.
It’s this familiarity that makes Pikmin 3 emotionally relatable, and causes the ostensibly disposable pikmin themselves to feel like more than just units on the field. Their little squeaks and dying sighs made me feel guilty when I sent them to their demise by literally throwing them into battle, like I’d let them down. If you fail to round any of the wee guys up at the end of the day before the sun sets, you have to watch them getting munched by nocturnal predators as they make a desperate run for your departing ship, which made me feel like the worst person in the world. Nostalgic, evocative, and clever, Pikmin 3 is a delight while it lasts, blending strategic thinking, exploration, and life-or-death struggles against alien creatures – but it left me eager for more (and fearful of another nine-year wait between games).