Pikmin 3

[Rakia]

So does this game have like, strategy elements to it? I've never had the chance to play any Pikmin games, don't really understand it.

[puggsoy]

I've played a bit of the first. You're that guy in the spacesuit (Captain Olimar), and you amass a tiny army of those little guys (Pikmin). They follow you around and you can throw them, tell them to stay, call them, etc. Mostly they help you to carry stuff, but you can also get them to work together and beat up monsters and such.
Different colours to do different things. Red are just your "standard" Pikmin, they can just do what I said above. Yellow can be thrown higher and can carry "bomb rocks", Blue don't drown in water (others do), and I think Purple are invincible (to monsters, not sure about water since I haven't got them yet). I think there are more colours in Pikmin 2, as you can see here in 3 we've got these new Black ones that probably do something special too.

So basically you just tell Pikmin to do various things to help you achieve your goal (in Pikmin 1 this is to get all your spaceship parts back). The thing is, you have to do this in "days", one day I think is about 20 minutes in real life. In Pikmin 1 you also have only 30 days to get as many bits as you can, although I think in 2 (and probably 3 too) you don't have a limit.

Not sure if that answers your question but that'll give you an overview. Personally I'd say it's a strategy game more than anything, there are no puzzles or reflex challenges (that I know of), basically you just have to control your Pikmin effectively. The scale is between your classic RTS (Warcraft, Age of Empires) and micro-management (Dota, Dawn Of War II), since you're directly controlling Olimar and giving your Pikmin orders through him.

This is all just my experience though, I've only played about 9 days of Pikmin 1 so I could be way off on what the series is like overall.

[Kriven]

Yikes, Pikmincide above.

In Pikmin 1 you have Reds, Blues, and Yellows.

Reds are the strongest of these three, and are also impervious to fire.
Blues can be used in the water without drowning, and can also save drowning Yellow or Red Pikmin.
Yellows can be thrown the highest, so they can reach ledges inaccessible to Red and Blue. They can also carry and use Bomb Rocks to clear your path or attack enemies.

In Pikmin 2 there were introduced Purple and White Pikmin. Yellow Pikmin were also given a unique ability.

Yellow Pikmin are impervious to Electricity.
Purple Pikmin can lift 10x the weight of regular Pikmin, and do 10x the damage. However, they're very slow. They also perform stunning groundpounds when thrown.
White Pikmin are immune to poisons and toxins, and are also the fastest of the Pikmin. They also poison enemies when eaten.

You can only utilize 100 Pikmin at a time, and knowing which ones you'll need in a specific environment is important. You also need to know which ones you'll need to attack enemies. For instance, you might need to use Yellow Pikmin to destroy an enemy's armor, but then you'd want to use Red Pikmin to attack, since they'll deal the most damage and won't die as easily. You might want your Blues to distract a water Blowhog so it won't drown your Yellows when you go to battle a Puffy Blowhog. Etc.

The series is really cool and it will get your noggin working if you're looking for a thought-intensive experience.


Edit: I'm not quite sure what the deal with the Rock Pikmin (Black Pikmin) really is. They just look to do about the same thing as Purple Pikmin, to me. And the cinematics tease Pink Pikmin which can fly, but I'm having a difficult time thinking of a practical use for them. I'm not at all sure how Pikmin 3 is going to turn out.


Edit to Add:

I forgot a little about Pikmin 2. For starters, I left out a Pikmin type:

Bulbmin.

Bulbmin are parasitic Pikmin which inhabit and control a host body, in this case a baby Bulborb. Bulbmin are carnivorous and eat other Pikmin, but if you kill the leader Bulbmin you can use the babies to your advantage. Bulbmin are weak, but they're immune to all elements and don't drown. Bulbmin cannot leave the caves in which they are found, unfortunately.

Also, Purple and White Pikmin do not have an Onion to return to. They are rare Pikmin which can only be created by feeding another Pikmin to a Purple or White Candypop bud. This makes it more difficult to breed them and more worthwhile to protect the ones you have.

[Garamonde]

The Red Pikmin are also immune to fire, and are the stronger attackers.
Purple Pikmin are not invincible but they are very heavy and when carrying things, each one counts as 10 smaller Pikmin. I also discovered a cool battle tactic where Purple Pikmin do this sumo stomp wherever you toss them, and if you throw them overtop an enemy, they slightly home in on the enemy if it's close enough and squashes them doing a ton of damage.
Sometimes you also have to be fast, think fast, time your throws carefully and plan out your actions, otherwise you usually won't get a very good result heh (it's also very trial and error at times though, so even if you thought you came up with a good plan and fail the first time or more, then just keep trying and maybe you'll find you were just missing something and devise a better tactic).
So in short, yes Pikmin is in fact very strategic, at least it is if you care about not losing your whole army lol.

EDIT: Gaahh, ninja'd by Kriven.

[Kriven]

EDIT: Gaahh, ninja'd by Kriven.

It's cool, I had forgotten the part about the Purple Pikmin's homing abilities

[Garamonde]

You explained everything better than I did anyway heh.

---

Pikmin really is insanely fun. I don't think you'll regret it if you get it. Be sure to watch a trailer or two also, it's much more appealing to watch than to read about.

[RegisteredAccount]

It sure is insanely fun. I had both games (which unfortunately broke)... and also the New Play Control version of both... Yep, it's that fun.
In Pikmin 2, you have to control between two people; Olimar, and his brother Louise (at least if I remember correctly it's Olimar's brother, right?).

Pikmin 2

In the first 30 days, you have to collect all the treasures that you can find, so you can repay the debt of all the Pikpik Carrots that were eaten by 'a giant carrot monster'...

The Ugly Truth

... which was a lie by Louise, who actually ate them himself.

After the 30 days, if you succeeded, you get to come back to the Pikmin Word (yay!)... to find Louise, who you had accidentally left at the Pikmin World when you left last time. How cruel. You get a new partner, which is The President (or Shachō), also known as the Fat Idiot who only came with Olimar to find Louise... and the remaining treasures of Pikmin Planet. After you find Louise, you have to fight the most hardest boss (to me), and then you can collect it's parts and Louise as treasures.

[Garamonde]

Louie isn't Olimar's brother, just a friend and co-worker.

[RegisteredAccount]

Aah, sorry. Got it wrong... well, they actually remind me of Mario and Luigi, so I view the two as brothers. Heh heh.

[Kriven]

Aah, sorry. Got it wrong... well, they actually remind me of Mario and Luigi, so I view the two as brothers. Heh heh.

That was done on purpose xD

[Orgasmatron]

Blues can be used in the water without drowning, and can also save drowning Yellow or Red Pikmin.

wait really? i actually never knew this, it would help a lot especially for the first game

not so much in the second because just whistling to drowning pikmin over and over again keeps them going

[Kriven]

wait really? i actually never knew this, it would help a lot especially for the first game

not so much in the second because just whistling to drowning pikmin over and over again keeps them going

Yeah, if you toss a blue at a drowning Red or Yellow, it'll toss the drowner to shore. You can also rush into the water with a set of Blues and dismiss them, and the dismissed Blues will save a Red or Yellow.

[Koopaul]

In case you guys are wondering, Miyamoto is said to be more involved in this one... That's not a good thing if you preferred the second Pikmin more than the first.

You see Miyamoto wasn't involved in making Pikmin 2 (which many consider better) and this time he wants to make sure Pikmin 3 is more like Pikmin 1 was.

[Kriven]

I wouldn't say Pikmin 2 was a better game, I'd say they're about equal. They're different games, I mean a lot. Pikmin had a much better atmosphere to it, and did more as far as exploring the world, while Pikmin 2 had more intense strategy and puzzle, and was more like a dungeon crawler. They're equally good games, and I love them both equally.

Pikmin could have done with more to do, and Pikmin 2 could have had more and better emphasis on surface exploration and level design (because even on the surface some things just felt thrown around.)

I'd like to see Pikmin 3 blend these two styles.

[Koopaul]

I actually liked Pikmin 2 better because there wasn't a forced objective. You had a lot more freedom to get that money however you want and take your time doing it. Because of this, exploration felt more fulfilling because it was your choice rather than your directive.

Also because you weren't acquiring anything specific, (like in the first one you were getting ship parts), the game becomes more surprising and keeps you guessing on where treasure might be hidden. I mean there was TONS of treasure hidden all over the place.