Pikmin 4: Difference between revisions

{{italic title}}

{{game infobox

| image = [[File:Pikmin 4 cover art.jpg|x250px]]

| platforms = [[Nintendo Switch]]

| genre = Action/Adventure/Strategy

| players = 1 (single-player), 2 (multiplayer)

| developer = [[Nintendo EPD]], [[Eighting]]

| publisher = [[Nintendo]]

'''''Pikmin 4''''' is a [[Nintendo Switch]] game within the [[Pikmin (franchise)|''Pikmin'' franchise]]. It was released internationally on July 21, 2023. It is specifically the fourth entry of the main [[Pikmin (series)|''Pikmin'' series]].

 

The game sees the [[rookie Rescue Officer|newest recruit]] of the [[Rescue Corps]] exploring the planet [[PNF-404]], with the goal of rescuing [[Captain Olimar]], the rest of the Rescue Corps, and other civilian [[castaway]]s, while also collecting [[treasure]]s and completing other missions. Elements new to the series include [[night expedition]]s, a companion character called [[Oatchi]], and building structures along with purchasing [[gear]] with [[raw material]]s.

In the prologue, [[Captain Olimar]], captain of the [[S.S. Dolphin]], crash-lands on planet [[PNF-404]]. He discovers the [[Pikmin family|Pikmin]], and also the space dog [[Moss]], who help him to recover the [[Ship part|missing parts]] of his ship. In a playable section of the prologue, he finds the [[Interstellar Radio]], which allows him to send out an [[wikipedia:SOS|SOS]] signal, in the hope that people on other planets receive the signal and are able to help.

Dandori Challenges are a special type of cave that feature a standalone treasure-collecting mission, with the goal being to collect all the treasures in the stage by the end of the time limit. They function similarly to [[Challenge Mode (Pikmin 2)|Challenge Mode]] from ''[[Pikmin 2]]'' and [[Mission Mode]] from ''[[Pikmin 3]]'', but are incorporated into the main story.

Olimar's Shipwreck Tale is an alternate story mode that is unlocked after rescuing [[Captain Olimar]]. In this mode, the player controls Olimar and the space dog [[Moss]] to collect the 30 [[ship part]]s of the [[S.S. Dolphin]] within a 15-day limit, where each day is 11 minutes long. The mode is a reference to ''[[Pikmin (game)|Pikmin]]'', and only the original 3 Pikmin types from that game appear.

 

 

''Pikmin 4'' has 9 [[Pikmin]] types, including 7 returning types from previous games, and 2 new types: [[Ice Pikmin]] and [[Glow Pikmin]].

== Enemies ==

 

== Areas ==

== Treasures ==

{{main|List of Pikmin 4 treasures}}

''Pikmin 4'' has a large number of treasures, forming most of the collectibles in the game. There is a [[Treasure Catalog]] which lists all the treasures and has notes on them from multiple characters. Unlike in ''Pikmin 2'', there can be multiple instances of a single type of treasure.

* Supported controllers: two Joy-Cons, single Joy-Con (only when playing in multiplayer), and Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. When playing in multiplayer with single Joy-Cons, player 1 holds the controller horizontally and player 2 holds the controller vertically.

* Supported languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese.

The first of these mentions was on November 6, 2014, when Miyamoto was being interviewed on the recently-released ''[[Pikmin Short Movies]]'' and indicated the possibility of another ''Pikmin'' game on the [[Wii U]].<ref>Sickr (November 6, 2014). "[https://mynintendonews.com/2014/11/06/miyamoto-hints-that-pikmin-4-could-be-in-development Miyamoto Hints That Pikmin 4 Could Be In Development]." My Nintendo News.</ref> Not long after, Miyamoto also mentioned wanting to make more ''Pikmin'' games in an interview with Smosh Games.<ref>Smosh Games (January 5, 2015). "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=untLD6z6aqI&t=275s NINTENDO'S MIYAMOTO RACES US IN MARIO KART 8 DLC (Button Bash)]". YouTube.</ref>

On September 7, 2015, Eurogamer unveiled that, in an exclusive interview, Miyamoto had confirmed the development of ''Pikmin 4'' and claimed it was nearing completion. In the same article from Eurogamer, a Nintendo representative also stated that ''Pikmin 4'' is in development but did not reveal anything else.<ref>Phillips, Tom (September 7, 2015). "[https://www.eurogamer.net/pikmin-4-in-development-and-very-close-to-completion Pikmin 4 in development and "very close to completion"]. Eurogamer.</ref>

On July 7, 2016, Gamerant interviewed Miyamoto and asked him about the status of the game's development and why there hadn't been any news in the past few months. Miyamoto confirmed that the game was in development and vaguely referred to how it was somewhat hard to fit into a list of priorities.<ref>GR Staff (July 7, 2016). "[https://gamerant.com/pikmin-4-update-miyamoto/ Miyamoto Updates Fans On Status of Pikmin 4]". Gamerant.</ref> Miyamoto confirmed the game's development again at [[E3 2017]] but would not discuss specifics.<ref>Phillips, Tom (June 19, 2017). "[https://www.eurogamer.net/miyamoto-pikmin-4-still-progressing Miyamoto: Pikmin 4 still "progressing"]". Eurogamer.</ref>

''Pikmin 4'' uses Unreal Engine 4 as its game engine. However, around when development began in in 2014 or 2015, Nintendo did not have access to Unreal Engine 4 on any of their console hardware, as support for the engine only started in 2017, so it is very likely that ''Pikmin 4'' began development on a different game engine before being ported to the Unreal Engine 4.

''Pikmin 4'' was officially announced in a [[Nintendo Direct]] presentation on September 13, 20022. This announcement was in a section presented by Shigeru Miyamoto, who also promoted ''[[Pikmin Bloom]]'' and the [[The Super Mario Bros. Movie|then-upcoming ''Mario'' film]]. A short trailer was shown, featuring a few scenes in a garden-like area and announcing a release window of 2023. Miyamoto provided some more basic details of the game after the trailer, and also showed off a new Pikmin T-shirt design based on the game's logo, which was made available to buy shortly afterwards.

On February 8, 2023, a Nintendo Direct presentation announced the release date for the game in a new trailer. This trailer showed various short clips of gameplay and cutscenes. A new type of Pikmin was revealed, [[Ice Pikmin]], demonstrating the ability to freeze enemies when eaten and freeze small bodies of water when enough are thrown into them. The trailer then revealed [[Oatchi]], showed [[treasure]]s to be the main collectible, and hinted at the return of [[cave]]s from ''Pikmin 2''. The end of the trailer gave a first view of night gameplay.

On June 2, 2023, a news article was published on the Nintendo News channel on the Nintendo Switch news application in some regions, which described the plot of the game as "On a distant planet, the Rescue Corps needs a new hero - you!".

On June 6, 2023, a third trailer was published that revealed the basic plot of the game: [[Captain Olimar]] had crashed once again, and the Rescue Corps sent to retrieve him also crashed, leaving the player to rescue them all. This trailer showed the player character to be customizable. Accompanying this trailer was a major update to the game's Japanese website, which included some plot information and new screenshots.

On June 20, 2023, ''Pikmin 4'' download cards were released in Japan. These cards featured new screenshots, including one that took place inside a house, and one that seemed to show the game's battle mode.

On June 21, 2023, another trailer was released as part of a Nintendo Direct presentation. This trailer featured a more detailed look at the gameplay, and explained some of the game's new features. The goal of the game was revealed to be to collect treasures to power the Rescue Corps' ship, the S.S. Shepherd. The trailer showed the indoor area first seen on the download card. It also featured a closer look at caves, revealing their larger size and emphasis on puzzles. Dandori Battle mode was shown, as well as the Rescue Command Post. Finally, the night gameplay was revealed to be a tower defense-style challenge using a brand new type of Pikmin, the [[Glow Pikmin]]. This trailer was accompanied by the launch of the US and EU websites for the game, the "Pikmin Garden" Japanese website, as well as brand new websites for each region that focus on the series as a whole, which include the [[Pikmin comic]].

On June 26, 2023, various video game journalists and news sites like IGN showcased gameplay of the game, giving firsthand accounts of how the game played and its new mechanics. Nintendo also published a short trailer for the game introducing viewers to the Pikmin on the [[Play Nintendo]] YouTube channel.

Just before the game's release, some of the developers of ''Pikmin 4'' gave a series of 3 interviews about the development of the game and the series. In these interviews, they talked about how they attempted to combine elements of ''Pikmin'' and ''Pikmin 2'' to create a better ''Pikmin'' game. Initially they experimented with the idea of controlling a [[Bulborb]], or being able to ride various creatures, but it became difficult to make a coherent game from that idea. Instead, [[Oatchi]] was added, as a character the player could ride that had the abilities of a leader and a Pikmin. The concept of [[Dandori]] was a major focus of development, with the game being designed to allow for different playstyles, and the [[Rewind Time]] feature was added to make it easier to retry after making mistakes. They decided to incorporate the [[Mission Mode]] and versus modes from previous games into the main story, in the form of [[Dandori Challenge]]s and [[Dandori Battle]]s, to let the player clear these as they progress. Another change from previous games was bringing the [[camera]] closer to the ground, to create a better sense of scale for the world.

On June 28, 2023, a demo for the game was released. In it, players can play the first part of Story Mode with one or two players. The demo contains the tutorial and the first area, the [[Sun-Speckled Terrace]]. Once the player has accumulated 1,500 [[Sparklium]] and the day ends, they are shown a notification telling them of the end of the demo, and then taken to a screen advertising the final game, with a button to return to the title screen, and another to access the eShop. If the player selects their saved game file again, they can still explore the [[Rescue Command Post]] and use its features, but will be prevented from continuing to the next area or landing in the previous one. It is still possible to select a different saved game file or even delete that demo-end file.

Any progress made in the demo can carry over to the final game. Collecting 1,500 Sparklium also gives the player some bonuses: they will obtain 5 Bomb Rocks in the full game and an [[Mii#Mii apparel|Oatchi-Rider outfit for their Mii]] in ''Pikmin Bloom'' through [[My Nintendo]]. For the latter, a "Send Confirmation" button will appear on the title screen.

Due to it being a demo, a lot of the final content is absent from the game's files entirely. With some Sparklium-farming techniques, it is possible to see the game react to some of the missing content, since the developers never expected a player to be able to reach it from within the demo's limits. This applies to the demonstration video for the [[Rush Boots]] in [[Russ]]'s lab.

A minor [[update]] to the game was released on September 27, 2023, which fixed some bugs and added a [[loading screen]] progress bar.

At [[The Game Awards 2023]], ''Pikmin 4'' was nominated for the "Best Family" award, and won the "Best Sim / Strategy" award.

Pikmin 4 Logo with background.jpg|Logo

Pikmin 4 Logo.png|Logo (transparent background)

Pikmin4boxart.png|North American cover art (transparent background)

Pikmin 4 Rating Pending Box Art.png|North American cover art (pre-release)

Pikmin 4 Key Art.png|Key art

Pikmin 4 key art jp.jpg|Japanese key art

Pikmin 4 Key Art Vertical.png|Vertical arrangement of the key art

Pikmin 4 Key Art Square.png|Square arrangement of the key art

Pikmin 4 Key Art No Logo.png|Full key art without text

* The gap between the releases of ''[[Pikmin 3]]'' and ''Pikmin 4'' was 10 years, the longest gap between release dates of any consecutive ''Pikmin'' game of the main series.

*'''Chinese''' (Traditional): 皮克敏４ (''Píkèmǐn 4'')

*'''Japanese:''' ピクミン４ (''Pikumin 4'')

*'''Korean:''' 피크민 4 (''pikeumin 4'')

===Other wikis===

* [https://www.pikminwiki.com/Pikmin_4 ''Pikmin 4''] on Pikipedia

==References==

[[Category:Nintendo Switch games]]

[[Category:2023 games]]