Pikmin 3

Pikmin 3
File:Pikmin3Boxart.png
US boxart.
Console	Wii U
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Real-time strategy
Players	Single-player (story mode) 1 or 2 players (Mission Mode and Bingo Battle) 2 players (Bingo Battle)
Release date
Japan	July 13th, 2013
North America	August 4th, 2013
Europe	July 26th, 2013
Australia	July 27th, 2013
South Korea	N/A
Related games
Predecessor	Pikmin 2

Pikmin 3 is the third installment in the Pikmin franchise. It was released on the Wii U console, on July 13^th, 2013 in Japan, July 26^th, 2013 in Europe, July 27^th, 2013 in Australia, and August 4^th, 2013 for America.

Elements new to the series include two new Pikmin types, the ability to throw leaders, and control three in parallel, several different control schemes, and a handy information terminal, the KopPad. It is the first original entry in the Pikmin franchise in 9 years, since the original release of Pikmin 2 on the GameCube in 2004.

Plot

The story takes place in the galactic date of 20XX. The planet of Koppai is facing an inevitable doomsday due to a booming population growth, and a "general lack of planning" that resulted in the depletion of most food resources. They send unmanned scout vessels, called SPEROs, out into space to search for a planet containing edible matter. As SPEROs returned with no data, and their hopes were dying out, the final one arrives with coordinates to PNF-404, which the Koppaites believe to be an uncharted planet. Three explorers are sent to PNF-404 to retrieve seeds to bring back and cultivate on Koppai; Alph, a young engineer, Brittany, a botanist, and Charlie, the captain of their ship, the S.S. Drake. As they approach the atmosphere of PNF-404, the Drake malfunctions and ejects the three explorers before plummeting to the surface of the planet. Charlie wakes up in the Distant Tundra, where he finds a group of wild Yellow Pikmin which he quickly befriends. However, this friendship is cut short when Charlie enters a cave and is swallowed by a large, invisible creature. Alph wakes up in the Tropical Wilds, and discovers a red Onion and its Pikmin, which he quickly uses to help him find the S.S. Drake nearby. It is in good shape, aside from missing a component that renders it incapable of activating its warp drive, needed to return to Koppai. Brittany lands in the Garden of Hope and finds herself trapped until Alph rescues her by using the newly-discovered Rock Pikmin. Later they arrive at the Distant Tundra where Brttany is ejected from the Drake again due to a storm. She lands in a cave and finds Yellow Pikmin. With the Pikmin, she escapes the cave and reunites with Alph. Shortly after this, the duo fight the Vehemoth Phosbat, and after defeating it, they free Captain Charlie. Charlie reveals that he found a Data File stating that Captain Olimar has the Cosmic Drive Key. Later on, the explorers began to receive signals from an unknown source. This eventually leads them to finding that Louie has crashed onto the planet, whom they rescue from the Scornet Maestro. The day after rescuing him, he steals all their juice and tries to escape to the Hocotate ship, only to be eaten by a Quaggled Mireclops and rescued again by the three explorers. After this second encounter, he is tied up to prevent him from causing the leaders trouble again, and he gives them the coordinates to the Formidable Oak, where his colleague is being held captive. Upon arriving at the final area, the explorers learn that Louie's partner, Captain Olimar, was sent to the planet by Hocotate Freight to try and find more treasure in order to buy back the S.S. Dolphin, but ended up crashing and completely destroying his ship. Alone on the surface, he was abducted by a large, overprotective creature called the Plasm Wraith, which tries to mother him and refuses to let him go. Eventually, the Koppaites free Olimar from the Wraith and escape with him on the S.S. Drake as the creature screams at them for taking Olimar away. In the game's closing moments, the narrator implies the crashing of both ships was not by accident, and Alph also states that Louie was accidentally left behind yet again. At the end of the credits, the Pikmin are seen singing and coexisting with both themselves and the creatures of the Pikmin planet. However, this is interrupted when the Pikmin spot a flaming object crashing onto the surface of the planet.

Gameplay

While Pikmin 3 contains many recurring gameplay elements from earlier games in the Pikmin series, it also changes some mechanics and introduces new, complex ones that make it stand out from its predecessors:

• Pikmin 3 has a day limit, similar to the first game. However, this time limit can be extended based on how many bottles of juice the player has left, which can be restored by collecting fruit. The player can extended their playtime up to 99 days by collecting all of the game's fruit.
• Pikmin 3 has overhauled the battle mechanics of the series; rather than throwing Pikmin onto the body of a larger enemy, the Pikmin can now be aimed to latch onto specific parts of enemies, which can cause different reactions and different amounts of damage. For example, throwing a Pikmin directly at a Bulborb's eye will cause it to recoil and spit out any snatched Pikmin.
• Pikmin 3's graphical design is much more detailed and much more natural-looking, thanks to the enhanced resolution the Wii U provides.
• Pikmin 3 changes the way Pikmin follow the player: rather than marching in an orderly group, they will each move individually and follow the player in a much more realistic swarm. They will also trace the leader's exactly instead of following them in a straight line and risking getting stuck behind corners. However, they will still be thrown accordingly, depending on which Pikmin is in standby.
• Pikmin 3 removes the group move feature present in the original two games in favor of the lock-on and charge mechanics, where Pikmin all charge towards a target at once.
• Pikmin 3 has revamped the health system. All enemies (bosses included) retain their damage overnight, and the carcasses of bosses will remain in their arenas for a day after they are defeated. Every boss in the game can be dragged back to base for a 50-seed boost of the selected Pikmin type.
• Pikmin 3 changes the way the player manages Onions. Unlike in the first two games, all Onions discovered in the game merge with the red Onion at the end of the day to become a single, "Master Onion". Onions also release rings of light in the afternoon to signify safe zones when night comes.
• Pikmin 3 removes poison as a hazard, as Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin are only present in Mission Mode. Also, electricity has been nerfed and no longer kills Pikmin, instead leaving them on the ground completely immobilized, until they are called back.
• Pikmin do not go down in maturity level in Pikmin 3, only up.

New Pikmin

A Rock Pikmin.

The new Pikmin featured in Pikmin 3 have lavender-colored flowers, and are unique in the sense that they are named after their abilities and appearance, rather than their color. Two new Pikmin types are in the game:

Rock Pikmin

Main article: Rock Pikmin.

Rock Pikmin take on the form of small polished pebbles, rather than plants. They are immune to attacks involving blunt force, such as crushing or piercing. When thrown, they deal a large amount of damage. They are used to destroy crystalline obstacles.

Winged Pikmin

A Winged Pikmin.

Main article: Winged Pikmin.

Winged Pikmin are small, pink Pikmin resembling bees, and are capable of flight. This makes them immune to ground hazards, such as bodies of water, as they will simply fly over them. They are weak in battle.

Areas

The game is split into five areas, and caves do not return. Some sections of some areas do take place inside caves, but they're still part of the normal area.

• Tropical Wilds
• Garden of Hope
• Distant Tundra
• Twilight River
• Formidable Oak

Enemies

See: Enemies in Pikmin 3

Fruits

See: Fruit

Controls

The stylus mode control scheme.

Main article: Controls.

Pikmin 3 features a total of four different control schemes, and two display modes.

The four ways to control are as follows:

• Wii U GamePad classic: With this control scheme, players use the entire GamePad's buttons to control the game.
• Wii U GamePad Stylus: In Stylus mode, players use the left side of the GamePad's buttons to control some actions, while the right hand is used to tap on the screen to control Pikmin. This mode was added via a patch rolled out on May 29^th, 2014, and is similar to Pikmin Adventure's control scheme.
• Wii Remote + Nunchuk: This control scheme is nearly identical to the control scheme in the New Play Control! version of Pikmin and Pikmin 2.
• Wii U Pro Controller: The Pro Controller mimics the GameCube controls as a control method.

Off-TV Play

The game allows for off-TV play, as most Wii U games do. It can be toggled at almost all times during the game by pressing . With it off, players see the action on their television, and use the GamePad as the KopPad, as well as the main controller, if they so choose. With this configuration, the KopPad will display the radar app, which updates in real time. With Off-TV Play on, the action is presented on the GamePad's screen while the TV screen merely points the player to the GamePad. To access the KopPad, players need to press a specific button.

With Off-TV Play on, the Wii Remote must be aimed at the GamePad instead of the TV's sensor bar. While panning the radar on the KopPad, the player can see an overhead view of the area on the TV screen, which is only possible with Off-TV Play disabled.

Mission Mode and Bingo Battle

File:Gamepad.jpg

The Wii U GamePad as the map screen.

Main article: Mission Mode.

In Pikmin 3, the Challenge Mode, now called Mission Mode, features three modes to play: Collect treasure!, Battle enemies!, and Defeat bosses! Each challenge is 5 to 15 minutes long and provides the player with a set number of starting Pikmin.

Main article: Bingo Battle.

Bingo Battle mode is the Pikmin 3 equivalent to 2-Player Battle from Pikmin 2. In this mode, two players, who play as Alph and Olimar, are each given a bingo card filled with enemies, fruit, and marbles. The players must strategically find ways to not only collect the items needed to make a bingo, but also to ensure their opponent cannot win.

Miiverse support

The Miiverse icon for Pikmin 3.

Main article: Miiverse.

Like all Wii U software, Pikmin 3 has a community for Nintendo Network users to make posts about the game. All users can make posts, even those who don't own the game.

Using the KopPad, it is possible to take highly-detailed pictures from the perspective of a leader, using the Wii U GamePad. Players can then share their pictures over Nintendo's Miiverse service, on the Pikmin 3 community.

Demo version

A demo for Pikmin 3 was released following the release of the Pikmin Short Movies, as a way for new fans to try out the series. In the demo, the player can play up until they defeat the Armored Mawdad in Story mode, at which point the game will prompt the player to buy the full version. The first five stages of Collect treasure! in Mission Mode are also available. Battle enemies! remains inaccessible, and downloadable content cannot be purchased. In Defeat bosses!, only the Armored Mawdad can be challenged. Bingo Battle is not available in the demo. Save data can be transferred over from the demo to the full game.

Downloadable content

Main article: Downloadable content.

Nintendo has so far offered three downloadable content packs, all for either Battle enemies! or Collect treasure!. 2 of the packs are available for £1.79 / $1.99 / €1.99, and add four stages to Mission Mode. The first offered remixes of previous Mission Mode stages, while the second one offered stages based on locations from Story Mode. One map per DLC pack is free to download.

The third pack of DLC, and possibly the last, was released during the holiday season. It costs £4.79 / $4.99 / €4.99. It features stages that are (mostly) not in nature, but rather based on objects made by man. For example, an abandoned construction site, a living room decorated for Christmas, and a factory. One stage, Forgotten Cove, is actually a reskin of The Forest Navel, most likely due to the fact that it did not appear as part of another stage in Pikmin 2. The Fortress of Festivity stage is available for free upon updating the game.

Version history

See: Update

Glitches

See: Glitches in Pikmin 3

Easter eggs and secrets

See: Easter eggs in Pikmin 3

Prototype information

See: Pikmin 3 prototype information

Blurbs

Why Wii U? booklet

"Pikmin 3 is a fully reimagined, mass-action strategy title from the critically acclaimed Pikmin series. Players will discover a beautiful world filled with strange creatures and take command of a swarm of ant-like Pikmin trying to survive. The world is densely packed with treasures and enemies, which make the game much more action focused and fills it with layers of potential strategies and paths, adding greater replayability to the challenge modes."

Case blurb

"Explore an alien worlds with the help of your Pikmin army!"

"Take command of three tiny explorers and a legion of tenacious Pikmin in a fight for survival. Your loyal swarm of Pikmin will battle enemies, build pathways, and collect food to save your depleted home planet."

Videos

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Gallery

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  European box.

• Pikmin 3 1.png

  The three main playable captains featured in Pikmin 3.

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  Old logo for the game.

• Pikmin 3 logo (red).png

  The game's logo.

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  The prologue as depicted on the official Pikmin 3 Japanese website.

• WiiU Pikmin3 1 illu01 E3.png

  Promotional art for the game.

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  Promotional art for the game.

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  Promotional art for the game.

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  Promotional artwork.

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  Promotional artwork.

Trivia

• Originally, the "3" in the game's logo was originally lavender, much like the color of the flowers seen on the Winged and Rock Pikmin. However, in January 2013, the logo was changed to have orange flowers compose the "3", much like the Pikmin's flowers when under the effect of the ultra-spicy spray.
• Unlike other Pikmin games, defeating the final boss of Pikmin 3 immediately triggers the end of the game, without having to carry back any object.
• This is the only game in the Pikmin series that does not contain any scientific notes on new flora and fauna.
• The fastest the game can be 100% completed in is 10 days.

External links

• Japanese website
• English website
• Game manual

This article was a featured article from June 16th, 2013 to June 25th, 2014.