Pikmin 4 (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.2 Update

Pikmin 4 is a 2023 real-time strategy video game co-developed by Nintendo EPD and Eighting, and published by Nintendo. It is the fourth main installment of the Pikmin series, following Pikmin 3 (2013), and the sixth installment overall. It was released on the Nintendo Switch on July 21, 2023. The game is the first in the series to feature a customizable playable character. It introduces two new species of Pikmin called Ice Pikmin and Glow Pikmin, as well as new features like the Night Expeditions, in which players defend against waves of nocturnal enemies. In the story, the player assumes the role of a recently recruited member of the Rescue Corps, a group in need of rescuing following an unsuccessful attempt to save Captain Olimar.

GAMEPLAY

The player controls a minuscule character who takes command of squads of Pikmin to explore various areas, fight enemies, secure treasures, and solve puzzles. Pikmin can be directed to perform various tasks, such as carrying objects and fighting enemies, and have individual weaknesses and strengths. For example, Red Pikmin is invulnerable to fire, Blue Pikmin can walk underwater, and Winged Pikmin can lift objects and float over hazards. The player can switch between different species of Pikmin to adapt to the situation and deal with enemies and hazards. The camera allows for a full view of the area around the player character, with the perspective being much closer to the ground than in previous games.

Pikmin 4 retains Pikmin types from previous games, and introduces two new species: Ice Pikmin, which are invulnerable to being frozen and can freeze enemies and bodies of water; and Glow Pikmin, which operate at night and are usable during the Night Time Expeditions. The player can also command a canine creature called Oatchi to help with exploration. Like the Pikmin, Oatchi can be directed to carry objects and attack enemies, but can also help bash breakable objects, sniff out objectives such as treasure, and transport both the player character and Pikmin around the map and over bodies of water; in some places, the player can directly control Oatchi to solve puzzles. The game’s single-player mode introduces new features to the series. Players can customize their character with different facial features and uniform colors, and have access to a hub base that provides different activities – such as the ability to upgrade equipment, as well as Oatchi and its abilities after it gains experience during exploration.

Treasures collected in different areas contribute to a resource known as Sparklium, which is needed to expand the number of maps the player can explore. The several main missions include finding Captain Olimar and side missions come from castaways brought back to the hub base. Practice Mode trains the player to defeat enemies. While exploring an area during the Day, the player is limited in the number of Pikmin they can deploy for exploration but can increase the limit by upgrading the Pikmin’s Onion with Flarlic. When collected and brought to the Onion, Flarlic adds 10 Pikmin to the field limit, up to a maximum of 100. Collecting Flarlic when the Pikmin limit is at a hundred will instead produce Nectar and Ultra-Spicy Nectar. In addition, players can redeploy their transport craft and the Onion to previously discovered landing sites to deploy Pikmin quickly and speed up the acquisition of treasures and combat spoils. Caves, a feature first introduced in Pikmin 2, return, but the player is now able to change their Pikmin squad before entering.

Unlike Pikmin 2, time is not paused while exploring a cave, but instead moves slower; like in Pikmin 2, the spoils of combat can be recovered, but are worth less Sparklium than treasure. A rewind feature allows the player to undo mistakes or play differently than before. Specific maps allow players to explore areas at night, which are known as Night Time Expeditions. In this mode, which functions similarly to tower defense games, players are restricted to using only Glow Pikmin to explore maps and recover resources, all while fighting enemies who are drawn to the Glow Pikmin’s nest. The main story can be played in either single-player or alongside a second player in co-op, and there is also a competitive multiplayer mode called Dandori Battle, derived from Dandori, a Japanese word for efficient planning. In Dandori Battles, which are also featured in single-player, the player must secure as many spoils and treasures in an arena before their opponent can; both sides can collect Pikmin to help them and have their own Oatchi partner.

PLOT

Diverging from the events of the prior installments, Captain Olimar travels to PNF-404, an Earth-like planet, aboard his ship the SS Dolphin. A freak accident causes his ship to crash land, and he is forced to recruit Pikmin to help him find the ship’s missing parts. During his search, Olimar bonds with a dog-like creature that he names Moss. After finding his ship’s missing radio within the interior of the Hero’s Hideaway, Olimar transmits an SOS call along with his voyage logs but disappears after continuing his search for the missing parts. The Rescue Corps, an intergalactic rescue organization, receives his emergency call and sends a team to PNF-404 led by Captain Shepherd to find and rescue Olimar.

However, the ship malfunctions upon reaching the planet, forcing the crew to eject before it crash lands on the surface. The Rescue Corps assigns its newest recruit, the player character, to find the missing Rescue Corps members and complete the mission. Upon reaching the planet, the recruit encounters Shepherd’s rescue pup, a dog-like creature called Oatchi, who bonds with them. After rescuing Shepherd and the team’s communication officer Collin, the recruit finds that the Rescue Corps’ ship has run out of power. With help from Pikmin near the ship’s crash site, the recruit recovers several objects that contain a resource known as Sparklium, which can fuel the ship.

The recruit, accompanied by the Pikmin and Oatchi, begins exploring the area to find the other Rescue Corps members and, along the way discovers that several treasure hunters and explorers came to the planet after picking up Olimar’s signal, but also became castaways. Shepherd instructs the recruit to locate and rescue castaways alongside their primary objectives. During further exploration, the Rescue Corps comes across a mysterious figure who is accompanied by Moss. The figure is exhibiting an unknown condition that has caused them to become hairy and sprout leaves from all over their head, and also given them the ability to breathe oxygen, which is normally poisonous to those stuck on the planet.

As the figure has infected several castaways with the same condition through the Onions, the Rescue Corps’ chief medic Yonny works to produce a cure after he is rescued. In the meantime, the Rescue Corps came across the Dolphin, finding it was repaired but crashed after taking off. They soon realize the mysterious figure is Olimar, who became infected after a failed attempt to escape PNF-404 and was beamed up to an Onion by the Pikmin. Using Yonny’s cure, the recruit treats the infected and cures their condition, as well as Olimar after battling and defeating him, returning him to normal.

With their mission complete, the Rescue Corps attempts to leave PNF-404, but Shepherd discovers that Oatchi has caught an illness, which involves a leaf similar to that of a Pikmin sprouting on his tail, that makes it impossible to leave the planet. As Yonny’s cure is ineffective in treating Oatchi, Olimar advises the group to return to the planet’s surface and reveals Moss has the same condition, which was the cause of his failed escape after Moss snuck into his cargo hold. On the surface, the Rescue Corps works to find ingredients for a new cure while searching for more castaways, particularly the veterinarian Nelle from Koppai.

Exploration soon turns up a giant dog, the Ancient Sirehound, who is similar in species to Oatchi and Moss, and which Yonny thinks can provide a key ingredient for the cure. While searching for it, the recruit finds it hiding in a cave where Olimar’s partner, Louie, had been hiding after coming to the planet to search for food. After defeating him and the dog, the recruit recovers both him and some DNA from the dog’s collar, providing the final ingredient for curing Oatchi. After discovering that Moss cannot be cured, Olimar determines that she was born on the planet and decides to leave her behind with the Pikmin. The Rescue Corps agrees and departs with the others, while Olimar leaves with the Dolphin. Meanwhile, Moss goes exploring with the Pikmin, pursued eagerly by the now-tamed Ancient Sirehound.