It's a series I thought I liked just based on everything I've seen and heard and Pikmin 2 in particular, I've own for about a decade and messed around with it here and there but never gave it my full commitment until I decided to really bite down on it recently. I really wanted to at least finish a game in this acclaimed series and form a solid opinion on it but mannn, I'm really having a hard time with it.

I've put about 8 hours into it (not counting all the times I've reset the system after getting my army massacred) and I think I'm just about ready to drop it (which I try not to do.) I guess I'm just a bit confused and maybe even slightly shocked 'cause it's a Nintendo game, as well as Miyamoto's baby, yet it seems in some ways, quite inaccessible. It's not that I'm not up for a challenge (I finished God Hand recently and had a ton of fun), it's that mistakes are really easy to make and they're seriously punished. Rebuilding your army with different types of Pikmin seems really tedious so I've been resulting to resetting the game all the time. Pikmin are cute and it can be satisfying to pummel a large enemy with your army and see them carry their spoil or treasure back to the ship but most of the time, I'm kinda wrestling with the controls, trying not to send Pikmin to Pikmin heaven.

I'd definitely stick with it for at least a couple more hours if fans of the games could give me some good pointers but right now, I'm thinking maybe it's just not for me and need to just move on.

What's your experience with the series? Am I not getting something? Would people talk about Pikmin in hushed tones if Miyamoto and Nintendo's names weren't attach to it?

@liquiddragon: Pikmin 2 and 3 are pretty forgiving, where even if you run out of Pikmin it isn't a big deal, because you have a lot of time to gradually make more.

Significant losses in Pikmin 1 are a little harsher since the time limit is there, but ultimately you can still multitask and carry back Pikmin-spawning shit while also finding artifacts.

I think a lot of the game gets by on the charm of a game where you sorta control a swarm of ants, and the music is pretty charming. I enjoy watching Pikmin carry big objects home, but I'll admit it does have kinda clunky controls for an RTS game. Pikmin 1 and 2 have some kinda savage enemies that expect a lot of dodging. I feel like the combat is better balanced in Pikmin 3.

Which one are you playing? Pikmin 3 is the best one, as it's a good starting point to the series and is the most refined entry. 1 is a good game, but it's just kinda unforgiving with the time limit. Pikmin 2 is just really long because it has all of these subterranean combat areas that really pad out the length of the game.

I am only here to post this

I really did not like Pikmin 2, but loved 1 and 3. Accidentally killing pikmin is just something that happens though. If you play Overlord you'll find the same problem and it's not a control issue that has been "solved" yet, if it even can be. You may not be willing to put up with it, but it's been too long for me to give you any advice about how I controlled it. I 100% all 3 of those games I think but like I said it has been too long.

@alistercat: Yeah, I agree that 2 is a fairly weak entry. It just has so much combat, when the game should be more about navigating the environment, opening up shortcuts, doing weird weight-based puzzles, etc.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but Pikmin 2 is my favorite Pikmin game. Pikmin 3 is probably the most polished all around, but 2 felt so much more ambitious than the original, and got rid of the time limit, it felt like a big step at the time. 3 was more of a refinement. But I really like all 3 of them.

Anyway, to @liquiddragon's struggles, if you've played 8 hours and are not enjoying it, playing more probably won't turn you around. You've seen what the game is, and it doesn't change drastically as you go, only layers on more puzzle ideas and Pikmin types. It sounds like it might not be for you. I've also had games before that I thought should be totally up my alley, but just couldn't get into them. I always try and figure out why, sometimes I can but sometimes I can't. But even games that look amazing on paper don't always work out... might be best to move on.

Pikmin 2 is an all-time great game .

Pikmin 2 is the only one I haven't played, but it always seemed to me like it sort of got away from the core idea of the series with the dungeon stuff. I played the first a few months ago and I really enjoyed it, but it seems like the problems you have with 2 aren't really fixed in 1. You might even find it "simpler" because there are less types of Pikmin. I did end up resetting a lot, but this meant I got really effecient every day, and I ended with tons of extra Pikmin and many days to spare.

Pikmin 3 is FANTASTIC. If you happen to have a Wii U and feel like giving the series another shot, it's really cheap. The controls are precise with the Gamepad touch screen or Wiimote pointer controls, and the game encourages multitasking with 3 captains and a different sort of day limit that can be pushed back as you get more fruit. The multiplayer is also a blast. Highly, highly recommend it. There are also rereleases of 1 and 2 on Wii with pointer controls if you're having difficulty with the GameCube controller. All that said, if it's really not for you, don't feel compelled to finish the game. It's not a series for everyone, and I wasn't sure if it was for me before I gave it a try.

@jeremyf: Agreed with all of these points.

@bisonhero: I'm playing P2, that's the only one I own :/ It is charming and that's what initially attracted me to the game, plus I like me some RTS'. I especially like the music, so many good ones (I always look forward to the end of the day 'cause I really like that one)! Let's say I lose a lot of the special Pikmin like the purple ones and the white ones, the only way to get more is to find or go back to where those types of flowers grow right? That's why I keep resetting 'cause it's not like they grow everywhere. When I lose Pikmin, I seem to lose a lot 'cause they're usually pretty clumped so while it's forgiving in a sense because there is no time limit and I can rebuild, it seems like a ton of work to get all the mixtures of Pikmin back.

@majormitch: Usually I can accept it and just move on but idk, lol I'm super bummed I'm not enjoying Pikmin. I guess I had it in my head for so long I'd really like these games and the little time I'd spent with them before I thought was neat.

@jeremyf: I don't have a Wii U and I'm not looking to pick up the New Play Control games :/ Precision is definitely an issue I'm having. Some enemies are moving targets and you kinda do have to lead with your shots which can be a bit tricky. I feel like I'm missing a bit more than I want to. Could definitely use a lock on...

@liquiddragon: Yeah, I think the game design is honestly kinda poor in parts of Pikmin 2, because the way you get purple and white Pikmin is just way too restrictive. You have to treat them like they're worth their weight in gold, and only ever take like 5 or 10 with you at a time so at least a total squad wipe doesn't set you back too many rare Pikmin. fwiw, Pikmin 2 is easily my least favourite entry in the series because the game is so combat focused and some of the enemies in the dungeons are real dicks, and I think the Pikmin series is at its best when you're doing stuff above ground, delegating tasks and exploring the world for artifacts, which Pikmin 1 and 3 do a better job of. I can't blame you if you just want to be done with Pikmin 2.

I'm honestly kind of amazed that Pikmin 3 ever got made, and seemingly it got a decent amount of budget and time to work with. The series is pretty niche in general, and I think has generally sold much less than something like Metroid or F-Zero, yet somehow Pikmin gets an entry on the Wii U and those other series didn't. Maybe Pikmin games are cheaper to make than I realize, but it seems like an insane project to greenlight when kinda nobody gives a fuck about that series relative to other Nintendo series. I mean, I care, but in the landscape of gaming Pikmin is a very small blip on the radar since they basically made 2 Gamecube games and then abandoned the series for a good long while.

Pikmin 2 is one of my favorite games but it might not be for you, and that's OK. I played that game very slowly/carefully. Also don't forget about the C-Stick to move your group away from obstacles. That's my advice.

@bisonhero: It's fun to imagine the exterior as Miyamoto's garden and the claustrophobic dungeons definitely break that premise. They also don't really look that good or at least aren't very interesting, especially compare to the above ground world and lose that sense of place and just end up feeling like stages. My favorite thing so far, besides the music, is seeing what they name all the different objects. Gonna do a playthrough of Life is Strange before my PS+ expires and maybe come back to P2 after...lol damnit, so hard to accept I don't like Pikmin.

@liquiddragon: Yeah, I agree that the dungeons break the premise and look crummy. It's also nonsense that time functionally stops in the dungeons. The above ground areas feel like a cool, semibelievable world compared to how all of the dungeons feel like they were slapped together in a level editor by a soulless robot. Some of the later tilesets don't even make sense - one of them is literally the hardwood floor of a kids' playroom with wooden blocks making up the "walls" of the dungeons. The writing in Pikmin 2 is still definitely quite good, with all the names/descriptions of Earth artifacts (lol, lots of product placement, like isn't the tutorial a Duracell battery?). Also, I remember Pikmin 2 has a compendium with fun little descriptions of all of the creatures you encounter.

Since you're not buying a Wii U just for Pikmin 3 (understandable), if you can somehow get a hold of Pikmin 1, I think it has a more cohesive vision and feel.

Pikmin to me is atempting to reign in chaos. Things usually go wrong in hilarious ways and you just have to deal. Great series, and I hope to see some stuff about Hey! Pikmin or maybe even a Switch version at E3

@liquiddragon: That happens to me every now and then too- I have a game on the backburner for years and years, fully expecting to really like it once I get to it. And then I finally play it, and.... just doesn't click. Those are the hard ones to move on from, because I've built up expectations, and then can't even identify why it's not clicking. I had that feeling big time when I finally tried Tactics Ogre LUCT a few years ago. I usually love those kinds of games and had heard so many good things about that one, but once I eventually got around to playing it I just couldn't get into it. And even worse I couldn't really figure out why (just some rough guesses), and it bummed me out big time. But I moved on and eventually got over it, there are too many good games to play to get hung up on it for too long :)

@bisonhero: Yeah, I definitely enjoy the writing and like that type of product placement. I think the compendium is called Pikipedia? It's great 'cause the descriptions are all from Olimar's perspective, which is not only funny but also a nice bit of world building. It's a neat twist to have an Earth-like world as the alien planet and constantly be reminded "isn't our world strange." Maybe I'll keep an eye out for a cheap new play control Pikmin 1. They seem to not be crazy expensive but a bit more than I want to pay for a used copy.

@majormitch: Yeah, I guess I have to accept that my heart is cold and my soul is dark and just move on...

Every time I see this thread title I think it should be something like "Does Pikmin take a while to click...min?"

I have nothing else to add. The Pikmin games were always appealing to me and I think I bought 1 for my Gamecube but I never got around to playing it. I am a bad gamer.

Reading this thread makes me really want to play Pikmin 3 now. I loved the first two games and bought the third but never played it for some stupid reason. Maybe it's time to right that wrong.

Pikmin, to me, is a game about balancing risk and reward. I both loved and hated the dungeons in Pikmin 2 because of this. I loved them because they made you be very careful with your Pikmin and have to think strategically. I hated them because sometimes you would just hit that one monster you weren't expecting and would have mass casualties with no way of knowing that it was coming. I remember a giant roller boss thingy killing all of my Pikmin in one shot and ruining an otherwise perfect run, and because I had never seen it before. The next time I encountered it I beat it easily but I wasted a lot of time because of that thing.

Time to dust off the Wii U.

edit: Also, yes those games had the best music.

I want Pikmin on Switch so badly!