'Hey! Pikmin' is an Odd Pikmin Game

I've been thinking a lot about the beautiful joys of the 3DS, as one must, and I decided that yes, I must again commit to regular 3DS time. This is my duty. This is important. 

So, this week I have been playing Hey! Pikmin, a game released startlingly late into the console's life, in 2017. Yes. And it doesn't use the 3D, which personally hurts my feelings, because I do earnestly love the 3DS's 3D. Sometimes I play games with the 3D on. The 3D is for me, and I very much appreciate it.

Members of the Pikmin subreddit have called this game "okay" and "boring" and this is about the right assessment, I think.

Worldly-Trade-2846 weighs in.

The transition from neat little 3D environments - where you could clump several Pikmin together and accidentally drown them in a small patch of water and stuff like that - to a Rayman-style 2D platformer outing feels awkward. It's hard to pinpoint what makes a game feel distinctly like a mobile game, but there is a sort of feeling of stillness about Hey! Pikmin that, combined with a sort of zoomed-out and uncharming art style, really makes me think of unpleasant games I could play on my phone.

It's also because the gameplay feels samey very quickly. You slowly walk to the next leafy area. You blow your whistle to alert the tiny red men. You wait for them to bring you whatever item they have. By now, you're sleepy. And that's the essense of "game on phone". This questionable Pikmin game has that essence.

My beautiful drawing of a snooty Olimar.

But not everything mobile game-y is bad. I like, for example, the relatively simplistic, lightly puzzle-y traversal of the levels. They feel oddly frictionless, and so it can become slightly dream-like to press on with your Pikmin.

I also enjoy the humourous descriptions of all of your recovered relics. This is the most prominent characterisation in the game, and it's effective and delightful to read.

I am compelled by the Pikmin in this slightly off format, but at the same time, they tire me. I think I must lie down.