Pikmin 2

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Pikmin 2 for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[KarlDaFrog]

I adore the Pikmin series, but they’ve never been in the right place at the right time for me. I had Pikmin 1 around launch for the Gamecube, but the 30 day time limit really stressed me out as a kid. So when Pikmin 2 was being advertised without the day limit, I was excited to head back to PNF-404. Unfortunately, by the time it had come out, I was 12 years old and was being swayed by “cooler” games like Timesplitters and Halo.

I do have memories of finding a copy of in a friend’s basement during a sleepover and us trying out the multiplayer. I remember not being particularly compelled by it, and quickly switching back to a multiplayer shooter for the night.

That music though! I love the sunset variants of all the tracks, the rest sublevels, and the Youtuber Scruffy has a great breakdown of how the procedurally generated music works in the caves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPFWzSl ... XVzaWM%3D

Pikmin 2 is beautiful game, with gorgeous visuals and dense music capturing the mysterious and wistful vibe of the Pikmin series. It’s just a shame I’ve only “half-played” the game. Maybe on the Switch? I’ll try Pikmin 4 first I think.

[Jobobonobo]

I was a big fan of the original Pikmin but my one big complaint was the 30 day limit. I wanted to explore this bizarre planet for as long as I wanted and thankfully that is exactly what Pikmin 2 gave us. This game to me is a prime example of a sequel coming along and improving all that came before it. More levels to explore, new pikmin types, underground dungeons unaffected by time completely, more creatures that you must deal with, a new partner that can enable you to split up your tasks and even a multiplayer mode which was more fun than I expected. The added revelation that you might be exploring a future version of Earth due to the various treasures you uncover even brings in some intriguing lore into this series. Pikmin 1 was a great introduction to a cute yet savage universe and Pikmin 2 showed that this concept had enough legs to sustain it as one of Nintendo’s most unique franchises.

TWR: Wonderful little followup

[Buskalilly]

I think I'm on the other side of the fence to a lot of people; this game suffers without the time limit. Combined with the less relatable story - rather than an innocent man trying to escape, Olimar is here to profit from the planet - Pikmin 2 lacked stakes compared to its predecessor. The caves add some challenge, and the game never left me with the empty feeling Pikmin 4 could give me after completely strip-mining planets, but I think it went too far in the wrong direction to adress the original game's criticisms. In a reverse of Star Trek, odd-numbered Pikmin games are the best for me.

[Toon Scottoon]

Pikmin 2 leverages the polarity between whimsy and the grotesque with such violence and intention that on numerous occasions I found myself staring at the screen open mouthed and wide-eyed awash sometimes with contentment and often with horror.

The Pikmin themselves are adorable, particularly the thique purple sprouts, and the way the onions waltzes around the Hocotate ship to one of Pikmin 2's powdered sugar songs is as playful and pleasing as any well made toddler's television show. That these bouncy and baleful images butt up against the carnage wrought by the Empress Bulblax, particularly the second incarnation with it's pale and sticky offspring ejecting from it's birth canal (an experience that leaves me on the verge of gagging as I think about it now) is an achievement Nintendo should be proud of, but that will simultaneously keep me from returning to this title for a more complete playthrough for some time.

Three word review - Out of Hocotate