Pikmin 3 Deluxe on Nintendo Switch: All that and then some

Pikmin 3 Deluxe brings the criminally neglected Pikmin 3 from the Wii U to the Nintendo Switch. With it comes a slew of new features and improvements.

Title: Pikmin 3 Deluxe
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: October 30, 2020

When the Wii U was around, I was one of the only people I knew that actually had one and played it, which is surprising considering I worked at a Gamestop at that time. I personally loved the goofy little system as it had some exceptional games on it and the second screen feature made games like the Windwaker remake an absolute joy to play as I could literally keep the game going while jotting something down on a map. One of the few games I missed out on for the system, however, was Pikmin 3.

I mostly avoided this one because I am deathly afraid of time limits in games. If you don’t believe me when I say time limits fill me with anxiety, simply watch the hair on my arms stand up when you play the drowning music from Sonic. I have literally sat down to play a Sonic game only to talk myself out of it because of the knowledge that at some point in the game I’d have to submerge my hedgehog.

Because of this, I skipped Pikmin 3, remembering the hair loss I suffered at the hands of the first Pikmin for the Gamecube. Turns out it was a blessing because it means I get to dive into this review of Pikmin 3 Deluxe fresh-faced and, admittedly, I’m enjoying this.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe starts off with your ship of brave yet tiny explorers Alph, Brittany and Charlie are on a search for a planet filled with food when their ship crashes and the crew is separated. View conversations, a narrative-heavy story, and moments where the characters fill out a journal at the end of the day, the game has a charming, almost storybook way of conveying information to you that I enjoyed.

It’s not long after you start playing that you encounter the titular Pikmin. These color-coded cohorts will be your primary companions throughout the game each with their own abilities. Yellow ones are immune to electricity damage and can link hands to complete circuits. Rock ones are heavy and dense and cause a lot more damage when thrown plus can break glass walls.

They are adorable, loyal, useful and absolutely love to get in the way when you’re trying to take screenshots of the game’s lush, gigantic scenery.

As you play through the game you have changing missions. Reunite with your crewmates, locate new food supplies, investigate mysterious signals, things like that. All of these goals are achieved via using Pikmin in different ways all while making sure to get things done before the sun goes down and the game’s infamous mushroom frog-looking creatures wake up and just start eating everything. This brings me back to my timelimit anxiety from earlier.

Luckily, one of Pikmin 3 Deluxe’s new features is an adjustable difficulty mode. In addition to making Pikmin a bit more durable, it also slows the timer down so it doesn’t always feel like you’re in a mad rush to get everything done which I appreciated greatly.

The game starts off pretty casually, in all honesty. I thought the game was going to be harder but, as long as you put a heavy focus on gathering fruit you’ll have more than enough food to not have to worry about from time limits. And the game absolutely bombards you with clues. Not only is there a new feature that allows you to tap up on the D-Pad at any time to get a clue as to what you should be doing but Olimar (of the previous Pikmin) has left clues everywhere to help.

These can be really useful especially during a boss fight because, while I normally like figuring things out on my own, I am absolutely filled with guilt when my trial and error efforts lead to Pikmin shuffling this mortal coil so I will normally start all boss battles scrambling at the clues. Plus, the art is cute on them.

The Deluxe mode also adds a lot to the game by adding new modes. You can play Mission Mode which is just little side missions where you can compete in an online leader board for the best time.

There is a new epilogue added to the game that’s about a 3 hour series of missions featuring Olimar and Louie from the previous games. I didn’t get into these though as they are infuriating and very difficult scrambles. I can see someone enjoying these but for a game about finding and squashing fruit into jars to preserve them, this, sadly, wasn’t my jam.

Another cool feature the game added is split-screen co-op. Many missions in the game require you to hop between your different explorers to get things done. This usually requires each character to move one at a time within the time limit. But with co-op you can run off and do one thing while your buddy moves on to do a secondary objective.

Unfortunately, there’s no online co-op which would have been a blessing, especially in the middle of a pandemic where all of my friends’ physical forms are hazy memories that occasionally visit me in my dreams like faded apparitions. But the co-op is still welcome. Especially because it’s nice to have company during the boss battles which are normally against creatures that feature every single thing an animal can have that makes me want to absolutely nope out of seeing nature ever again.

All things considered though, this game is a wonderful and unique experience. The graphics, though a bit dated, are charming. The controls have been revamped with quality of life features like the ability to lock onto enemies and other targets is a blessing. And just little things like them naming fruit they’re not familiar with becomes an absolute joy when you find that they’ve labeled “peaches” as “mock bottoms”. Even someone like me, who has an absolute fear of time limits, can find a ton of enjoyment and appreciate a game like this.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.