Developer : Nintendo
Release date : July 26, 2013
Synopsis :
Pikmin 3 is a real-time strategy and puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U video game console. It is the sequel to the GameCube games Pikmin (2001) and Pikmin 2 (2004), and was released in Japan on July 13, 2013, and in all other regions within the following month. Shigeru Miyamoto announced Pikmin 3 on July 16, 2008, for the Wii console, later stating at E3 2011 that it had transitioned to Wii U.
The game builds upon existing elements of the Pikmin series, adding more player characters, Pikmin types, and support for Off-TV Play and downloadable content. In the single-player campaign, the player controls three alien captains, who explore the surface of a planet they name PNF-404 in search of cultivable fruit seeds to save their home planet, Koppai, from famine. They befriend the Pikmin who assist them in combat, solving puzzles, and amassing resources.
Pikmin 3 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the gameplay, graphics and level design. Pikmin 3 Deluxe, an enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch, was released on October 30, 2020. A sequel, Pikmin 4, is slated for 2023.
Pikmin 3 is set on the mysterious planet from the previous Pikmin games, now designated “PNF-404”. Five different areas on PNF-404 are accessible for the player to explore, each with diverse topography. The narrator explains that the inhabitants of the planet Koppai are suffering from famine as a result of a “booming population, booming appetites, and a basic lack of planning”.
Having scouted multiple planets with their SPEROS ships, the planet returns positive with abundance of cultivable food. Three Koppaite explorer captains, Alph, Brittany, and Charlie, are sent to explore and retrieve food sources. Their ship, the S.S. Drake, malfunctions and crash-lands, separating the three. Captain Charlie falls to the Distant Tundra and meets the Yellow Pikmin, but is eaten by a monster. Alph wakes up in the Tropical Wilds and meets the Red Pikmin, who help him recover their ship. Alph learns that the “cosmic drive key” is required to warp back to Koppai. Alph finds Brittany in the Garden of Hope, and rescues her with the help of Rock Pikmin. The two captains rescue Captain Charlie, after the S.S. Drake crashes and Brittany discovers Yellow Pikmin. They retrieve some fruits for the food supply and harvest the seeds on their journey. The S.S. Drake and the Pikmin Onions ascend into low orbit each evening to avoid voracious nocturnal creatures. The trio recover one of Captain Olimar’s lost data files, and suspect that he has the key and explore in his pursuit. Later, they mistakenly rescue Louie, who steals all of their food supply and escapes to the Garden of Hope. After retrieving them both, they restrain and interrogate Louie, who tells them that Olimar is at Formidable Oak. There, the captains and the Pikmin defeat a mysterious life form known as the Plasm Wraith, to save Olimar, who had taken the cosmic-drive key, thinking it is a treasure, and he gives it back. The explorers use the key for the ship, offering Olimar and Louie a ride back to Hocotate, and they return home as the Pikmin wave goodbye.
The narrator speaks at the game’s ending, which varies based on the number of fruit the player retrieved during the game. If the player collects a minimum amount of fruit, the narrator states the explorers feel “unease” over the possibility the seeds collected will not be enough to save Koppai. If the player collects a respectable amount of fruit, it is stated that careful planning will be required to save Koppai. If the player collects all fruits, the narrator states that the three have successfully completed their mission to restore life in Koppai and that the cause of the S.S. Drake’s crash-landing may be on purpose. In a post-credits scene, some Pikmin see a flaming object falling to the ground and run to it. An additional story in Pikmin 3 Deluxe, “Olimar’s Comeback”, reveals the object to be a pod containing Olimar and Louie, who are sent back to the planet by the president of Hocotate Freight to repair and retrieve the damaged spaceship they left behind.
Source : Wikipedia
