Parents' Guide to Pikmin 4

Fans of previous Pikmin games will love what's new here -- the variety of Pikmin, huge assortment of enemies (more than 100, in fact), many hidden treasures, and a new canine companion. Pikmin 4 isn't as challenging as many of its predecessors, which might irk some hardcore players, but novice gamers will no doubt fall for this charming, accessible and unique puzzler for Nintendo Switch. Younger gamers may also enjoy Pikmin 4, but there's a lot of dialog and not many options to skip through. All in all, Pikmin 4 is worth your time and money for its well-balanced and engaging game mechanics, hundreds of hidden treasures to collect, and excellent graphics and music.

While there aren't many customization options (and no gender options for characters, which is disappointing), the first thing you'll do is create your own hero – a first for the series – and then learn how to use your teeny and adorable helpers. Over time, you'll learn about each one's abilities, such as the new Ice Pikmin that can freeze enemies (or water), tougher Rock Pikmin that can resist getting crushed by beetles and other enemies, and Glow Pikmin that can illuminate the scene during night missions. You can't skip all the tutorials and dialog sequences, but they'll become less frequent as you work your way through new and unique locations and missions and fending off new waves of elemental enemies. It's fun to assign and watch the various Pikmin do their thing – tossing them into combat, others used to dig tunnels and a third group to carry treasure. New to this sequel is no limit to the number of days you have to finish the story, therefore less of an intense race against time and more of a leisurely approach to your missions. Plus, if you get stuck, you can also rewind time to a particular checkpoint and approach the task in a different manner. You'll also learn how to maximize your two-legged puppy Oatchi, who is particularly useful in your work and a welcome addition to the franchise. Boss battles are a blast and it's fun to experiment with upgrades to increase your speed, strength, defense and more. Without giving much away, there's more to this game than the 20-hour main campaign and the secondary challenge mode called Dandori Battle. The co-op play is boring, though, as one player simply helps the other out rather than two people working equally to play the game. Pikmin 4 is a fresh, fun and often frantic strategy game that gets it mostly right. What it lacks in depth it makes up for in variety and accessibility.