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Parents' Guide to

Pikmin 4

By Marc Saltzman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Cute game sequel with more options; cartoon violence.

Game Nintendo Switch 2023
The box for Pikmin 4, showing small and colorful Pikmin creatures, a dog, and other miniature characters in a garden.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 3 parent reviews

oscar P.
oscar P. Parent of 9-year-old
December 8, 2023
age 4+

it,s good.

Ted D.
Ted D. Parent of 13-year-old
November 17, 2023
age 7+

Pikmin gets a fantastic but easy sequel!

This game is off the chain, dawg! Ew, why did I say that? But anyways, as a HUGE fan of the franchise, I was over the moon to see the fourth one! And how over that moon I should have stayed. This game is excellent! There’s a whole variety of gameplay in this, through challenges, to the main story, to bringing back the epic piklopedia and treasure hoard (which is now just treasure catalogue, but whatever) This game brings back iconic enemies that haven’t seen the light of day for ages, like the mushroom guy.. the empress worm… the… invulnerable except not to purples… guy… everyone’s favourites! The characters are also fun to be with and complete missions for, when they’re aren’t talking for 50 hours. Also, all the rescue corps and named after dogs, so I named my 6th playthrough’s character Terry (based on terriers) The music in this is awesome, and it sounds like it would win greatest hits radio, I’m not joking. It’s a legendary game. The ONLY reason I’m giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because the game is to easy. I mean, WAAAY TO EASY. There isn’t that challenge pushing in the player like in Pikmin 2, there isn’t that limited time system like in Pikmin 1 and 3, it’s just a plain ass easy game wheee you spend as much time as you want. Granted, there is a lot of content, but that doesn’t really take away from the excuse of being an easy game. The smoky progg? Remember when he was a horrific hellspawn and was a force to be reckoned with? Looks like he returns, and you’re forced to face him! Looks really chal- actually no, I managed to break his egg before he got out. Remember the iconic bird snake thing, the burrowing snagret? Remember when he was an actual challenge in the first 2 games? Yeah well, she’s dead before I could finish the sentence, being nerfed. Waterwraith, the actual Waterwraith returns, and it’s a walking (or rather rolling) JOKE in this one. (Also I just saw footage of the snagret in Pikmin 1 and 2 just to be sure, and it turns out you could attack their bodies in those games, as well as the head, and in the later games, you must attack the head. So, I retract my statement of burrowing snagrets being nerfed. They really were unerfed, huh) It’s all thanks to the new playable character OATCHI. He puts the sweet game on EXTREME-SWEET MODE whenever you have him with you. He can jump, heal, charge, charge INFINITELY, swallow, grab, attack, be rode on, go through doors, be played as without the captain and can even be affected by the returning ULTRA-SPICY SPRAY! I honestly just kind of hate his existence. He makes this game SO easy when it was already a slice of cake with carrots on top. Anyway, that was my long review on the game. It’s really good and you should play it. Goodnight to all.
See all 3 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Can you survive a treacherous new world that doesn't want you there? This is the premise behind PIKMIN 4, the latest in Nintendo's beloved strategy game series now available for Nintendo Switch. Similar to its predecessors, you find yourself on an Earth-like planet, and instead of playing as protagonists from previous games, for the first time in the franchise you can create your own hero with a couple of customization options, including body type, hair, and spacesuit color. To safely explore this world, solve challenges and remain protected against other creatures, you'll enlist the help of the tiny plantlike creatures, Pikmin. You'll have a much greater variety of Pikmin this time around (opposed to classic Red, Blue and Yellow), including Purple, Rock, White, Glow, Winged, and Ice Pikmin. Also new to the series is a loyal space dog, Oatchi, who can be incredibly useful as it sniffs out and digs to find hidden items you can use, smashes through obstacles, carries you and your Pikmin on its back and jumps to reach items and shortcuts (as an ant-sized creature, this can be quite helpful). Along with being able to attack enemies for you, Oatchi's abilities are also upgradeable. Pikmin 4 has a cooperative (co-op) option for two players to work together on the same screen, and additional content not found in the main campaign.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (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.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether Nintendo's Pikmin 4 introduces enough new content to justify the sequel, or is it just a way to make more money from fans of previous games? Is this a game fans asked for or is it Nintendo that wanted to release it for Nintendo Switch owners (or both)?

  • While the Pikmin series isn't likely a game parents should be concerned about, bookmark Common Sense Media for helpful tips to navigating inappropriate games and other content for children in the family.

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