Summary
- Pikmin 4's debut marked a glorious return for the series, featuring dungeons, Oatchi, and efficient gameplay in the Dandori trials.
- Fans eagerly anticipate Pikmin 4 DLC, hoping for additional challenge maps and a focus on story content for the game's future.
- Speculation abounds about a potential Pikmin 4 Deluxe release, which could introduce campaign co-op, new difficulties, and more post-launch support.
On July 21, 2024, Pikmin 4 celebrates its first birthday. What was considered a pipe dream for almost a decade finally launched in July 2023, and fortunately proved worth the wait. Fans rallied around the returning dungeons, the debut of Oatchi, and the general emphasis on efficiency in and out of the fittingly-named Dandori trials. Pikmin 3 Deluxe’s surprise Nintendo Switch launch in 2020 was a welcome sign of life, and Pikmin Bloom raised some eyebrows, but Pikmin 4 felt like the proper return to glory that Pikmin deserved.
Even a year later, many fans are still basking in the afterglow of this strong new entry, though some have lingering questions. For as strong a return to form as Pikmin 4 was, the series’ future is once again uncertain. Pikmin 3 enjoyed three small waves of Challenge Mode DLC within six months of its release, and Pikmin 3 Deluxe came with all of that on top of new side-story missions and several other playthrough-altering features, but there's no sign of anything for Pikmin 4. A growing contingent of fans have begun discussing possible Pikmin 4 post-launch support, and the game's second year is the right time to get it.
Pikmin 4: 7 Challenges To Make The Game Harder
Those who find Pikmin 4 to be mostly a walk in the park can try these daunting gameplay challenges to spice things up.
Pikmin 4 DLC Could Include More Challenge Maps
Even more so than Pikmin 3, Pikmin 4 is well-suited to add-ons. Although almost all of its content is integrated into the single-player campaign, Pikmin 4 still has several alternative game types built into its base package that typically involve the more constrained activities one would expect to see in DLC. Dandori Challenge mirrors Pikmin 2’s Challenge Mode and Pikmin 3’s Mission Mode, which the latter’s DLC is part of, so more missions in its style could be attached to its corresponding NPC in Pikmin 4's Rescue Command Post hub. The same could be done with the Dandori Battle and night expedition maps, different as they all are.
Trial of the Sage Leaf Provides A Great Pikmin DLC Format
While Pikmin 3’s DLC was as straightforward as adding new and remixed maps to the existing Mission Mode, Pikmin 4 has another option to make things feel more special. The Trial of the Sage Leaf is a special Dandori Challenge cave found directly inside the Rescue Command Post, and it consists of ten successive challenge maps instead of the usual one. It's one of Pikmin 4's greatest postgame challenges, and the only way to unlock White and Purple Pikmin. Not only that, it also introduces extra objectives, bringing back Pikmin 3’s “defeat all enemies” permutation alongside missions like racing to a goal or securing one particular treasure. This could be the optimal format to dole out Pikmin 4’s DLC maps en masse.
Story Could Be Pikmin 4 DLC’s Focus
Speaking of formats that lend themselves to DLC, the same can be said for Pikmin 4's current campaign. Pikmin 4 not going full open world actually better equips it to receive new regions as DLC, within which it could have more caverns, castaways, and potentially even items and upgrades. Unlike past Pikmin games, there is no time limit or sense of urgency in Pikmin 4 beyond the daily timer, so traveling to more areas would be easy to justify.
Justifications may be what Pikmin fans want the most, as Pikmin 4 represents a reboot to the series timeline. How this relates to the original games, if at all, hasn't been detailed yet, and they still offer a number of mysteries, like Pikmin’s various Umebozu-like Wraiths and what happened to the planet's original civilization. Just focusing on Pikmin 4's narrative alone, there's an implication that something about the Pikmin planet is forcing passing ships to crash on it, which feels like an obvious plot thread to pull on in either a new Pikmin game or a new Pikmin 4 scenario.
A New Campaign Could Be In Pikmin 4’s Future
Tying gameplay and narrative together, Pikmin 4’s DLC could take the form of a distinct, shorter story mode akin to Olimar's Shipwreck Tale. Multiple scenarios for this mode readily present themselves, including what Louie was doing on the Pikmin planet before players found him, or what Moss was doing before she partnered with Olimar. There could even be a sequel story involving Moss cooperating with both Pikmin and the pacified Ancient Sirehound for some personal goal. Complete with narration describing the protagonist’s thoughts and potentially other members of Moss’ species replicating her role as Pikmin 4’s most devious roaming enemy, this would make a great cap to the Pikmin 4 experience.
Pikmin 4 Deluxe Would Give Pikmin 4 All The Support It Needs
One more motive presents itself for why Pikmin 4 has been denied further support on the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo may intend to update the game exactly like its immediate predecessor, Pikmin 3. Just as Pikmin 3 Deluxe was an upgraded re-release on the Wii U’s replacement, the rumored Nintendo Switch successor could harbor a parallel title in Pikmin 4 Deluxe. This wouldn't achieve the same record-setting performance as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but it should still get a significant sales boost from landing in the Switch 2’s launch window.
What Features Pikmin 4 Deluxe Could Add
A Pikmin 4 Deluxe would ideally include some major new content, on top of a mixture of refinements and Pikmin 3 Deluxe’s best additions. Permitting full campaign co-op should be possible on the newer console’s hardware, whether that involves Player 2 controlling Oatchi or a separate Rescue Corps member that potentially has their own Rescue Pup. Multiple difficulties would be appreciated, and the much-requested toggle to disable the automatic cursor lock-on could finally be implemented. There are lots of ways Pikmin 4 could introduce post-launch support in its second year, and hopefully, Nintendo already has one in the works.
Pikmin 4
- Released
- July 21, 2023
