Playing Pikmin

Background

I remember every now and then seeing these creatures be it in promotional material or online discussions. Yet I was never attracted to this series before, its visual presentation just didn't spoke to me. But hearing more and more about how fun this game is made me at the very least curious so I decided to give it a shot.

Story

You crash landed on the planet filled with small creatures our protagonist called "pikmins" and with their help you retrieve ship parts to go back home.

I find it interesting to read the small journal notes that protagonist makes about their observations about the planet or sentiments of homesickness and melancholy.

Gameplay

A tight time constraint is the first thing I've noticed. You have a month to collect 30 ship parts. Fun comes from doing as many things as you can in a single day and optimizing your routine.

Traversing the terrain filled with hazards and enemies makes 90% of the game. As you go to your objectives you ideally want as many of your pikmins to survive as possible.

The game is challenging which I wasn't prepared for. I got my crowds of pikmins get crushed multiple times just because I've thought I mastered everything and became a bit careless.

The game manages to be whimsy and cartoonishly grim at the same time and I started to care about those little creatures as they react to everything in a fun and simple way.