Summary
While its success remains to be seen,Pikmin 4has the chance to make thePikminfranchise a household name. This is the first time that the series has released a brand-new mainline entry on an extremely successful Nintendo console, and its early sales numbers reflect that. Gamers everywhere are dipping their toes in thePikminfranchise for the first time, and hopefully that means Nintendo has plans for even more unique entries afterPikmin 4runs its course.
Pikmin 5will likely followPikmin 4eventually, but that game should not follow the current series' template. The franchise could thrive if Nintendo lifted the barriers and gave players a massive world to explore alongside their Pikmin. Just like howThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildreinvented what it means to be aZeldagame, a massive open-world sandboxPikmingame could breathe new life into the franchise. There is a ton of potential for a project like this, and the Switch’s successor may be the best place for it.
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Pikmin Should Be Inspired by Breath of the Wild
ThePikminseries has given players fun worlds to explore, but these worlds have been extremely limited. The locales feel like video game levels rather than an actual world, and the puzzles are set up in a way that makes these levels feel ridiculously small. While that does not hurt the series at all, Nintendo could do so much more with the concept.
EveryPikmingame tends to start by showing players how they crash-landed on a mysterious planet. They must then explore this planet,learn what Pikmin are, and spend the rest of the game trying to figure out how to repair their ship. This forces players to solve puzzles, unpack the mystery of the world, and do everything they can to survive. ThePikminseries has been using this template since its inception, but it also sounds eerily similar to modernLegend of Zeldagames.
Zelda: Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdomsee Link wake up after some calamity in a world that he barely recognizes. So much changes with each entry, and it is up to the player to discoverwhat has happened in Hyrule. They must explore the world, solve all sorts of puzzles, and fight for their lives. This massive scope has really helpedZeldabecome one of the biggest franchises around, and it may be time for Nintendo to replicate the formula with one of its most overlooked franchises.
It feels like thePikminseries would thrive with a massive worldlikeZelda: Breath of the Wild. Players could crash-land on this new planet, be forced to traverse an expansive sandbox, and do everything they can to get off alive. Massive structures could dot the land, Pikmin villages could serve as quest hubs, and the world could be filled with countless treasures waiting to be discovered. It would not only letPikminfans experience the series in a whole new way, but also let Nintendo build out this unique franchise with dozens of new stories.
While it would take some work, aPikmingame followingZelda: Breath of the Wild’s lead could be fantastic. It would be unlike anything the series has seen before and may be the perfect way to fully realize its potential. The game could still haveall the hallmarks of the RTS series, but with a brand-new spin that could redefine what it means to be aPikmingame. It may be too late for a game like this to release on the Switch, but newer hardware could finally give fans thePikmingame they never knew they needed.
