At some point in 2023, Pikmin 4 is scheduled to arrive. The game was originally name-dropped close to a decade ago by Miyamoto, and fans haven't seen much of it since. Apart from the few years between the original two GameCube Pikmin titles, every major title in the series has been separated by a significant time gap. Despite the need for speed and efficiency in Pikmin, fans have been kept waiting for Pikmin 4, though not without any franchise support. Some side projects came out along the way, including Hey! Pikmin and Pikmin Bloom.
However, even though the Pokemon GO-like Pikmin Bloom seems intended as a major push for the franchise, it was Pikmin 3 Deluxe that really preceded Pikmin 4 in fans' eyes. Deluxe joined the ever-growing number of Wii U remasters ported to the Switch, but put in more effort than most. Many mechanics were refined in Pikmin 3 Deluxe, and new features such as campaign co-op and multiple difficulty modes were added. These are great, and will hopefully carry on to Pikmin 4 — though those difficulties will need some tweaks.
The Problems With Pikmin 3 Deluxe's Difficulties
For the first time in the series, Pikmin 3 Deluxe offered three difficulties for players to select. These could be changed from the file select screen, though doing so would lock away difficulty-related badge rewards. Normal and Hard were available at the start, and Ultra-Spicy is unlocked through beating the campaign or the demo. However, to ensure maximum accessibility for new Pikmin players, Normal mode was secretly an easy mode that featured longer days, more nectar eggs, more time to save drowning Pikmin, more leader health, and reduced enemy health. The alleged Hard mode was roughly on par with the original Wii U release.
Ultra-Spicy was a real challenge, but veteran Pikmin 3 players weren't impressed. It did raise enemy health significantly, cut juice amounts in half, and cap Pikmin armies at 60 units, but all this did was make some things mildly inconvenient. For those who knew Pikmin 3 well, Deluxe's hardest difficulty was so easy to work around that some players became bored. It got to the point that a Pikmin 3 True Spice mod was made to one-up Ultra-Spicy difficulty's advertised challenge.
How Pikmin 4 Can Make Hard Mode Harder
Something clearly went wrong with Pikmin 3 Deluxe's difficulty options, and it falls to Pikmin 4 to fix it. An obvious change would be to make the Normal and Hard difficulties reflect their names more appropriately, as well as ensure that bonus modes aren't locked to the lowest difficulty, especially challenge maps. Once that's done, it's time to take a long, hard look at what a good hard mode should be in Pikmin. Random elements like unavoidable damage and falling bomb rocks from Pikmin 2's caves should be avoided, so Pikmin 4 should opt for a more direct approach.
Changing enemy and treasure layouts would be best, but if that isn't feasible, then Pikmin 4 can instead make what's there more deadly. Increasing health is dull compared to increasing animation speed, pursuit range, and attack frequency. Limits that govern how many Pikmin can die at once may also be lifted. Furthermore, less Pikmin seeds could be produced, and a harsher limit on the player's time like Ultra-Spicy's halved juice could still work. Anything that punishes bad play without slowing things down should be considered. Implementing a mode this tough might seem counter to Nintendo's usual image, but it'd be great for pro Pikmin players looking to get more out of repeat Pikmin 4 playthroughs.
Pikmin 4 will be released in 2023 for the Nintendo Switch.
