After years of uncertainty, Pikmin 4 has finally been properly announced and shown off. Having been alluded to all the way back in 2015, fans have been waiting on this game for a long time. Now that Pikmin has reintroduced itself with a re-release of Pikmin 3 and Pikmin Bloom, it seems that Pikmin 4’s time to shine has come. Only a few glimpses at the game world and a screenshot of gameplay have been revealed, but with news almost guaranteed in the next nine months, the Pikmin community feels revitalized.
Now that Pikmin 4 is a reality, discussions have turned towards what it's going to be like. A new camera angle set behind the playable captain has been teased, but aside from that nothing else is known. There could be one or two new Pikmin types in addition to the classic trio and extras introduced in Pikmin 2 and 3. Players are most likely expected to search for resources or treasure under a time limit, just like past entries. All in all, Pikmin 4 will probably resemble a typical Pikmin game, although Nintendo isn’t one to revive a franchise without some kind of twist. There is a chance, and plenty of reasons, for Pikmin 4 to become an open world game.
Converting Pikmin’s Structure Into an Open World
The Pikmin franchise has always set its action in several large maps. Pikmin 2 changed things up with multi-floor dungeons, but its outdoor environments were still dense with things to do. General size and complexity did increase somewhat in Pikmin 3, with some parts of areas even being separated by screen transitions. However, due to the format of Pikmin, every map must be built around a home base of sorts. Whether this is a small clearing in a cavern or a field where the spaceship and Pikmin Onions are parked, adventuring out from one point and returning loot there is part of Pikmin's identity. Going open world would challenge that somewhat, but would also prompt it to innovate in interesting ways.
A place for treasures to be brought to and Pikmin to be created is always necessary, so the players should have a limited ability to bring that with them. This doesn't mean that downed enemies and items should be processed on the spot, but instead that there are still central points in regions that the player can call spaceships to. A probable structure for an open world Pikmin 4 would involve entering a region, opening it up through exploration and gaining treasure, and then embarking deep into the core or first available section of another region to claim a new base. Having bosses guard potential home bases would make them feel like greater rewards than average collectibles, and each base could also act as a fast travel point.
How An Open World Could Make Pikmin 4 Blossom
Condensing the multiple-region approach into one giant map still permits multiple captains and players to coordinate in a confined area, and will allow for players to experiment with different routes through Pikmin 4. They will need to watch for the standard sundown curfew, although it could be repurposed for something more freeform. Normally, sunset means the Pikmin protagonists and their armies need to withdraw from the planet because of nocturnal predators. Pikmin 4 should keep this to encourage liberating bases, but it could instead give players the option to stay up late. By letting the time limit run out and possibly also refusing a pop-up to leave, players would be harassed by endless hordes of roaming enemies. Even so, it’s up to them whether the rewards outweigh the risk.
There are a lot of ways Pikmin could evolve by adopting an open world approach, and the above are just some of the largest. Multiplayer could become even more integrated with captains able to travel far apart on different tasks. Puzzles and fights could both be made larger in scale to emphasize how small Pikmin's characters are. Something could be done in one region that directly affects another, possibly necessitating a mad dash similar to what past games’ Wraiths have inspired. And of course, the sense of exploring a huge alien world accentuated by a low camera angle would please any Pikmin fan. Pikmin 4 has the chance to follow many of Nintendo's other franchises into the open world genre and could bloom even more impressively in the process.
Pikmin 4 will be released in 2023 for Nintendo Switch.
