I really liked this game. I found it to be really fun. In all honesty, this was my very first full fledged Pikmin game. I didn't play Pikmin 1 or 2. Tho, I did play the other Pikmin game, in NintendoLand. In fact, the NintendoLand Pikmin game is what got me to try this series. I had always heard that Pikmin was a great game, but I had never bothered to try the games out for myself. That is, until NintendoLand got me interested in it. So, thanks to NintendoLand, I picked up Pikmin 3 when it released. And I have to say, I had a blast with it. I wasn't 100% sure what to expect going into it, but I came out completely satisfied with the game.
I do plan on going back and playing Pikmin 1 and 2 now, however, I also plan on playing Pikmin 3 again. I liked playing it with the Wiimote and nunchuck, however, I also got used to playing it solely on the Gamepad. In fact, my best time on the timed challenge thing was done with the Gamepad controls and not the Wiimote/nunchuck controls. I know most people love the Wiimote/nunchuck style of playing, and I enjoy it too. But I found that I also enjoyed the Gamepad only controls as well.
I really, really took my time with the main game. I stocked up on fruit, and fully explored every corner and every inch of every map. I took the entire game in, and fully experienced it. I found 100% of every fruit in the game. When I finally beat the game, I had taken over 50+ days to beat it. I had heard that under 30 was average, but I took closer to 60 than 30. It was 50-something. I'd have to go back and double check. But I know it was in the 50's. That said, I still had fruit to last a long time. There's enough fruit to last either 99 or 100 days. One or the other, I forget off hand. But about that.
I liked the gameplay of the game, and the story worked well too. It looked super nice as well. When it came to the first Pikmin game, I didn't understand what it was supposed to be. So I never bothered with it, as there were a ton of other games out at the time, that I was already playing. So Pikmin was never on my radar. So when Pikmin 2 launched, I didn't even give it a second glance. I didn't know anything about the series, so it didn't interest me. However, again, thanks to NintendoLand, I jumped right into Pikmin 3, and fell in love with it. Now, I regret not jumping on board with Pikmin 1 and 2. I'll definitely be going back and getting those, and trying those out. Tho I regret not getting into it when they first came out.
Since I've already beaten Pikmin 3, I plan on beating some other Wii U titles first. But, I do plan on going back and playing Pikmin 3 again. Now that I know every map, and what to expect, I want to play it one more time, to refresh myself with the layout of everything, as I've played a bunch of Wii U games since, so it'll have been a while since I last played Pikmin 3, by the time I get back to it. And then, in my 3rd run, I plan on doing a run to see how fast I can beat the game, and still get all of the fruit. I keep hearing people say that under 30 is the ideal time, so I plan on aiming as close to 20 as possible. See what happens.
However, I'm really excited to get back into the Challenge mode. I loved beating my score in that. On the very first mission, I kept replaying it over and over again. Trying out different strategies. Doing things in different orders. Stuff like that. Finding out what works best, and what gets you the better score. I think I found a way that works best for me. I came really, really close to 100%ing that mission with the Gamepad only. I'm sure if I had the Wiimote/nunchuck, I could of done it. But I like the challenge of the Gamepad controls, as well as the convenience of using the Gamepad screen while watching movies or tv shows on my tv. So I'm truly having a blast with the Gamepad. That said, during that first mission, with the Gamepad, I was able to collect every fruit and kill every enemy in the level. In fact, I had already picked up every single item in the level that can be picked up. Including the dead corpses. However, time ran out as the Pikmin were carrying the last of everything to their ship. I was so close. I almost had 100% of everything on the level. I needed another 3 to 5 seconds, at most, as they didn't count what was in the Pikmin's hands, they only counted what had gotten fully returned to the ship already. So I have a tiny bit of work to do on that level. But I plan on "mastering" all of the missions. Also, I want to take on all of the bosses as well. Try out different strategies on them. See what works best. This way, when I go back to the main story, It'll help me speed up my progress in the game.
When it comes to the time limit, at first, I didn't want it to be there. I wanted free time to roam around, and explore. However, in the end, I like it. I think that it gives just that much more of a challenge to the game. Which I welcome. Plus, I get the idea that this 'new' and 'unexplored' land has hidden dangers as the creatures come out at night to feast on the living. So I get the idea behind the whole returning to the ship at the end of each 'day', thus, there being a time limit. However, the only thing that I've ever questioned about it was this.. if they go off into space after each day, why do they continue to choose to land in the exact same landing zone every day, when they know that their objective is farther away. Why not let us choose where to land the ship. Make the maps bigger, add different landing zones, and make some of the puzzles so that you have to do things in different areas. Thus, you can either choose to spot in the middle, and try to split up, going in opposite directions. Or, you could land closer to one and focus on that side one day, and then go to the other side the next day and things there. I think that could help add to the variety of game. But, seeing the sizes of each map, I get why it is the way it is. Still, if you left the planet each night, it seems to reason that you'd eventually think to find different spots to land at different times. I'm not talking about the different "zones" or "countries". I mean, having more landing spots in each 'zone' and/or 'country'. Perhaps in the next title.
Either way, I high enjoyed Pikmin 3, and the NintendoLand Pikmin game. So I look forward to going back and playing Pikmin 1 and 2. Also, I'll be greatly anticipating an eventual Pikmin 4. Whenever that happens to release. I went to the San Diego Comic-Con this year, and they had a pretty big Pikmin 3 section there. They even gave out Pikmin 3 stickers and t-shirts, and what not. Fun times. I got to play it there, for a little bit. But I chose to quit so that I wouldn't spoil myself on it, knowing I would have to wait for a little bit longer. But, in the end, I'm glad that I finally got it, played it, and loved it. I am now a Pikmin fan. So, thanks Nintendo. Pikmin 3 was an awesome game. I loved it. I even loved the Gamepad only offscreen play as well. Fun times.