If we’re being honest here, Nintendo is known for not just making “cute” franchises but ones that are “easy to play.” However, there are plenty of Nintendo IPs that offer either difficult gameplay or plenty of challenges to overcome. The irony is that the Pikmin franchise “walks the line” between both of these topics. The game is undoubtedly cute, yet many players have found it difficult over its three main entries, which is why the sales of those titles haven’t been what you expected. In the second part of the Pikmin 4 dev team interview, the creators broke down why that is.
Shigeru Miyamoto himself admitted that he doesn’t know why the franchise hasn’t sold better, nor why gamers feel the games are difficult. But he did his best to explain why this difficulty was what made the games unique:
“I get that people find it more difficult when death is a factor. But I think the franchise’s strength lies in its relationship with mortality. If something is irreversible, you need to figure out a way to prevent undesired things from happening. I think people find Pikmin difficult for two reasons: the controls and the depth of gameplay. I spent a long time mulling over how we could convey these points as “interesting” rather than “difficult.””
It was that desire that helped shape Pikmin 4 in various ways and led to the creation of a character that many people are looking forward to: Oatchi.
Yes, the dog-like alien you meet early in the game is a key part of the new gameplay experience. You can level up the dog and use it in various ways to help you across the diverse world. But within that same developer interview, team member Yuji Kando admitted that Oatchi came from a desire to “lure people in” to the fourth title. But initially, they had a different idea:
“At the beginning of development, we were seeking what would become the selling point of this game, both in terms of gameplay features and in terms of being eye-catching. So, the first idea was that it would be interesting to have the player control a Bulborb, one of the native creatures, and have it chow down on Pikmin. Above all, it’d be visually striking.”
Eventually, they decided to go with the “space dog” idea, which got people’s attention. It’s clear that the team wanted to make this 4th entry special in various ways and bring people in. We’ll see how well they did on Friday!
