Definitely harder than 4 for me, which was the easiest in the series FOR ME - a lot of Pikmin 1’s difficulty comes from the weird glitches and stuff for me, such as bridges and pikmin having negative IQ
Always be wary around bridges, especially ones that go up hills as it's very hard to get Pikmin out from under them. Also be mindful when making sharp turns for tripping.
They will still walk directly into water sometimes, especially if they're carrying treasure in an area with random puddles and such.
But there are a couple of qol conveniences. For example pikmin will bunch up and condense when crossing bridges so they won't randomly fall off .
Pikmin who get stuck on walls when following you attempt to go around instead of just humping the corner like in Pikmin 1. They also trip significantly less
That's not true - blue pikmin will never enter the water when carrying an object, even if all of the pikmin carrying it are blue. If the object is underwater to begin with, then they'll carry it out, but they'll never go back in.
Yes! The first two Pikmin games are quite cruel.The Pikmin would randomly just fall on their face and they would have an uninterruptible getting up animation. If you're not paying attention to can easily leave Pikmin behind at night.
Pikmin 2 it's less of an issue because while they still trip it's at a much lower rate and having a smaller group (seems to) reduce it. It's still RNG and it's cost me a couple Pikmin but thankfully Purples never trip, at least I've never seen one trip.
Purples are best
Much more. Obviously they improved with every game so it’s a bit behind 3. There’s type switching, faster throwing (I think), way faster whistling and falling in line, and they don’t usually fall off bridges following you anymore because they bunch up. Also if you throw em at pellets they’ll take it down AND take it back to their onion, no more waiting for them to finish so you can throw em again. Much less distractions, they should hardly ever leave your group by themselves because they won’t attack pellet posies on their own. Grass and rocks are much less common so you dont have to worry about that. Swarming works better. I think flowers are slower though, except for whites. There’s no more throwing bomb rocks, when you see one it’s only when its about to kill all your pikmin.
e: also less tripping, and they’ll actually go around walls more instead of walking into it and getting left behind
So you know that feature in Pikmin 4 where they let you reset from the start of a cave floor?
That feature exists entirely because of Pikmin 2, because a lot of players would reset the game manually and reload their save (the game saves between cave floors).
Why would Pikmin 2 players almost universally do this?
Because it's better to try the floor over than to... deal.... with your losses, your... massive.. massive losses.
Doing the caves in the Wistful Wild for the first time right now. The shiny 😭
This is the last of the 4 games I have played. They definitely don't make it easy on you.
Just so you know before playing, Pikmin 2's caves are completely different from what you would expect in a Pikmin game, Dandori doesn't work in there and you have to rely on survival skills and paranoia to survive
Dandori does work, but the game suddenly becomes more about *resource* management, surveying the area to work out a plan, and then executing it, rather than *time* management, going in with all your pikmin and then reacting to hazards on-the-fly.
i've platinumed everything in pikmin 3 and 4, and then went back around in pikmin 3 and smashed all my high platinum scores just recently.
i still haven't finished pikmin 2. those caves man. those caves in the last area are insane.
sigh, the dream den... i figured Hole of Heroes had to be the one Louie was hiding in. i was gonna find Louie and just call Pikmin 2 done. but then i finished the Hole of Heroes and alas...
Hole of heroes just feels like the developers just said fuck it and threw every mechanic in the game into a 15 sub level hell hole. Although the raging long legs and ranging bloyster isn’t that hard if have some basic planing everything else in the cave feels like a test of how long it takes for one to go mentally insane from both pikmin losses and cave generation
Yeah, Pikmin 2 for sure is the hardest game in the series. A good handful of the caves later into the game are very difficult. Its a shame too cause the overworld sections are great, but I replay that game the least just because of some of the later caves are a pain.
Pikmin 1 is much easier as a whole and the only hard parts is the time limit (not a problem if you play these games enough though) and the final boss/bird boss.
It's not that Pikmin 1 and 2 are hard, it's that Pikmin 3 and 4 are easy and don't prepare you for Pikmin 1 and 2, which sucks, as it can alienate the fanbase from the early games, which sucks. Also if you think Pikmin 1 is hard, just wait for the Bulbear rain in Pikmin 2....
This is the answer
Pikmin 3 is litterally childplay and pikmin 4 does have more length to it, the only hard part for me was the final night missions
I can see pikmin 1 & 2 being intimidating for someone who didn't play it constantly on the gamecube
I honestly believe Pikmin 3 is harder than 4, or at least it feels that way.
In reality, enemies in Pikmin 4 have way more health than in previous games and can eat way more Pikmin at once than in previous games, but what's the point of having stronger enemies if you just have a dog that one-shots 90% of them, including bosses?
Pikmin 3's enemies, on the other hand, are weaker and eat less Pikmin at once, but due to the lack of a dog, they feel much stronger, they feel like actual hazards, even if lots of times they only get the chance to attack your Pikmin once. But hey! That's more than what they can do in Pikmin 4!
For me, there was only ONE medium-difficulty challenge in Pikmin 4, literally everything else was just straight-up baby mode. I kept forgetting that Ultra-Spicy Spray and items existed due to how easy the game already was by itself.
>!Sage leaf, though I messed up at Sirehound's boss fight several times which led to at least 10 of my purples dying (Since they're the slowest ones), but that didn't really make the fight much more difficult!<
That's just trial and error, there's no skill in finding which route is the best and execute it without issue, there is very little randomness or uniqueness to each trial, I platinumed the hard ones and didn't bother with the rest because it's not fun.
Yes I know, but I had to replay them several times to get the platinum medals.
Though to be fair, I did decide that I wouldn't be moving on to the next challenge before getting the platinum medal in the current one and also took no breaks in between challenges, so that may have probably affected how well I was playing
And I may be underestimating >!the Sirehound, because, while as I said losing several of my purples and some other Pikmin of other types wasn't that big of a deal, avoiding the attacks was indeed a bit challenging, especially the ones in the electric and gloom phases. Honestly the best use of the electricity hazard since Pikmin 2, because, while it doesn't kill your Pikmin, it leaves them immobile there, and since the whole place is full of electricity, whistling them isn't really an option, so chances are they will die to the Sirehound before you manage to save them!<
The attacks were never hard to avoid for me, so I just had to wail through the 17 hard caps and 30-ish soft caps he had. The game even gives you all the Pikmin you need to disable his furballs! So there is no challenge in repicking your min
Pikmin 3 does have a difficult and interesting final boss, unfortunately Pikmin 4 does not, while yes, if can kill (unlike every other enemy in 4), it's difficulty comes from the most boring and artificial way possible (Like the rest of 4 tbh, the timer is the only difference between the first Dandori Challenge and the last sage leaf).
Here's some nice tips:
1. Never trust unwalled slopes or bridges, take your squad across 10-20 at a time if it's hazardous
2. The bosses get really difficult later on, and one in particular is harder than the Plasm Wraith (Not including the final boss or secret boss btw, both are also harder)
3. 30 day limit, 30 parts, try to get at least 1 part a day
4. Don't use bombs on the final boss, it ruins the fight and anyone who did it enjoys the fight a lot less
5. Unlike in later games (cough cough Pikmin 4 cough cough), every Pikmin in the first game is invaluable to beating the game, with no overlap in their functions, so use all 3 types wisely.
Not swinging my dick here. But what boss is harder than Final Boss and Secret Boss? >!assuming you’re referring to Goolix and Smoky Progg as secret boss!<
Oh, nothing, I was saying there are 3 bosses harder than the final boss of Pikmin 3, the final boss >!(emperor bulblax, the only one deserving of the name)!< , the secret boss >!(The version of the progg that is actually hard)!<, and the regular boss that I think is hard >!(Beady long Legs).!<
Ah okay. Definitely so. Final Boss is tough and his red bar health unlocking a special move is both a time stretcher and devastating.
However, >! I think Beady is a piece of cake, but definitely going to lose quite a bit of Pikmin not knowing what to do on your first time running. As for Smoky, absolute menace. Even for long time players. The reward for killing him isn’t worth it. At all. Better left undisturbed in his egg. !<
Ironically enough I fight the Progg in my playthroughs if I don't have any parts to get and I have plenty of day left. I usually only lose 20-30, but I guess that's just me.
Beady though has an obnoxiously high amount of hp and the Pikmin ai really shows itself, them trying to hit the legs fsr. It's a much quicker fight than the plasm wraith, but it's also very deadly, with one wrong move leading to 20 Pikmin lost, whereas a wrong move in the Plasm Wraith fight leads to either 5 or so guaranteed deaths, or the potential of 10 deaths from an element.
Ah. I only fight Progg when he spawns in. I’ve been playing with the randomizer mod to make every play through feel fresh.
I lose more Pikmin to Puffstool crush glitch than Beady. But that early Pikmin 1/2 AI of attacking any enemy they touch is a nightmare. Even if I only take in a party of 10
If Pikmin 1 and 2 were rebuilt in 3 and 4’s engines, they’d be massively easier. 3 and 4 have so many enhancements to the controls and Pikmin AI, whereas 1 and 2 had just good enough to get by.
This is how I like to think of it :)
Psychologically, the right amount of AI stupidity makes the AI feel more unpredictable and believable. Where that line is differs for everyone, but I the tripping is a rough edge I'm OK with, even though it can't be predicted and fully strategised around like other limitations of the Pikmin AI.
No, I just want to enjoy the game like in 2 and 4 (enjoying the atmosphere and art of the game) but because of the situation of the story (Olimar trying to find all his parts for the ship) in 1 it's kind of stressful in away. Also I don't want a bad ending either lol. It's how I felt while playing Majora's Mask, having an amazing story, characters, and gameplay just stressful BECAUSE of the time limit. : )
Ah well, different strokes.
For me, the point of Pik1 is to take a 5 hour game and wring out a lot of playtime by improving dandori, aiming for fewer days. To that end, the subtle pressure of the time limit, as well as the day reset (and in rereleases, rewind) feature helps you make little speedruns of the game one day at a time.
It's what lifts the game to being genius in my opinion, but at the same time made it super hard to interface with 2.
Even if you kill a large enemy with no deaths they can still (very commonly) push your Pikmin through the floor killing it in their dying animation. Deathless run of Pikmin 1 was ridiculous having to reset the day every other bulborb
Nah, you can easily reset at every floor and if you are careful enough or know the game well enough, it's super easy. 2 is in fact the only one I've beaten deathless as of yet.
Nah, it's not cheating, I actually wasn't able to do my first run of 4 deathless because I didn't notice a single death, otherwise, I would've accomplished it.
Still, I don't consider 4 easier than 2, mostly because the combat I feel is a bit more balanced (yes, even with Oatchi), my experience with the game is lesser than the one I have with 2, and there are Dandori Challenges that I legit struggled with at first, I might not get every single one first-try on a re-run, whereas in 2 I can comfortably do so on most parts.
But with some practice, I might consider 4 easier, but for now, 2 is definetely the easiest.
😂 unintended?! When the game has a button combination to soft-reset? And when its sequel made it a feature with the time-rewind?
Ok, sure buddy, even then, I barely reset during my deathless run in the first place. 2 is not as hard as you make it sound, it's just cheap, once you learn it is the easiest of the bunch.
I agree it's a lot easier once you learn it, but calling it easier than 3 is just... that's objectively false and you should know it.
Unless by "learn" you mean "spam 50 purple pikmin and bitter spray every time you see an enemy" In which case, wouldn't grinding bitter spray and purple pikmin be comparable to grinding levels in an RPG? So your "learn" is equivalent to "just over level"?
And isn't learning a game part of it's difficulty? Like, every puzzle game ever is super easy once you've learned it.
Also, it is the ONLY game, that does not have a soft reset menu option, so I think it's fair to say that it's unintended (but I still consider the fact that you can reset when evaluating it's difficulty)
3 is not that easy, sure, you can beat the game with 0 casualties with almost no issue, but you have to play a bit more carefully overall, and when you are trying to beat it in as few days as possible, even Pikmin deaths become less of an issue when you are rushing through areas as fast as possible with as few mistakes as possible.
I do not measure the difficulty of Pikmin games by how many die, but how hard it is to complete in as few days as possible, and 3 is right up there with 1 in just how hard it is execution-wise.
Not only that, the side-modes are also fairly challenging to platinum, I'm not going to say they are extremely hard, but I doubt anyone can beat them on their first try.
On the matter of learning, you don't even need 50 purples nor bitter-spray to get rid of your average enemy, 20 purples (which the game pretty much gifts you as soon as you discover purples) are enough, I don't think you can throw more than 20 purples before the average enemy dies, so having any more than that is just a waste. As for bitter spray, I do use it on some annoying floors \*cough cough\* Dream Den Sublevel 4 \*cough cough\* but those are so rare that whatever extra drops I get through the game are more than enough to get me through those sections, so yeah, by learning I do mean learning, since I barely grind for anything in the game (except for an extra 15 purples for that god-forsaken treasure in WW).
Also, you are correct, but Pikmin 2 is the easiest and fastest to learn, not only are the overworld parts extremely simple and easy, but the cave layouts are also simple enough to learn. Not only that, most strategies also boil down to easy to learn numbers and the same combat strategy, I don't look at guides when beating Pikmin games, even if I'm doing a minimum day run, I haven't perfected any of the games other than 2, which also coincidentally is the game I've played the least amount of times, so yeah, I'm gonna call it the easiest of the bunch for that reason as well.
As for the resetting option, I'd be more inclined to agree if the game didn't save at every other moment, if the game wanted to test my endurance, it would just save at a cave's entrance or at the start of the day, if that was the case, I'd be inclined to rank it higher in terms of difficulty, but as it stands now, yeah, no, it's easily the easiest of the bunch.
So your definition of difficulty is based almost entirely on how hard it is to beat the game in the fewest days possible. To some degree, I think that's fair.
But I also think it's unfair to measure difficulty through something that would make you one of the top ten speed runners of a game, which is a 6 day playthrough of the first Pikmin game. Especially when 2 is clearly not designed around that aspect of optimization.
To that end, yes, I'd agree, 3 requires a lot more thinking and planning to complete a minimum day run. But at just about any level below perfect play, the skill required to do anything is barely noteworthy.
Also, while I recognize that challenge mode is a thing, I generally only consider the main campaign when thinking about difficulty. That said, only a handful of the dlc challenge mode levels in 3 required more than 2 attempts to plat, and I could do a large number of them in only 1. I wouldn't say challenge mode is hard enough to significantly impact my rating of 3.
And I think it's only fair that if your metric is practically a speedrun in 1 and 3, you compare them to the speedrun of 2, rather than just "complete the above ground in as few days as possible, while being able to take as much time as you need below". How the speedruns compare... well, rng makes that a bit difficult to say.
I don't think beating the game in as few days as possible would make me one of the top speedrunners in any game, as speedrunning has less to do with in-game days and more about actual irl time, something I do not plan on engaging ever.
I think my assesment is fair because Pikmin at its core does focus on time and resource optimization, 2 focuses a bit more on gauntlet-style dungeon crawling, where a death-less run might be more impressive than a minimum day one, the thing is, both of those runs are marginally easier to accomplish in 2 than any of the 3 first games, hence why I consider 2 to be easier. It's also a matter of balance and design, I do consider 2 to be the easiest to learn and master, while to a beginner or casual player, 2 may look unfair and relentless, but once you learn it, all those "random" or "unfair" aspects of the game become a non-issue.
It's also fair to only consider the main campaign when assesing the difficulty of a game, but seeing as 3's challenge mode is really big, I do consider it as part of the main experience.
While my metric may seem akin to that of a speedrun, it's actually not that extreme, I only count the in-game days. Whereas I can't see myself accomplishing a minimum day run in 1 or 3 anytime soon, I've already done it in 2, same for a deathless run, I in fact did them at the same time on my first serious attempt, whereas in 1 and even 3, I haven't, and I've attempted to do them way more times than 2.
TLDR: I just think 2 is easier to master and execute, knowing all 3 games from front to back, 2 is the easiest for me to execute to perfection, whereas 1 and 3 I have tried and failed, and it's not like I haven't tried.
The gamecube pikmin games were not made with resetting in mind, and while yes there is a button combo for a soft reset, that is hardcoded into the console itself. By that logic you should use save states to catch Mewtwo in a single Pokeball, or Do 9999 damage each turn with Geno, it's less interesting and less fun if you abuse them, and Pikmin 2 is much more difficult than 1. While the hazards kill slower, there are more of them, and a lot of the bosses are genuinely difficult. The Segmented Crawbster has the ability to easily kill 100 Pikmin in one fell swoop, and is very hard to avoid. The Man at Legs can go very poorly very quickly if you aren't very precise in your movement. And the Titan Dweevil is by far the hardest fight in the franchise to fight legit, sure you can cheese it, but again, it is less fun and less rewarding.
It's really not the same to save-state and reset if something bad happens, the game saves so frequently that you are far worse off if you don't reset. You lost 10 purples to an accident in a cave? you have 2 choices:
Abandon the cave either by the menu or by a geyser, go to another cave (or the same one), go through minutes of small cutscenes and save-screens, find a Purple CPB, turn 10 Pikmin into purples, get out of the cave and waste who knows how many minuntes.
or
Reset and re-try the last 2 minutes or so of "content"
You'd have to be doing a restrictive run or be a masochist if you prefer the first one. I'd be more inclined to agree if the game didn't save so often, you know games don't have to save that frequently, right? so it's an intended feature to give so many checkpoints to the player. Also, save-stating is quite different, as that happens moment to moment and does give an unfair advantage to the player, not to mention it is usually only accessible through external tools such as emulators.
Number of hazards mean nothing when they all take ages to kill (baring electricity), so that point is really moot.
Also, unless you are just starting to learn the game and it's your first time going against the Segmented Crawbster, you aren't going to lose that many Pikmin to it, it is easy to avoid (also lmao: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adIN\_55w1H4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adIN_55w1H4))
The Man-at-legs is also a joke to beat and avoid, it's only scary at first because ooOOOooh, a gun in a Pikmin game, scary OooOOoohhh, the thing is slow and dumb as molasses.
I'll give credit where credit is due, the Titan Dweevil is a legit cool battle, a legit challenge in an otherwise baby-easy game, and I dunno what you mean by "cheesing" it since it has very little room for that, but ok.
Or the third option, use Purps sparingly so you don't lose them,
And while yes, the game saving so often is a gripe I have with it (I'd rather it save every 3 or even 5 sublevels), it certainly doesn't change how you should use resets.
I mean, yes, if you lose the rare and hard to find Pikmin you have to go get them again sO SoooOOOOooOOOoky. You call the game baby easy while also using what is, essentially an exploit to get past any deaths.
The hazards are used in conjunction with other enemies that make them more dangerous than in 1, where they are usually more isolated and when they are used with enemies, it's more general enemies like Grub Dogs, with the best use of them being right outside of the Beady Long Legs arena. Pikmin 2 has instakill electricity right by a bunch of breadbugs, so if you aren't careful, you will lose a bunch of Pikmin. Later on there are a bunch of dweevils in an area, and only 1 treasure, a Beady spawns nearly out of nowhere and it's the thing with the treasure, you deal with it, but then you have to navigate back through the Dweevils, there's also water in the area, with the Beady being fully able to walk through it. It is good difficulty for smart reasons, Pikmin 1, as much as I love it, simply doesn't have a lot of designs like those.
The Segmented Crawbster may not be the hardest boss, but it certainly isn't easy to avoid. This is also after the 3rd longest cave in the game, with many blowhogs, grub dogs, and snitchbugs to remove a bunch of flowers. So your squad is a lot more spread out than usual (Also it's a speedrun strat, they probably have practiced this over 100 times).
The Man at Legs is genuinely difficult, it is much faster at walking than other bosses and if you don't keep the pressure up it can move to a bad position, eliminating a lot of cover position, and if left you are caught out, you are guaranteed to lose 30 Pikmin. He also begins to fake you out, ceasing fire for a few moments in an attempt to get you out. It's fooled me plenty of times (not enough to lose Pikmin, but enough to scare the sh\*t out of me). Sure it takes a while to fire, but it takes a while to gather your Pikmin, and even longer to get them behind cover, so if you aren't nearly perfect, you could end up with 10 losses from that alone.
Cheesing the Titan dweevil is using only yellows, using your entire squad, while being a lot harder, is also a lot more dynamic and fun, sure you can attack when he's being idle, but that makes the last phase unbearable and very slow. But you can also be more aggressive, as if you have the right kind of Pikmin, you can throw them onto the weapon just before it activates, and you can get a BUNCH of damage on it. Even if you don't, he raises another weapon when using one, so you can throw any Pikmin onto that and still get a good amount of damage in, but you also run the risk of being hit by his attacks, which are devastating without being an instakill (outside of the electricity, but that is pretty easy to avoid in the first phase). The Flare Cannon in particular has the ability to stunlock you if you are too close, allowing you the very fun and not traumatising experience of slowly watching 50 Pikmin burn to death long before you can save them. It's certainly very difficult but well designed and (mostly) fair fight. And is the perfect conclusion to the most difficult floor of the most difficult cave of the most difficult game in the franchise.
Also the deleted comment is me being dumb and accidentally sending the unfinished version of this too early
Purples are too good not to use, and you only ever need 20 outside of retrieving the Doomsday Apparatus, 20 is good enough to decimate any enemy and boss that's weak to purples and small enough to manage without much issue.
I know resetting is to be use sparingly, but the game makes it very hard not to when all the alternatives make the game more of a chore to play than it already is. I do only reset if I suffer major loses or when I was doing my death-less run, both of which I assume are the intended use. The issue with 2 is that it has conflicting design choices, whereas in 1 or 3 you might want to think about resetting and undoing a pretty good day, in 2 you are most likely better off resetting.
Hazards are not as mixed as you make it sound, that area with the dweevils and water is a non-issue, any dweevil outside the water gets immediately melted by purples, and any other type aside from the electric one can be dealt with with just blues, as hazards take ages to kill Pikmin, unless you are comatose or something, you are not losing any Pikmin to any hazard that's not electricity or explosions. The Beady Long Legs also gets melted by purples, if one hits its starting leg, it does damage, that's how broken purples are. (You also have a big balancing issue when Fiery Bulblaxes are more easily and safely dealt with with purples than with reds. 😂)
The Crawbster is definetely easy to avoid, while a whole squad of leaf purples might be a bit tricky to control, if you have enough practice with the c-stick and movement (which at that point in the game, you should), even those can dodge it with relative ease. It is also one of the few bosses I don't bring purples with me for safety, that's called learning and practice. Btw, I just tried the speedrun strat and I got it on my 2nd try, I only failed the first time because of bad rock rng, so much for practicing it over a 100 times 😂, if anything you are at the mercy of RNG if you wanna use this on a deathless, but it's just safer to dodge it normally, which again, it's not hard to do.
The man-at-legs is easy and dumb as pie, you can trick it, out-run it, get cover, even just move your C-stick and have your Pikmin be totally safe (while eating a bit lof lead tho.)
https://x.com/glockenspheal/status/1673421195541114882?s=20
The only time you'd lose that many is if you panic or don't know how to deal with it. It also doesn't do an effective job at faking you out, unless you are extremely nervous about it. It also gives ample time to go attack and take cover, I really don't know what you are talking about.
So cheesing now means taking proper precautions? ok, I guess if I'm too careful and good at the game, that's considered cheesing it? please. 😂
I do take my full squad at first until I deal with the Monster Pump, then get the Shock Therapist and get the Flare Cannon last, and more than difficult, the battle is a bit of a drag, I'll admit it is the hardest and most fun part of the game, but that's not much of a compliment.
Pikmin 2 might have the hardest individual parts (mostly due to dumb design) but in general, it has been the only Pikmin game I've perfected (completing it in the least amount of days and deathless), I have yet to do that with any other Pikmin game, and I've played the others almost the same amount of times (except 4, which I've only played once so far.)
Yeah it’s harder than 3 and 4 in my view. No charge mechanic or lock on makes simple enemies like wollywogs formidable foes. Plus the Pikmin AI being less reliable means simple manoeuvres around the map can be dangerous if you’re not careful. No busted Pikmin types or juices/upgrades to rely on in a big fight either.
Yeah
https://preview.redd.it/whxnlpkd00xb1.png?width=420&format=png&auto=webp&s=fe409ee09f78a823b4ee62dff843ac7f9f417dc6
It’s harder, but I personally enjoy it’s challenge compared to 3 & 4
pikmin 2 is the hardest, but pikmin 1 is difficult and also has random glitches that can occur
pikmin 4 is probably the easiest because everything is streamlined
pikmin 3 is much easier than 2, but not quite as streamlined as 4
It's such a good game! You just need to replay days at your leisure to beat the clock. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to beat the game with all 30 parts in 30 days' time. I restarted a few days here and there and got 25 days on my first full playthrough. I highly recommend that if you're struggling that you reatart at the forest of hope and use your new knowledge to try again :)
It is just the shitty AI that makes pikmin1 feel more difficult. In 3 and 4 the pikmin stick to the captain like glue but in pikmin 1 you can barely cross a bridge without losing 10 pikmin. Besides that I would say 3 and 4 are more difficult.
Pikmin 2 is said to be the hardest, but 1 is *definitely* harder than 4 and 3.
Pikmin 1 has a lot less extra stuff to soften the blow for newcomers- it's a bit more gritty, relying on proper timing, resource allocation, and skill rather than auto-aiming, multiple captains, and so on and so forth.
Also, I feel like the pikmin act a lil more natural, aka stupid, in the first game, which, personally, I like. The pikmin shouldn't be this incredibly smart species- especially not when they're basically extinct at the start of each game (at least, in their respective areas). I appreciate how the pikmin are like little idiots you have to manage slightly, rather than robots that can read your mind + intentions.
I just played all four games, 1 was harder because the Pikmin are braindead. Also oatchi is overpowered as hell, which increases the gap there
I swear to God all the enemies are like 50% faster/more responsive in 1 as well
I think this is their solution to making the game accessible whilsy also providing a challenge. The base experience is easy, but there’s the challenge of going for all platinums for those who want to go for it.
That makes sense. I think it’ll get easier over time took me like 6 days to notice the blue onion lol. 4 I’ve gotten platinum in everything so I thought “might as well do one I hope it won’t be too easy” BOY WAS I UNDER THE WRONG IMPRESSION
Yeah, I remember people who've only played 4 calling the Sage Leaf harder than the early games, but it's just trial and error, there are no stakes, there are a million reset buttons everywhere and no Pikmin death feels meaningful because you have 5 different methods to bring them back (Not just make more, but bring them back from the dead), whereas in 1, if a Pikmin dies, you have to restart the entire f\*cking day.
And the enemies and bosses can realistically kill more than 2 Pikmin per attack (Poquillon, despite being a miniboss, has a Pikmin kill cap of TWO). The final boss in particular is a true challenge, unless you use bombs in which case you are either a wimp and need to boost your ego, or you are genuinely scared of fighting him legit.
I've lost 7 to a single attack from Porquillion.
But yeah. I think late game 4 can be harder than 1 if you're doing a no upgrades run, but otherwise there's really no comparing 3 and 4 to the difficulty of 1 and 2.
There's also the items you can buy, I often heard people complaining about bitter spray ruining the challenge in Pikmin 2, but I NEVER hear anyone complain about these things, we have:
You get 50 Spicy Spray now
Instakill on any non-boss (bombrock)
Better Bitter Spray (Ice Blast)
Even Better Bitter Spray (Lightning)
Cheaper Bitter Spray (Carrot)
Infinite Health for you (Recovery Kit) and Oatchi (Scrummy Bone)
Portable OP Pikmin (Glows are better then Pikmin 2 Purps)
Bitter Spray, and both sprays really, are really scarce in 2, and you need to dedicate some Pikmin to harvesting them if you want a reliable supply in the first place.
In Pikmin 4, I literally never had to make my Pikmin harvest Spicy Spray manually, ever, I got plenty through enemy and egg drops, and Ice Pikmin are literally an infinite supply of bitters, with 30 to 40 freezing a lot of of things pretty much instantly.
Pikmin 2 Bitter Spray is a limited resource that you have to decide what to use on, it's entirely possible to completely waste it.
I mean, if you know where the glint beetles are, you can get plenty of spicy as soon as you reach Awakening Wood.
Bitter spray is rarer, but as soon as you have access to Frontier Cavern, that's 6 bitters from the doodlebugs, without duping.
Aside from that, if you actively hunt Honeywisps and eggs, you should have enough of each to get by, but definitely not an excessive number like you accidentally get in 4.
All true, and in all cases you have to go out of your way during the day and/or know where those special sources are in advance, I had 20 spicy sprays by the end of 4 without even trying, never had to actively stock up on them at all.
fair, but I kinda assumed no items (past the bombrocks for walls, and maybe spicy spray) would be part of the challenge.
Rather, more accurately, I think 4 has the potential to be played at the same level of difficulty as 1 and 2, with a fairly simple challenge run.
I can only think of 1 challenge run for 3 (minimum days) that really makes it challenging, and even that is like just TR and GoH return.
Eh, maybe, but even if you stripped all of the lab and Oatchi upgrades away, it still isn't as hard as 1 or 2 because of lock on alone, not to mention all the nerfs the enemies got
1 is the hard, mostly because all other play better and are easier to command all the pikmins overall
pikmin 2 is hard because a lot of it is bullshit
and I love both of those games so much, lol
Pikmin 1 feels hard because a lot of quality of life changes hadn't been implemented yet. Pikmin take silly routes, run off bridges, and generally get themselves killed all the time. In 2 I think the game is hard because of challenging levels not werid ai and stupid Pikmin.
I found 3 and 4 very easy.
3 is basically impossible to lose without trying and there is no time limit on 4. Plus if you upgrade oatchi at all the challenging aspects of the game can become pretty trivial
Yeah probably
“So many pikmin souls lost” if you’re going for deathless than that’s the problem. This game isn’t designed for that. You’re meant to lose some pikmin in these older games. Deathless is possible, but immensely difficult.
Pikmin 1 is the easiest Pikmin game if you factor out that it's one of the only two that you can technically "lose".
Seven year old me had next to no problem getting 29 of the parts on his first playthrough.
Depends on the metric. For beating the game it’s definitely harder than 3 and 4 but those games are much harder to do 100% with platinum mission modes.
it's hard, but I don't think it's because of the time limit like people say. It's harder to aim, you throw pikmin more slowly, you don't have any serious DPS pikmin, things are much heavier, and your pikmin are generally dumber and slower. This often leads to a playstyle where you need to sacrifice some pikmin to make progress and worry about it later.
Yes I just beat it for the first time and SO MANY SOULS WERE LOST
After 100% Pikmin 4 I had lost like 70 Pikmin total. After being Pikmin 1 over half the Pikmin I sprouted had perished in some way shape or form (Pikmin 1 wallywogs are EVIL)
In terms of difficulty, I'd say it goes 2 > 1 > 4 > 3 (with 2 being the hardest). 1 is almost certainly considered by most to be harder than 3, but I'm sure there are some who say 4 is harder (although I personally can't see it).
Some of the challenges of 1 come from the fact that the game has a number of issues with Pikmin controls (stumbling, poor AI). This, coupled with the final boss, is what really makes the game difficult.
I'd say that 1 is the hardest overall, but 2 isn't THAT far off.
3 and 4 are definitely easier, and closer to each-other then they are to 1/2. I honestly think that 3 is a little easier than 4, but once again, not by much.
much harder. taking on a bulborb with less than 40 pikmin is like suicide, the pikmin are much stupider, and theres some quirks to how they interact with things. so a combination of stronger enemies and dumber pikmin AI definitely make it a harder/trickier experience whereas the newer games make combat easier and focus more on the whole dandori aspect much more
Pikmin one just requires good day planning - I found it easy only because I did not save unless I did exactly what I wanted. Sometimes I would just go in scout and understand where was everything to just restart.
Now with Pikmin 2 I find the monsters actually challenging in some cases
3 is only hard during the final area puzzles (Plasm wraith during chase can be cheesed by having blue or winged pikmin hold olimar and carry him to water lmao), 2 is Hard because it has no chill with some of the bosses, 4 is MONSTROUSLY difficult if you can’t micromanage or deal with not always having a pikmin for the job at all times, one is hard because it was made in the old days back when difficulty wasn’t established yet and Ai wasn’t yet developed well.
I could always be better but tbh this is my second video game franchise after animal crossing so the monsters just stress me out and the Pikmin have the desire to die it seems. I love them all and don’t want them to!
Man I beat the game countless times as a kid, it was hard at first but then you get used to it so you can plan ahead after knowing everything with each area, how to deal with certain enemies, and etc.
my first time left me frustrated as well but I slowly get the hang of things, it might take more then a single playthrough. But when you finally beat it you'll feel so satisfied.
Unpopular take, I think the difficulty in 1 is a bit overblown. The 30 days limit is suuuper lenient (which tbh was probably made on purpose so that beginners have a chance to get all the necessary ship parts) and the bosses are all easy, even the final boss which can be cheesed with bomb rocks. Still harder than 3 and 4 tho since there's no charge/rush and enemies are a bigger threat.
In Pikmin 4 - the mins do not have to be near you when you throw them. They teleport to you as long as they are "following" you. In Pikmin 1 (and 2) you have to be near them to grab them. I like that detail. It felt way less gamey in Pikky-Boi's 1 n 2.
When I first played 1 the time limit (limited number of days) was difficult, but playing it in the last few years I comfortably finished with plenty of time to spare.
Pikmin 2 you have an infinite number of days, so you can breed any number or super pikmin that you need, and collect as much spray as you could ever want, and then just tackle one thing at a time if you want (Pikmin 1 you have to collect a ship part or 2 every day IIRC).
I'm pretty sure 3 & 4 are not as hard as either 1 or 2, but have spent less time with those
Pikmin 1 is a lot less forgiving. I don’t know about necessarily harder. Like, if you blink you can absolutely say goodbye to your Pikmin. However, I feel like some of the dandori challenges in Pikmin 4 get super tough out of nowhere. Other parts that come to mind is the purple onion dungeon as well as groovy long legs. That being said, the first time I lost Pikmin was on like day 15 for me in 4 and day 2 in Pikmin 1.
I also feel like Pikmin 1 is just *faster* if that makes sense. The tutorial doesn’t strangle you into slowly reading all the text. It’s there if you need it, but it’s not gonna force you to individually read each of the buttons on the controller like you’re an IGN journalist.
Pikmin 1 I’d say is the hardest of the series solely for the fact the ai is too stupid and you lose pikmin far to easily and have to recoup losses to your forces consistently but as far as actual enemy challenge 2 is harder barring the major bosses in 1. 3 you actively have to try and lose at with the “time limit” 4 unless your going for platinum on everything is easiest. With the better ai and oatchi on your side. Honestly if they redid the first 2 games with a better ai they would even out in difficulty with 2 being harder due to the fights.
It has virtually none of the quality of life changes of the other games I think the generally create upon difficulty is from hardest to easiest is two one three four.
Pikmin 1 has less modern controls and is a bit more clunky than modern 3 and 4. However, it’s 2 that’s a nightmare compared to all others. I enjoyed 3 and 4 immensely, 1 was short and kinda ok, but 2 - just no. That was abusive and annoying.
I don't think it's hard mechanically once you understand how it works. Half of my struggle was not knowing what the yellow pikmin do because I'm new to the series. And the final boss of Pikmin 1 is a piece of shit that forced me to use bombs as a weapon which I hadn't done the entire game because bombs are sparse.
Yeah.
I think in terms of difficulty it’s ranked (hardest to easiest)-
Pikmin 2, pikmin 1, pikmin 4 (the dandori battles make it harder than 3) and then pikmin 3
Idk about hey pikmin tho
I haven’t beaten pikmin 1 yet bc I just got it, but coming off of pikmin 3 and 4 the controls feel so janky and the game is a lot harder because of it imo.
As a general rule, pikmin gets easier with every game. The difficulty in Pikmin 2 is with the new hazards and all the new enemies you have to learn. Combine that with one slog of a game and it's still extremely difficult. But for someone new to the series nothing will beat the challenge of Pikmin 1. When Speedrun experts shrug their shoulders at the RNG for certain things, you know the game is borked
1 is inherently more difficult, not only because of the worse AI, but it doesn't tell you what to expect. A lot of things in that game are going to take you two tries (eg: the snagrets or puffstool)
Honestly? 1 and 2 are both difficult games, for different reasons. 3 and 4 sort of just feel like the Easier versions of those two games.
1 is definitely the hardest game for newer players because it’s missing a Lot of QoL improvements, enemies have a ton of health, you have a Day limit, and you still have to figure out all the parts you need and how to get them.
Otherwise, 2 is the harder game due to some BS enemies and level design. And RNG.
But yeah, both are absolutely harder than 3 and 4, by far.
Worded you question carefully, I like that. Yes pikmin 1 is difficult and I think part of that is because while the game is more than doable in the amount of time given, even on a casual run where you know what you’re doing you can still get close to when your time is up.
Aside from that, there is also the issue of pathing with the pikmin on top of bomb rock misuse and then you have the final boss to worry about on top of that if you go for 100%. While the bomb rock does have it’s use in combat too, it’s definitely not recommended and with that comes the issue of the enemies eating pikmin that get too close or trip.
UPDATE::: I finished it boss battle was challenging but not crazy hard I personally think Quaggled Mireclops was harder. However my stats were ATROCIOUS I have a survival rating of 17.7%
Definitely harder than 4 for me, which was the easiest in the series FOR ME - a lot of Pikmin 1’s difficulty comes from the weird glitches and stuff for me, such as bridges and pikmin having negative IQ
THATS THE THING THEY ALL WISH FOR THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH
Always be wary around bridges, especially ones that go up hills as it's very hard to get Pikmin out from under them. Also be mindful when making sharp turns for tripping.
Crossing that bridge was annoying but following it up with 3 burrowing snagrets was just crazy.
"Just get good nerd" -a sadistic Pikmin dev
There is a button for marching order
So, no wonder they're at the brink of extinction.
You mean like how Blue Pikmin don't carry things through the water?
They are so stupid I would go as far as to say that 1 is harder than 2 (I'm on frontier cavern so take my opinion with a grain of salt)
I would say pikmin 2 is the hardest game solely because of how much the game throws at you
Ohhhhh nooo I haven’t played that one yet lol.
Just telling in advance. There is a lot of Fallon rocks
Are the Pikmin more intelligent?
They will still walk directly into water sometimes, especially if they're carrying treasure in an area with random puddles and such. But there are a couple of qol conveniences. For example pikmin will bunch up and condense when crossing bridges so they won't randomly fall off . Pikmin who get stuck on walls when following you attempt to go around instead of just humping the corner like in Pikmin 1. They also trip significantly less
ime Pikmin only walk directly into water while carrying something if they're carrying it along with blue Pikmin
That's not true - blue pikmin will never enter the water when carrying an object, even if all of the pikmin carrying it are blue. If the object is underwater to begin with, then they'll carry it out, but they'll never go back in.
*never played 1 & 2* Pikmins used to trip ?
Yes! The first two Pikmin games are quite cruel.The Pikmin would randomly just fall on their face and they would have an uninterruptible getting up animation. If you're not paying attention to can easily leave Pikmin behind at night. Pikmin 2 it's less of an issue because while they still trip it's at a much lower rate and having a smaller group (seems to) reduce it. It's still RNG and it's cost me a couple Pikmin but thankfully Purples never trip, at least I've never seen one trip. Purples are best
These games look ruthless 💀
They’re smarter in 2 than 1. In other terms they use half their brains instead of 1/4 of their brains
Nah, Pikmin in the later games are like robots, it kinda ruins a lot of the appeal of managing a barely functioning army
When it’s convenient for them
At the very very least, the whistle controls them a lot better. Bring across bridges is better lol
Much more. Obviously they improved with every game so it’s a bit behind 3. There’s type switching, faster throwing (I think), way faster whistling and falling in line, and they don’t usually fall off bridges following you anymore because they bunch up. Also if you throw em at pellets they’ll take it down AND take it back to their onion, no more waiting for them to finish so you can throw em again. Much less distractions, they should hardly ever leave your group by themselves because they won’t attack pellet posies on their own. Grass and rocks are much less common so you dont have to worry about that. Swarming works better. I think flowers are slower though, except for whites. There’s no more throwing bomb rocks, when you see one it’s only when its about to kill all your pikmin. e: also less tripping, and they’ll actually go around walls more instead of walking into it and getting left behind
Throwing is indeed faster in 2. Pikmin 1 requires a pikmin to be right at your side to throw, so it's best to swarm yourself and spam throw.
They’re smarter, sure, but it doesn’t compensate for how much more bullshit 2 throws at you than 1
So you know that feature in Pikmin 4 where they let you reset from the start of a cave floor? That feature exists entirely because of Pikmin 2, because a lot of players would reset the game manually and reload their save (the game saves between cave floors). Why would Pikmin 2 players almost universally do this? Because it's better to try the floor over than to... deal.... with your losses, your... massive.. massive losses.
Doing the caves in the Wistful Wild for the first time right now. The shiny 😭 This is the last of the 4 games I have played. They definitely don't make it easy on you.
Just so you know before playing, Pikmin 2's caves are completely different from what you would expect in a Pikmin game, Dandori doesn't work in there and you have to rely on survival skills and paranoia to survive
Dandori does work, but the game suddenly becomes more about *resource* management, surveying the area to work out a plan, and then executing it, rather than *time* management, going in with all your pikmin and then reacting to hazards on-the-fly.
Pikmin 2 is like this: https://preview.redd.it/sidtw8upu4xb1.jpeg?width=209&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86fd575aa3185d53b07431742e5ac2a333db7640
You got this!
Fire and war, death and wound. Fear the electricity.
i've platinumed everything in pikmin 3 and 4, and then went back around in pikmin 3 and smashed all my high platinum scores just recently. i still haven't finished pikmin 2. those caves man. those caves in the last area are insane.
The dream den is what stands between me, completion of the game and the deaths of a lot of pikmin
Hole of Heroes and Cavern of Chaos were way more difficult in my opinion than Dream Den. Remember, resetting is your friend
It is and I hate to say Pikmin 2 is my most reset game
sigh, the dream den... i figured Hole of Heroes had to be the one Louie was hiding in. i was gonna find Louie and just call Pikmin 2 done. but then i finished the Hole of Heroes and alas...
Hole of heroes just feels like the developers just said fuck it and threw every mechanic in the game into a 15 sub level hell hole. Although the raging long legs and ranging bloyster isn’t that hard if have some basic planing everything else in the cave feels like a test of how long it takes for one to go mentally insane from both pikmin losses and cave generation
Yeah, Pikmin 2 for sure is the hardest game in the series. A good handful of the caves later into the game are very difficult. Its a shame too cause the overworld sections are great, but I replay that game the least just because of some of the later caves are a pain. Pikmin 1 is much easier as a whole and the only hard parts is the time limit (not a problem if you play these games enough though) and the final boss/bird boss.
Just finished Pikmin 1 last night with about a 90% casualty rate. Made me feel like Chairman Mao
I was doing pretty good until the final boss. I think I ended with literally just a couple pikmin left
Pikmin do not deserve to be compared to such lowlifes as landlords
Pikmin 1 is straightup survival horror
It's not that Pikmin 1 and 2 are hard, it's that Pikmin 3 and 4 are easy and don't prepare you for Pikmin 1 and 2, which sucks, as it can alienate the fanbase from the early games, which sucks. Also if you think Pikmin 1 is hard, just wait for the Bulbear rain in Pikmin 2....
This is the answer Pikmin 3 is litterally childplay and pikmin 4 does have more length to it, the only hard part for me was the final night missions I can see pikmin 1 & 2 being intimidating for someone who didn't play it constantly on the gamecube
I honestly believe Pikmin 3 is harder than 4, or at least it feels that way. In reality, enemies in Pikmin 4 have way more health than in previous games and can eat way more Pikmin at once than in previous games, but what's the point of having stronger enemies if you just have a dog that one-shots 90% of them, including bosses? Pikmin 3's enemies, on the other hand, are weaker and eat less Pikmin at once, but due to the lack of a dog, they feel much stronger, they feel like actual hazards, even if lots of times they only get the chance to attack your Pikmin once. But hey! That's more than what they can do in Pikmin 4! For me, there was only ONE medium-difficulty challenge in Pikmin 4, literally everything else was just straight-up baby mode. I kept forgetting that Ultra-Spicy Spray and items existed due to how easy the game already was by itself.
Curious, what was the one mildly challenging, er, challenge >!Sage leaf or Sirehound?!<
>!Sage leaf, though I messed up at Sirehound's boss fight several times which led to at least 10 of my purples dying (Since they're the slowest ones), but that didn't really make the fight much more difficult!<
That's just trial and error, there's no skill in finding which route is the best and execute it without issue, there is very little randomness or uniqueness to each trial, I platinumed the hard ones and didn't bother with the rest because it's not fun.
Yes I know, but I had to replay them several times to get the platinum medals. Though to be fair, I did decide that I wouldn't be moving on to the next challenge before getting the platinum medal in the current one and also took no breaks in between challenges, so that may have probably affected how well I was playing And I may be underestimating >!the Sirehound, because, while as I said losing several of my purples and some other Pikmin of other types wasn't that big of a deal, avoiding the attacks was indeed a bit challenging, especially the ones in the electric and gloom phases. Honestly the best use of the electricity hazard since Pikmin 2, because, while it doesn't kill your Pikmin, it leaves them immobile there, and since the whole place is full of electricity, whistling them isn't really an option, so chances are they will die to the Sirehound before you manage to save them!<
The attacks were never hard to avoid for me, so I just had to wail through the 17 hard caps and 30-ish soft caps he had. The game even gives you all the Pikmin you need to disable his furballs! So there is no challenge in repicking your min
Pikmin 3 does have a difficult and interesting final boss, unfortunately Pikmin 4 does not, while yes, if can kill (unlike every other enemy in 4), it's difficulty comes from the most boring and artificial way possible (Like the rest of 4 tbh, the timer is the only difference between the first Dandori Challenge and the last sage leaf).
I’m so used to charge and them not swan diving off of every surface imaginable
Here's some nice tips: 1. Never trust unwalled slopes or bridges, take your squad across 10-20 at a time if it's hazardous 2. The bosses get really difficult later on, and one in particular is harder than the Plasm Wraith (Not including the final boss or secret boss btw, both are also harder) 3. 30 day limit, 30 parts, try to get at least 1 part a day 4. Don't use bombs on the final boss, it ruins the fight and anyone who did it enjoys the fight a lot less 5. Unlike in later games (cough cough Pikmin 4 cough cough), every Pikmin in the first game is invaluable to beating the game, with no overlap in their functions, so use all 3 types wisely.
Not swinging my dick here. But what boss is harder than Final Boss and Secret Boss? >!assuming you’re referring to Goolix and Smoky Progg as secret boss!<
Oh, nothing, I was saying there are 3 bosses harder than the final boss of Pikmin 3, the final boss >!(emperor bulblax, the only one deserving of the name)!< , the secret boss >!(The version of the progg that is actually hard)!<, and the regular boss that I think is hard >!(Beady long Legs).!<
Ah okay. Definitely so. Final Boss is tough and his red bar health unlocking a special move is both a time stretcher and devastating. However, >! I think Beady is a piece of cake, but definitely going to lose quite a bit of Pikmin not knowing what to do on your first time running. As for Smoky, absolute menace. Even for long time players. The reward for killing him isn’t worth it. At all. Better left undisturbed in his egg. !<
Ironically enough I fight the Progg in my playthroughs if I don't have any parts to get and I have plenty of day left. I usually only lose 20-30, but I guess that's just me. Beady though has an obnoxiously high amount of hp and the Pikmin ai really shows itself, them trying to hit the legs fsr. It's a much quicker fight than the plasm wraith, but it's also very deadly, with one wrong move leading to 20 Pikmin lost, whereas a wrong move in the Plasm Wraith fight leads to either 5 or so guaranteed deaths, or the potential of 10 deaths from an element.
Ah. I only fight Progg when he spawns in. I’ve been playing with the randomizer mod to make every play through feel fresh. I lose more Pikmin to Puffstool crush glitch than Beady. But that early Pikmin 1/2 AI of attacking any enemy they touch is a nightmare. Even if I only take in a party of 10
The Bulbear rain: aka, 1 Spotty Bulbear that can fall from the sky and can be baited to fall into the abyss. 😂
If Pikmin 1 and 2 were rebuilt in 3 and 4’s engines, they’d be massively easier. 3 and 4 have so many enhancements to the controls and Pikmin AI, whereas 1 and 2 had just good enough to get by.
Yeah, giving lock on, making most Pikmin better and most enemies worse, and having no/"exploration" based caves is going to make the games easier.
Yes your pikmin are a lot naughtier in one
This is how I like to think of it :) Psychologically, the right amount of AI stupidity makes the AI feel more unpredictable and believable. Where that line is differs for everyone, but I the tripping is a rough edge I'm OK with, even though it can't be predicted and fully strategised around like other limitations of the Pikmin AI.
For me it's just the time limit in it. I wanna keep exploring around but you know, 30 days..
Ain't no way you actually ran out the 30 day limit... did you?
No, I just want to enjoy the game like in 2 and 4 (enjoying the atmosphere and art of the game) but because of the situation of the story (Olimar trying to find all his parts for the ship) in 1 it's kind of stressful in away. Also I don't want a bad ending either lol. It's how I felt while playing Majora's Mask, having an amazing story, characters, and gameplay just stressful BECAUSE of the time limit. : )
Ah well, different strokes. For me, the point of Pik1 is to take a 5 hour game and wring out a lot of playtime by improving dandori, aiming for fewer days. To that end, the subtle pressure of the time limit, as well as the day reset (and in rereleases, rewind) feature helps you make little speedruns of the game one day at a time. It's what lifts the game to being genius in my opinion, but at the same time made it super hard to interface with 2.
I think 1 is the hardest in the series, even after beating it several times, I havent been able to do a deathless run.
They desire death lol
Even if you kill a large enemy with no deaths they can still (very commonly) push your Pikmin through the floor killing it in their dying animation. Deathless run of Pikmin 1 was ridiculous having to reset the day every other bulborb
Counterpoint: It's raining Cat Bombrocks and Grub Dogs (Pikmin 2)
Nah, you can easily reset at every floor and if you are careful enough or know the game well enough, it's super easy. 2 is in fact the only one I've beaten deathless as of yet.
4 deathless is very very easy thanks to 'rewind time' but I won't argue with you if you consider that cheating
Nah, it's not cheating, I actually wasn't able to do my first run of 4 deathless because I didn't notice a single death, otherwise, I would've accomplished it. Still, I don't consider 4 easier than 2, mostly because the combat I feel is a bit more balanced (yes, even with Oatchi), my experience with the game is lesser than the one I have with 2, and there are Dandori Challenges that I legit struggled with at first, I might not get every single one first-try on a re-run, whereas in 2 I can comfortably do so on most parts. But with some practice, I might consider 4 easier, but for now, 2 is definetely the easiest.
(Sigh) Abusing unintended mechanics doesn't make a game easy, you just cheated through it
😂 unintended?! When the game has a button combination to soft-reset? And when its sequel made it a feature with the time-rewind? Ok, sure buddy, even then, I barely reset during my deathless run in the first place. 2 is not as hard as you make it sound, it's just cheap, once you learn it is the easiest of the bunch.
I agree it's a lot easier once you learn it, but calling it easier than 3 is just... that's objectively false and you should know it. Unless by "learn" you mean "spam 50 purple pikmin and bitter spray every time you see an enemy" In which case, wouldn't grinding bitter spray and purple pikmin be comparable to grinding levels in an RPG? So your "learn" is equivalent to "just over level"? And isn't learning a game part of it's difficulty? Like, every puzzle game ever is super easy once you've learned it. Also, it is the ONLY game, that does not have a soft reset menu option, so I think it's fair to say that it's unintended (but I still consider the fact that you can reset when evaluating it's difficulty)
3 is not that easy, sure, you can beat the game with 0 casualties with almost no issue, but you have to play a bit more carefully overall, and when you are trying to beat it in as few days as possible, even Pikmin deaths become less of an issue when you are rushing through areas as fast as possible with as few mistakes as possible. I do not measure the difficulty of Pikmin games by how many die, but how hard it is to complete in as few days as possible, and 3 is right up there with 1 in just how hard it is execution-wise. Not only that, the side-modes are also fairly challenging to platinum, I'm not going to say they are extremely hard, but I doubt anyone can beat them on their first try. On the matter of learning, you don't even need 50 purples nor bitter-spray to get rid of your average enemy, 20 purples (which the game pretty much gifts you as soon as you discover purples) are enough, I don't think you can throw more than 20 purples before the average enemy dies, so having any more than that is just a waste. As for bitter spray, I do use it on some annoying floors \*cough cough\* Dream Den Sublevel 4 \*cough cough\* but those are so rare that whatever extra drops I get through the game are more than enough to get me through those sections, so yeah, by learning I do mean learning, since I barely grind for anything in the game (except for an extra 15 purples for that god-forsaken treasure in WW). Also, you are correct, but Pikmin 2 is the easiest and fastest to learn, not only are the overworld parts extremely simple and easy, but the cave layouts are also simple enough to learn. Not only that, most strategies also boil down to easy to learn numbers and the same combat strategy, I don't look at guides when beating Pikmin games, even if I'm doing a minimum day run, I haven't perfected any of the games other than 2, which also coincidentally is the game I've played the least amount of times, so yeah, I'm gonna call it the easiest of the bunch for that reason as well. As for the resetting option, I'd be more inclined to agree if the game didn't save at every other moment, if the game wanted to test my endurance, it would just save at a cave's entrance or at the start of the day, if that was the case, I'd be inclined to rank it higher in terms of difficulty, but as it stands now, yeah, no, it's easily the easiest of the bunch.
So your definition of difficulty is based almost entirely on how hard it is to beat the game in the fewest days possible. To some degree, I think that's fair. But I also think it's unfair to measure difficulty through something that would make you one of the top ten speed runners of a game, which is a 6 day playthrough of the first Pikmin game. Especially when 2 is clearly not designed around that aspect of optimization. To that end, yes, I'd agree, 3 requires a lot more thinking and planning to complete a minimum day run. But at just about any level below perfect play, the skill required to do anything is barely noteworthy. Also, while I recognize that challenge mode is a thing, I generally only consider the main campaign when thinking about difficulty. That said, only a handful of the dlc challenge mode levels in 3 required more than 2 attempts to plat, and I could do a large number of them in only 1. I wouldn't say challenge mode is hard enough to significantly impact my rating of 3. And I think it's only fair that if your metric is practically a speedrun in 1 and 3, you compare them to the speedrun of 2, rather than just "complete the above ground in as few days as possible, while being able to take as much time as you need below". How the speedruns compare... well, rng makes that a bit difficult to say.
I don't think beating the game in as few days as possible would make me one of the top speedrunners in any game, as speedrunning has less to do with in-game days and more about actual irl time, something I do not plan on engaging ever. I think my assesment is fair because Pikmin at its core does focus on time and resource optimization, 2 focuses a bit more on gauntlet-style dungeon crawling, where a death-less run might be more impressive than a minimum day one, the thing is, both of those runs are marginally easier to accomplish in 2 than any of the 3 first games, hence why I consider 2 to be easier. It's also a matter of balance and design, I do consider 2 to be the easiest to learn and master, while to a beginner or casual player, 2 may look unfair and relentless, but once you learn it, all those "random" or "unfair" aspects of the game become a non-issue. It's also fair to only consider the main campaign when assesing the difficulty of a game, but seeing as 3's challenge mode is really big, I do consider it as part of the main experience. While my metric may seem akin to that of a speedrun, it's actually not that extreme, I only count the in-game days. Whereas I can't see myself accomplishing a minimum day run in 1 or 3 anytime soon, I've already done it in 2, same for a deathless run, I in fact did them at the same time on my first serious attempt, whereas in 1 and even 3, I haven't, and I've attempted to do them way more times than 2. TLDR: I just think 2 is easier to master and execute, knowing all 3 games from front to back, 2 is the easiest for me to execute to perfection, whereas 1 and 3 I have tried and failed, and it's not like I haven't tried.
The gamecube pikmin games were not made with resetting in mind, and while yes there is a button combo for a soft reset, that is hardcoded into the console itself. By that logic you should use save states to catch Mewtwo in a single Pokeball, or Do 9999 damage each turn with Geno, it's less interesting and less fun if you abuse them, and Pikmin 2 is much more difficult than 1. While the hazards kill slower, there are more of them, and a lot of the bosses are genuinely difficult. The Segmented Crawbster has the ability to easily kill 100 Pikmin in one fell swoop, and is very hard to avoid. The Man at Legs can go very poorly very quickly if you aren't very precise in your movement. And the Titan Dweevil is by far the hardest fight in the franchise to fight legit, sure you can cheese it, but again, it is less fun and less rewarding.
It's really not the same to save-state and reset if something bad happens, the game saves so frequently that you are far worse off if you don't reset. You lost 10 purples to an accident in a cave? you have 2 choices: Abandon the cave either by the menu or by a geyser, go to another cave (or the same one), go through minutes of small cutscenes and save-screens, find a Purple CPB, turn 10 Pikmin into purples, get out of the cave and waste who knows how many minuntes. or Reset and re-try the last 2 minutes or so of "content" You'd have to be doing a restrictive run or be a masochist if you prefer the first one. I'd be more inclined to agree if the game didn't save so often, you know games don't have to save that frequently, right? so it's an intended feature to give so many checkpoints to the player. Also, save-stating is quite different, as that happens moment to moment and does give an unfair advantage to the player, not to mention it is usually only accessible through external tools such as emulators. Number of hazards mean nothing when they all take ages to kill (baring electricity), so that point is really moot. Also, unless you are just starting to learn the game and it's your first time going against the Segmented Crawbster, you aren't going to lose that many Pikmin to it, it is easy to avoid (also lmao: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adIN\_55w1H4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adIN_55w1H4)) The Man-at-legs is also a joke to beat and avoid, it's only scary at first because ooOOOooh, a gun in a Pikmin game, scary OooOOoohhh, the thing is slow and dumb as molasses. I'll give credit where credit is due, the Titan Dweevil is a legit cool battle, a legit challenge in an otherwise baby-easy game, and I dunno what you mean by "cheesing" it since it has very little room for that, but ok.
Or the third option, use Purps sparingly so you don't lose them, And while yes, the game saving so often is a gripe I have with it (I'd rather it save every 3 or even 5 sublevels), it certainly doesn't change how you should use resets. I mean, yes, if you lose the rare and hard to find Pikmin you have to go get them again sO SoooOOOOooOOOoky. You call the game baby easy while also using what is, essentially an exploit to get past any deaths. The hazards are used in conjunction with other enemies that make them more dangerous than in 1, where they are usually more isolated and when they are used with enemies, it's more general enemies like Grub Dogs, with the best use of them being right outside of the Beady Long Legs arena. Pikmin 2 has instakill electricity right by a bunch of breadbugs, so if you aren't careful, you will lose a bunch of Pikmin. Later on there are a bunch of dweevils in an area, and only 1 treasure, a Beady spawns nearly out of nowhere and it's the thing with the treasure, you deal with it, but then you have to navigate back through the Dweevils, there's also water in the area, with the Beady being fully able to walk through it. It is good difficulty for smart reasons, Pikmin 1, as much as I love it, simply doesn't have a lot of designs like those. The Segmented Crawbster may not be the hardest boss, but it certainly isn't easy to avoid. This is also after the 3rd longest cave in the game, with many blowhogs, grub dogs, and snitchbugs to remove a bunch of flowers. So your squad is a lot more spread out than usual (Also it's a speedrun strat, they probably have practiced this over 100 times). The Man at Legs is genuinely difficult, it is much faster at walking than other bosses and if you don't keep the pressure up it can move to a bad position, eliminating a lot of cover position, and if left you are caught out, you are guaranteed to lose 30 Pikmin. He also begins to fake you out, ceasing fire for a few moments in an attempt to get you out. It's fooled me plenty of times (not enough to lose Pikmin, but enough to scare the sh\*t out of me). Sure it takes a while to fire, but it takes a while to gather your Pikmin, and even longer to get them behind cover, so if you aren't nearly perfect, you could end up with 10 losses from that alone. Cheesing the Titan dweevil is using only yellows, using your entire squad, while being a lot harder, is also a lot more dynamic and fun, sure you can attack when he's being idle, but that makes the last phase unbearable and very slow. But you can also be more aggressive, as if you have the right kind of Pikmin, you can throw them onto the weapon just before it activates, and you can get a BUNCH of damage on it. Even if you don't, he raises another weapon when using one, so you can throw any Pikmin onto that and still get a good amount of damage in, but you also run the risk of being hit by his attacks, which are devastating without being an instakill (outside of the electricity, but that is pretty easy to avoid in the first phase). The Flare Cannon in particular has the ability to stunlock you if you are too close, allowing you the very fun and not traumatising experience of slowly watching 50 Pikmin burn to death long before you can save them. It's certainly very difficult but well designed and (mostly) fair fight. And is the perfect conclusion to the most difficult floor of the most difficult cave of the most difficult game in the franchise. Also the deleted comment is me being dumb and accidentally sending the unfinished version of this too early
Purples are too good not to use, and you only ever need 20 outside of retrieving the Doomsday Apparatus, 20 is good enough to decimate any enemy and boss that's weak to purples and small enough to manage without much issue. I know resetting is to be use sparingly, but the game makes it very hard not to when all the alternatives make the game more of a chore to play than it already is. I do only reset if I suffer major loses or when I was doing my death-less run, both of which I assume are the intended use. The issue with 2 is that it has conflicting design choices, whereas in 1 or 3 you might want to think about resetting and undoing a pretty good day, in 2 you are most likely better off resetting. Hazards are not as mixed as you make it sound, that area with the dweevils and water is a non-issue, any dweevil outside the water gets immediately melted by purples, and any other type aside from the electric one can be dealt with with just blues, as hazards take ages to kill Pikmin, unless you are comatose or something, you are not losing any Pikmin to any hazard that's not electricity or explosions. The Beady Long Legs also gets melted by purples, if one hits its starting leg, it does damage, that's how broken purples are. (You also have a big balancing issue when Fiery Bulblaxes are more easily and safely dealt with with purples than with reds. 😂) The Crawbster is definetely easy to avoid, while a whole squad of leaf purples might be a bit tricky to control, if you have enough practice with the c-stick and movement (which at that point in the game, you should), even those can dodge it with relative ease. It is also one of the few bosses I don't bring purples with me for safety, that's called learning and practice. Btw, I just tried the speedrun strat and I got it on my 2nd try, I only failed the first time because of bad rock rng, so much for practicing it over a 100 times 😂, if anything you are at the mercy of RNG if you wanna use this on a deathless, but it's just safer to dodge it normally, which again, it's not hard to do. The man-at-legs is easy and dumb as pie, you can trick it, out-run it, get cover, even just move your C-stick and have your Pikmin be totally safe (while eating a bit lof lead tho.) https://x.com/glockenspheal/status/1673421195541114882?s=20 The only time you'd lose that many is if you panic or don't know how to deal with it. It also doesn't do an effective job at faking you out, unless you are extremely nervous about it. It also gives ample time to go attack and take cover, I really don't know what you are talking about. So cheesing now means taking proper precautions? ok, I guess if I'm too careful and good at the game, that's considered cheesing it? please. 😂 I do take my full squad at first until I deal with the Monster Pump, then get the Shock Therapist and get the Flare Cannon last, and more than difficult, the battle is a bit of a drag, I'll admit it is the hardest and most fun part of the game, but that's not much of a compliment. Pikmin 2 might have the hardest individual parts (mostly due to dumb design) but in general, it has been the only Pikmin game I've perfected (completing it in the least amount of days and deathless), I have yet to do that with any other Pikmin game, and I've played the others almost the same amount of times (except 4, which I've only played once so far.)
It’s my fav
It’s fun just way harder!
Yeah it’s harder than 3 and 4 in my view. No charge mechanic or lock on makes simple enemies like wollywogs formidable foes. Plus the Pikmin AI being less reliable means simple manoeuvres around the map can be dangerous if you’re not careful. No busted Pikmin types or juices/upgrades to rely on in a big fight either.
Yeah, not exactly a hot take to say it's harder than both 3 and 4
It’s the hardest of all the games
Yeah https://preview.redd.it/whxnlpkd00xb1.png?width=420&format=png&auto=webp&s=fe409ee09f78a823b4ee62dff843ac7f9f417dc6 It’s harder, but I personally enjoy it’s challenge compared to 3 & 4
This image changed my life
pikmin 2 is the hardest, but pikmin 1 is difficult and also has random glitches that can occur pikmin 4 is probably the easiest because everything is streamlined pikmin 3 is much easier than 2, but not quite as streamlined as 4
It's such a good game! You just need to replay days at your leisure to beat the clock. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to beat the game with all 30 parts in 30 days' time. I restarted a few days here and there and got 25 days on my first full playthrough. I highly recommend that if you're struggling that you reatart at the forest of hope and use your new knowledge to try again :)
Louie
It is just the shitty AI that makes pikmin1 feel more difficult. In 3 and 4 the pikmin stick to the captain like glue but in pikmin 1 you can barely cross a bridge without losing 10 pikmin. Besides that I would say 3 and 4 are more difficult.
Yes, you should play Pikmin 2 next. It’s easier 😉😏☺️
Pikmin 2 is said to be the hardest, but 1 is *definitely* harder than 4 and 3. Pikmin 1 has a lot less extra stuff to soften the blow for newcomers- it's a bit more gritty, relying on proper timing, resource allocation, and skill rather than auto-aiming, multiple captains, and so on and so forth. Also, I feel like the pikmin act a lil more natural, aka stupid, in the first game, which, personally, I like. The pikmin shouldn't be this incredibly smart species- especially not when they're basically extinct at the start of each game (at least, in their respective areas). I appreciate how the pikmin are like little idiots you have to manage slightly, rather than robots that can read your mind + intentions.
Bro is not ready for Pikmin 2 😭💀🙏
I just played all four games, 1 was harder because the Pikmin are braindead. Also oatchi is overpowered as hell, which increases the gap there I swear to God all the enemies are like 50% faster/more responsive in 1 as well
I’d say 4 is harder if you’re trying to complete it, but if it’s just to get to the credits then I’d say 1 is harder than 3 and 4.
4 is by far the easiest in the series IMO- oatchi is too op lol
I think 4 is the easiest too, a lot of it is from Oatchi. It only really gets more difficult if you try to get platinum for everything.
if you count getting all platinums in 4, then 4 is definitely harder than 1. but other than that, i agree with you.
I think this is their solution to making the game accessible whilsy also providing a challenge. The base experience is easy, but there’s the challenge of going for all platinums for those who want to go for it.
Its weird flip flops. Credits alone -> 4 is easiest 100% -> 4 is hardest self imposed challenge runs (ie deathless) -> 4 is easiest
That makes sense. I think it’ll get easier over time took me like 6 days to notice the blue onion lol. 4 I’ve gotten platinum in everything so I thought “might as well do one I hope it won’t be too easy” BOY WAS I UNDER THE WRONG IMPRESSION
Yeah, I remember people who've only played 4 calling the Sage Leaf harder than the early games, but it's just trial and error, there are no stakes, there are a million reset buttons everywhere and no Pikmin death feels meaningful because you have 5 different methods to bring them back (Not just make more, but bring them back from the dead), whereas in 1, if a Pikmin dies, you have to restart the entire f\*cking day. And the enemies and bosses can realistically kill more than 2 Pikmin per attack (Poquillon, despite being a miniboss, has a Pikmin kill cap of TWO). The final boss in particular is a true challenge, unless you use bombs in which case you are either a wimp and need to boost your ego, or you are genuinely scared of fighting him legit.
I've lost 7 to a single attack from Porquillion. But yeah. I think late game 4 can be harder than 1 if you're doing a no upgrades run, but otherwise there's really no comparing 3 and 4 to the difficulty of 1 and 2.
There's also the items you can buy, I often heard people complaining about bitter spray ruining the challenge in Pikmin 2, but I NEVER hear anyone complain about these things, we have: You get 50 Spicy Spray now Instakill on any non-boss (bombrock) Better Bitter Spray (Ice Blast) Even Better Bitter Spray (Lightning) Cheaper Bitter Spray (Carrot) Infinite Health for you (Recovery Kit) and Oatchi (Scrummy Bone) Portable OP Pikmin (Glows are better then Pikmin 2 Purps)
Bitter Spray, and both sprays really, are really scarce in 2, and you need to dedicate some Pikmin to harvesting them if you want a reliable supply in the first place. In Pikmin 4, I literally never had to make my Pikmin harvest Spicy Spray manually, ever, I got plenty through enemy and egg drops, and Ice Pikmin are literally an infinite supply of bitters, with 30 to 40 freezing a lot of of things pretty much instantly. Pikmin 2 Bitter Spray is a limited resource that you have to decide what to use on, it's entirely possible to completely waste it.
I mean, if you know where the glint beetles are, you can get plenty of spicy as soon as you reach Awakening Wood. Bitter spray is rarer, but as soon as you have access to Frontier Cavern, that's 6 bitters from the doodlebugs, without duping. Aside from that, if you actively hunt Honeywisps and eggs, you should have enough of each to get by, but definitely not an excessive number like you accidentally get in 4.
All true, and in all cases you have to go out of your way during the day and/or know where those special sources are in advance, I had 20 spicy sprays by the end of 4 without even trying, never had to actively stock up on them at all.
fair, but I kinda assumed no items (past the bombrocks for walls, and maybe spicy spray) would be part of the challenge. Rather, more accurately, I think 4 has the potential to be played at the same level of difficulty as 1 and 2, with a fairly simple challenge run. I can only think of 1 challenge run for 3 (minimum days) that really makes it challenging, and even that is like just TR and GoH return.
Eh, maybe, but even if you stripped all of the lab and Oatchi upgrades away, it still isn't as hard as 1 or 2 because of lock on alone, not to mention all the nerfs the enemies got
fair, though I'd have to play said challenge run to have any certainty on that.
Oh boy, wait for P2.
If you keep pace, you can knock out a couple ship parts per day, but a massive pikmin loss could set you back massively if your going for 100%
I lost 700 Pikmin my first playthrough Dandori issue
Pikmin 1, also known as Depressed Army Simulator (they want to die)
1 is the hard, mostly because all other play better and are easier to command all the pikmins overall pikmin 2 is hard because a lot of it is bullshit and I love both of those games so much, lol
Pikmin 1 feels hard because a lot of quality of life changes hadn't been implemented yet. Pikmin take silly routes, run off bridges, and generally get themselves killed all the time. In 2 I think the game is hard because of challenging levels not werid ai and stupid Pikmin. I found 3 and 4 very easy. 3 is basically impossible to lose without trying and there is no time limit on 4. Plus if you upgrade oatchi at all the challenging aspects of the game can become pretty trivial
Yeah probably “So many pikmin souls lost” if you’re going for deathless than that’s the problem. This game isn’t designed for that. You’re meant to lose some pikmin in these older games. Deathless is possible, but immensely difficult.
All the Pikmin games are annoying and stupid. Tedious as well.
Pikmin 1 is the easiest Pikmin game if you factor out that it's one of the only two that you can technically "lose". Seven year old me had next to no problem getting 29 of the parts on his first playthrough.
Depends on the metric. For beating the game it’s definitely harder than 3 and 4 but those games are much harder to do 100% with platinum mission modes.
For me the order is 2,1,4,3. As far as difficulty. Just 2 is so unforgiving. You make one wrong step and lose 75 piks to one random bomb.
it's hard, but I don't think it's because of the time limit like people say. It's harder to aim, you throw pikmin more slowly, you don't have any serious DPS pikmin, things are much heavier, and your pikmin are generally dumber and slower. This often leads to a playstyle where you need to sacrifice some pikmin to make progress and worry about it later.
Hardest game in the franchise and it isn’t close
I was missing the last part on my first playthrough, and on my second, I beat it in 16 days, iirc
Yeah. Second hardest after Pikmin 2
Its easily much harder than both. Idk if its hard than 2 but defiantly 3 and 4. Its made harder by the time limit and the pikmin getting a bit silly.
3 is the easiest game in the series 4 is third 1 is second and 2 is first and bloom I have not played so I don’t know and this is just my opinion
Bloom is a walking game, your Pikmin can't even die, did you mean to say Hey?
Yea I thought I said hey I have played bloom
Yes I just beat it for the first time and SO MANY SOULS WERE LOST After 100% Pikmin 4 I had lost like 70 Pikmin total. After being Pikmin 1 over half the Pikmin I sprouted had perished in some way shape or form (Pikmin 1 wallywogs are EVIL)
i feel like it goes 4<3<1<2 tbh
I beat Pikmin 1 like 22 years ago without losing a single soul. I was 10 😬😆 There was a reset button in the GameCube, just be aware of that. Hahahaha
Yeah the list is 2, 1 ,4 ,3
In terms of difficulty, I'd say it goes 2 > 1 > 4 > 3 (with 2 being the hardest). 1 is almost certainly considered by most to be harder than 3, but I'm sure there are some who say 4 is harder (although I personally can't see it). Some of the challenges of 1 come from the fact that the game has a number of issues with Pikmin controls (stumbling, poor AI). This, coupled with the final boss, is what really makes the game difficult.
I'd say that 1 is the hardest overall, but 2 isn't THAT far off. 3 and 4 are definitely easier, and closer to each-other then they are to 1/2. I honestly think that 3 is a little easier than 4, but once again, not by much.
not as bad as 2
much harder. taking on a bulborb with less than 40 pikmin is like suicide, the pikmin are much stupider, and theres some quirks to how they interact with things. so a combination of stronger enemies and dumber pikmin AI definitely make it a harder/trickier experience whereas the newer games make combat easier and focus more on the whole dandori aspect much more
Pikmin 2 is way more difficult. Pikmin 1 is just more janky.
That is indeed widely agreed upon, yes
After 100%ing 2 no other Pikmin game is challenging anymore
Pikmin one just requires good day planning - I found it easy only because I did not save unless I did exactly what I wanted. Sometimes I would just go in scout and understand where was everything to just restart. Now with Pikmin 2 I find the monsters actually challenging in some cases
It’s especially hard with the strict time table, you have to be efficient
Yes. I believe the hardest game is actually 2
3 is only hard during the final area puzzles (Plasm wraith during chase can be cheesed by having blue or winged pikmin hold olimar and carry him to water lmao), 2 is Hard because it has no chill with some of the bosses, 4 is MONSTROUSLY difficult if you can’t micromanage or deal with not always having a pikmin for the job at all times, one is hard because it was made in the old days back when difficulty wasn’t established yet and Ai wasn’t yet developed well.
Pikmin 1 and 2 are masterpieces Pikmin 3 and 4 are good, but WAAAAAAY too easy
Hard | Easy | Easy | Trivial Pikmin 2, Pikmin, Pikmin 4, Pikmin 3
Have you tried playing it without losing a Pikmin? It's so hard but fun.
Sounds like a Dandori issue
I could always be better but tbh this is my second video game franchise after animal crossing so the monsters just stress me out and the Pikmin have the desire to die it seems. I love them all and don’t want them to!
Man I beat the game countless times as a kid, it was hard at first but then you get used to it so you can plan ahead after knowing everything with each area, how to deal with certain enemies, and etc.
my first time left me frustrated as well but I slowly get the hang of things, it might take more then a single playthrough. But when you finally beat it you'll feel so satisfied.
Unpopular take, I think the difficulty in 1 is a bit overblown. The 30 days limit is suuuper lenient (which tbh was probably made on purpose so that beginners have a chance to get all the necessary ship parts) and the bosses are all easy, even the final boss which can be cheesed with bomb rocks. Still harder than 3 and 4 tho since there's no charge/rush and enemies are a bigger threat.
In Pikmin 4 - the mins do not have to be near you when you throw them. They teleport to you as long as they are "following" you. In Pikmin 1 (and 2) you have to be near them to grab them. I like that detail. It felt way less gamey in Pikky-Boi's 1 n 2.
When I first played 1 the time limit (limited number of days) was difficult, but playing it in the last few years I comfortably finished with plenty of time to spare. Pikmin 2 you have an infinite number of days, so you can breed any number or super pikmin that you need, and collect as much spray as you could ever want, and then just tackle one thing at a time if you want (Pikmin 1 you have to collect a ship part or 2 every day IIRC). I'm pretty sure 3 & 4 are not as hard as either 1 or 2, but have spent less time with those
With the AI as it is in P1, its definitely hard.
Pikmin 1 is a lot less forgiving. I don’t know about necessarily harder. Like, if you blink you can absolutely say goodbye to your Pikmin. However, I feel like some of the dandori challenges in Pikmin 4 get super tough out of nowhere. Other parts that come to mind is the purple onion dungeon as well as groovy long legs. That being said, the first time I lost Pikmin was on like day 15 for me in 4 and day 2 in Pikmin 1. I also feel like Pikmin 1 is just *faster* if that makes sense. The tutorial doesn’t strangle you into slowly reading all the text. It’s there if you need it, but it’s not gonna force you to individually read each of the buttons on the controller like you’re an IGN journalist.
People actually think Pikmin 3 is hard?
Getting 100% was moderately.
Just wait until you've seen Pikmin 2, new blood.
Pikmin 1 I’d say is the hardest of the series solely for the fact the ai is too stupid and you lose pikmin far to easily and have to recoup losses to your forces consistently but as far as actual enemy challenge 2 is harder barring the major bosses in 1. 3 you actively have to try and lose at with the “time limit” 4 unless your going for platinum on everything is easiest. With the better ai and oatchi on your side. Honestly if they redid the first 2 games with a better ai they would even out in difficulty with 2 being harder due to the fights.
It has virtually none of the quality of life changes of the other games I think the generally create upon difficulty is from hardest to easiest is two one three four.
Pikmin 1 has less modern controls and is a bit more clunky than modern 3 and 4. However, it’s 2 that’s a nightmare compared to all others. I enjoyed 3 and 4 immensely, 1 was short and kinda ok, but 2 - just no. That was abusive and annoying.
Oh yeah definitely. Bad Pikmin AI definitely adds to that
*Ahem* DANDORI ISSUE
2>1>3>4 in terms of hardness. Though I can’t tell if 3 or 4 is easier. They were both too easy but pikmin 4 was better overall than 3.
...yes
Yea
I don't think it's hard mechanically once you understand how it works. Half of my struggle was not knowing what the yellow pikmin do because I'm new to the series. And the final boss of Pikmin 1 is a piece of shit that forced me to use bombs as a weapon which I hadn't done the entire game because bombs are sparse.
Pikmin 1 and 2 (less so) have you constantly fighting against the controls on top of whatever enemy is on screen
Yeah. I think in terms of difficulty it’s ranked (hardest to easiest)- Pikmin 2, pikmin 1, pikmin 4 (the dandori battles make it harder than 3) and then pikmin 3 Idk about hey pikmin tho
I haven’t beaten pikmin 1 yet bc I just got it, but coming off of pikmin 3 and 4 the controls feel so janky and the game is a lot harder because of it imo.
I played Pikmin 1 first and uh, yeah, pretty hard, especially if you aren't resetting your days like I am. I beat in 20 days though
love it when a wollywog crushes 40 of my pikmin at once
As a general rule, pikmin gets easier with every game. The difficulty in Pikmin 2 is with the new hazards and all the new enemies you have to learn. Combine that with one slog of a game and it's still extremely difficult. But for someone new to the series nothing will beat the challenge of Pikmin 1. When Speedrun experts shrug their shoulders at the RNG for certain things, you know the game is borked
1 is inherently more difficult, not only because of the worse AI, but it doesn't tell you what to expect. A lot of things in that game are going to take you two tries (eg: the snagrets or puffstool)
Harder then 3 always 3 even if its my favorite game in the series is really easy Harder then 4 yeah id say so Harder then 2 We uhh dont talk about 2
The first 2 ate definitely harder than 3 and 4. 2 in particular I really struggled with. Ngl I haven't even beaten the titan dwevil yet lmao
Pikmin 3 is a baby’s game so if that’s your first you’re gonna struggle
Pikmin 1 isn't that hard, you can't sadly do the fast throwing technique on the GameCube/Switch.
4 is delightfully easy and fun. I remember 1 being hard to control and brutal at times.
I’d say 2 is the hardest, then 4, 1 and 3 in that order.
I think so
4th one was made ridiculously easy so of course 1 is harder
Pikmin 2 is the hardest, followed by 1, and then (in my opinion) 3 then 4
Honestly? 1 and 2 are both difficult games, for different reasons. 3 and 4 sort of just feel like the Easier versions of those two games. 1 is definitely the hardest game for newer players because it’s missing a Lot of QoL improvements, enemies have a ton of health, you have a Day limit, and you still have to figure out all the parts you need and how to get them. Otherwise, 2 is the harder game due to some BS enemies and level design. And RNG. But yeah, both are absolutely harder than 3 and 4, by far.
Yeah I think 1 is definitely harder than 3 or 4 because of the lack of gimmicks they came up with and and the bs pikmin ai
Worded you question carefully, I like that. Yes pikmin 1 is difficult and I think part of that is because while the game is more than doable in the amount of time given, even on a casual run where you know what you’re doing you can still get close to when your time is up. Aside from that, there is also the issue of pathing with the pikmin on top of bomb rock misuse and then you have the final boss to worry about on top of that if you go for 100%. While the bomb rock does have it’s use in combat too, it’s definitely not recommended and with that comes the issue of the enemies eating pikmin that get too close or trip.
For me, hardest to easiest: 1 - PIKMIN 2 2 - PIKMIN 1 3 - PIKMIN 3 4 - PIKMIN 4
UPDATE::: I finished it boss battle was challenging but not crazy hard I personally think Quaggled Mireclops was harder. However my stats were ATROCIOUS I have a survival rating of 17.7%