Pikmin 3 is a real time strategy game from the mind of famed game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. In this game you take control of the crew members of the S.S Drake, and command the strange life forms known as pikmin to complete different tasks for you while trying to collect different fruits to bring back to your starving planet. The concept is familiar enough but the execution is very well done and left me pleased with my time spent with this game.
The crew of the S.S. Drake is made up of three different people, Alph, Brittney, and Charlie. And in this game you take control of all three of them, which is a change from the older titles. All three of them perform same, but having three different characters does allow you to split them into different groups and explore the map faster, which is helpful at times because the days are short. And having three allows for some different puzzles, but most of those just end up being throw two people on one platform then throw one of those two onto another with some pikmin and you solved the puzzles. But thankfully there are not many of those kinds of puzzles because they are not that fun or interesting to do.
Now onto the name of the game, the pikmin. There are 5 different kind of pikmin in this game, red, blue, yellow, rock, and flying. The last two types being new addictions to this game and takes the place of the white and purple from the second entry. Each type of pikmin has a unique use which only they can overcome and different uses in combat as well. All the pikmin are useful throughout the entire game and not just being useful for the first five minutes when you get them then never again. But the pikmin are not that smart at times, often times their path finding can mess up and they can just run into a wall until you come back and fix them. But outside of that I never had a huge problem with the pikmin messing up.
The combat in this game is fairly simple to understand and get the hang of. Most fights consist of throwing your pikmin onto a foe to hurt it and collect them when they fall off to throw them again, all well choosing the right type to get the job done. It's an easy system to understand, but dew to some challenges with aiming with the gamepad, so using the lock on is almost mandatory. But when fighting bosses lock on still does not solve the problem as it does in normal fights. Because bosses are only still for a small time then they start moving again which brakes the lock on. So those fights often consist of struggling with the left stick (which controls movement and aiming) while trying to get a lock on so you can attack for the short time the boss has stopped moving. But thankfully bosses keep damage they receives over days so you don't have to worry about killing a boss in the time left in the day.
Pikmin 3 is a very well executed game that only has a few flaws on an otherwise very enjoyable experience. The three crew members are helpful in getting the most out of each day by splitting them into different groups. Each kind of pikmin is useful and is never just dead weight for the group. The combat if easy to understand is hard to master dew to the challenges with aiming with the gamepad. This game is a must own for any Wii U owner, I did not regret the 14 hours I spent with this game.
I give this game a 8.5.