Just curious, how did people here feel about Pikmin 2? Because this has the return of Pikmin 2 dungeons, and to be perfectly blunt, those dungeons ruined that entire game. Pikmin 3 was far better for the omission of those dungeons. Yet Pikmin 2 still had over 90 on metacritic, so outside of myself and my friend circle, maybe it didn't bother as many people as I thought.
- I dont mean to be rude but I think its something mostly between your social sphere. I played pik1/pik2/pik3 all on release, imo pikmin 2 was by far the best out of the three and pikmin 3 was the worst. The dungeons in 2 were imo a great idea but I do agree that they were poorly executed in almost every instance. Especially towards the end of the game they became a slog. I think the newer approach to dungeons should hopefully remedy this issue but we will certainly see
- Really? I loved the Pikmin 2 dungeons, and am stoked to see them return. Pikmin 3 felt way too short without them.
  
  Well, the other two games are definitely shorter, but the dungeons in Pikmin 2 felt like padding and tedium to me, which is not how I'd like to see a game lengthened. There were a lot of cheap deaths too, like bombs or enemies that just fall from the ceiling and instant game over, and being unable to replenish your forces felt antithetical to the loop that made the game fun. Apparently I'm in the minority though.
  
  I mean it’s been almost 20 years since I played Pikmin 2, so I’d have to replay it to see if I still feel the same way, but from playing the demo of 4 I’m thinking I do still like the dungeons. For me, I like that time stops (or I guess in the new one, it’s slowed way down?). I like to get as much done as I can in one go, limited only by my own survival skills, and hate the constant threat of “OHP HEY IT’S NIGHT TIME, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GET YOUR ASS TO CAMP!” that you get on the surface. I hate being rushed, it’s why I don’t like true RTS games like Starcraft. Pikmin 1 almost crossed that line, what with it rushing you to find all the treasures in a month or whatever. Almost makes me feel like I have to follow a guide, when I just want to go explore at my own pace instead.
  
  But hey everyone’s different, I don’t think your opinion is invalid or anything, and i’m hoping you still enjoy 4!
  
  I'm so jaded by Nintendo at this point that I don't think I'll even play 4 (I haven't even picked up Tears of the Kingdom), but if there was any hope of me picking it up, it was gone when I saw dungeons. The constraint of how much you could do in a single day was a large part of what made Pikmin fun for me, since you had to plan carefully. That need was dampened but still present in 3, and in Pikmin 2, it was basically replaced with these dungeons instead.
  
  That’s fair. From the demo, I can’t tell how long some of these dungeons will be towards say the end of the game, but the ones I saw so far were much shorter. I think it’s a nice balance in that way. I think Pikmin 2 had dungeons that were what, up to 100 floors deep or something? THAT was a little overkill.
  
  As for TotK, I will say that I got burnt out on BotW before even getting halfway, but this one made BotW feel like an unfinished Beta or something. Much more fun, much more to do. I actually beat it haha
- I respect your opinion and appreciate that you have shared it here with us today.
  
  That being said oof, what's not to love about Pikmin 2 dungeons. Turn off the clock and unplug the setting from reality a bit, sit down in front of a long line of floors full of enemies and treasures, big juicy boss fight at the end.
  
  That is Pikmin to me.
  
  Pikmin to me is planning how to get as many things as I can in the course of one in-game day, including growing more Pikmin. Instead the dungeons got rid of the time limits and the ability to shore up your forces after losses. Having to march further and further into repetitive floors of enemies full of insta-kills was not my idea of a good time.
  
  I am not denying that the ability to plant more Pikmin with enemy bodies in caves would be pretty sick.
- I have only played the first two games so far. Overall I strongly disliked the dungeons in the second game as they felt like padding and a way to kill off your pikmin. They just weren't executed properly in my opinion.
  
  That being said, there was massive room for improvement. As long as the dungeons in 4 aren't repetitive and feel unique enough I think they could be fun.
- I wasn't excited about the dungeons in Pikmin 2 and I'm sure that contributed to why it's the Pikmin game I didn't finish, but I played the Pikmin 4 demo and didn't feel the same about them there. I do prefer the overworld parts more, but liked the puzzles I found in caves too.
- Pikmin 2 is my favorite game in the series so I am a little bias, but I can still admit that the dungeons were poorly executed. Just from playing the demo though, the dungeons of Pikmin 4 feel much better balanced and less cramped. They also seem to not be randomly generated, which will probably make them feel less repetitive. Even exploring the inside of a house would count as a "dungeon" now but it is a very novel experience in Pikmin so I am all for it.
- I thought Pikmin 2 was the worst Pikmin, the dungeons weren't that fun, there was too much treasures that wasn't fun to collect, and the story kind of sucked.
  
  But 4 has a rewind feature which would let you re-approach a situation. Unlike 2, in which if you make a wrong move, loosing a bunch of Pikmin on the final level, you'd have to go through it all again.
- I am a huge fan of the series, and while I didn't mind the dungeons in 2, I agree 3 was better. I thought the more realistic graphic style of 3 was gorgeous and a little disappointed that 4 is going more cartoonish. But if the gameplay is fun, which it seems they are focusing on, I can forgive it.
- Huh, yeah I also loved the dungeons in Pikmin 2. But I also just had a discussion with another friend who didn't like them, so it's definitely not just you. At the least I'm hoping 4 improves on any shortcomings they had!

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