Reflections in a Perplexing Pool
Apr. 4th, 2019 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nintendocsIt might alarm some of you to know that, despite owning the game since about 2009, I've never actually played Pikmin 2 to completion. I've begun it, several times: managed to get to the Perplexing Pool, and sunk a few hours into those submerged caverns. Now that I have spare time again (that is, not exactly free time, but time free of that phenomenon of scholar's guilt), I decided that it was about time I added the Wii version to my list of gaming conquests. I thoroughly enjoyed the first game, after all, and completed that in about a fortnight of early morning gaming sessions in secondary school.
What I hadn't anticipated - and what I must have glossed over, or not fully understood on my first attempts to complete the game - was how difficult Pikmin 2 was. Yes, that's past tense, retrospective: I did succeed, and can now look fondly at that box on my shelf, updating my Backloggery account to reflect my mastery of the game. Except that I can't really say I mastered it. The first Pikmin is a serene jaunt through four or five levels. There are some ESRB 'moments of threat or menace' to quicken the pulse and pose a challenge, but it's relatively easy to finish with the best possible ending. Played more than once, you can easily bolster your Pikmin army in a matter of days - enough to gather up the crucial ship parts long before Olimar's life support system deteriorates. This is, I would argue, why I prefer Pikmin: it's less refined than its successor in several ways, but it's relaxing, composed, and neatly presented.
Pikmin is a leisurely stroll, but it's positively self-indulgent and sybaritic when juxtaposed with its sequel, Pikmin 2. Fresh in my memory, and appreciated as a whole, the second game does warm you up, somewhat: the appropriately named Valley of Repose and Awakening Wood possess less overt dangers, and the early, gentler caves (a negative addition to the game, I might add - controversially) ease you into the new mechanics and new Pikmin types. However, by the Perplexing Pool and the Wistful Wilds, the game has eschewed any attempts to take it easy on you.
A bit of context and comparison might be helpful here. In the original Pikmin, the majority of Olimar's 'treasures' (the 30 ship parts scattered around the Pikmin's home planet, and which the Captain needs to find in order to rebuild the S.S. Dolphin) are in plain sight. The combination of Pikmin required to reach a specific part was a large component of the puzzle, with, for example, Yellow Pikmin being lighter and able to handle bombs, and Blue Pikmin able to travel through water. A late-game puzzle in Pikmin might force you to guide the non-aquatic types of Pikmin across a bridge or stream. However, the majority of the difficulty in Pikmin 2 comes from, more so than the treacherous terrain, the absolutely ruthless bosses and predators.
In the first game, few enemies are truly vicious: the Smoky Progg, located in The Distant Spring on certain days, is one, and facing the trio of Burrowing Snagrets in The Forest of Hope is another fearsome prospect for the inexperienced leader. Nonetheless, they're few and far between. In the second game, these predators are in abundance, and are accompanied by even more zealous evolutions, like the Man-at-Legs or the Pileated Snagret. In facing these bosses, you don't even have the option of running back to the Onion to sprout more Pikmin; instead, you're forced to confront these creatures in deep, underground caverns, with a rapidly diminishing army. Some of these caves have 14-15 levels, with the boss located on the lowest floor, and by the time you've reached the final arena, most of your Pikmin have drowned or burned or lie, digested, in the stomach of a Spotty Bulbear. That's another creature that has become significantly more vicious since the original game - Olimar notes that it has a "certain indefatigability." Most likely due to its refusal to quit until it has devoured each and every last one of your Pikmin, I'd imagine. Here's a picture so you can witness its ghastly, bulging eyes and lips for yourself.
Chief among these terrors (or, at least, the one that caused me the most grievance), was the Empress Bulblax. If it wasn't already enough of a task to face her male counterpart (who was the final boss in the first game and a smaller version of whom appears here, as well), this giant slug can, disgustingly, lay dozens of Bulborb Larva to swarm Olimar and Louie. Worse still, when aggravated, it will roll to-and-fro, decimating any Pikmin foolish enough to be standing next to its vile form. Perhaps I'd need another playthrough to formulate a strategy which would allow me to kill the Empress without such needless, Braveheart-esque sacrifice. However, on the three occasions that she appeared in Pikmin 2, I can't say it ended all that happily.
With these tragedies in mind, what are my concluding thoughts on Pikmin 2? There are a lot of things to appreciate about the game vis-a-vis the first game, which was, after all, a Gamecube launch title and relatively experimental. Because there are so many treasures (mostly household objects and purchasable, real-world items, like 7Up bottlecaps), the length of the game extends far beyond that of the original: it's a meaty, completionist's game, with a lot expected of the player to achieve 100%. It's also quite exciting to see the lore of the Pikmin world expanded upon so comprehensively. Olimar is a seasoned explorer at this point, with considerable knowledge of the Pikmin world, and his journal hints at a number of untold adventures. It's a much more vibrant, convincing planet, with the implication being that the areas Olimar visited in the first game have, even since his short visit home, sped forward in time: the four areas in Pikmin 2 are, topographically, reminiscent of Pikmin's locales. The graphics are much improved, and the AI of the Pikmin has been enhanced, so it's now much easier to save them from a watery grave.
I think the caves, of which there are around 14, do weaken the experience somewhat, however. While there is an overworld, the majority of time is spent underground, crawling around sand dunes and along fragments of broken plant pots. This does provide solid evidence for the theory that the Pikmin's planet is our world/Earth, since there are Duracell batteries and Haribo sweets left behind by an ancient civilisation. However, it also nulls the peaceful, pastoral quality of Pikmin: these underground levels resemble 'challenge rooms,' filled with bosses and loot but without the ability to spawn more Pikmin, making them difficult and less fun. And, visually, it's less interesting, too - think Ocarina of Time with 70% of the game spent at the Bottom of the Well. Overall, then, Pikmin 2 is excellent; but I can't help preferring the first.
What I hadn't anticipated - and what I must have glossed over, or not fully understood on my first attempts to complete the game - was how difficult Pikmin 2 was. Yes, that's past tense, retrospective: I did succeed, and can now look fondly at that box on my shelf, updating my Backloggery account to reflect my mastery of the game. Except that I can't really say I mastered it. The first Pikmin is a serene jaunt through four or five levels. There are some ESRB 'moments of threat or menace' to quicken the pulse and pose a challenge, but it's relatively easy to finish with the best possible ending. Played more than once, you can easily bolster your Pikmin army in a matter of days - enough to gather up the crucial ship parts long before Olimar's life support system deteriorates. This is, I would argue, why I prefer Pikmin: it's less refined than its successor in several ways, but it's relaxing, composed, and neatly presented.
Pikmin is a leisurely stroll, but it's positively self-indulgent and sybaritic when juxtaposed with its sequel, Pikmin 2. Fresh in my memory, and appreciated as a whole, the second game does warm you up, somewhat: the appropriately named Valley of Repose and Awakening Wood possess less overt dangers, and the early, gentler caves (a negative addition to the game, I might add - controversially) ease you into the new mechanics and new Pikmin types. However, by the Perplexing Pool and the Wistful Wilds, the game has eschewed any attempts to take it easy on you.
A bit of context and comparison might be helpful here. In the original Pikmin, the majority of Olimar's 'treasures' (the 30 ship parts scattered around the Pikmin's home planet, and which the Captain needs to find in order to rebuild the S.S. Dolphin) are in plain sight. The combination of Pikmin required to reach a specific part was a large component of the puzzle, with, for example, Yellow Pikmin being lighter and able to handle bombs, and Blue Pikmin able to travel through water. A late-game puzzle in Pikmin might force you to guide the non-aquatic types of Pikmin across a bridge or stream. However, the majority of the difficulty in Pikmin 2 comes from, more so than the treacherous terrain, the absolutely ruthless bosses and predators.
In the first game, few enemies are truly vicious: the Smoky Progg, located in The Distant Spring on certain days, is one, and facing the trio of Burrowing Snagrets in The Forest of Hope is another fearsome prospect for the inexperienced leader. Nonetheless, they're few and far between. In the second game, these predators are in abundance, and are accompanied by even more zealous evolutions, like the Man-at-Legs or the Pileated Snagret. In facing these bosses, you don't even have the option of running back to the Onion to sprout more Pikmin; instead, you're forced to confront these creatures in deep, underground caverns, with a rapidly diminishing army. Some of these caves have 14-15 levels, with the boss located on the lowest floor, and by the time you've reached the final arena, most of your Pikmin have drowned or burned or lie, digested, in the stomach of a Spotty Bulbear. That's another creature that has become significantly more vicious since the original game - Olimar notes that it has a "certain indefatigability." Most likely due to its refusal to quit until it has devoured each and every last one of your Pikmin, I'd imagine. Here's a picture so you can witness its ghastly, bulging eyes and lips for yourself.
Chief among these terrors (or, at least, the one that caused me the most grievance), was the Empress Bulblax. If it wasn't already enough of a task to face her male counterpart (who was the final boss in the first game and a smaller version of whom appears here, as well), this giant slug can, disgustingly, lay dozens of Bulborb Larva to swarm Olimar and Louie. Worse still, when aggravated, it will roll to-and-fro, decimating any Pikmin foolish enough to be standing next to its vile form. Perhaps I'd need another playthrough to formulate a strategy which would allow me to kill the Empress without such needless, Braveheart-esque sacrifice. However, on the three occasions that she appeared in Pikmin 2, I can't say it ended all that happily.
With these tragedies in mind, what are my concluding thoughts on Pikmin 2? There are a lot of things to appreciate about the game vis-a-vis the first game, which was, after all, a Gamecube launch title and relatively experimental. Because there are so many treasures (mostly household objects and purchasable, real-world items, like 7Up bottlecaps), the length of the game extends far beyond that of the original: it's a meaty, completionist's game, with a lot expected of the player to achieve 100%. It's also quite exciting to see the lore of the Pikmin world expanded upon so comprehensively. Olimar is a seasoned explorer at this point, with considerable knowledge of the Pikmin world, and his journal hints at a number of untold adventures. It's a much more vibrant, convincing planet, with the implication being that the areas Olimar visited in the first game have, even since his short visit home, sped forward in time: the four areas in Pikmin 2 are, topographically, reminiscent of Pikmin's locales. The graphics are much improved, and the AI of the Pikmin has been enhanced, so it's now much easier to save them from a watery grave.
I think the caves, of which there are around 14, do weaken the experience somewhat, however. While there is an overworld, the majority of time is spent underground, crawling around sand dunes and along fragments of broken plant pots. This does provide solid evidence for the theory that the Pikmin's planet is our world/Earth, since there are Duracell batteries and Haribo sweets left behind by an ancient civilisation. However, it also nulls the peaceful, pastoral quality of Pikmin: these underground levels resemble 'challenge rooms,' filled with bosses and loot but without the ability to spawn more Pikmin, making them difficult and less fun. And, visually, it's less interesting, too - think Ocarina of Time with 70% of the game spent at the Bottom of the Well. Overall, then, Pikmin 2 is excellent; but I can't help preferring the first.
