With Pikmin 4 releasing nearer to the end of this week, Nintendo has seen to it to make sure Pikmin 4 was the latest game to get the “Ask the Developer” interview treatment. Across the interview’s multiple instalments, we got to hear from the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, Yuji Kando and more.
During the interview, Yuji Kando, Yutaka Hiramuki, and Taku Matoba, discussedadding new Ice and Glow Pikmin to Pikmin 4 and making sure gameplay was still balanced:
Pikmin Devs on New Pikmin and Balancing Gameplay:
Yutaka Hiramuki: The new Ice Pikmin have the ability to freeze things, and they were popular among players who weren’t skilled at battles against creatures in the survey conducted by Mario Club. With Ice Pikmin, you can freeze both enemies and bodies of water. When you freeze flying enemies, they fall and shatter.
Taku Matoba: Glow Pikmin are another new type who help you in caves and in the newly added night expeditions. They’re reliable companions in your exploration, as they’re resistant to almost all elements and warp back to you once they’ve completed their task without having to be called back. Since Glow Pikmin can’t die, players can use as many of them as they want without worrying about the consequences. This is another element that makes this game easier to play.
Yuji Kando: The new Pikmin have their appeal, but all the Pikmin types you’ve seen in the past games, including White Pikmin, Purple Pikmin, Rock Pikmin, and Winged Pikmin, return in this game’s story. We’ve expanded the overall volume of content, so you’ve got a much wider range of strategies at your disposal, like planning which Pikmin to use first to exercise good Dandori and proceed efficiently.
Yes. We’ve had people say that we should make Pikmin games cute because the characters are cute, but I actually disagree. I don’t think being cute is enough to stand out from other games because there are so many other games with cute characters besides Pikmin.
Yutaka Hiramuki: We thought it was more important to lower the barrier to entry for new players by implementing features that make it easier to play, and then let the fun of Dandori sink in naturally.
For the full interview, why not click here to check out Ask the Developer Vol. 10, Pikmin 4 – Chapter 1Ask the Developer Vol. 10, Pikmin 4 – Chapter 2.
Ask the Developer | Pikmin 4 (Participating Developers)
- Shigeru Miyamoto | Representative Director Fellow
- Yuji Kando | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Production Group No.10
- Yutaka Hiramuki | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Production Group No.10
- Taku Matoba | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Production Group No.10
- Mitsuhiro Kida | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Sound Management Group
