As part of the Nintendo Direct presentation that aired in September 2022, Nintendo revealed a new game in the Pikmin series, Pikmin 4, will be coming to Nintendo Switch sometime in 2023.
An incredibly brief trailer gave us three quick glimpses of a backyard environment, with a few Bulborb enemies and some butterflies – the only look at the fauna of the game.
Esteemed Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto spoke about the game after the brief trailer, sharing some details, in lieu of gameplay footage. The key detail he shared was that in Pikmin 4, you’ll be able to play from the perspective of the Pikmin, with a low-to-the-ground camera angle.
Miyamoto also detailed that the capabilities of the Nintendo Switch console has made controlling the game ‘simpler’, so players can ‘concentrate on the core essence of Pikmin gameplay.’ He offered a Japanese term to describe this gameplay – ‘dandori’, which encompasses planning, deploying, and commanding Pikmin.
By the sounds of it, we can assume that Pikmin 4 will use either the motion capabilities of the Joy-Con controllers, or the touchscreen functionality of the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, for more intuitive control.
Pikmin has long been one of Nintendo‘s more inventive game franchises, and a continuing personal passion project for Miyamoto, who created virtually all of Nintendo‘s defining games and flagship characters. However, the top-down, strategic gameplay hasn’t necessarily been the most approachable in recent years. It’s likely that with the larger audience of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo hopes to make the next Pikmin game as popular as the rest of its staple franchises.
Edmond was the founding managing editor of GamesHub. He was also previously at GameSpot for 13 years, where he was the Australian Editor and an award-winning video producer. You can follow him @EdmondTran
