Pikmin 2 - A New Way to Play

After recently completing two plays through of the original Pikmin, with different goals in mind each time, Sherry and I decided we should try another run through Pikmin 2, again changing our goals from the previous attempts.

You see, in Pikmin 2, most of the records which are saved by the game are related to numbers of Pikmin used in the game, and the "best" records are those where the fewest Pikmin have been lost, and where the fewest Pikmin have been grown.

Yet, in the previous times we have played, Sherry and I have always worked to complete the game in as few "game days" as possible.  That, after all, is the biggest, and most noticeable record in the game.

Still, after playing the original Pikmin to work for a different goal, and enjoying that experience, we figured trying something new with Pikmin 2 would also be fun. 

It was.

In both games, it's relatively easy to grow a lot of Pikmin to help you in your quests.  Almost everything you defeat in the game can be used as resources to grow more Pikmin.  If you just let your Pikmin carry back the carcasses of the creatures they defeat, more Pikmin will be available.  It's pretty darn easy.

So, trying to avoid growing Pikmin, in order to set records in Pikmin 2, is actually quite unnatural.  It requires more vigilance on the part of the player, because left to their own devices, Pikmin will try to carry the battle detritus back to the ship and create more Pikmin.  Since we wanted to limit Pikmin growth, we had to pay closer attention, and keep Pikmin under tighter control.

Then of course, there's the issue of trying to get through the game, which means defeating creatures, which means having Pikmin to fight for us.  Pikmin are designed for specific tasks -- Red Pikmin are fireproof, Yellow are electricity-proof, and Blue can go in water.  When fighting, it's important to have the types of Pikmin fit for a specific battle.  Hence, while we did not want to build too many, we always needed to have enough.

In the end, we definitely set our record.  We grew 185 fewer Pikmin than ever before (397 vs. 584 ) and we lost 66 fewer as we did it (258 vs. 324).  Now, it took us 18 game-days to finish, and we've done it in only 15 before, but we were using more Pikmin.  I expect we will play the game again (it's too much fun!) so, when we do, we will have to decide which records to attempt to break.  If we decide to go for fewest Pikmin again, I have some ideas how we can improve.

I just love games with high replay-value.  The Pikmin games fit that description very well!