Tag: Pikmin

I continued my game in Pikmin 3 today. I still needed to find the Captain, so I returned to the Distant Tundra level to resume my search. I made my way to a dark cave where a huge creature could be seen flying overhead. It was late in the day though, so I returned to my ship for the night. I had recovered two new pieces of fruit however, a citrus lump (orange) and dark pustules (grapes). After analyzing the new fruit, I was told that I have now recovered 10 types of fruit, and fruit will now show up on the radar. That will be definitely be helpful.

When I returned to the cave, that big ugly creature was still flying around. I would later find out that it’s called a Vehemoth Phosbat.

I saw that I needed to use yellow Pikmin to conduct electricity in order to turn on various light bulbs in the cave. The big flying creature did not enjoy the light, and it would temporarily stun it. This was my chance to attack!

It was a battle, but I eventually beat the Vehemoth Phosbat. With its last bit of life, it tried to fly away…but instead smacked its head on a huge light bulb and fell to the ground. Once it landed, there was a big surprise! Its mouth opened up and our captain, Charlie, came out!

He told me that, based on a data file he found, Olimar (from the first two Pikmin games) must have landed on this planet shortly before we did! And he apparently has our cosmic-drive key, which we’ll need to leave the planet. So it’s clear now that we have to find Olimar! A new signal appeared to be coming from the Tropical Wilds area; could it be Olimar? I’ll have to head that way next time to find out.

It had been a while since I played Pikmin 3, so I decided to continue my adventure tonight. Just to be clear though, don’t mistake my long gaps without playing to mean that the game isn’t good; in fact, it’s great so far. Anyway, it was Day 6 for me, and I headed off to the Distant Tundra area. As our ship descended, we hit a rock and Brittany fell out of the ship. So once again, Alph and Brittany were separated. It felt like a cheap plot device, but it allows Brittany to discover the yellow Pikmin. Yellow Pikmin are lighter and can be thrown farther, but they can also conduct electricity.

Brittany begins the level in a cave. The first main goal of the level is to reunite Alph and Brittany. Both of them must find pieces of a bridge and have their respective Pikmin build their half of the bridge. But the Distant Tundra is a large level, and each character’s bridge pieces are scattered in different locations. There is a spot where the river that separates them isn’t very wide, and the characters are able to toss Pikmin across to the other.

Of course there are enemies to fight, and you need to keep recovering fruit as well. But I didn’t reunite the two explorers until my third day in the tundra. But once I had the bridge built, it was much easier to navigate around the level.

I’m having a blast just exploring and finding new areas.  I’m also really liking the map on the Wii U gamepad. You can scroll the map to see where you need to go, and it automatically pauses the action when you do. You can direct a group to go to a certain area automatically, and it’s very helpful when you’re multitasking with two different groups. I’m already looking forward to the next time I play it.

It’s actually been a while since I last played Pikmin 3, but I picked it back up tonight. I tested out the Tropical Winds level, which is a huge area with lots of enemies. I explored some, but ultimately I decided not to save my game. Instead, I returned to the Garden of Hope with Alph and Brittany, as I continued my search for the captain. After throwing some Pikmin across a river, building a bridge, and tearing down a wall, I found a data file left behind by Captain Olimar! Very interesting.

I then stumbled into the nest of this huge creature, called an armored mawdad!

It was covered in crystal armor, so I had to throw rock Pikmin at it to break the crystal before I could do any damage to it. Once I (eventually) defeated it, it coughed up an old cell phone. Can you hear me now?

Apparently the signal I thought was coming from the captain was actually coming from this phone. So I still don’t know where the captain is. But the phone did expand my ship’s range (somehow), so I can now travel to a new area called the Distant Tundra. I wrapped up my game for tonight, but I’ll return to the world of Pikmin 3 sometime soon!