Soon enough,Pikmin 4will arrive, bringing with it a new slate of sights and experiences for fans of the decades-old franchise.Pikminhas stalled in thePikmin 3era for longer than it did thePikmin 2era, butPikmin 4is expected to change that soon. No one knows what’s coming, aside from what may be a new captain and a default camera angle shifted low to emphasizePikmin’s massive scale. Fans have analyzed the teaser trailer and accompanying gameplay screenshot deeply for all the details they can get, but Nintendo is being tight-lipped for now.
Still, it’s not hard to imagine the usual things a newPikmingame will introduce. There will be some manner of goal driving the player to collect items and manage their Pikmin across multiple days of adventuring. New enemies and areas will make their debut, and there may be some callbacks to pass titles. Extra modes like multiplayer and challenge maps are likely given the series’ trends at this point, andmore ways to direct Pikminmay come with them.Pikmin 4is expected to introduce at least two new varieties of Pikmin, just likePikmin 2and3before it. However, the game could get a big pop from fans if it brings back a particularly unique Pikmin type from the second entry.
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Bulbmin Are A Unique Part of Pikmin 2
Apart from the standard Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, White, Rock, and Winged Pikmin, there have been a few other varieties of the vegetable-like creatures in the series. The good ending ofPikmin 1teased many types of Pikmin, with a rainbow of Onions appearing to wave Olimar off on his journey home. Most of these colors have still not been explored, so thePikminfranchise will have fuelto run for a long time.Pikmin 1also features a miniboss enemy called a Puffstool. Its spores can infect Pikmin, turning them against Olimar. This is an interesting idea, and hopefully a future game explores opposing Pikmin further.
However, what players want more than fighting enemy Pikmin is a chance to use enemy Pikmin. It wasPikmin 2that gave them this chance, featuring a surprising sight in certain caverns and challenge maps. Among the manynew Bulborb types introduced inPikmin 2are the Bulbmin, coming in adult and juvenile forms. These are regular Bulborbs that were overtaken by a parasitic form of Pikmin. The Bulborb’s brain gradually reasserts control as it matures, but the species maintains the Pikmin’s tendency to form around a leader. Defeating this mature leader and having less than one hundred Pikmin allows captains to recruit them as temporary units immune to elemental effects.
Pikmin 4 Would Be A Great Place To Reintroduce Bulbmin
It’s not hard to see why the Bulbmin are popular, given that they are essentially playable enemies that are almost never available. As players generally want to avoid losing Pikmin in the campaign, keeping the hundred Pikmin brought into a cavern means no young Bulbmin will spawn to recruit. Certainchallenge maps give the Bulbmin a chanceto shine, but it would be nice to get another chance at using these strange yet fascinating creatures. That’s wherePikmin 4comes in.
Given that Bulbmin can’t be more than temporary recruits, it would be reasonable to contain them in certain remote areas. IfPikmin 4brings backPikmin 2’s caves, then Bulbmin would be an excellent addition. This time, a system allowing Bulbmin to break the normal army limits would ensure that they can always be recruited. Adult Bulbmin could also act like clones of the player, commanding their armies in waysPikmin 2’s did not. The more Pikmin types aPikmingame contains, the better, so expanding the idea to other Bulborb types and common enemies like Sheargrubs would be interesting. Seeing Bulbmin return would make a lot of veteran players feel happy, so hopefullyPikmin 4can give this strange ally another chance in the spotlight.
Pikmin 4will be released in 2023 for the Nintendo Switch.
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