Pikmin 3 Deluxe

Pikmin 3 Deluxe
North American game cover.
Japanese name	ピクミン３ デラックス?
Rating
Console	Nintendo Switch
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Real-time strategy
Players	1 or 2 players (Story Mode and Mission Mode) 2 players (Bingo Battle)
Release date
Japan	October 30th, 2020
North America	October 30th, 2020
Europe	October 30th, 2020
Australia	October 30th, 2020
South Korea	October 30th, 2020
Related games
Predecessor	Pikmin 2
Re-release of	Pikmin 3

This article or section is about an upcoming or recently released game. The content here is subject to change as more information is discovered. All information added here must be verifiable and not speculative.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is the title of the newest entry in the Pikmin series. It is an enhanced port of Pikmin 3, set to release for the Nintendo Switch on October 30^th, 2020.

Changes from Pikmin 3

The following differences between Pikmin 3 and the Deluxe version are known:

Gameplay

2-player gameplay in Story Mode.

• There are multiple difficulty modes to choose from.
• Players can play through story mode cooperatively.
• The lock-on system has been substantially changed.
  • Arrow icons appear above objects that can be locked-on to, and the cursor can go to them by pressing .
  • When locked-on to an object that can be carried, the carrying number displays as "0" if there are no carriers.
• Charging has been changed.
  • It is now possible to order only Pikmin from a certain type in the group to charge.
  • It is possible to charge ahead in the direction of the cursor without being locked-on.
• Some controls have been moved into a mini menu that takes the shape of a D-pad. With this, the player can swap to the previous or next leader, use a spray, or dismiss. It appears that the leaders available in this menu are sorted by priority left to right – Alph will always take the left spot, Captain Charlie will always take the right one, and Brittany will always be in the remaining spot.
• The player can change the standby Pikmin type both to the previous one and to the next one. The HUD is also changed to reflect this: the three Pikmin standby type bubbles now have a focus on the central one as opposed to the leftmost one.
• If the player swaps to an inactive leader that's surrounded by idle Pikmin, all of those idle Pikmin will be added to that leader's group right away.
• The whistle expands quicker, can reach farther, and can cover a much larger area.
• Plucking is slightly faster in certain scenes.
• Enemies have been re-balanced.
• Hints can be enabled, which can display arrows that guide the player to the next destination.
• The title screen shows the logo for Pikmin 3 Deluxe rather than Pikmin 3, naturally, but to open the main menu, the player must press two shoulder buttons on the controller together instead of pressing a face button.
• The KopPad's camera now has different focus levels, instead of allowing the player to tap the GamePad to indicate what part they want in focus.

Content

• There are new Side Stories to play through.
  • The first side story is set before the main story and is called "Olimar's Assignment", while the second is set after the main story. They star Captain Olimar and Louie, who are both playable in at least one. Like the main story, these can be played in single-player or cooperatively with two players.
• The Piklopedia originating from Pikmin 2 has been added.
  • Each entry contains a comment by each of the five leaders, some way of seeing the creature, a general list of habitats, and the amount killed throughout the adventure.
• All the downloadable content from Pikmin 3 is included in the base game.
• Players can collect badges by meeting certain conditions. The following badges are known:
  • "Animal Annotator": obtained by logging 10 Piklopedia entries.
  • Unknown: obtained by collecting 15 data files.
  • Unknown: its design contains one of each Story Mode Pikmin type, but the method of obtaining is unknown.
• There is new music.

Graphics

A new HUD and stripes on the dirt wall.

• The introduction cutscene displays Pikmin 3 Deluxe instead of Pikmin 3.
• There is a mini-map on-screen.
  • The style of the mini-map differs from the Wii U game's radar, in that it uses solid colors instead of textures -- terrain is dark blue, water is a lighter blue, out of bounds locations are black, and walls are cyan. Leaders and the S.S. Drake also have stylized icons with minimalist drawings, instead of smaller versions of their portraits.
• The day counter is gone from the HUD, and the juice counter takes its place.
• Two on-screen prompts exist, informing the player that toggles the KopPad, and "up" on activates hints. The hint button is not always present.
• Text in dialog boxes in cutscenes is aligned to the center of the box instead of the left.
• Lighting and shading have been changed, with sharper shadows and clearer water.
• Locking onto an object adds a blue overlay, similar to prerelease versions of Pikmin 3.
• Choosing a level in Mission Mode displays its name and time limit at the bottom of the screen.
• The borders of Mission Mode levels are gray before they're played, and all stages are available from the start.
• The Puffy Blowhog's wind particles are much more dense.
• Different gates in an area have different appearances, so players can distinguish between them.
  • Dirt walls have different variants of stripes on their pillars, including horizontal, vertical, wave-shaped, X-shaped, diagonal, and none at all.
  • Crystal walls have different variants of metal, including normal, rusted, and silver.
  • Electric gates have different variants of stripes on their pillars, including no stripes, two stripes, and stripes on top.

Area differences

This map shows new grass in the Twilight River, as well as giving the player tips on the locations of fragments.

• The ground of the shore to the north of the landing site in Twilight River has grass, instead of decayed leaves and dirt.
• The area around the Swooping Snitchbug in the Distant Tundra has been made wider, an ice trail was added, and the nearby ramp was changed from a snow texture to a dirt one.
• The two data files in the Armored Mawdad arena are out in the open, rather than inside mushrooms.
• The ground texture under the water in the pond where Alph lands is simpler.
• Some decal textures, like pebbles or petals on the floor, have been slightly readjusted.
• The ground near the dirt wall next to the landing site in the Tropical Wilds is grass, instead of sand.
• Nectar eggs can be found behind the cinder block that blocks the Blue Onion in the Garden of Hope.
• The southern half of Garden of Hope is comprised of dark mud and wet dirt, rather than the dry, lighter surface of the original.

Other information

• Game size: 6.5 GB.
• Supported play modes: TV (1 or 2 players), tabletop (1 or 2 players), and handheld (1 player).
• Supported controllers: two Joy-Cons, one sideways Joy-Con (only in multiplayer modes), and Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.
• Supports cloud save data.
• A Nintendo Switch Online subscription is necessary in order to submit high scores in Story Mode, Mission Mode, and the Side Stories.

History

Pikmin 3 Deluxe was first announced in a tweet by Nintendo of America on August 5^th, 2020. The announcement came with a promotional trailer, and a relaunch of the official website with limited information. The Japanese announcement came in the form of a news article on the Nintendo website. The game was also listed on the Nintendo eShop on this date, and could be pre-downloaded.

On the day of the announcement, the product page in Nintendo of America's website listed that the supported features were save data cloud and online play, in that order. Throughout the following days, this listing would get changed periodically. Around August 9^th, the order was reversed, and around August 14^th, online play was removed. On August 19^th, it was noticed that the online play blurb had returned, but on August 22^nd, it was nowhere to be seen again.

On August 28^th, 2020, the official Japanese website was launched, with subpages on backstory, basic gameplay, Pikmin types, combat, and structure. These pages had several images and short videos that showed some changed mechanics. The new website also came with a trailer, which showcased the different types of Pikmin and their abilities. The website at this point had 3 header and footer links with a 'coming soon' message, with titles that implied that they were about the new difficulty modes, the Side Stories and Piklopedia, and the additional game modes of Mission Mode and Bingo Battle.

Throughout September, nothing was announced directly about the game, but Nintendo's European Twitter accounts continued to promote the game with images and short videos. The only new thing presented by these videos was a piece of music. The previously Japanese-only trailer was released in English on October 2^nd, 2020.

On October 6^th, 2020, the official English website was updated with new pages on story and gameplay. A Nintendo Treehouse event featuring Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was announced.

Gallery

Artwork

• 

  English logo.

• 

  Japanese game cover.

• 

  Banner art.

• 

  Japanese banner art.

• 

  Japanese banner art.

• 

  A badge from the back of the game's box. It features all five Pikmin types next to each other, excluding Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin.

See more: Pikmin 3#Promotional artwork.

Screenshots

• 

  Alph leading a group of Pikmin.

• 

  Several Pikmin carrying a Face Wrinkler.

• 

  Multiplayer gameplay in the Twilight River.

• 

  A player targeting a Dwarf Bulborb.

• 

  Arrows on the ground leading to the next destination.

• 

  2 new textures for crystal walls.

• 

  The new groundcover in the southern section of the Garden of Hope.

• 

  The new interface for switching leaders.

• 

  Charging with one type at a time.

• 

  The title screen.

• 

  The Bulborb's page in the new Piklopedia.

• 

  The new Piklopedia in Japanese. Note the 5 leader icons.

• 

  One of the new badges that can be collected.

• 

  Another badge.

• 

  The menu of the Side Stories game mode.

• 

  Olimar, Louie, and a SPERO in the Garden of Hope, in one of the Side Stories. A cinder block is where a crystal wall normally sits.

• 

  Screenshot from the back of the game's box. It features Olimar and Louie with Yellow Pikmin and Red Pikmin in Twilight River, standing next to some Dawn Pustules.

See also

• Pikmin 3
• New Play Control!
• Update

External links

• Official English website
• Japanese official announcement topic
• Reveal tweet
• Announcement trailer, August 5^th, 2020
• Nintendo of America product page
• Japanese promotional trailer, August 28^th, 2020
• Official Japanese website
• Japanese official additional detail topic