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.
  • The modes are normal, hard, and ultra-spicy. The latter limits the number of Pikmin on the field to 60 at one time.
• Players can play through story mode cooperatively.
  • The screen is split vertically, with the first player on the left, and the second on the right. If one of the players activates a cutscene, that player's view will fill up the screen. The split returns to normal when the cutscene is over.
  • If two players are close, one can use the menu to get the other player's leader into their group, which will make the game temporarily single-player again. Throwing the trailing leader will return to normal co-op mode.
• 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 . If the player does not lock-on after a while, a prompt will appear above said icon, indicating what button they can press to lock-on.
  • When locked-on to an object that can be carried, the carrying number displays as "0" if there are no carriers.
  • The player can lock-on to more things than before, like the point at which Brittany must be thrown in the two-leader tutorial.
• 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, dismiss, or use a Bingo Battle roulette wheel power. 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.
  • When the hint button is pressed, a screenshot and some text will explain to the player what to do at the current point of the story. There can be multiple pages of hints, which can be cycled through. After the hints are closed, arrows will appear on the ground to 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.
  • It also contains a new button, for the Side Stories, as well as a box of text explaining the currently highlighted mode.
• 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. An "auto focus" mode also exists, that simply focuses on whatever is at the center of the scene. The name of the current mode will also appear on the center-point reticle, and opening the app or switching modes will show a quick description of the mode.
  • Taking a photo will also take a Switch system capture, without the camera HUD.
• The radar can be zoomed in and out, and at the top, the current objective will be shown.
• If Pikmin that are carrying something get whistled, but only by the border of the whistle, they will stop in place momentarily, and if they are carrying something solo, will turn to the leader that whistled. If they are not called after a few seconds, they will resume their travel.
• The pause menu contains the following new buttons: "Play Co-op" (or "Play Solo"), "Hints", "Basic Info", Control Guide", "Other Settings", and "Badges".
  • The "Other Settings" menu contains three tabs: "Radar", "Gyro", and "More".
    • The "Radar" tab contains an option to toggle the mini radar display between "On" and "Off", an option to toggle its orientation between "Travel Direction" and "Fix North", and an option to toggle the main radar's orientation between "Travel Direction" and "Fix North".
    • The "Gyro" tab contains an option to toggle gyro controls between "Off" and "On". When set to off, the other three options become unavailable. The other options include a toggle of the cursor control between "Stick" and "Pointer", a toggle for the up and down orientation between "Normal" and "Reverse", and a toggle for the left and right orientation, also between "Normal" and "Reverse". If the cursor is set to "Pointer", the other three options become unavailable.
• Minor details:
  • When a leader collects a data file, they almost never jump and spin in place before reading the data file.
  • When an inactive leader plucks Pikmin by their own accord, they will now do so at the same speed as active leaders, instead of using the long animation for every single pluck.
  • Selecting the camera app in the KopPad will show the player a screen prompting them to press in order to enter the camera mode, instead of entering the mode outright. Quitting out of the mode will return the player to that same prompt.
  • The Bingo Battle battle preparation menu has an unknown button that reads "Pikmin Types".
  • In Bingo Battle, either player can open up the radar on their side of the screen; doing this does not pause the game.

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 Olimar's Assignment. Like the main story, these can be played in single-player or cooperatively with two players.
  • Olimar's Assignment consists of small missions, each one taking place in a day. Much like Mission Mode, some involve getting the highest number of Pokos in the area, and the high score is recorded, rank medal included. When a day is started, a Secret File video plays.
  • The mini radar is not available during these side modes.
  • Both the Onion and the SPERO are present; the Onion allows the player to grow more Pikmin, while the SPERO takes in recovered fruit and treasures.
• The Piklopedia originating from Pikmin 2 has been added. It can be found in the radar menu.
  • Each entry contains a comment by each of the five leaders, a small looping video clip of the creature, a general list of habitats, and the amount killed throughout the adventure.
  • A menu contains all viewable entries for the player to choose from, and also indicates how many creatures have been analyzed, as well as the total. However, this total can appear as an interrogation mark.
  • Alph's comment for the Dwarf Bulborb reads: “Structural flaw: back / Weight: 3 / Despite its compact form, it has a Brittany-sized appetite. You can avoid getting swarmed by drawing them out one by one to be dealt with.”
  • Brittany's comment for the Dwarf Bulborb reads: “It's big enough to ride, if only we could tame one. Imagine exploring an alien world from atop its native fauna! Sure beats having to walk everywhere.”
• 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.
  • "Shutterbug": obtained by taking a photo with the KopPad's camera.
  • "Bearing Fruit": obtained by collecting a fruit in Story Mode.
  • "Intelligent Life?": obtained by collecting 15 data files.
  • "Buddy System": obtained by enabling co-op in Story Mode.
  • Unknown: its design contains one of each Story Mode Pikmin type, but the method of obtaining is unknown.
• There is new music:
  • An unknown theme.
  • A theme for the Side Stories selection screen.
  • A theme for Distant Tundra in Olimar's Assignment.
  • A musical cue for miniboss battles in Olimar's Assignment.

Aesthetics

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. If a new hint is available, the button will sparkle and glow, and receive a pulsating exclamation mark icon.
• 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.
• When there are two players playing, the HUD icon for player one's leader will have the text "P1" near it, and the icon for player 2's will have "P2".
• If the player is controlling Brittany, the highlighter on some menus's circular buttons is pink, unlike Alph's cyan.
• The cave that houses the Rock Onion in Garden of Hope has improved audio reverb.

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 at the same time. The event, which happened the next day, featured 2 presenters playing through day 2 of Story Mode in the Garden of Hope, day 4 of the Olimar's Assignment side story (the first gameplay shown of this mode), and a game of Bingo Battle. Also revealed were the difficulty modes, how 2-player gameplay worked, the pause menu and control options, and various other differences. A demo of the game was announced at the end of the presentation, and was released that evening.

Gallery

Artwork

• 

  English logo.

• 

  Japanese game cover.

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  Banner art.

• 

  Japanese banner art.

• 

  Japanese banner art.

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  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

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  Alph leading a group of Pikmin.

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  Several Pikmin carrying a Face Wrinkler.

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  Multiplayer gameplay in the Twilight River.

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  A player targeting a Dwarf Bulborb.

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  Arrows on the ground leading to the next destination.

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  2 new textures for crystal walls.

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

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  The new interface for switching leaders.

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  Charging with one type at a time.

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  The title screen.

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  The Bulborb's page in the new Piklopedia.

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

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  One of the new badges that can be collected.

• 

  Another badge.

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  The menu of the Side Stories game mode.

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  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
• Nintendo Treehouse Live event, October 7^th, 2020