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	Eighting, Nintendo EPD
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Real-time strategy
Players	1 or 2 players (Story Mode, Mission Mode, and Side Stories) 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 needs to be cleaned up, either its format or general style. Notes: Details about how a given subject changed should go in that subject's article, and this article should link to that one for more information.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe is an enhanced port of Pikmin 3 for the Nintendo Switch. It was released worldwide in 2020, and features a large number of changes to the original game and several new additions, including the Piklopedia, the Side Stories game mode, and multiplayer gameplay in Story Mode.

Changes from Pikmin 3

The following differences between Pikmin 3 and the Deluxe version have been found:

Gameplay

Radar

A screenshot showing the mini radar.

Some aspects about the radar have changed.

• The radar can be zoomed in and out, and at the top, the current Story Mode objective will be shown.
• The entire area is visible from the start, though parts that haven't been visited yet are transparent.
• There is no way to view the area from a top-down view, since that was limited to the television screen with Off-TV Play off.
• There is no way to unpause the gameplay while keeping the radar in-view.
• In Bingo Battle, either player can open up the radar on their side of the screen; doing this does not pause the game. This radar cannot be controlled, and shows the whole stage at once.
• In Story Mode, there is a mini radar on-screen. The style of the mini radar differs from the standard 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.

KopPad camera

The KopPad's camera app has changed.

• It 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.
• Taking a photo will save it to the Switch's inbuilt photo album, without the camera HUD.
• It is now impossible to make the camera rotate via roll, and rotation via horizontal panning is limited.
• 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.
• Oddly, the decorative meters do not move, except if the player moves the Pro Controller, or moves the left Joy-Con, regardless of gyro control settings. To note is that the right Joy-Con is the one responsible for controlling the cursor when gyro controls are enabled.

Controls

Locking onto a Pellet Posy.

The interface for switching leaders.

The gyro control settings in the pause menu.

Extensive control changes have occurred due to the different controllers of the Nintendo Switch.

• The lock-on system has been substantially changed. Instead of locking the camera, it locks the cursor instead. Objects can be locked-on to if they have an indicator above them, which can happen even if the cursor is not close, or the player is locked-on to something else. The HUD no longer changes, but carrying numbers do appear. More lock-on objects and locations also exist, such as screws screwed onto the floor indicating where leaders must be thrown. Holding down the throw button will also make the leader throw continuously automatically, if locked-on.
• The charge mechanic has also been substantially changed. It can now be performed at any time with the press of a dedicated button, usually , instead of requiring the player to be locked-on first. Only the current standby Pikmin type will charge ahead, though the others can follow suit if the button is pressed repeatedly. Pikmin will charge in the direction of the cursor, or towards the locked-on object. If ordered to an object that can be carried, only enough Pikmin to begin carrying it will go, or if it's moving, only enough to fill all carrying slots.
• Some controls have been moved into a dedicated action menu, accessible by holding  / .
• There are multiple pointer control modes, set in the pause menu:
  • With stick-only controls, moving lightly controls the cursor, and moving fully controls both the leader and cursor. By tilting the stick lightly, the cursor can go past its standard range; when it does, it turns cyan. Pikmin can be thrown farther than normal this way, but only roughly until the midway point between the maximum standard range and the maximum "light tilt" range. The whistle always comes from where the cursor is. Moving the stick fully if the cursor was past the standard range will return it to standard range. In this mode, rotating the camera will keep the cursor in place. Unlike Pikmin 3, the cursor is based on the area's geometry. For instance, if the player is overlooking a cliff and has the cursor on the edge, holding up will make the cursor move forward in the area and dip down the edge, despite the fact that doing this moved the cursor down on the screen.
  • With stick and gyro controls, controls the leader when fully held, but also controls the cursor regardless of how much it is tilted. Tilting the controller will also move the cursor. In reality, there is an imaginary "anchor" that is controlled by , and tilting the controller allows the cursor to offset around this point, up to a fixed radius around the point. For unknown reasons, in certain scenarios the cursor will behave erratically – if the gyro offset is at a given angle, and the anchor moves to that same side compared to the leader, the offset will cause the cursor to very quickly jump to the leader. and both reset the cursor's position and gyro offset. With this mode, locking-on will place the cursor on the target, but it can then be offset by tilting the controller. In this mode, rotating the camera will keep the cursor in place, but any gyro offset will change to match the camera's orientation, albeit with erratic results as the camera rotates. If the cursor is moved with the stick, it follows the same area-movement rules as the stick-only control scheme, but moving with the gyro controls moves the cursor on the screen, like with gyro-only controls.
  • With gyro-only controls, only controls the leader, and only when fully held. Instead, tilting the controller moves the cursor around the screen. It can move to any position on-screen, and cannot go past it. Pressing in this mode changes it to centering the cursor instead of changing the standby Pikmin to the next one; now changes to the next standby Pikmin. In this mode, rotating the camera will keep the cursor in the same screen location.
• 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. Like in Pikmin 3, the cursor moves about relative to the screen and not the area. For instance, if the player is overlooking a cliff and has the cursor on the edge, tilting up will result in it pointing very far away in the area.

Menus

The expanded pause menu.

The expanded main menu.

Various menu changes have occurred.

• Most menus in the game have a black box in the lower right corner explaining basic menu controls not accessed through buttons.
• Menus no longer have buttons for returning to the previous menu; this is instead done with .
• It is now impossible to control menus with a gyro-controlled cursor pointer. There are also no touchscreen controls.
• Some menus have changed more significantly:
  • The pause menu has been changed enormously, featuring up to 9 buttons. It can be accessed from most places in the game, and contains new features like an options section, a section with basic information, and the player's badges.
    • Trying to end a day from the pause menu when there are Pikmin in danger of being left behind will now state in the warning how many Pikmin will perish.
  • The main menu shows the logo for Pikmin 3 Deluxe rather than Pikmin 3, and to open the main part of the menu, the player must press two shoulder buttons on the controller together instead of pressing a face button. There is a new button for the Side Stories, and a box explaining the currently-highlighted mode.
  • The Mission Mode menu shows the name of a stage and its time limit before selecting that stage to view its detailed information. There is also an explanation of the abilities of different Pikmin types.
  • Pressing in the Onion menu will highlight the next Pikmin type, or the OK button, instead of confirming the changes outright. Pressing will go to the previous type, instead of cancelling right away.

Other

• When the player switches to a leader, all nearby idle Pikmin within a radius will be called over.
• The whistle expands quicker, can reach farther, and can cover a much larger area.
• If Pikmin that are performing a task get whistled, they will stop in place momentarily, and then resume their task. To call them, they must be whistled for a long period of time, or whistled twice in a row.
• When Pikmin are in a leader's squad, they will try to stay close to the leader, instead of forming a long line.
• Enemies have been re-balanced, depending on difficulty.
• The way Rock Pikmin deal damage has changed.
• Leaders are slightly smaller in size.
• 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.
• Some glitches have been corrected, and others have been introduced. For details, please read the glitches article.
• When a leader is knocked down by an electrical source, they will get up by themselves very shortly after, and twirling the stick no longer speeds them up.
• Go Here! can now be used right after Brittany is freed, meaning the data file for it is not needed.
• There are more invisible walls in areas to stop sequence breaks.
• In the US version of Pikmin 3, the check-in conversation on the day Alph and Brittany unlock the Distant Tundra has them discuss the data file they got, and one of the lines is said by Brittany but uses Alph's neutral icon in the message box. This has been fixed in Pikmin 3 Deluxe, both in the US version, and in the European version, that uses the US version's text.

New content

Co-op Story Mode

Co-op gameplay in Story Mode.

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 the two players are close, one can use the menu to get the other player's leader into their group, which will make the trailing leader forced to remain within a certain distance of the main one, although they can still be controlled and play freely. During this state, the leading player's view takes up the whole screen. Throwing the trailing leader or dismissing will return to normal co-op mode. This feature does not exist in Mission Mode.
• When there is only one leader available due to story reasons, the second player will control a copy of that same leader. On each player's screen, the other leader will appear as a solid-color transparent version of the character. In this way, it is impossible for one leader to group with or throw the other.
  • Both players' leaders are also immune to damage in this state, to avoid complications with one of them falling. Player 1 can continue to take damage if the game is set back to being played solo.
• If all leaders but one fall, the player controlling the remaining leader will be in charge of the rest of the day and the split-screen is removed.
• Either player can open the radar, the hints screen, or the Onion menu, which will pause gameplay for both, and take up the whole screen. Only that player can control the menu. Some menus will have the widget highlighters colored after the player's leader. If the leaders are grouped together, then the secondary leader cannot open the Onion menu.

Side Stories

The Side Stories menu.

Collecting treasure in Channel Gone Dry.

There are new Side Stories to play through.

• The first side story is set before and during the main story and is called "Olimar's Assignment", while the second is set after the main story and is called "Olimar's Comeback". They star Captain Olimar and Louie, who are both playable. Like the main story, these can be played in single-player or cooperatively with two players.
  • Olimar's Assignment consists of 4 missions, each one taking place in an area from Story Mode with a time limit. Each of them has the goal of collecting a high number of Pokos to save Hocotate Freight from another debt. These missions re-use the Secret File videos from the original game.
  • Olimar's Comeback consists of 10 missions, each one also taking place in an area from Story Mode with a time limit. These have various objectives, including defeating enemies, collecting treasure, carrying ship parts to the SPERO, growing Pikmin, or reuniting the 2 leaders. Olimar writes notes before and after each of the missions.
• The mini radar is not available during these missions.
• Both the Onion and the SPERO are present in most levels; the Onion allows the player to grow more Pikmin, while the SPERO takes in recovered fruit and items.

Piklopedia

The Peckish Aristocrab's page in the Piklopedia.

The Piklopedia, originating from Pikmin 2, has been added. It can be found as an application in the KopPad.

• 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.
  • Alph's comments are based on the structural features of the enemy, Brittany's comments are based on the enemy's appearance, Charlie's comments are about fighting the enemy, Louie's comments are about cooking the enemy, and Olimar's comments are about the enemy's biology.
• There are a total of 55 entries.
• The 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 a question mark.

Music

There is new music:

• A theme for after hours in Mission Mode.
• A theme for the Side Stories selection screen.
• A theme for the video logs in Olimar's Assignment.
• A theme for days 1-2 in Olimar's Assignment.
• A theme for days 3-4 in Olimar's Assignment.
• A theme for days 1-3 in Olimar's Comeback.
• A theme for days 4-6 in Olimar's Comeback.
• A theme for days 7-8 in Olimar's Comeback.
• A theme for days 9-10 in Olimar's Comeback.
• A cue for miniboss battles in Olimar's Assignment.

Other

An in-game hint.

• There are multiple difficulty modes to choose from. The difficulties are Normal, Hard, and Ultra-Spicy, and these change various aspects of the game, such as the length of days, the health of enemies, and the placement of nectar eggs.
• All the downloadable content from Pikmin 3 is included in the base game.
• Players can collect badges by meeting certain conditions.
• Several help and assistance features exist, such as in-game hints and control options.
  • 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.
• A new "after hours" mode is added to Mission Mode.
• Story Mode has three saved game slots to choose from, and the saved game selection menu has returned as a result.
• The S.S. Drake can be interacted with to command all Pikmin in the field to travel back to the Onion.
• Alph now has 2 more pieces of monolog if the player checks-in on day 2:
  • “Just three days worth of food left on the ship now, at most...” “Time is running out. We must find Brittany soon...”
  • “Brittany... I'm coming to help you now!”
• There are many small differences in the appearance of areas between the original Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Some of these are just aesthetic and have no effect on gameplay, while others are intended to make areas easier to navigate. Others still actually change the positions of objects. When a piece of terrain has different ground textures from the floor around it, that difference tends to be exaggerated in the radar. These differences are detailed here:
  • Tropical Wilds
  • Garden of Hope
  • Distant Tundra
  • Twilight River
  • Formidable Oak

Aesthetics

The four designs of electric gates.

• The introduction cutscene displays Pikmin 3 Deluxe instead of Pikmin 3.
• 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, if hints are enabled, "up" on activates hints. If a new hint is available, the button will sparkle and glow, and receive a pulsating exclamation mark icon.
• If a leader is in another leader's group, their health icon on the HUD will now be darkened.
• 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.
• Locking on no longer shows the name of what is locked onto, probably in favor of the Piklopedia. Although this leaves several objects such as Spotcaps, Kingcaps, and crystal nodules unnamed.
• The camera is generally further away from the active leader, showing more of the environment.
• When going through a room transition (such as between the outside area and a cave), the camera will generally be static, rather than initially being in front of the leaders and quickly moving behind them.
• The Puffy Blowhog's wind particles are much more dense.
• Different gates in an area have different appearances, so players can distinguish between them. There are 8 designs for dirt walls, 4 designs for electric gates, 3 designs for crystal walls, and 3 designs for reinforced walls.
• 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".
• The cave that houses the Rock Onion in Garden of Hope has improved audio reverb.
• Several more features make the controller rumble, and do so using the HD Rumble capabilities.
• Text in dialog boxes in cutscenes is aligned to the center of the box instead of the left.
• The font for numbers in the Onion menu is not monospaced, so as the numbers change, they jitter left and right.
• Louie's whistle now resembles his whistle from Pikmin 2, instead of using the same sound that all other leaders use. In addition, his name call sound is no longer the one from Pikmin 2, but is instead a more generic grunt that vaguely resembles his name.
• The loading screen displays the current objective (such as "Where's Brittany?") in the center of the screen instead of the area name, unless the objective doesn't relate to the area. The saved game selection menu displays the current objective as well.

Controls

See: Pikmin 3 Deluxe controls

Lists

Soundtrack

See: Music in Pikmin 3

Mistakes

See: Mistake

Glitches

See: Glitches in Pikmin 3

Unused content

See: Unused content in Pikmin 3

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.

Demo

The title screen initially.

The title screen after pressing +.

The screen shown when the demo finishes.

On October 8^th, 2020, a demo for the game was released. In it, players can play part of Story Mode, as well the Collect treasure! version of Tropical Forest. Either mode can be played with one or two players, and badges can be unlocked like normal. When the player reaches the limit of the current game mode, they are shown a notification telling them of the end of the demo, and then taken to a screen advertising the final game, with a button to return to the title screen, and another to access the eShop. This happens when any of the following happens:

• The Armored Mawdad is defeated and the day ends.
• The player attempts to enter the area on the day after the Armored Mawdad's defeat.
• The player attempts to enter the area on day 6.
• The player leaves the mission from the pause menu.
• The mission is finished and the results screen is closed.

The title screen naturally includes the word "Demo" under the logo, and has an extra button, "Nintendo eShop", that when pressed, prompts the player to open the eShop's page for Pikmin 3 Deluxe, or to cancel. The button for Story Mode has a small "Recommended" banner next to it. The Side Stories and Bingo Battle buttons exist, but choosing them will simply inform the player of their availability in the full version. Likewise, the Battle enemies! and Defeat bosses! options exist in the Mission Mode menu, but are equally inaccessible.

Any progress made in the demo can carry over to the final game. Defeating the Armored Mawdad in this demo gives the player some bonuses: missions 6 through 10 of both Collect Treasure! and Battle Enemies!, as well as the ultra-spicy difficulty will be unlocked right away.

Some glitches can be performed exclusively in this demo:

• It is possible to go out of bounds in Charlie's tutorial, either in the demo or in the final game. However, in the demo, the player can use this to explore areas and features that were not intended to be reached in the demo, including killing the Vehemoth Phosbat, and getting its Piklopedia entry. By manipulating the game's feature unlocking system, it is even possible to access the Tropical Wilds.
• It is possible for the cursor to become stuck.

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-ordered.

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. Afterwards, on the 27th or 28th of October, the blurb had returned once more..

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 about 7 hours later.

Following this, the game began to be more heavily promoted. A trailer for the demo was released on October 8^th, and a gameplay demo of a Side Story level was released the next day. The Japanese website was also updated on October 8^th with its remaining 3 pages about difficulty options, the content new to Pikmin 3 Deluxe, and the alternative game modes. 4 television commercials in Japanese were produced, and these were released on YouTube on October 11^th.

The game was released worldwide on October 30^th, 2020. It released at different times of day in different regions. It received positive reviews from reviewers, getting a score of 85 on the review aggregator site Metacritic. It was praised for its controls, multiplayer, and additional content, but criticized for its easy difficulty and overall similarity to the Wii U version.

On November 24^th, 2020, the game received its first update, which fixed 2 bugs which involved fruits and badges being listed as not collected. This update also applied to the demo.

Gallery

Artwork

• 

  English logo.

• 

  Banner art.

• 

  Japanese banner art.

• 

  Japanese banner art.

• 

  Artwork of Pikmin carrying ornaments in a Christmas scene.

• 

  Artwork of some Yellow Pikmin in a Christmas tree.

• 

  A different angle of the first Christmas artwork.

• 

  Artwork of Pikmin playing around with a Nintendo Switch.

• 

  A different angle of the same artwork.

See more: Pikmin 3#Promotional artwork.

Game covers

• 

  American/Latin American/Southeast Asian box art.

• 

  Canadian box art.

• 

  European box art.

• 

  German box art.

• 

  Russian box art.

• 

  Australian box art.

• 

  South African box art.

• 

  United Arab Emirates box art.

• 

  Saudi Arabian box art.

• 

  Japanese box art.

• 

  Korean box art.

• 

  Hong Kong/Taiwanese box art.

Screenshots

• 

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

• 

  Arrows on the ground leading to the next destination.

• 

  Locking on to a bolt in the ground.

• 

  Bulbears in the Creature Hunting stage in Olimar's Comeback.

• 

  Multiple Onions in the Team Monster Hunt stage.

• 

  A ramp made out of hay in the Big Fruit Carnival stage.

• 

  Carrying a ship part through the Formidable Oak in the Another Part Found stage.

• 

  Looking out over the Tropical Wilds.

• 

  2 new textures for crystal walls.

• 

  Charging with one type at a time.

• 

  A list of enemies in the Piklopedia.

• 

  One of the new badges that can be collected.

Trivia

• Pikmin 3 Deluxe is the first Pikmin game to be available in Chinese.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ピクミン３ デラックス? Pikumin 3 Derakkusu	Pikmin 3 Deluxe
Chinese (traditional)	皮克敏3 豪華版	Pikmin 3 Deluxe
Chinese (simplified)	皮克敏3 豪华版	Pikmin 3 Deluxe
French	Pikmin 3 Deluxe	-
German	Pikmin 3 Deluxe	-
Italian	Pikmin 3 Deluxe	-
Korean	피크민 3 디럭스 pikeumin 3 dileogseu	Pikmin 3
Spanish	Pikmin 3 Deluxe	-

Pikmin 3 Deluxe Demo

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ピクミン３ デラックス 体験版? Pikumin 3 Derakkusu Taikenhan	Pikmin 3 Deluxe test version
Chinese (traditional)	皮克敏3 豪華版 體驗版	Pikmin 3 Deluxe Demo
Chinese (simplified)	皮克敏3 豪华版 体验版	Pikmin 3 Deluxe Demo
French	Pikmin 3 Deluxe Démo	-
German	Pikmin 3 Deluxe Demo	-
Italian	Pikmin 3 Deluxe Demo	-
Korean	피크민 3 디럭스 체험판 pikeumin 3 dileogseu cheheompan	Pikmin 3 Deluxe test version
Spanish	Pikmin 3 Deluxe Demo	-

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