As a Pikmin-enjoyer of many years now, I’m not going to be able to be entirely objective about Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy. Right up top, I’m going to say that if you enjoy cute visuals, engrossing, puzzle-like strategic gameplay, and a huge amount of content to get through, you should go and buy the Switch 2 version of Pikmin 4 at your earliest convenience.
Ultimately, you see, that’s what Pikmin 4 is. Before the Switch 2 upgrades (and it looks lovely with the 4K textures) and the new content added in the form of Dandori Academy (which we’ll get to), Pikmin 4 is an absolute gem of a game. The culmination of all the previous entries, it feels larger than ever, and if you’ve come back fresh after Pikmin 3, there are entirely new ways to play here.
The core gameplay sees you as a cutesy little avatar, riding and moving around with Oatchi, a space dog-like creature, discovering the titular cuter-than-ever Pikmin. Each of these creatures has a colour which corresponds to their ability. For example, the red Pikmin are basically your everything jobbers, while blue ones can swim and are water resistant, the rock ones are fighters, and pink Pikmin can fly; and so on. All of these abilities are equally useful, and you’ll need to manage how many you have of each to get the best out of the puzzles and strategic battles on offer. You’ll find them as you explore, and you can even turn some into other types, or make them stronger: this is a deeper than it looks strategy game.
A time limit is always running, and you have to plan your day out to get the most treasure you can, for upgrades, and to progress the story as you go. Your home base offers so many side missions, ways to customise your game, upgrade Oatchi, and even research gadgets to help in the field. Your map will give you a good way to commit to planning, but the supersized gardens and rooms you visit are so enrapturing, you’ll want to just go out and explore to see what you can find, whether it’s a collectible, combat section, or puzzle.
And what a lot of things there are to do, here. If you’re looking to 100% Pikmin 4’s base game you’re going to drop over thirty hours into it. But then there are options to go back in and find Pikmin related to the Bloom mobile title, there are Dandori Battles you can take part in, and of course, the new Dandori Academy content.
This new content essentially adds a reason to come back weekly to play Pikmin 4. A selection of new puzzles based on locations familiar to the main game, you can practice through them as much as you want, then take on the exam to unlock content and level up your overall Dandori level. These exams are held weekly from Friday to Sunday, and earning medals based on performance will let you slap your sticker on the scoreboard for bragging rights.
The easier ones are, well, very easy, but the hardest ones I got to play took about four practice attempts before I was ready to go for the exam, and even then I didn’t get a satisfactory result. Nintendo has said there will be 72 stages released over time, with six each month, and so far they’re great fun. The only sad thing is that, while it’s nice knowing 72 are coming, it does sound like that’ll be it. I was hoping for a “forever” reason to keep coming back to Pikmin 4, and while that’s maybe a little unreasonable, it’s a little sad nonetheless.
GameShare on Nintendo Switch 2 means you can compete in Dandori Battles using either wireless play, online, or GameChat, and that’s always nice to see in a game – reducing the need for two copies to play with friends. Likewise, Nintendo seems very into voice commands right now, and following from Ocarina of Time’s ability to sing the tunes in that game, you can call out commands to Oatchi here, getting him to gather goodies, or just collect up some of your straggler Pikmin.
The main game, though, is still as magical as I remember from back in 2023. Night expeditions add an entirely new way to play, focussing on speed and combat. Here you have Glow Pikmin who, as you’d guess, are glowing green Pikmin. Enemies are in a frenzied state (meaning they’re more dangerous), so you have to quickly grab Glow Pellets which the Glow Pikmin take to their bases (Lumiknolls). This gives you more Glow Pikmin to use, and it’s a race to get enough before the onrushing enemies come to destroy your bases. It’s tower defence, but Pikmin. The entire Night Expedition is on a timer, and it’s pretty full-on managing your numbers and defending your Lumiknolls.
It’s important, as well, that you do explore the world in Pikmin 4. Because the Night Expeditions take place in the same locations as the rest of the daytime campaign, things that have been moved, or obstacles that have been cleared, are reflected in those night missions. It has to be said that these frenzied Night Expeditions are a flip of the game’s usual cheery and colourful aesthetic and vibe, with the enemies becoming scary and the music matching the almost horror-like mood.
But Pikmin has always been a lovely looking game, with some dark moments. The enemies in the game, whether day or night, often look harmless enough (even if they will eat you). The fact you use your space-person avatar and cheeky yellow dog to toss rock Pikmin at them, brutally beating them until a little soul icon escapes their body floating upwards, only for your little flower-friend soldiers to drag the corpse to your spaceship for resources, well that’s just fine and dandy.
The mission variety, the locations, the amount of content on offer, means that Pikmin 4 is a massive recommendation from me. If you like strategy games, you will enjoy a Nintendo-like unique take on that genre, though that does mean some of the campaign is a little easy. Indeed, you’ll need to venture right to the end and try out the advanced Dandori Academy challenges to be properly pushed to your limits.
Pikmin 4, like the rest of the series, has never been about being overly hard, and has never really offered too much resistance. However, I found myself addicted in 2023, and wanting to get another 100% completion here in 2026. Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy is the best way to play it, and while the 60fps crowd will be upset about the focus being on resolution, I can’t really be angry at that in this genre of game.
Returning players will find themselves drawn in all over again thanks to the new content, and the only real negative is that we already know it won’t last forever. A glorious time-sink, Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy is an engaging, exquisite adventure that I can’t recommend enough, providing you have an affinity with the genre.
