YMMV / Pikmin 3

• Adorkable: Some of Brittany's fruit notes show that she geeks out about the fruit and makes comments about the how fruit looks, and she sounds absolutely precious and funny while doing so.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Louie accidentally left behind on PNF-404, or did he intentionally choose to stay? Twice? Is he evil, or was he brainwashed? Perhaps just curious? Or maybe he was curious and got brainwashed?
  • Did the Plasm Wraith capture Olimar For the Evulz, or was it legitimately caring for him and was just overprotective?
• Anti-Climax Boss:
  • Once you figure out the secret to killing the Armored Mawdad, it becomes extremely easy to kill. If you focus on shattering the tip of its tail and then swarm the exposed area with Red Pikmin, you can kill it in less than 30 seconds.
  • The Scornet Maestro. Although it commands a horde of bees, if you have a decent enough squad of Winged Pikmin, some consider the battle easier than fighting some of the normal enemies in game. It can't attack by itself, you can chip down its Scornet squad before it can make an attack, making them easily dodgeable, and even if it does capture some Pikmin, it gives you more time to rescue them than you really need. On top of that, the Maestro suffers from the same problem the Ranging Bloyster did, in that it'll only ever go after the active captain regardless if they have any Pikmin with them, meaning you can have a captain with your Pikmin sitting idly behind it, and have another act as a meat shield to devert its attacks. Unlike the Ranging Bloyster, however, it won't turn around while attacking even if you switch captains, allowing you to get even more free hits on the guy. With this, if you do well enough, you can kill it fast enough for you to bring back its spoils, its carcass, and all 100 of its Scornets back to the Onion and the Drake, netting you more than 100 Pikmin in a single battle. There's a reason more people have higher time attack scores against it than any of the other bosses in the rankings.
  • The Plasm Wraith is considered this by some, since it takes place right next to the onions and it takes place over at least two days. Most players will have plenty of juice by this point, so there's almost no danger in running out of juice before you beat him. And then there's how going into the battle with nothing but Rock Pikmin makes its water attack the only one with actual threat, since electricity doesn't kill Pikmin anymore, its fire plasms can be destroyed easily, and Rock Pikmin are immune to every other attack it has.
  • The Burrowing Snagret in Twilight River. The boss can only attack Pikmin on the ground, leaving it entirely defenseless against Winged Pikmin.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Did Louie jump past the Moral Event Horizon by stealing the Koppai crew's juice supply and running away, or was he a Jerkass Woobie? Considering Olimar may have carelessly abandoned him in his obsessive search for treasure, and the fact that a Dummied Out data file on a tie-in website showed he thought he was being kidnapped by the Koppai crew at the time. Debates on this tend to be particularly heated when brought up.
  • Anything about or to do about the Plasm Wraith. Some think it's cool and one of the best bosses in the entire series due to you having to utilize all your Pikmin to take it down, and also being downright creepy when you start looking into him and reading about the actual Japanese lore he was based on. Others think he was a bit of a letdown due to having a rather underwhelming design in comparison to Pikmin and Pikmin 2's final bosses, and its first form looks exactly like the Goolix from Pikmin, while being a slower, less hectic remake of the Submerged Castle in Pikmin 2.
  • Rock Pikmin. Either you think they're just as adorable as the other Pikmin and add an interesting dynamic to the game, or you hate them for their Non-Standard Character Design and feel they just unnecessarily replaced a role Purple Pikmin could have easily filled. While this has mostly died down as more are willing to accept the fact that in addition to gameplay balance (since many consider Purples overpowered in 2), Purple Pikmin would likely be seriously injured by breaking glass and Rock Pikmin's immunity to crushing and piercing gives them their own uses, and Non-Standard Character Design is nothing new with Bulbmin in Pikmin 2, this does not stop people from hating them because they're not Purple Pikmin. ^note The main reason for this comparison being because Purples and Rocks both deal Grievous Harm with a Body when hitting an enemy, and having a similar bulky build. Unlike Purples, though, Rocks don't stun the enemy, and can only attack enemies by ramming into them instead of latching on right after.
  • Of the three default playable captains, Brittany is easily the most controversial. Some people love her for being a snarky, rebellious character who stands out when compared to the game’s main characters and see her exaggerated excitement of fruit as an endearing trait. On the other hand, some people dislike her extreme gluttony when it comes to obtaining fruit and for treating Charlie like dirt for most of the game, despite him never doing anything to deserve that kind of hostility.
• Best Boss Ever:
  • Despite being That One Boss, the Mireclops is considered this by some for several reasons: It's possibly the largest creature in the series, it's a very challenging fight, and it has a cool, yet strange, design.
  • The Plasm Wraith has received almost unanimous praise, as it is a unique boss fight, is creepy as hell, and depending on how one plays the game, is a legitimate challenge.
• Best Level Ever: The Twilight River, an area with very unusual level design that involves jumping from lily pads to other parts of the map, with lots of puzzles involving the fan-favorite Winged Pikmin.
• Breather Boss: The Scornet Maestro is easier then the boss before it (the Sandbelching Meerslug, which can turn most of the arena into a hazard and is very tricky to make vulnerable), the boss following it (the Quaggled Mireclops, which is under That One Boss), and even its own area.
• Broken Base: Whether or not this game is better or worse than Pikmin 2. Fans of 2 tend to dislike the linearity of 3, the more constrained maps, the short length of its story mode (in part due to the removal of caves), the characterization of the Hocotatians (Olimar being turned into a greedy treasure hunter and Louie being a dimwitted fool that can only say "food"), sidelining Purple and White Pikmin from story mode (as well as being significantly less useful than they were in 2), and the game's overall lax difficulty (to the point where even Ultra-Spicy mode is rather simple and nowhere near as difficult as the first game or 2's later caves). Detractors of 2 point out the improvements 3 made in the gameplay, such as 2's focus on underground caves rather than the more interesting and visually appealing aboveground areas, Purple Pikmin making most combat a joke, and most of 2's "difficulty" coming in the form of enemy/hazard placement. Meanwhile, others like both but appreciate the improvements each game made, while some prefer the first game over 3.
• Cheese Strategy: During the final area, the Plasm Wraith will hunt Olimar down no matter what. As such, there is nothing stopping the player from simply having Brittany (who is the one guiding the Pikmin) run around in circles in the starting area while leaving Alph and Charlie to take care of the puzzles with no threat outside of having to move Brittany every now and again since the Plasm Wraith is extremely slow.
• Contested Sequel: Like the previous game, Pikmin 3 is seen as divisive, but for different reasons. Fans either like this game for its smarter Pikmin AI, more expansive overworld maps, focus on a linear narrative, gorgeous visuals, and refined gameplay. Others find it to be a weaker entry due to its different feel than the first two, linear plot, collectables not playing into the game's progression, easier difficulty, removal of caves, and overall shorter length. Those who are critical of the game also dislike how previous elements from the franchise were treated in this game, from the removal of the C-Stick March (replaced by the less versatile charge mechanic) and Piklopedia to the sidelining of the Hocotatians in favor of the new Koppaite characters. In the lattermost example, detractors dislike how the Hocotatians were characterized, with Olimar being flanderized as greedy and somewhat uncaring, Louie being destructive and glutenous^note only able to say "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!", The President learning nothing from the previous adventure and nearly dooming the company yet again, and the Hocotate Ship being crash landed and totally abandoned. Deluxe would alleviate some of these issues, with its new content (especially in regards to Olimar's Comeback) and refined controls, though as a whole the game is still seen as divisive overall.
• Demonic Spiders: Peckish Aristocrabs are not only fast and dangerous, but also intelligent. They'll dodge and block thrown Pikmin like no tomorrow, and swarming Pikmin at them will cause them to lift their bodies to prevent them from being attacked. Sure, Rock Pikmin can deal with them easily by breaking their claw, but their speed and tactics makes this more difficult than you'd expect.
• Designated Monkey: Charlie. As said on the character page, he's frequently on the receiving end of most of the game's humor, despite not really showing anything that would qualify him for that status, even after being eaten by the Phosbat, which could easily be explained by him getting jumped by it. This is especially notable with Alph, who's supposed to idolize him, yet even he gets in some snark at Charlie's expense.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: All the cheeriness from the ending fizzles away when you realize that even though Olimar makes it off the planet alive, he still failed his mission, left his partners to die, and ultimately screwed over his employer. In short, it's a happy ending for Koppai, but not for Hocotate. Deluxe thankfully changes these, with Louie being left behind seemingly being retconned and Olimar's Comeback specifically having its plot regard Olimar and Louie being sent back to PNF-404 to recover the Hocotate Ship.
• Even Better Sequel: The game is shorter than Pikmin 2 (as it removed underground caves), but is otherwise a vastly enhanced experience with bigger overworld areas, a more intricate story, clever and unique bosses, much-wanted quality of life changes like the target and charge mechanics, and impressive music and visuals.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Charlie shows hints about being into Brittany. However, fans are more likely to pair her up with Alph. This is mostly because Brittany has an Affectionate Nickname for Alph, Alphie, and the fact that he worries more over her seemingly being dead than Charlie.
• Game-Breaker: Each game so far has had one type that contends for this.
  • Rock Pikmin hit like a truck and are immune to being crushed or pierced, making them virtually invincible against some of the more threatening enemies like Joustmites, Wollywogs and Cannon Beetles. They're even immune to the only directly fatal attack of the final boss, making them ideal for the last fight. Unlike 2's limited Purples, you can harvest as many as you need in their very own Onion.
  • Winged Pikmin, despite being weaker than other Pikmin and lacking immunities, can still completely bypass a lot of the puzzles and get fruit much earlier than you should due to their ability to fly. A few examples are the second half of the scale puzzle in the Garden of Hope, in which normally you're supposed to use all three captains in a complicated counter balance puzzle to get the fruit at the very end. However, locking onto the fruit and using the charge command makes the Winged Pikmin fly up to it and take it back to the ship with zero effort. There's also the multiple 'slope bags' used to make shortcuts to areas. By using the dodge roll whistle, you can cause the Winged Pikmin to fly up into the air, have them charge the bag, and push it down without having to reach it the conventional way. Then there's the part where Louie steals your juice and runs off. Using Winged Pikmin, you can skip 75% of the puzzles that require Blue Pikmin. It has to be seen to be believed. (Starts at around 1:02:35) On top of that, despite being weaker than the other Pikmin, their constant flight allows them to charge the weak spots of bosses other Pikmin normally can't, and using spicy spray to negate their low attack power can make some bosses (such as the Mireclops) much easier. And unlike armed Yellows, whose bomb rocks come in a limited supply, or Purples, whose numbers can only increase by trekking through caves, Winged Pikmin have their own Onion that can be used to give a steady number of them at any given time.
  • The automatic berry farming system has Pikmin automatically head back to the berry plant after taking a berry to the ship. While this makes spicy sprays more accessible and less of a chore to farm, it also makes getting ridiculous amounts of them incredibly easy. Setup five Pikmin on a berry plant, go about the rest of the day normally, and watch as you go from zero sprays at the start of the day to having seven to twelve by the day's end. This is also incredibly useful for boss fights, since it gives you access to a near-unlimited amount of spray against it. Even if you're playing the game normally and not specifically trying to farm them, it's not uncommon to have near twenty-something sprays by the time you beat the game. The only thing that keeps it from being super obscene is the fact that there is no Ultra-Bitter Spray, and retrieving all of the involved Pikmin before sunset can be tricky (and even then this can safely be ignored if you have Pikmin to spare and don't mind the guilt on your conscience).
  • The Bomb Rocks make a lot of the game's toughest enemies a complete joke, as many enemies that try to eat Pikmin carrying a Bomb Rock will only succeed in eating the Bomb Rock while the Pikmin itself is completely unharmed. This kills regular enemies in one hit, kills mini-bosses in three, and the few enemies that can't eat Bomb Rocks will be unable to eat Pikmin at all if they're carrying one.
  • A feature introduced in Deluxe is the Drake's "call all Pikmin" feature, which allows for any idle Pikmin left idle in an area to immediately return to base in the last few hours of the day. While it isn't exactly perfect, this still makes finding lost Pikmin at the end of the day ridiculously easy, and basically eliminates the need to venture outside of base at the end of the day.
• Genius Bonus: The Japanese name for the Scaly Custard (avocado) literally translates to "Crocodile Scrotum". The original Aztec word for the avocado, "ahuácatl", meant "testicle".
• Goddamned Boss: The Vehemoth Phosbat, the second boss, is generally much more predictable than the Armored Mawdad before it, but takes longer to defeat because it's constantly cloaking itself to become invincible. The ideal counter to this is to turn on the small lightbulbs around the area, which temporarily stun and ground it, or the car battery-bulb, which stops it from cloaking and makes it resort to a vulnerable pattern. However, doing this spreads your Pikmin thin, making them easy pickings for Vehemoth's inhale attack or the baby Phosbats spawned by its pods if you don't pay attention.
• Good Bad Bugs:
  • A few bugs that seem to be tailor made for speed runners exit, from being able to get Winged Pikmin almost as soon as you start the first day in Twilight River to being able to fight the arctic Shaggy Long Legs without a time limit to being able to get the max number of Winged and Yellow Pikmin in the Onion as quickly as possible. Considering Miyamoto had this to say about the game: "But a good game—and this is really where I think Pikmin 3 stands out—is a game that gives you enough freedom that the player can create their own way of playing and can find ways of playing that the developers didn't envision."
  • For some reason, the Plasm Wraith/Mysterious Life Form will act a bit off if you place Olimar in water. Instead of following him, it will start moving around almost randomly and give you much more time to solve the rest of the stage's puzzles.
  • Mixing the juice of a Zest Bomb and Juicy Gaggle will produce a unique bright blue-green color due to how the game determines juice color It appears to take the average of its hue and brightness values. Normally, this works as mixing the colors would in real life, such as yellow and red juice making orange. However, the Zest Bomb and Juicy Gaggle are the only two fruits whose juice colors are far enough on the spectrum (green and violet) that they instead average to a cyan. This has no effect on gameplay, but both the mixing and the result look pretty nice.
• I Knew It!: Prior to its Nintendo Switch port being announced, Pikmin 3 was one of the most speculated titles to receive a Switch port.
• Inferred Holocaust: At the end, Olimar's companions are left behind on PNF-404, both in bad shape (the Ship physically, Louie mentally), although the loose ends get tied up in the Deluxe port.
• Jerkass Woobie: Louie stealing all of your food is a serious Jerkass moment from him, but when you realize what he's been through, his actions become more understandable. After having to help Olimar look for treasure just to buy Olimar's old ship back, the ship they used to get to the planet gets wrecked. Even though they're stranded on the planet without a ship, Olimar continues to look for treasure despite how pointless it is, forcing Louie to look after himself. In the end, the only thing he ever says is "Food!". Plus, as a Dummied Out clip found among the 5 Easter Egg Olimar's Logs points out, although Louie sent out an S.O.S. after running away from Olimar, he was unconscious the entire time the Koppaites were trying to rescue him. Since he woke up while they were asleep, he thought he was being kidnapped, and since the only other ship he knew of was the aforementioned old ship, even if he did get it out of the atmosphere, it'd probably not be able to reach Hocotate for a long while in that state. It's still a jerkass action, but it's hard to blame him.
• Paranoia Fuel: As you're trying to lead the Pikmin holding Olimar out of the Formidable Oak's maze, the Plasm Wraith in its transparent form chases after you. You can even hear it as it gets closer and, if it catches up, it will start ingesting Pikmin.
• Polished Port: Deluxe is seen as one of the most improved Wii U-to-Switch ports Nintendo has made. It comes with all of the base game's DLC, and adds a side story focusing on Olimar that works as extra Mission Mode levels (covering events before and after the main plot), an easier and harder difficulty level for the story, and the Piklopedia to flesh out the new creatures. More than that, there are a few improvements to mechanics that had mixed reception, such as charging and lock-on, and a lot of minor aesthetic and flavor additions. The only loss was the ability to use Wii Remote pointer controls, instead having to rely on gyro controls.
• Replacement Scrappy: A lot of people see the Rock Pikmin as this in regards to their replacing the Purple Pikmin as The Big Guy. This is mostly because they allow for little variety, beyond their unique design and being particularly useful against glass and crystals. The Purple Pikmin only appear in the side modes as a result, which many decry as They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character.
• Salvaged Story:
  • Most players were severely underwhelmed by Brittany's fruit notes in the original Wii U version of Pikmin 3, and felt that it wasn't nearly as interesting or funny as Pikmin 2's Piklopedia. The Piklopedia was brought back for Pikmin 3 Deluxe, with all five captains providing notes on the various creatures seen in the game.
  • The notes also help flesh out the Koppai captains a bit more. Most notably, it provides some insight into why Brittany doesn't like Charlie that much, which many people found to be a tiring one-note gag in the original version. In the various notes, it's mention that she doesn't like mustaches (which Charlie has), Charlie can be quite Hot-Blooded which grates on Brittany quite a bit, and that Charlie has to put his foot down to keep her from trying to eat some of the enemies on the planet. (Which, if Brittany's notes on the subject are anything to go by, was common enough that Charlie had to snap and tell her "not to lick everything [they] fight".)
  • In addition, while not as big a deal, it was a common question why the captains didn't just eat the enemies on the planet as a food source. The notes in Pikmin 3 make it clear that in addition to Charlie being concerned over them potentially carrying harmful bacteria/being poisonous, the Pikmin are noted to fiercely hold onto anything that can be used to produce more Pikmin, making it unviable to use them to ferry enemies back en mass to serve as a food source.
  • The Ship from Pikmin 2 was infamously irritating amongst players due to its insufferable personality, constantly pointing out obvious things that the player already understands, and for being one of the only two characters who talk in the whole game (discounting Olimar and Louie's notes in the Piklopedia). In this game, the Ship itself is too damaged to speak, and the characters provide their own dialogue again, including Olimar and Louie. While the S.S Drake is also capable of speech, it only speaks when analyzing things, and doesn't have any personality of its own.
  • While the Hocotate ship was widely hated in the second game, seeing it destroyed and abandoned in the third game was seen as a sad end for the character. Pikmin 3 Deluxe adds a post-game campaign based around Olimar and Louie returning to PNF-404 to rescue the ship.
• Salvaged Gameplay Mechanic:
  • In the last two games, one singular Pikmin could consume an entire gob of nectar, which made flowerizing entire groups of Pikmin somewhat frustrating. In this game, individual Pikmin don't need to consume an entire nectar blob to become flowers, making it easier to flowerize large groups, and keep some left over to use later in the day.
  • While the controls for using them were initially quite quirky, a lot of people were disappointed at how the Bomb Rocks were retooled into being a hazard in Pikmin 2, due to their resourcefulness in clearing paths and defeating enemies in the first game. This game makes the Bomb Rocks usable again, where they not only have clearly defined mechanics, but also can be picked up by any Pikmin rather than just Yellows.
  • Along with all the DLC created for the Wii U version, a new side mode featuring Olimar and Louie has been added to Pikmin 3 Deluxe. Not only does this add new content to the game, but it also allows players to see Olimar's third adventure on PNF-404 in a much easier way than the convoluted Captain's Logs that required a visit to the now-defunct Miiverse to view.
  • Pikmin 3 Deluxe adds difficulty options for the first time in the series, allowing Pikmin veterans to make the game much, much more challenging. In particular, the Plasm Wraith was considered far too easy to be a Final Boss by some; on Ultra-Spicy, it's an absolute monster, dishing out huge amounts of pain if you give it the opportunity. The only downside is that you need to beat the game on Hard to unlock the difficulty.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • Swarming (using the C-Stick or Wii Remote D-Pad to command Pikmin as a group) is replaced with a charge/bum rush command to make the Pikmin attack enemies or mass-adopt tasks. The main issue some players have with this change is that swarming had more uses than just bum-rushing, like being able to quickly guide Pikmin out of the way of a close-range attack and allowing more control over where you want the Pikmin to attack, which the charge command lacks. The charge command also requires a lock-on to function, which means targeting the enemy for a short time at short range without breaking the lock-on's focus, and could only be executed on things that could be locked on to. Small enemies that come in groups like Male Sheargrubs are also much more troublesome to deal with because there's no easy way to attack all of them at once like with swarming, as the only options are to attack one at a time with charging and risk losing Pikmin to the others, or throw Pikmin at them and risk losing Pikmin because they can't be killed in time. The fact that they managed to replicate swarming rather well in the New Play Control! versions of Pikmin and Pikmin 2 only serves to further baffle fans over why it was replaced in 3^note The best guess so far is that, after dedicating the right stick to camera controls, which addressed another common complaint, finding a way to replicate swarming in all of 3's various control methods was considered to be too difficult than what it was worth, and a simple charge command along with a new dodge roll were adequate, if imperfect, replacements for those functions. The Deluxe version of 3 made several changes to the charge to alleviate this, such as no longer requiring lock-on (Pikmin charge in the direction of the cursor, and the lock-on itself was improved, being instant, easily changed to other targets, and, with gyro controls, the exact targeted location on the locked-on object can be manipulated) and only issuing the charge command to the selected Pikmin group (swarming couldn't mass-control single types of Pikmin in a multi-type squad, so the charge can now lay claim to a useful function all previous games sorely lacked).
  • The Macaroon from the Bingo Battle mode is rarely used by players, as it's often seen as a cheap way to win matches super quickly. Since it only requires one Pikmin to carry, and the area will likely be cleared of threats by the time you find your opponent's Macaroon, it ultimately makes much of the competition pointless.
• Sequel Difficulty Drop: The game has many more Anti-Frustration Features compared to the annoyances of the previous games. The ability to aim Pikmin on weak points to stun enemies for a certain period of time, the complete lack of the "got ya" traps Pikmin 2 is infamous for, the reworking of bomb rocks into something far more manageable and easy to use and the lax time limit even if you're only casually collecting fruit all result in 3 being the easiest and most accessible game in the series so far. The Deluxe Updated Re-release goes even further, adding additional hints and having various difficulty modes (wherein the original Wii U difficulty is now somewhere between Hard and Ultra-Spicy).
• That One Boss:
  • The Armored Mawdad, mainly during no-death runs because it's difficult to defeat it without losing at least a few Pikmin. Its charges are fast and unpredictable, it can turn on a hair, and the size of its head and mandibles make it tough to keep all your Pikmin out of its reach unless you manage to keep behind it. It's a surprisingly difficult first boss especially for newcomers to the series, and a rather stiff difficulty jump from half of the bosses of Pikmin 2.
  • The Quaggled Mireclops. Its "tells" are very subtle and rely largely on audio cues, its feet push the bog you fight it in down, making knocking it over very dangerous if you don't use blues, and its major attacks can, if you're unaware, wipe out your entire army in one go. Even once you have it down and vulnerable, its massive tongue sweeps all around its mouth, and when it gets low on health, it'll do this twice, which can catch you off guard the first time you fight it. Regardless, the Mireclops' sheer scale and the intensity of the fight makes it both this and a Best Boss Ever to some fans.
  • In the Mission Mode, the Final Boss. In the Story Mode, you can easily exploit the fight by using nothing but Rock Pikmin, but here they are much less useful since you only have 20 of them. The entire fight is just chaotic, with the boss being able to eat through your army very quickly and spamming elemental attacks once it's low on Regenerating Health. Oh, and all the flower Pikmin have to be uprooted first; you start with leaf Pikmin who need to use the nectar eggs just above the arena. And the real kicker? If you let just one of your captains get killed by mistake, you have to start the whole fight all over again. Good luck getting Platinum, which requires you to kill it in under five minutes.
• That One Level: The Formidable Oak. The whole area is pretty much one long escort mission where you must keep Olimar away from the Plasm Wraith. Problem is, you need to keep Brittany moving to prevent the Plasm Wraith from catching up to you, while Alph and Charlie kill enemies and clear obstacles, meaning you'll constantly be switching between the two parties, making it very easy to get disoriented. On top of this, the level has a confusing layout, the Pikmin carrying Olimar move at a snail's pace, and the constant switching means it's very easy to lose track of Olimar or end up accidentally getting Brittany cornered in a dead end. If the Plasm Wraith manages to catch up to you, it will begin swiftly taking Olimar back to the beginning of the level, and you'll be forced to drop everything and chase it down. Oh, and if it succeeds in getting back to the start of the level, the day will immediately end on the spot, and any Pikmin that were not in your party at that moment will be killed at sunset. To rub even more salt in the wound, once you finally manage to reach the end of the area, you're immediately thrown into the Final Boss fight, who is significantly more difficult than any other boss in the game and can easily lay waste to your entire party. Needless to say, the Formidable Oak is by far the most frustrating part of the game.
• That One Sidequest: Getting platinum in the "Battle Enemies" portion of Mission Mode is much more difficult than the level's "Collect Treasure" counterparts. While you do have Onions and thus a replenishable army this time, and you don't have to carry everything back to get points, this mode does not shy away from throwing powerful enemies and even a few minibosses that must all be killed in rather strict time limits and with a pretty low number of starting Pikmin. You are usually given bomb rocks, except that you practically have to use some strategy with them to make getting platinum possible.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Pikmin 3's ending shows that the Plasm Wraith survived the final battle and Deluxe adds "Olimar's Comeback", an epilogue chapter centered around Olimar and Louie returning to PNF-404 after the events of the main story. This seems like the perfect set up for a final confrontation between them and possibly learning why the Plasm Wraith is so obsessed with Olimar in the first place. Instead, it is nowhere to be found and the final boss of the epilogue ends up just being a golden Shaggy Long Legs.
• Values Dissonance: In the Japanese version, the Scaly Custard (Avocado) is literally named "Crocodile Scrotum". Apparently, an animal with visible private parts isn't considered nudity in Japan unless the animal is an anthropomorphic representation.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The general consensus is that the really shows off how gorgeous games on the Wii U can truly be with the same going for its port on the Switch. The first two games, though quite old by now and showing their age, were absolutely stunning in their own time.

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