After nearly a decade of half-hearted assurances that the fourth entry of the series was in development, the latest Nintendo Direct confirmed with a teaser trailer that Pikmin 4 is indeed on the way. While the announcement only featured a 30-second trailer devoid of gameplay or even a single screenshot, this brief glimpse was enough to satisfy Pikmin fans, many of whom had begun to fear that the franchise would never receive a new main series installment.
The teaser's primary draw was the reveal that the in-game camera will be closer to the player and their Pikmin hordes than ever before, allowing players to truly experience the world of Pikmin the way the tiny creatures themselves do. However, the trailer also showed that Pikmin 4 will feature man-made objects as a prominent element of its level design. In doing so, the game has drawn attention to one of the darker elements of its otherwise tranquil setting while at the same time bringing the series back to its roots.
While the levels of almost every game in the Pikmin series have featured naturalistic environments, man-made objects like cardboard boxes and concrete walls have been featured as obstacles as far back as the first Pikmin game. These objects not only serve as organic barriers that perfectly illustrate just how small the Pikmin are, but they're also a grim reminder that the planet that every Pikmin game takes place on, officially christened "PNF-404," isn't some far-off alien world. Instead, an abundance of in-game evidence implies that PNF-404 is a post-apocalyptic Earth that has been reclaimed by nature, leaving only faint traces of human civilization behind.
The first Pikmin game featured man-made objects sparingly, but Pikmin 2 dialed things up with the introduction of "treasures," the game's primary collectibles. Littered across Pikmin 2's four main areas and scattered throughout the game's 14 subterranean dungeons, treasures are almost exclusively pieces of human waste, often bearing the name of real-world companies and brands. Even obscure relics from Nintendo's history like the Robotic Operating Buddy made appearances. On top of that, many of Pikmin 2's underground areas incorporated man-made architecture in their designs, with ceramic tiles, hardwood flooring, and even childish scribbles being a common sight.
In Pikmin 3, however, naturalism was made the primary visual theme of the game's levels, and remnants of human civilization became much scarcer. While there were still cardboard boxes to push over and weathered walls to topple, man-made objects were no longer an integrated part of the game's level design, and treasures were limited to a pair of flip phones used to unlock two of the game's areas. Although a DLC pack added several industrial-themed areas to Pikmin 3's Mission Mode, the subsequent release of Hey! Pikmin, which featured next-to-no man-made elements in its level design, seemingly confirmed that the series had discarded its post-apocalyptic themes.
Fortunately, what little was revealed of Pikmin 4 during the Direct has seemingly confirmed that man-made objects will be a central part of the game's level design. The only level that's shown in the trailer, set within what appears to be an abandoned park, is enclosed within brick walls and features many man-made assets, including a weather-worn artist's easel and a park bench that loom like mountains over the player character and their Pikmin. While it's uncertain if these elements will be a prominent theme in the overall art design, this brief glimpse of gameplay seems to imply that the game will be set in what was once a heavily urbanized region of PNF-404.
While this shift in design may be jarring to some Pikmin fans, Pikmin 4's focus on the franchise's post-apocalyptic elements will help the series scale into perspective for newcomers. One of the appeals of the Pikmin series has always been its ability to make players feel like they're part of a micro-scaled ecosystem, so seeing regular-sized real-world objects will help convey that sense of scale. By bringing the focus back to the way nature and civilization merged after the fall of humanity, Pikmin 4 is returning the series to its roots while making its core appeal clear for newcomers.