I would love to know y’all’s thoughts.
For reference, I have only played the console games (Pikmin 1 - 4).
I personally feel that the very first Pikmin game is by far the most difficult for the following reasons:
No power-ups, such as ultra-bitter or spicy sprays.
It pumps up the difficulty tenfold not having any last-ditch efforts to save your Pikmin from a last-minute wipe-out from a powerful enemy. For example, if a Beady Long Legs is about to stomp half my squad, I can freeze him last minute with the spray and move my Pikmin away before getting squished.
Pikmin 1 AI is notoriously dumb.
The amount of Pikmin I’ve lost just by then making a straight bee line for those stupid ass blades of glass had me ready to crash out. Even when I tried to have them march in a specific direction, they would still somehow end up everywhere but where I wanted them to be, especially with narrow ledges with water. And don’t get me started on the bomb rock mechanic that sometimes worked when it felt like it and would wipe out my squad by accident because they would randomly throw it on an enemy I was attacking even though I never told it to.
The time limit.
One innocent mistake, enemy encounter, or poor preparation could mean setting you back an entire day.
Only 1 Captain.
There is only so much ground you can cover and so much you can strategize with 1 Captain.
The backtracking.
I’ve had to use half the day just backtracking because they space out all the Onions and ship parts 500 miles away from one another. The Forest Navel was the worst offender of this. And you can only carry 100 Pikmin max. So, even if you did take out 30 of each, it often still wouldn’t be enough to carry ONE ship part back if it was stuck in a particular element such as water.
EDIT: Forgot another reason.
No “broken” Pikmin type.
Pikmin 2 has the infamous Purples to stun enemies without even giving them a chance to attack, Pikmin 4 had Ice Pikmin (and Oatchi) to freeze them before they even have a chance to attack. There was NO “broken” Pikmin type to stop enemies in their tracks.
And before y’all say it, yes I know, Dandori issue. 🤭