Pikmin 4 Concepts

In my ideal Pikmin 4, the overworld continent is separated into many different areas that possess the compact and contained aspects of previous overworlds. However, each map is interconnected and you could theoretically explore multiple areas in one day. There would also be a sort of fast travel mechanic in which you could move a primary hub to different areas, basically letting the Pikmin know where to take pellets, enemies, and treasures.


You start in the Explorer’s Garden, a sort of central area on the continent where you discover the Red Pikmin. From there, however, you can go to any area from the get go and find the Pikmin in any order. Breath of the Wild-style, general geography would guide you towards the easier route, but the game can be done in any order!


Also, there is an ecosystem in place throughout the continent. This means that enemies interact with each other outside of Pikmin interactions. There are food chains in place and this also means many enemies are a bit more mobile than in previous games.


So, here are the overworld areas and their general traits!


Explorer’s Garden: the central hub of the continent. Here is where you learn the basics of the game. It’s a peaceful flower garden littered with things like watering pails, gardening gloves, etc, with petals drifting out of the sky. It’s full of classic enemies like Sheargrubs and Red Bulborbs and the occasional Creeping Chrysanthemum. Here you find the Red Pikmin! The Efflorescent Verdantis is this area’s boss.


Glassy Grove: This place is a forest that has been covered in thick snow and ice. It’s home to Wooly Bulborbs, Amprats, Arctic Cannon Beetles, and more. Here we find the Yellow Pikmin! The Vehemoth Phosbat is the boss of this area.


Shimmering Cove: A beautiful lake shore! However, it’s dark watery depths can be explored as well, though it’s much more dangerous and filled with strange, bioluminescent enemies like Jellyfloats. This place is full of aquatic enemies like Aristocrabs, Skeeterskates, Bloysters, Wollywogs, etc. The Bioluminescent Blinnow-Horde is the boss of this area.


Mycelial Forest: A dark, rainy forest covered by strange, animate tendrils of bioluminescent fungus. At the heart of this jungle, you’ll find the Toadcap Fungistool that has its mycelium spread across the jungle. We also find the Fungus Pikmin here. The Toadcap Fungistool is the boss here.


Scarlet Hill: This place is a beautiful expanse of autumnal forest that is a sort of pumpkin patch. Many Orange Bulborbs have adapted to live here. We find the Winged Pikmin here. The Gourded Squashclops is boss here.



Stoic Ruins: This place is basically a junkyard littered with shattered pots, machinery, gravel, etc. It’s full of Cannon Beetles, Gattling Groinks, etc. We find the Rock Pikmin here. The Gargantuan Golossal is boss here.


Parched Valley: this place is a desert! It’s full of cacti and desert-dwelling creatures like Snagrets. It’s also riddled with caves. We find the Spiny Pikmin here! The Sandbelching Meerslug is this region’s boss.


Somber Citadel: this place is an abandoned factory. It’s full of machinery overrun with foliage. It’s also full of lightbulbs and conveyor belts that can be altered. Many mechanical and electrical enemies live here such as the Careening Dirigibug, Anode Beetle, and Amprat. We find the White Pikmin here! The Man-At-Legs is boss.


Jigsaw Jungle: this place is a playroom much like the Jigsaw Colosseum or the Glutton’s Kitchen. An array of weird creatures live here like Bulbears, Dirigibugs, you name it. Here we find the Purple Pikmin! The Gliding Zeppelinsect is boss here.


There would be a final level that is only accessible after all bosses have been completed. I’m not sure exactly what this boss would be like but I think it would be an incarnation of a wraith and answer a lot of questions about the lineage of wraiths.


If you all like, I will post the overworld map online.


Bramble: basically walls of thorns/vines that are too large for Pikmin to clear. You must use Mushroom Pikmin to take over Bulborbs or large enemies that can clear it.


Fans: spinning fans appear in places like the Stoic Ruins, Somber Citadel, etc. Winged Pikmin can be tossed at them and can be propelled upwards or blasted horizontally to new areas. These can also take the form of pinwheels in the Explorer’s Garden.


Conveyor Belts: conveyor belts appear like in the Clockwork Chasm. They can also appear vertically which Spiny Pikmin must be used to cling to.


Wires: while wires can be connected by yellow Pikmin, sometimes they can be chewed through to depower machines that block your path. You can use Mushroom Pikmin to control Amprats to do this.


Electric trains: found in the Jigsaw Jungle and Somber Citadel, these toy-like trains can be charged with Yellow Pikmin and can transport your pikmin across the map


Honeycombs: sort of an obstacle but can also be an advantage. Basically, they are sticky pads on the walls. This could help transport Pikmin if you throw them and whistle them along until they are across an obstacle such as water. It can leave your Pikmin vulnerable to Sweetsnout Bulbears, however.


Caves return and are scattered throughout the overworld! They are shorter than they were in Pikmin 2 and are more compact and puzzle-oriented, sort of like the levels from the Captain Toad games.


Unstopping with my BotW parallels, I think these dungeons would sort of be like shrines. There would be treasure to collect and the final floor would yield an upgrade the player. Each cave, however, focuses on a specific sort of puzzle or theme that tests specific skills. 

Here are some examples:

The Windy Grotto: a place filled with wind and fans that can blow Winged Pikmin to various locations and platforms when timed right.

The Honeyhive Hollow: this place is a tree riddled with honey puzzles, honeywisps, nectarous Dandyflies, and Sweetsnout Bulbears which pursue you.

The Flight Den: hear you have to accomplish long-term flight using shearwigs and snitchbugs via the Mushroom Pikmin. Winged Pikmin can’t traverse the larges abysses and chasms here.


I think most if not all enemies should return from Pikmin 1 and 2! Also, here are a few new enemy ideas I had…


Sweetsnout Bulbear: a large hairy Bulbear that seeks egg nectar and berry plants. It will compete for these items and ingest Pikmin accidentally using its large tongue. They also target Pikmin stuck in honey. It’s based on sort of omnivorous bears that eat berries and honey.


Noxious Wollywog: basically poison dart frog-wollywog. Just touching them will cause Pikmin to choke as if exposed to poison.


Charging Peccaraid: a hairy Blowhog with tusks that will charge your team and crush Pikmin. Based on a peccary.


Scaly Bulborb: desert-dwelling Bulborbs that have reptilian spines on their backs, meaning their faces must be attacked. Their eyes can also discharge poison, like how certain lizards shoot blood from their eyes.


Wooly Bulborb: basically the Hairy Bulborb returning though it’s hair is a bit wiry. This means that Spiny Pikmin are great to use!


Fuming Gaskunk: a toxic version of an Amprat with a big bushy tail it uses to exude toxic gas!


Swaddled Chrysalurks: cocoon enemies that descend from the ceiling attached to silk strings. They use dagger like arms to grab Pikmin and then fly upwards and off screen to devour them. Sort of like Kakuna from Pokemon.


Seismic Whiskercarp: a catfish-like creature that emerges from burrows in the ground. It can produce an electrical charge across its body and also slam into the ground, causing boulders to fall from the sky.


Bejeweled Pharoach: a scarab-beetle enemy that is decked out with crystals and gems that Rock Pikmin can smash. These Pharaoaches also create balls of dirt and gems like dung beetles and roll them at your squad.


Bioluminescent Blinnow: these guys are like blinnows but have little light-bulb like appendages on their bodies. Together, they work to compose the boss of the Tidal Springs.


Lurking Lilypad: It might seem like a regular lilypad, however, two yellow eye-stalks are visible. If you jump onto it, vine-like legs sprout out and the pad clamps up around you like a big mouth. You can escape by shaking the controller, but if you’re not careful your Pikmin can be consumed!


Bog-backed Snappa: a large, turtle-like enemy with vegetation growing on its back. It has an impenetrable shell, however, a flukeweed is sprouting out of its back which Winged Pikmin can pull to flip it over, exposing its softer underbelly.


Carnivorous Candypop Bud: a darker red Candypop Bud with spines and a yellow eye in the center. If you toss in Pikmin, it devours them. They like to grow in areas where you’ll have to toss Pikmin sporadically. You can throw bomb rocks in there to kill them.


Vehemoth Phosbat: The Vehemoth Phosbat returns with its adorably creepy offspring! This battle is much like Pikmin 3 except White Pikmin are immune to its poison dust! Yellow Pikmin will be able to charge lightbulbs to expose it.


Man-at-Legs: The Man-At-Legs returns in all its gattling glory. Living in the dreary remains of a factory, the Man-At-Legs can only be defeated by using White Pikmin to dissolve its metallic husk with their acid spit. It wields a machine gun and can also produce explosive missile-like bombs.


Gargantuan Golossal: The Gargantuan Golossal is a huge, golem-like monster that’s built sort of like a Mamuta. Think Eox from Phantom Hourglass. Rising from the craggy ruin of the junkyard, you can traverse its body and use Rock Pikmin to break crystal formations and access more vulnerable parts of its body. Bombs will also be useful for blowing this rock-monster to pieces.


Sandbelching Meerslug: The Meerslug returns, this time in a desert region! This boss is tackled the same way as in Pikmin 3.


Efflorescent Verdantis: This mantis-like creature uses its claws to slash Pikmin and it can be hard to handle without Winged Pikmin to ward off its aerial maneuvers!


Toadcap Fungistool: This fungus creature’s tendrils are spread all throughout the Mycelial Forest. However, you will find the heart of this creature dwelling inside a rotted tree. Think Kalle Demos from Wind Waker but fused with a puffstool and maybe a bit of Biolumescent Jellyfloat.


Gourded Squashclops: Alright, work with me on this. The Quaggled Mireclops returns, but this is his autumnal cousin, the Squashclops. Instead of merging with the swamp, this creature has adapted to live in a pumpkin patch. This means that the Squashclop’s body is like a slightly flat pumpkin platform with three gargantuan, orange legs. Its underbelly is made up of those gross strings of pumpkin guts and seeds. Its huge, sloppy tongue emerges from around the stem, much like how you cut a ring around the stem when you make a jack’o lantern. There is a similar growth around its stem much like in Pikmin 3.


Bioluminescent Blinnow-Horde: Blinnows are annoying on their own, but imagine a hivemind of bioluminescent blinnows that work together to generate a glowing monster. Think Wishy Washy from Pokemon. Yes, in this game your Blue Pikmin will have to face a school of Blinnows that operate as one entity, much like the Scornet Maestro’s attack formations in Pikmin 3 in the darker depths of the lake.


Gliding Zeppelinsect: The Gliding Zeppelinsect is like a Dirigbug on steroids. Instead of a few balloons, it has a massive zeppelin that it uses to sail through the air, dropping bomb rocks and obstacles. It also uses an air compressor to blast torrents of wind which can knock you Pikmin into the abyss. Winged Pikmin are handy for bringing this enemy down and Spiny Pikmin can be used to deflate its blimp!



Hope you enjoyed my interpretation of Pikmin 4! Let me know if you liked these ideas!