Pikmin Bloom

Every time someone asks me what this game is, I tell them it’s basically Pokémon Go, but with Pikmin instead. And it is, but I actually enjoy this game a lot more than I did Pokémon Go. The biggest difference is that the main focus is on the steps you take, making it a great exercise motivator. But the other thing I like about it is that you don’t have to go to specific places to get the different Pikmin (I believe Thomas Sanders made a joke about traveling halfway across the world to get an Arcticuno…) You do have to go to different places to get some of the more special Pikmin, but it’s general places that should be near most people such as bakeries, salons, and Ramen places. The other thing I like about that aspect of the game is that you don’t have to constantly have the app open to find the Pikmin either, you simply walk around and it saves the Pikmin that you find for you to go collect whenever you have time. The one complaint that I have is that there’s only one way to earn coins, which is through planting flowers, and it’s very slow. I’d say on average I earn about 8 coins a day and the cheapest thing in the store is about 100 coins so… it takes a while to earn enough to do anything useful with them. I understand that games have to make money somehow, but as someone who really doesn’t have cash to spend on mobile games, it’s pretty frustrating. Overall though, it’s a great game and I love walking places now instead of dreading it.

I really enjoy this charming game. It’s pros are things I don’t enjoy about Niantic’s flagship Pokémon Go. Being that Pickmin have no inherent CP rating, pulling and naming Pickmin feels more rewarding, as you will never have to put any of your Pickmin in a candy blender. Additionally, there isn’t a push to play so that you don’t miss out on new content. You can tackle the quests at your own pace and interact with seedlings and Pickmin at your behest. Additionally, sending your Pickmin on fetch quests and watching them walk toward map locations in real time is quite cute. However, there is still more from the Pickmin side of things that I would like to see. One cool idea that uses previous Niantic features would be battling the series’ famous monsters. In this iteration, however, you would throw Pickmin like a Pokeball at the monster to attack. Hitting the sweet spot could mean your Pickmin takes less damage or doesn’t die. Type resistance could also be used from the main games. In reality, that is one core concept I would like to see. Eventually, I’m sure I will have the max of 300 Pickmin. I think it would really add to the game to feel a sense of responsibility for one’s Pickmin and helping them not die from monsters like the console counterparts. Just please, Niantic, whatever you do don’t give Pickmin CP.

I really love this game. It has motivated me to really take charge of my health and my fitness. I have been averaging about 10,000 steps a day. I really appreciate how easy this game is to collect petals and to make my steps and plant flowers. the only flaw that this game has, which results in the loss of a star is that a lot of the cool events that they have are basically pay to play. Some of them are so difficult that you have to pay in game coins in order to complete them for example, the new 1.5 anniversary event you have to pay 600 coins per special mission. I personally think that is a bit unreasonable for an 8 day event, 600 coins per mission when on average with my 10,000 steps I only make about 20 coins a day; Another example, the second half of the event that had happened in April 2023, The missions for the mushrooms most definitely required mushroom tickets because a person could not complete the missions in the timeframe that was given with the 3 a day limit. Personally, I do not mind the coin concept but the prices for mushroom tickets as well as the prices for events are a bit to unreasonable for what I am capable of and I also know that most people don't make 10,000 steps a day, not to mention a person needs to be planting flowers during those 10,000 steps in order to collect the coins necessary to spend. Lastly, I have not bought a single piece of clothing either because I am so focused on tickets and events that I cannot feasibly manage to accumulate enough coins for everything that I would need to maximize my gaming experience