Pikmin: Distant Planet

Pikmin: Distant Planet is a non-canon game. The story happens long before Olimar ever met the Pikmin. At this time, the Pikmin are thriving. They established a certain dominance in areas around the Pikmin planet, forged areas where they could live safely in different colonies. However, another race of creatures views the rapidly-expanding Pikmin dominance as a threat and slowly begins not only retaliation, but general takeover of the Distant Planet. The different Pikmin colonies must unite against the threat, but unfortunately, each colony has been separated by a past of conflict and present egotistical motives.

Plot

A group of Yellow Pikmin attempted to take control of a distant desert island in the ocean far to the west of the Lightning Peninsula after their colony completed work on the first-ever water-traversing Pikmin vessel. It took them a few days to reach the island, but a storm at sea wrecked them on it. They spent many days repairing damages, and they were able to send no messages to their village, leading to doubts back home about whether or not the colonizers ever made it. On the desert island, more Yellow Pikmin were grown to hasten the repairs, one of which is the main character, a Yellow Pikmin that you name yourself. Unfortunately, a sandstorm picks up a few days after the ship is fixed, and finding nowhere else to take refuge, some Yellow Pikmin that couldn't reach the ship hide inside a cave in the desert. There, they stumble upon a vast underground complex and encounter a new, unheard-of monster. Only a few Pikmin escape the cave, and the remaining Pikmin get off the island in the ship and try to get as far away as possible. A second storm destroys the ship and wrecks the survivors on another island, a tropical one. After spending a few days here, a rescue ship which was built in case the colonizers ran into trouble stops by the island and takes the remaining Yellow Pikmin back to the village, which learns of the new threat. The Yellow Pikmin that survived the encounter are sent with a group of explorers and fighters to spread the word to the other Pikmin colonies and see if they can learn of any other sightings.

Gameplay

In the beginning, because you're just a regular Pikmin you'll be forced to follow the commands of others with far higher rank, but you'll get more freedom as you gain influence, which will be explained in further detail later. An important thing to note is that you'll rarely ever be on your own. Whether you're exploring, fighting, or just visiting Pikmin in a village, you'll have at least a couple other Pikmin nearby you. These Pikmin can hold their own when it comes to fighting, but sometimes in order for them to get a few good hits on the enemy, you'll have to cause a distraction. For instance, getting in front of an enemy and dodging/countering its attacks lets other Pikmin get behind it and strike a vulnerable spot. But you can't always be staying out of battles and not attacking enemies. The more fights you actively participate in, different attributes will be strengthened, such as speed, offensive power, endurance and influence, a very important attribute.

Influence

Influence gradually increases alongside other attributes. It could be described as the gradual change between a Pikmin that dodges/counters and does minimal amounts of fighting to a Pikmin that can make all the difference in a battle, sometimes even using special abilities. Also, when you have enough influence, you can be trusted by the colonies to form your own party and make your own choices.

Party Formation

Along the way, you'll get not just one playable character but five, each a different color of Pikmin. You can switch control between them at nearly any given moment. All five have unique special abilities not wielded by other Pikmin. In addition, when all of the playable characters are defeated, it's game over. The NPCs that fight alongside you are sometimes stronger than some of the playable characters (especially in the beginning) but they can be defeated all the same without getting a game over. No matter where you go, all the playable characters you've met at one point or another will be with you, but you can also choose to be accompanied by certain types of Pikmin in different villages once you have enough influence.

Special Abilities

These are tactics that only the playable characters can use. They're supernatural attacks which can be learned through combat with specific types of foes or discovering ancient tokens capable of revealing the hidden abilities. They're generally related to the element that the Pikmin is resistant to. In other words, Yellow Pikmin will be able to utilize electric-based moves, and Blue Pikmin has water-based moves.

Villages, Overworld, Dungeons

Actually, sometimes the line is pretty blurry on how to identify each of these places, but there are still some basic guidelines. Villages are inhabited by Pikmin, and are also known as "Colonies." The Overworld makes up the space between villages. You may encounter fellow traveling Pikmin, but it is more common that you'll run into packs of foes either patrolling a given area or lying in ambush along the way. Dungeons are territories swarming with enemies with a boss lying at the end. In villages, you'll find places to rest, other Pikmin to talk to and sometimes various minigames. Sometimes, winning the respect of villagers by helping them out is a good way to raise influence. Villages are also good places to learn valuable exploration information, pick up useful items like antidotes and to learn about Pikmin life in this era in general. Most importantly, once you have your own party, villages are places where you can recruit NPCs to join a party, and to bring along an onion. Likewise, you can return these onions and NPCs as you see fit. The overworld is very large, and in the beginning you'll be forced to travel with the fixed course planned by your superiors, but once you're allowed your own party you can go wherever you like. Sometimes a traveling group of Pikmin could help you fight against enemies lying in wait, or they may have useful advice. You should be on your guard most of the time though, trying not to get lost or ambushed. "Dungeon" is a vague term to say the least. They should be referred to as "dangerous areas." You may have to travel into these territories due to story-related events, or to fight enemies and grow stronger once you have your own party. You can return to dungeons after you've "completed" them to do battle with more enemies. Sometimes, your foes may be stronger than before to match your own strength.

Caution

One of the most important things to know, along with everything else, is that your enemies grow stronger as you do. If you don't face threats early on, then getting anywhere will prove nearly impossible due to decidedly overpowered foes.

Controls

It's on Wii, but I prefer to use GCN controls.

• Control Stick: Move.
• A: Talk, pick up objects and throw them if they're light enough. While holding L you can leap to the side, backflip out of the way, or lunge onto a target.
• B: Hit enemies or obstacles with your leaf, bud, or flower.
• C-Stick: The camera moves wherever you move the C-Stick.
• D-Pad: Switch control to another playable character.
• X: Use an item or special ability you've equipped from the menu.
• Y: Use an item or special ability you've equipped from the menu.
• Z: Use an item or special ability you've equipped from the menu.
• L: Target an enemy or other object. You can target other Pikmin as well, and push them out of harm's way.
• R: Ready your counterattack on a targeted foe. When the foe strikes you with a counter up, press A lighting-fast to launch the counterattack.
• Start: Pause, check your menu and status and select items and special abilities to use with X and Y.

Enemies

The various foes you encounter are not seen in Pikmin 1 or Pikmin 2, because the events of that game happened long after this one. Nearly everything encountered in this game had died about by that point. Anyhow, you'll sometimes fight small groups of bugs that can be dispatched with no help required, or enormous creatures that need help or a great deal of skill to bring down. There are comprehensive strategies on how to deal with each of them on the page Enemies of Distant Planet.

The World

The general area in which the story takes place is very diverse, and split into several regions. Each region has a continuous overworld, as well as at least one village of sorts, and at least one "dungeon"-type area.

• Lightning Peninsula
• Crossroad Hills
• Great Valley
• Source of Life
• Frontier Plain
• Unknown Isles
• Forsaken Plain
• Lost Wasteland

Portal-Kombat*Sysop*