Introduction
We are going to review a new Pikmin game! this is a mobile game, however, Pikmin Bloom is not a real mobile game, it seems more like a step-counter. It is your goal in this game to walk, walk some more, and walk even more! To get all kinds of Pikmins you will need to walk over 200k steps! That is also when the game becomes quite useless and boring. There is no story, this also means that there will be no story section in this review.
What did I think before playing Pikmin Bloom?
I was not very interested in Pikmin Bloom, I was hoping for Pikmin 4, nonetheless, I was very interested in what Nintendo coughed up for a new mobile game idea. The general idea of Nintendo became known quite quickly, you walk and find Pikmins that will join your rank. The more that you walk, the faster that you will progress. This also means that you always need to have your phone in your pocket. To try and find more information, we went to the Nintendo page.
The Nintendo Page
https://pikminbloom.com/en/
This page does not give a lot more information than that you can gleam from the general idea that Pikmin Bloom tries to give you. It is your goal to walk, and walk even more. This app also needs access to your photos as it tries to log your memories! All in all, it looked very basic but who knows, maybe it is a step up to getting Pikmin 4.
Rating
I rate Pikmin Bloom with a 6.3 before playing.
This game looks way too basic, it is more like a step-counter with a few Pikmin waggling around.
Gameplay
The gameplay is rather basic, you will need to collect new Pikmins as you keep walking. The more steps that you take, the faster that you will gain new Pikmin. When you walk around, you will find new expeditions once you reach level six. These expeditions are needed to get new Pikmin and nectar. However, you cannot just get all Pikmins from the get go. You will need to walk around 200k steps to actually be able to find all kinds of Pikmin, you will unlock them gradually.
Once you complete an expedition, you will get a seed, and then you can plant it. Once planted, you will need to walk more! When you reach level 15, you can smash mushrooms and gain more nectar. When you give nectar to your Pikmins, they will gain flowers. This will also net you a jar of flowers! When you use these jars, you can plant flowers.
If you plant enough flowers around a giant flower bud, a flower will bloom. This nets you an expedition for special nectar. There is not a lot more going on in Pikmin Bloom, however you will quickly reach the limits of how much nectar you can hold, as well as how much Pikmin seeds you can hold. The only way to increase the limit is to pay real money.
You can collect coins that you usually need to buy pay to win items. After playing two months and planting many flowers, I managed to get 9 coins, while the cheapest items is over 300 coins. This means that this game frequently has nothing to do for you and only wants your money. Also the capacity upgrades can only be purchased with real money.
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Pikmin Bloom with a 5.0
All you do in this game is walking a bit, have nothing to do, and walk some more! Where are the bulbmin? Why are there no natural enemies? I want Bulborbs! I need a Bulborb! As for the mushroom Pikmin, they could have added it, but that thing is just plain evil!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics of this game are quite bad and good at the same time. The user interface feels horrible and clunky, however the Pikmin do look good, but there is not much to do with the Pikmin. There are also no natural enemies. You do have special Pikmin that equip items like scissors, but they are quite rare.
Sound
The soundtrack and sound effects are quite horrible and repetitive. The only good sounds are those of the Pikmin. You are better off muting the game.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Pikmin Bloom with a 4.7
This game has a very clunky interface and a lot of things are missing, they even missed a Pikmin species!
What did I think after playing Pikmin Bloom?
While the beginning was fun while playing Pikmin Bloom, this did not feel as a game at all, more like a chore that you need to do. The idea of doing this everyday weighed heavy on my shoulders, but I pressed on. My wife joined in on playing this game, but once she noticed that there was not much to do except walking and smashing some mushrooms, she quit.
Next to this game feeling like a chore, there is also a huge pay wall along with waiting a lot of time before what you can do. It is also a huge waste to not incorporate the bulbmin or any kind of wildlife at all.
Rating
I rate Pikmin Bloom with a 3.0 after playing.
There are a lot of things missing like bulborbs and bulbmins, there is also a huge paywall. If you are looking for a chore to do, this is the game for you!
What are my personal ratings of Pikmin Bloom?
I think this is a disgrace to Pikmin, a game that would not use walking as a main feature would be better for a mobile game.
Rating
My personal Rating of Pikmin Bloom is a 2.0
They really missed the mark on this game.
Last Words
Pros
- Pikmin will walk along you, sort of.
- You can collect many different Pikmins.
- Fight mushrooms and collect nectar.
- Collect Pikmins with decorations.
- It might be a pro that they did not add the mushroom Pikmin
Cons
- this game feels like a chore.
- Next to walking, there is not much to do.
- There are a lot of limitations, these can only be lifted with real money.
- There are no Bulbmins or wildlife.
- You cannot upgrade limit caps with earned in-game money.
If you are a fan of Pikmin, you can try this game for free, but I don’t think that you will stick to this game.
Final Rating
4.8
Let me know what you think of Pikmin Bloom in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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Never tried a Pikmin game but by what I seen this seems pretty different
This doesn’t offer enough to engage children or adults for any great length of time so it really won’t get people exercising more long term. Cutesy graphics don’t make up for a decent plot or game mechanism. I’m surprised you scored it 4.8 overall in the end because I think the personal rating of 2.0 is thoroughly deserved.
I’ll try this game after reading this article
It rated it a bit higher due to it being fun in the beginning!
Game for recording walks
yeah!
mobile phone games gonna be cool sometimes
Not really much of an incentive as its just a step counter that is used to attract gamers. A real MEH especially since Pikmin isn’t the most popular franchise so there is no real WOW factor here.
Could have been a Metroid step counter, lol
Good review, i don’t think i would enjoy this game.
Not my type
Seems like a casual game to get you out walking. For a person not interested in pokemon, but wants to walk this might be a good incentive.
wow, harsh lol
The truth can be harsh sometimes.
Not the best Pikmin in the series, the Gamecube version looked (and played) way better if I recall correctly.
The game cube version is much better!
Looks bad
It is also plays bad!
It seems to be a quite limited game, maybe if it had a level-up system, some other gameplay mechanics or online multiplayer features it would be better.
Mobile games in general lack depth in gameplay so I understand your rating, nice review overall
Mobile games are sometimes good, but a lot of the times it is terrible!
A game without really much to do, no objectives… and yet they decided to put microtransactions and a pretty aggressive one, I’m surprised but then I remember it’s Nintendo being Nintendo…
Thanks for the review 🙂
The pay wall is huge!