Pikmin 4 Demo Coming Soon, First Two Games Launching On Switch Today

Ahead of its release in July, a new trailer has been released for Pikmin 4 during the June Nintendo Direct. As part of the presentation, Nintendo announced the first two games in the Pikmin series are launching on the Nintendo eShop today. The company also announced that a demo for Pikmin 4 will be coming ahead of release on June 28.

The gameplay walkthrough showed you, the newest member of the Rescue Corps, using a variety of Pikmin to solve puzzles and navigate the strange overgrown landscape. You're accompanied by your own rescue pup named Oatchi, along with the plant-like Pikmin. Oatchi can be used in combat, to float across water, or smash through obstacles. You're looking to collect treasures to fix your spaceship's radar and open new areas to explore, including underground areas.

In the announcement, Nintendo detailed Dandori Battles, where you try to collect more objects than your opponent within a time limit. Eventually you'll even open up night expeditions, where you'll have to rely on new Glow Pokemon to keep frenzied beasts at bay. You can find glowing Luminols at night as well, but watch out because they attract beasts. You'll need to use your Pikmin, including the Glow Pikmin, to protect them.

The Pikmin 1+2 Bundle is available now on the eShop for $50, while the two games can be bought individually for $30 apiece. A physical release is coming on September 22 as well. Nintendo notes that with these releases, all four Pikmin games will be available on Nintendo Switch.

Casually announced by producer Shigeru Miyamoto all the way back in 2015, development on Pikmin 4 continued largely under radio silence for the rest of the 2010s and into the current decade. The first official announcement trailer debuted in September 2022, and by the February 2023 Direct, an in-depth gameplay trailer was released. Like previous games in the series, Pikmin 4 is focused on real-time strategy as you raise the titular Pikmin to help you overcome obstacles and defeat enemies.

Pikmin 4 adds a new gameplay mechanic for deploying Pikmin, as well as new variants of the helpful little species to aid you in solving new puzzles. Players can also command Oatchi, a cute dog-like creature, to function alongside the Pikmin and the game will feature an optional two-player co-op mode when it launches on July 21.