I don'tthink they announced the price of the upcoming DLC, did they? It's twice as many levels as the two $1.99 sets, and it sounds like a lot more work went into them. Or did I miss the price?

Meanwhile, I've yet to acheive a medal in the free Battle enemies stage. I'm a lover, not a fighter!

@VickiL

...awww. The stuff I downloaded the other night WASN'T the new stuff?

..When is the new stuff!?

@Mr_MustacheWell, it is fairly new, but it isn't the stuff that was just announced. The new levels (Christmas tree level) comes out December 2nd I believe. That will be 8 levels, and it's the first DLC that isn't just a remixed level.

@VickiLCorrect, they have not announced the price.

Anyone played the new DLC?

The Christmas level is FREE, so go download and play it.

I did get the rest of the DLC. This time, for $5, you get both the four Battle and the four Treasure missions, as opposed to paying $2 for each set separately. I haven't put that much time in these missions, but right now, I'd say hold off on buying them. The Christmas one is so far the most interesting. The rest are kind of grey and unappealing (Rusty Scrapyard? Really?). And only the fifth level has something somewhat interesting to it: conveyor belts.

I'm gonna pop Pikmin 3 back in when my friend visits for a few days. I haven't played much of the multiplayer since the wife can't really get into it (although she enjoyed Pikmin Adventure in NL). I'm gonna grab the free DLC and maybe buy a few maps.

@Guillaume Sucks to hear the othjer levels are a little bland, but sliding down a Christmas tree, makes me feel all giddy inside. The others were just meh, I'll take the free stages, but not going to pay for a remix.

I really like Pikmin 3 and especially its challenge modes, so I think I'll grab all this DLC.

I'm still not sure if it's my favorite Wii U game of the year yet or not, gotta finish Mario (and try out TW101 and Rayman at some point).

Played some more last night after a LONG layoff (Beat the Bees), and now Louie has stolen all of our fruit. NO! Will try to log some more time tonight, but who can know for sure..

I loved that Louie part, lol. So appropriate for that odd little character.

Can someone give me a vague hint on how to get the Orange/Tangerine near the bouncy things (there was a lime encased in crystal that I broke open on the same level/floor/whateveryouwannacallit), not too far from the ship? When I did "Go Here," a pink x appeared where it looks like something can go...but I don't see anything to build, or pieces to build it with. Hmmmmm...

I don't recall seeing the pink x before, and I know that I gotta walk up there as there is a yellow file up there (and I'm confused about ANOTHER yellow file in the same stage. Whats up with that, Tundra?!). Thanks in advance, should be done with the game next session. (~4 more fruits and whatever follows.)

I'm not sure about the Orange/Tangerine as I can't remember what area you are describing. I would guess it involves throwing the other characters across things, from one platform to another? Good luck.

As awesome as 3D World is, I'm sort of excited about the fact that Pikmin 3 is just sitting here waiting for me to finish 3D World.

@Marsh

I think so, too..but. I dunno, I'll devote an entire day to that specific fruit. For some reason, I spent the last 1/10 of a day -- two days in a row -- looking at it KINDA. If you happen to take a gander at it, lemme know. Thanks anyways.

EDIT- Got it. Didn't think I could make the toss, -or- that they'd turn automatically mid-air, but they do. Dig it!

Hoh's informal mini review

I played the new DLC for several hours last night, and I really like it. I played every level at least 3 times in both battle and treasure mode, but have yet to touch the one with the conveyer belts.

The Christmas level is actually not as good as many of the other challenge maps in terms of level design and layout. The visual design is neat, but it feels like creating a thematic level came before creating an area that was made to be moved around in and explored. The things that make this a Christmas level: the giant cakes, pizza, presents, and dishes are the same things that make getting from point A to B annoying. Despite that, this level is still fun in battle mode where annoying navigation takes a backseat to killing things quickly and getting the most out of all three captains. In treasure mode, the map's layout is too confusing for its own good. It's among the worse half of the pack, but still good.

The anthill level is a novel concept, but not very fun at all. It's more frustrating than anything. The idea of a mostly sidescrolling level had potential, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Ultimately, this level ends up feeling constrictive in its exploration and strategies, frustrating to navigate, and poorly thought out in its enemy placement.

Conversely, Rusty Scrapyard is great. There's an interesting dynamic at play, as one captain starts on each side of a river, but each one has Pikmin better suited for the enemies and obstacles on the other side of the river. So you have to try to build up your pikmin by fighting enemies they're not well acclimated to handle until you create a means of crossing the river. Then, you have to manage two groups of pikmin as they try to speed through enemies and environmental objects they have an advantage over, before meeting in the middle where neither kind is better than the other. One of the best challenge maps, hands down.

Forgotten Cove may be the best challenge map yet. It offers a wide range of environmental obstacles and pikmin, as well as a third captain that needs to be saved from an enemy before becoming usable. There are bombable walls, haystacks, puddles of water, bosses, breakable walls, crystals, and fire enemies. Every type of Pikmin found in the map has a chance to shine. Despite such a breadth of content, Forgotten Coven never feels unfocussed or overwhelming like some of the other challenge levels of comparable variety thanks to its simple, yet compelling design. Additionally, none of the design elements within the level feel underutilized. If that's not enough, it's based on a level from the first Pikmin game. And if that's not enough, it's a beach level, one of my favorite kinds of levels. With all of that in mind, I suppose it goes without saying that this is my favorite challenge map in the whole game.

With the exception of the Christmas level, each map maintains the same level of quality between treasure and battle mode. There are some slight changes in the maps between modes, but nothing major.

I'm going to wait until I've played the last level before giving out any sort of final verdict, but my overall thoughts on the DLC so far are positive.


TLDR: One fantastic level, one great level, one decent-to-good level, and one bad level. Fifth level and final verdict pending.

@Mr_Mustache I remember thinking the same too.

@Hero_Of_Hyrule I will read this in full later, thanks for the review! I played them a little already, was really confused by the X-mas level's layout in Treasure mode, I'm glad I wasn't alone.

Just beat this about an hour ago. That last fight was BRUTAL. I think I lost like 300 guys, haha!! GROAN.

Really wanted to get out under 50 days with 50+ in fruit, but I had to settle for 51 and 48. Blech.

Got the last bit of DLC available (and then discovered that Batman has new DLC, too? Sweet!)

Played a bunch of this in co-op Treasure Hunt with my buddy yesterday for the first time in awhile. Treasure Mode is still as addicting as ever, and I'll probably pick up the new DLC down the line. I played the Christmas stage once and enjoyed it well enough, but I agree that some of it is hard to progress. I think I can only take so many "throw the captain" moments in a stage before it starts to feel like too much.

@Mr_Mustache

What'd you thiiiiiiink?

I put the game aside after finishing the main game, but I'm getting more serious about the missions, now. The treasure ones are pretty fun! I've now platinum'd three of the original missions, and I even platinum'd the first mission in co-op with the girlfriend, who's starting to warm up to the game as she feels more confident about her skills.

I'm seeing quite a bit of "anti-time limit" sentiment on my twitter feed concerning this game and Super Mario 3D World's later bonus levels. As if time limits weren't a valid game design conceit. I don't know about you, but I really disagree with that. Most of the time, I feel games should be unnerving. It's part of the fun. And it's one of very few ways to force a player to push his skills to the limit, and get better.

And in the case of Pikmin specifically, it's the whole point of the game: effective resource management with a time limit breathing down your neck. Asking for the time limit to be removed is akin to saying you'd like cover shooters if only the enemies didn't throw grenades at you or sneaked up on you while you're hiding. It's missing the whole point.

@Guillaume

I agree with you, for the most part.

But some people don't want to have that pressure, they just want to play a game and have fun. Simple fun, not "unnerving" fun.

Sure. I'm not saying strict time limits should be in every game. There should be all sorts of games for all sorts of tastes. But the anti-time limit people seem to be of the opinion that time limits suck the fun out of a game no matter what, are a cheap wa to artificially raise difficulty, and should be done away with. Or maybe I'm reading too much into the comments of people who couldn't get into Pikmin 3's missions.

But in Mario as well as Pikmin, the strict time limits are only found in optional challenges, anyway.