I've finished it and still don't understand why there's a specific hierarchy.
Spoiler:
Brittany was in charge of leading the Olimar pikmin so I just sent her off through the labyrinth on autopilot whilst I used the other two leaders to build bridges, kill stuff etc. Occasionally I'd switch back to her to direct her somewhere else as required but I don't know why there was any need for the game to point out that the hierarchy went Brittany->Charlie->Alph as that was never something that I needed (or knew how) to make use of. Occasionally I'd be backed into a corner and Olimar would get captured but then I'd just rescue him and repeat the previous strategy until I got to the exit. It took me a couple of days and then a third day to do the final boss fight. I lost a LOT of pikmin on that final day.
Started on zero death run now and have made it through to day 6 so far and will be on boss no. 2 tomorrow.
In homage to the game I've also been searching out some of the more obscure fruits from my local purveyors which I have never tried before, just out of curiosity, because it occurred to me - watching my pikmin scurrying around collecting stuff the other day - that I've never eaten a fresh apricot. That didn't turn out to be particularly exciting but fresh papaya with a squeeze of lime hit the spot. Now, where can I find a guanabana?
I started playing Pikmin 2 (Wii version) this evening. Lovely little game so far, only 3 days in. I note the caves are not subject to time limits? Wow, this might change things entirely.
Now I get to find out Louie's motivation for
(Pikmin 3 spoiler)
Spoiler:
Stealing a ducky!
"Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness." ― Terry Pratchett
I didn't really click with Pikmin 2 for some reason. Back on board with 3 though & loving it. I reckon I am about halfway through it. Lost a fair few Pikmin, but loving it.
So, I'm about 12 hours into Pikmin 2 now. It's hard to keep respectable numbers of black and white Pikmanz.
I have finally cleared all of the Valley of Repose. And most of the second area. Just started on the third one. I assume like Pikmin and Pikmin 3 there are going to be 5?
Some of the caves are easy. Others are fundamentally brutal. Especially when you lose 30 in the first level.
My new strategy is to send one captain (Louie, mostly) off on hist own to scout out the map. Some enemies are handy because they spit out homing rocks, so you can clear most of the map out without even taking any pikmin into combat.
18 days in and I have nearly 10000 dollars too.
"Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness." ― Terry Pratchett
If you need more white/purple pikmin you can revisit relevant caves as many times as you need to, to collect more, using candypop buds to maximise yield. Also, as the game auto-saves between each cave level, you can always restart if there's a massacre.
Found the time today & put this baby to bed. Really enjoyed the game, last level was a bitch(due to me trying to rush it) but a work of design genius, infact all the levels were surperbly designed. Miles better than Pikmin 2 for me & a nice bit of Ninty software gold. Seems the old man can still make 'em.
Gotta say kudos to that, even if I had the time to really focus on this title I reckon I would lost a few on the end battle. I wont publish the amount I lost on my suicide play through(just wanted it off the pile) as the Pikmin Society may want words with me.
Has anyone tried for a platinum medal on the missions? I'm addicted to the treasure ones but fuck are they hard. You need to collect all the fruit on the level within the time limit for a platinum. If nobody has played it for a while you got a few free when an update went live.