Pikmin 3: The Lost Explorer

Pikmin 3: The Lost Explorer is a game for the Wii U that will be released in Fall of 2017. It is a stand-alone expansion to the game Pikmin 3. The game stars the cut D hero from Pikmin 3, now named Dalton.

Story
When the S.S. Drake crash-lands on PNF-404, one of the crew members, Private Dalton, is flung from the ship, miles above the planet's atmosphere, onto the other side of the planet. He wakes up 26 days later to a group of Blue Pikmin. He landed in one of the planet's oceans and was brought to shore by the docile Pikmin, belonging to a 52-year old male Koppaite named Romeo, who joins Dalton on his adventure. Now, as his friends have left the planet already, Dalton must find ship parts, as well as acquire food for himself, before he starves or is eaten. He must explore the planet's opposite hemisphere and somehow make his way home.

Gameplay
The game involves Dalton utilizing the many species of Pikmin found on PNF-404 to collect food and ship parts in order to stay alive and escape the deserted planet. The Multiplayer Mode of The Lost Explorer is quite similar to its parent game, however, it introduces a new game mode called Army Battle, which are 2-player battles (implemented once into story mode) where the challengers have two days to collect up to 500 Pikmin in the game's stages and then duke it out to see who can destroy the other's army first. Survival also now has an extra element of strategy, as Dalton will need to decide which fruits to eat and which to turn into drinkable juice, as he will need both to survive. There are seven main locations, each with a dungeon and a new Pikmin type (Not counting Blues in the Revival Springs, the starting location). Two of these areas are underground, which is where Whites and Purples are discovered, along with that area's other Pikmin. The dungeons are like the ones in Pikmin 2, but without bosses. However, each one has an optional ship part at the end and are meant to test your skills with that region's Pikmin. Most of the bosses are different species of the Pikmin 3's bosses (example: Armored Mawdad (Pikmin 3)= Crystalline Mawdad (TLE)), each with a new gimmick that makes it more challenging (i.e. Scornet Orchestra's Fire Scornets or Crystalline Mawdad's crystal spike armor). After each successful day, Dalton writes down what he discovered, be it a fruit, a Pikmin, an enemy, etc. This function, called Dalton's Journal, replaces the Piklopedia of previous games. The KopPad does return from Pikmin 3, however, but with a new function: the Map Markers, which allow players to set points on the map for what they wish to get done that day.

Pikmin Varieties

 * Blue Pikmin Found in Revival Springs
 * Red Pikmin Found in Fireball Canyon
 * Yellow Pikmin Found in Thunderstrike City
 * White Pikmin Found in Explosion Volcano (Underground section only)
 * Purple Pikmin Found in Amethyst Cave (Underground section only)
 * Rock Pikmin Found in Amethyst Cave
 * Winged Pikmin Found in Heavenly Skies
 * Burst Pikmin Found in Explosion Volcano

Locations

 * Start: Revival Springs
 * Turquoise Falls
 * Stage 2: Amethyst Cave
 * Baleful Grotto
 * Stage 3: Fireball Canyon
 * Forsaken Desert
 * Stage 4: Heavenly Skies
 * Cumulonimbus Cluster
 * Stage 5: Explosion Volcano
 * Booming Bulborb's Nest
 * Stage 6: Thunderstrike City
 * Neon Skyscraper

Bosses

 * Revival Springs- Crystalline Mawdad
 * Amethyst Cave- Venomous Phosdrake
 * Fireball Canyon- TBA
 * Heavenly Skies- TBA
 * Explosion Volcano- TBA
 * Thunderstrike City- TBA

Fruit File
Much like its origin game, Pikmin 3: The Lost Explorer features a variety of fruit to collect. This time around, there are 40 different fruits to collect (15 new, 25 returning), but, to compensate, the new fruits give less juice and the boss fruits are removed.