Pikmin V

Pikmin V is a standalone Pikmin game created by En Passant. The game is intended to come directly after Pikmin 3 and would theoretically be released on the Wii U.

Controls
Pikmin V would be released on the Wii U if it were real, so it supports every control scheme the Wii U has to offer, with one exception: It does not support the Wii Remote as a standalone, as it lacks a sufficient amount of inputs.

See Pikmin V/Controls for details.

Overhead Mode
By tapping the GamePad (Wii U) or pressing "-" (Wii/Classic/Pro), Select (3DS), or Z (GCN), the game will go into a bird's eye camera and pause the game just like in Pikmin 3. Hitting the pause button will toggle pause within Overhead Mode. Collecting the Strategy Move upgrade will enable a red pointer in this mode that can be used to select Captains and groups of Pikmin and trace routes for them to move on, though the game will automatically unpause when doing this.

Important gameplay changes

 * Pikmin are thrown like actual projectiles in an actual arc. The cursor still determines the end position, but what actually changes is the initial angle, not the power of the throw. This means that near throws go higher than far ones. Yellow Pikmin have a higher initial velocity and Purple Pikmin have a lower one.
 * There are five sprays in the game, listed in the table below. Only one may be selected for use at a time.
 * Internally, the damage system has been simplified by scaling all numbers down by 60%. For example, the base damage dealt by Pikmin is 4 instead of 10, with Reds dealing 6 instead of 15, Whites dealing 2 instead of 5, etc.

Miscellaneous changes

 * Electricity kills after about four seconds of stunning.
 * Poison also kills at the end of its animation instead of wearing off. Additionally, Pikmin who are choking flail around a smaller area than those who are burning, but they revert one stage each third of the time they are choking.
 * A single dose of nectar can flower 20 Pikmin instead of 10.
 * The material used in Fragments can vary. In Story Mode, it varies by region, and in other modes, it's map-specific. Fragment bridges can be made out of tiles (like in Pikmin 3), cobblestone, sticks (similarly to the first two games), or small bricks.
 * Dirt mounds no longer exist, instead being replaced by regular lumps of dirt.
 * Bomb rocks from Pikmin 2 make a return alongside the existing ones; they can be carried, having a weight of 5, and Pikmin carrying them will follow the active leader.

Characters

 * Olimar
 * Alph (after first cave (Story Mode))
 * Brittany (after beating the Sandsifting Mawfish (Story Mode))
 * Louie (playable in Mission Mode and Battle Mode only)
 * The President (NPC)
 * Captain Charlie (Mentioned)

Pikmin
All seven main types of Pikmin appear in all modes, plus two new ones: Orange Pikmin and Clawed Pikmin.

See Pikmin V/Pikmin types

Enemies
See Pikmin V/Piklopedia

Treasures
There is an as-of-yet undetermined number of treasures to collect in the game.

See Pikmin V/Treasure Hoard

Story Mode
The main mode. Not much else to say about it.

Intro
The game starts with Olimar filling out some paperwork at Hocotate Freight. The paper he's looking at has a picture of Louie on it. He reminisces (recaps to the player) about the events of the first three games, over which time he has lost his ship, Louie (who he can't deny having grown sort of a bond with despite how ludicrous Louie is), and the President's trust from getting a company ship destroyed. Suddenly, he is called over the intercom by the President to come to the loading dock.

When he gets there, he is surprised to see Alph and Brittany there. Alph explains that he felt bad for losing Louie and for Olimar not having his ship, and that he wants to help. Brittany adds that she has become fascinated with PNF-404's wildlife and wants to study it thoroughly, and that Charlie will be staying on Koppai to oversee the growth of the seeds they brought back, which is going well. The President says that he will authorize Olimar to return to PNF-404 only if he dedicates his trip to finding treasure along with Louie to get the company out of debt, and that any profit outside of the cost of the Dolphin goes to the company. He then unveils the Hocotate Express, a new model of Hocotate ship that is slimmer than the standard model and only has one cockpit. He also comments that new equipment was part of that business venture that put them into debt again. Olimar gets in, Alph and Brittany board the S.S. Drake, and they blast off to PNF-404 once more.

However, upon reaching the planet, the Drake suffers a critical error and crashes down, ejecting Alph and Brittany in the process. Olimar has to make an emergency landing to go find them...

On the Planet
Shortly after landing on Overlook Hill, Olimar discovers a Red Onion. However, it is in hibernation mode; this concerns Olimar because hibernation mode only activates on Pikmin extinction. Nearby, there are traces of a large predator, and he fears that this creature was the one responsible. Later, he finds Alph inside of a colony of ant-like creatures who had abducted him. Alph hadn't been sitting around, though, and had communicated with Brittany and learned that she had fallen into a desert region. The two travel there and eventually find Brittany, who had taken refuge in a cave near an odd, bulbous plant, outside of which a Sandsifting Mawfish had taken residence.

Having ascertained the safety of everyone, the trio set off to the third region to find the S.S. Drake. The President also sends them an urgent e-mail stating that Happy Hocotate Savings & Loan was bought out by the All-Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks and that they need treasure, fast. When they find the ship, it is sitting in a pile of cyan goop. Alph collects a sample of the goop to study and then inspects the ship for damages and finds that it's missing its power core. Thankfully, the Drake has tracked the location of its missing component to the same cave that Brittany was in. Upon returning to the cave, they find that the strange plant has bloomed into the Purple Onion, and they use the Purple Pikmin to explore the cave and find the parts inside of a full-grown Emperor Bulblax, along with another pile of the goop that dissolves. Once they return to the Drake, Alph re-installs the core and uses the ship's radar to track the location of Louie, which it pinpoints to the top of a snowy region. Specifically, it's coming from a Cometdust Magjay, which attacks them on sight, loses, and then spits out Louie, who is in stasis mode but unhurt. Having successfully found him, Olimar, Alph, and Brittany prepare to go home that night with the treasure they've collected.

However, that night, the goop takes over both ships and forces them into crashing into the Endless Plains, which is undergoing a strange, radioactive phenomenon. Because of this, leaving the region becomes impossible, though the event also keeps away monsters at night. This also opens up an odd hole in the center of the Mystery Crater, into which the three head to figure out the true source of all of their troubles.

Endings
The game has different endings based on how many Pokos you make:

Bad Ending (0-50% of debt): The President is infuriated at Olimar's failure to collect any treasure and is forced to hand over Hocotate Freight to the debt company, putting them all out of jobs.

Neutral Ending (51-100% of debt): The President is upset at the lack of profit but is thankful for having something to show the debt company.

Good Ending (>100% of debt as long as not all treasures are collected): The President is content with Olimar's work. The Dolphin is rebought.

Best Ending (all treasures): The President is overjoyed, and he promotes Olimar and gives him a month's vacation with his family. The Dolphin is rebought and given an upgrade. The exact numbers of Pokos will be figured out once the total value of the game's treasures is added up and an appropriate debt amount is decided.

Regions
There are four regions in the game that are each divided up into three areas. The areas in a region are all connected. Each area has its own landing site; however, you can only land in one by default and have to find the other two on your own. Going to a landing site of an area that you are not currently touched down in will allow you to move base over to the new site, and any Pikmin carrying objects will automatically redirect to the new site. Areas are about Pikmin 2 size, and each one except for two has a Pikmin type somewhere in its midst. Somewhere in each region is a Pikmin 3-style boss, whose defeat will progress the story and unlock the next region. The exception to this is the first region, where the main boss is only a mini boss located in the first cave.

Additionally, each area except the first has one cave in it, excluding standard underground areas. These caves have little resemblance to those in 2 and, other than two, are completely optional. The only similarities are that there is a prompt before entering that tells you the cave's name, how many treasures are in it, and which Pikmin types are recommended to enter it; that you can't leave the cave through its entrance, and that the Express will send its head in to collect the cave's treasures. Only the active captain and his or her squad will enter the cave, and having a second group approach the entrance will allow you to send in the entire group or just the Pikmin. The interiors of the caves are more like dungeons filled with puzzles, and at the end of each cave is a mini-boss which yields an upgrade when defeated, with the exception of Deep Palace because it has a story boss. Time does not stop while in a cave, though, and at the end of the day, you will be forced to leave with any collected treasure and any incomplete or path-altering puzzles will be reset.

The exception to all the above is the final area, Mystery Crater, as well as its cave, Distortion Hole. The area itself is nothing but a big crater with a single entrance from Overlook Hill, and it has no Pikmin type. Distortion Hole is the game's final dungeon, so naturally it is required and contains the final boss. However, it does not appear until the end of the game when the plot opens it up.

Below is the list of regions, areas, and caves:
 * Endless Plains (fragments are tiles)
 * Overlook Hill (starting point)
 * Location of Red Pikmin.
 * Great Savannah
 * TBA (region boss: ???, which took Alph captive)
 * Mystery Crater
 * Distortion Hole (final boss: ???)
 * Cannot be visited until end of game.
 * Dune Canyon (fragments are stones)
 * Gravel Desert (Starting Point)
 * TBA (boss: ???)
 * Location of Orange Pikmin.
 * Rusted Ravine (region boss: Sandsifting Mawfish, which guards Brittany)
 * Stone Abode (boss: Armored Cannon Beetle)
 * Location of Yellow Pikmin.
 * Sealed Valley - cannot be explored beyond Rusted Ravine entrance until after the Drake is recovered.
 * Deep Palace (second region boss: Emperor Bulblax, which has eaten the Drake's power core)
 * Location of Purple Pikmin.
 * Verdant Forest (fragments are sticks)
 * Silent Woods (Starting Point)
 * TBA (boss: Beady Long Legs)
 * Location of Rock Pikmin.
 * Polluted Swamp
 * Toxic Labyrinth (boss: ???)
 * Location of White Pikmin.
 * Mad Jungle (region boss: ???, which had taken residence near the crashed S.S. Drake)
 * TBA (boss: Burrowing Snagret)
 * Location of Clawed Pikmin.
 * Polar Mountain (fragments are bricks)
 * Clear Creek (starting point)
 * Crystal Spring (boss: ???)
 * Location of Blue Pikmin.
 * Snow Cliffs
 * TBA (boss: ???)
 * Location of Winged Pikmin.
 * White-Out Zone (region boss: Cometdust Magjay, which ate Louie) - not connected to Clear Creek
 * TBA (boss: ???)

Upgrades
As stated in the above section, each boss in the game drops an upgrade for the suit.
 * Strategy Move: In Overhead Mode, active or nearby groups of Pikmin can be directed on a path. Also allows Move Here!, which is identical to its appearance in Pikmin 3.
 * Treasure is the Command Beacon.
 * Dropped by the ??? in Wild Savannah's cave.
 * Treasure Hunter: Equivalent to the Treasure Gauge, but with the addition of telling you if there's a treasure inside of whatever you're locked on to.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the ??? in Gravel Desert's cave.
 * Regeneration: When a leader naps, he or she slowly heals health.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the Armored Cannon Beetle in Stone Abode.
 * Spray Container: Allows the use of sprays.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the Beady Long Legs in Silent Woods' cave.
 * Ampliwhistle: Equivalent to the Mega Tweeter.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the ??? in Toxic Labyrinth.
 * Omega Fist: Punching damage is doubled, and the A Button can be held to charge a punch that is much stronger and hits an area in front of the leader.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the Burrowing Snagret in Mad Jungle's cave.
 * Reinforcement: Grants immunity to fire and electricity, and decreases damage taken by 1/3.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the ??? in Crystal Spring.
 * Pluckaphone: Same as Pikmin 2.
 * Treasure is the Sleepquaker.
 * Dropped by the ??? in Snow Cliffs' cave.
 * Mobility Shoes: Leaders become immune to push and sinking and move 50% faster.
 * Treasure is the ???.
 * Dropped by the ??? in White-Out Zone's cave.

Mission Mode
Mission Mode contains side challenges for players. It is available from the start. Up to four players can play, with the fourth player playing as Louie, and the difficulty level raises to accommodate it. Like in previous games, missions have their own maps, but this time around, missions may take place aboveground or in caves.

Game Modes

 * Collect Treasure!: The goal of these missions is to make as many Pokos as possible within the time limit through gathering treasures and enemy corpses, similarly to Pikmin 2 ' s Challenge Mode and Pikmin 3 ' s identically-named Mission Mode.
 * Grow Pikmin!: Just like Pikmin ' s Challenge Mode and, to an extent, 3 ' s Defeat Enemies! mode, the goal is to grow as many Pikmin as possible within the time limit.

Battle Mode
Battle Mode is the multiplayer mode. Up to four players can play, with the fourth player playing as Louie. Free-for-alls and 2v2s are supported.

To be continued...