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Olimar's Shipwreck Tale is a game mode in Pikmin 4. As the name implies, it involves the shipwreck of Captain Olimar, and his quest to recover the S.S Dolphin's 30 ship parts. It features altered versions of the first four areas of the main campaign, no caves and only Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin.
The length of a day is shortened to 11 minutes from the main game's 15 minutes and there is a 15-day limit, forcing players to be efficient in gathering parts for the S.S. Dolphin. At the end of each day, Olimar holds a short monologue and an item, a piece of gear, or a skill for Moss is acquired for each ship part recovered during that day.
Story[]
Spoilers ahead!
As described in the opening cutscene of the main story, Olimar crash lands on an unknown planet. This crash landing caused him to lose the 30 ship parts across 4 areas. His life support system is only capable of keeping him alive for 15 more days. Luckily, he meets Red Pikmin, a species who seems eager to help him find his missing ship parts.
He first lands in an area he names the Sun-Speckled Terrace. With the help of the Pikmin, he collects enough parts to land in a new location: the Blossoming Arcadia. There, he meets a green dog who he names Moss. Feeding it a bone, Moss licks Olimar and joins him in collecting his ship parts. After collecting more parts, and finding two new types of Pikmin (Yellow Pikmin and Blue Pikmin), Olimar can now land in an area he dubs the Serene Shores.
After collecting even more of his ship parts, the final area is opened: Hero's Hideaway. Olimar notes that this area is stranger than the others, but before he can contemplate much, the Pikmin leave their Onion by themselves and hide throughout the area. Olimar rounds them up and defeats a Porquillion that has his Interstellar Radio, which he uses to call for help (as was shown in the main story's opening and initial tutorial). He discovers a Gildemander as the source of the Pikmin's strange behavior, and defeats it as well.
If Olimar collects all 30 of his ship parts, the S.S. Dolphin successfully launches, and he leaves the planet. However, he notices Moss had snuck aboard the S.S. Dolphin with him. She seems distressed for reasons unknown to Olimar (later revealed to be the same sickness that Oatchi later suffers from in Pikmin 4's main story), who chooses to turn back around and try to help her. As he does, his life support systems fail mid-flight and he crashes again.
If Olimar does not collect all 30 of his ship parts, then the S.S. Dolphin will fail to launch, and crash land. Either way, the Pikmin and Moss carry Olimar to the Onion, which sucks him up and spits him back out as a leafling. From here, Pikmin 4's main story begins.
Spoilers end here.
Ship parts[]
| Icon | Name | Location(s) | Weight | Max. carriers | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whimsical Radar | Sun-Speckled Terrace | 10 | 20 | 1 | |
| Ionium Jet | Sun-Speckled Terrace, Blossoming Arcadia | 10 | 20 | 2 | |
| Radiation Canopy | Blossoming Arcadia | 20 | 40 | 1 | |
| Sagittarius | Serene Shores | 5 | 10 | 1 | |
| Libra | Sun-Speckled Terrace | 5 | 10 | 1 | |
| Chronos Reactor | Hero's Hideaway | 30 | 60 | 1 | |
| Geiger Counter | Hero's Hideaway | 5 | 10 | 1 | |
| Bowsprit | Serene Shores | 30 | 60 | 1 | |
| Omega Stabilizer | Blossoming Arcadia | 15 | 30 | 1 | |
| Repair-Type Bolt | Sun-Speckled Terrace, Blossoming Arcadia, Serene Shores, Hero's Hideaway | 10 | 20 | 4 | |
| Nova Blaster | Sun-Speckled Terrace | 20 | 40 | 1 | |
| Interstellar Radio | Hero's Hideaway | 10 | 20 | 1 | |
| Extraordinary Bolt | Sun-Speckled Terrace, Blossoming Arcadia (3), Serene Shores, Hero's Hideaway | 5 | 10 | 6 | |
| Automatic Gear | Sun-Speckled Terrace, Blossoming Arcadia, Serene Shores (3), Hero's Hideaway | 15 | 30 | 6 | |
| Secret Safe | Serene Shores | 50 | 100 | 1 | |
| Pilot's Seat | Hero's Hideaway | 10 | 20 | 1 |
Trivia[]
- Most of the area themes in Olimar's Shipwreck Tale have references to the ones from Pikmin.
- Sun-Speckled Terrace resembles The Impact Site, possessing the staccato, jumpy-in-pitch tone from it.
- Blossoming Arcadia resembles The Forest of Hope, including the main theme.
- Serene Shores resembles The Distant Spring, with a more cheery tone despite using its ambience in the background.
- None of the tracks reference The Forest Navel or The Final Trial's theme.
- This is likely due to a lack of areas to reference them in, Hero's Hideaway having a completely different design than all of the areas from both games, or, in the case of The Forest Navel, a possible similarity in the story mode of Pikmin 4, with that being between it and Giant's Hearth's themes.
Gallery[]
