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Xbox X|SWe've documented 33 accessibility features for Pikmin 4, including Adjust Speed, Low Pressure, Control Assists, No Button Combos and No Repeated Pressing. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Controls but it also has features in Visual, Navigation, Reading and Audio to reduce unintended barriers.
This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.
Our accessibility examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Pikmin 4 accessibility 9 months ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 9 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
There are subtitles on by default for cut scenes and in gameplay. The cutscene subtitles meet our 1/20th height but the in-game subtitles are smaller. They both have reasonable contrast although in the game it could be better. You can access the Message Log (quickly if you assign it as a shortcut) where the subtitle text is larger and better contrast.
More generally, there is a lot of text in the game that is small and not in high contrast. For example, the Main Missions, which signpost what to do next, are light blue on dark blue and not large. In night battles you get a pop-up radar. You can specify where this appears.
There is a mission log and clear mission instructions. You are always told what the next mission to do is in the hub world. There's a game map available during play that indicates collectable items and points of interest. You can zoom in and out and adjust orientation. You can drop a pin on the map that then provides a direction indication back in the game world. In addition, you get a drone that enables you to move the camera around like a photo mode. You can then drop pins to aid navigation to a location.
The game displays the button you need to press to trigger an action as you approach an interactable element. When you direct your aim towards an item that requires Pikmin it snaps to the right spot. When it locks on there is a vibration feedback. You can also avoid using the right stick for the camera by using the ZL button to look forward. There is a shortcut menu that can be assigned to four actions to reduce the number of presses and keep your most useful actions to hand.
If your Pikmin are being attacked off-screen there's a related audio cue. After a while, you are also told about this so you can take action. The Pikmin selection numbers are large and brightly coloured and each is shaped differently to offer some double-coding.
The game has a log of all the conversations that you can revisit. It also keeps track of the characters you found as well as progress through the story, in a journal you can revisit.
Game Details
Release Date: 21/07/2023
Out Now: Switch
Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds
Players: 1-2
Genres: Collecting, Strategy (Action, Brain Game, Fighting, Puzzle, Sequencing and Simulation)
Accessibility: 33 features
Components: 3D Third-Person and Day and Night
Developer: Nintendo (@Nintendo)
Costs: Purchase cost
Controls
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Controls in Pikmin 4 which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Gamepad
Can play with the following:
Multiple Buttons & Single Stick: Can play with multiple buttons and a stick.
Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.
Motion
Games that can be played with different sorts of motion controllers.
Motion Pointing: Can use the orientation of the gamepad to move a cursor-target around the screen like a mouse.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.
Button Combinations
Specific button operation required to play
Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional: Quick, repeated button pressing (more than 2 times a second) is not required, can be skipped or switched to holding a button to trigger a repeated action.
No Simultaneous Buttons: Only one button or key required at a time, in addition to direction stick(s).
Controller Vibration
Informative Vibration: Controller vibration indicates events or interactions in the game, echoing visual and audio cues. This can provide additional information about progress, approaching enemies or hitting a target.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Pikmin 4, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Dome Keeper (11 Controls Features)
- Minecraft Legends (10 Controls Features)
- Barbearian (10 Controls Features)
- Slime Rancher 2 (8 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Pikmin 4 which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play. The following games are similar to Pikmin 4, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- Minecraft Legends (2 Difficulty Features)
- Dome Keeper (2 Difficulty Features)
- Barbearian (2 Difficulty Features)
- Slime Rancher 2 (1 Difficulty Feature)
Getting Started
We've documented 11 accessibility features for Getting Started in Pikmin 4 which deal with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.
Assistance Getting Starting
These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.
Practice Area: You can practice freely without opponents or time pressures. This can be a specific practice option, or the ability to play levels with the easiest opponents to improve understanding and skill.
View Control Mapping: You can view a map of controls during play. This clearly displays the mappings of actions to buttons/keys/mouse/keyboard without having to leave the game. This includes games that always display buttons to press during play.
Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.
Low Pressure: Game tasks aren't time-limited or there's a low-pressure mode. This avoids the pressure of being put on the clock for overarching missions, or failing tasks because you didn't reach a destination in time.
Adjust Speed: Adjust the speed of the game at critical moments or throughout, or rewind play for a second attempt, to ease reaction times. By slowing the game, you have more time to interpret what is happening and then execute your actions. It also reduces the pressure on getting things right quickly or the first time you attempt them.
No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable them.
Assistance For Progressing
These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.
Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.
Assisted Progress With Hints: The game notices if you get stuck (or you can press a button) and provides information to help you progress. This can offer hints or tutorials popping up during play. This includes hints after you have died, where it can suggest strategies or difficulty settings to adjust or offer to skip past problematic levels.
Assisted Recall for Characters: The game provides reminders about character identity during play. This includes pop-up images and bios for character who is speaking.
Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue: The game enables you to review the history of conversations or provides highlights of the information you gather in a form you can review.
Reading
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Pikmin 4 which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.
Reading Level
How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.
Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.
Subtitles
All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.
Captions
Speaker Indicator and their Tone: Textual captions indicate who is speaking and their tone (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or character expressions with text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Pikmin 4, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Minecraft Legends (5 Reading Features)
- Tinykin (5 Reading Features)
- The Wild At Heart (5 Reading Features)
- Slime Rancher 2 (4 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Navigation in Pikmin 4 which deal with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.
Clarity
Large Clear Navigation: The in-game navigation and maps are clear to read. They offer large text and offer markers that are large and of high contrast. Where text or information is small, there are settings to zoom-in and increase visibility.
Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.
Head-Up Display
Game Map: View a map of the game world during play, with the landscape, points of interest and missions highlighted throughout the entire game. This enables the orientation of the player and the world, confirming a direction of movement and the location of destinations or points of exploration.
Menu Navigation
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Pikmin 4, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Navigation accessibility:
- Minecraft Legends (7 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Visual in Pikmin 4 which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Contrast
Medium Contrast: Game uses generally well contrasting and bright visuals, or has a slider to make this the case.
Interactive Elements
Outline Interactive Elements: Characters, platforms and enemies can be outlined or highlighted for visibility. This can be with a large border around the character or a special visual mode that adjust the colour to make characters more visible.
Visual Distractions
No Screen Shake: No screen shake effect or it is included but it can be disabled. This includes the absence of screen shake for dramatic effect as well as to indicate hits on a target.
Audio Cues for Visual Events
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Colour Options
Colour Blind Friendly: Game doesn’t rely on colour or can switch to colour blind friendly mode with double coding or similar way to avoid colour dependance.
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Pikmin 4 which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Audio Events
Visual Cues for Audio Events: Text or other visual indicators of audio events. This mirrors audio indicators of progress in the game with a corresponding visual indication.
Play Without Hearing
Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio
If you want to play Pikmin 4, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Audio accessibility:
- Dome Keeper (4 Audio Features)
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson and Jo Robertson
