So, played the Pikmin 4 demo and it does focus super hard on dog.
I’m still a bit conflicted about it, it feels a bit gimmicky to me but it doesn’t seem to warp the game around it that bad. It functions as a better Louie that can also do some Pikminy things, which I guess is fair?
Oatchi is a lot less annoying than I expected from his cartoony lil face. It’s like having a second captain, who needs to be trained up from basic skills, but has a few different and useful skills that are also not OP. I like that he can gather up pikmin, return to base or to you on his own, and carry a bunch of pikmin to make a squad have a smaller footprint. All QOL perks, and not beyond what a good shepherd should be able to do.