Pikuniku is a puzzle/adventure/platforming game that was released for Windows and Linux (and 8th/9th gen Microsoft consoles, too, but that's not important here!) in 2019. The main storyline holds all of the adventure elements in the game, but the Co-op game mode encompasses all the platforming beauty that a physics-based platformer deserves! Each of the 9 levels housed within has its own spin on the mechanics with a unique puzzle, that our lil' TAS friend(s) will creatively roll, kick and skip through in the most unexpected of ways. No glitches though.
Emulator/Settings
Emulator used: LibTAS v1.4.4
The settings used are the following:
- command-line options: "-force-gfx-direct,"
- video settings: enable "Force software rendering" and a window resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio,
- sound settings: disable everything,
- runtime settings: enable "gettimeofday()" as main time-tracking option. Enable "Busy Loop Detection" and "Virtual Steam Client,"
Objectives & Details
The main goal of the movie is to complete all nine levels in the co-op mode as quickly as possible. Most of the strategies implemented have been discovered several years ago by members of the French Twitch-streaming community, due to the pressure exerted by the Game Pass Challenge, a multi-game in-person event set up by popular French streamer ZeratoR, where Pikuniku's Co-op mode was included as one of the contested games.
The video I've sent of the movie is played at 480p. This was not intentional; the emulator still has issues resizing accordingly when set up, and forcing the screen resolution to anything over 800x600 will not produce any effects whatsoever, so the movie was recorded at that resolution. Due to YouTube's limitations, the video was downscaled from 800x600@60fps to 640x480@30fps. My apologies in advance for this misfortune.
Level by Level Breakdown
Level 1
Level 1 is basically a tutorial level to explain how to control both Piku and Niku, who have the exact same characteristics aside from their color, and how to interact with all the objects the pair may encounter in all the levels (except the driving levels, but we'll get there!). This level has a small skip at the beginning, where kicking one of the players to a top platforms allows one to completely bypass the puzzle below, where a player must make it over the top and trigger a button for the other player to traverse through a doorway. After this, we're met with several more button-related puzzles, and some good ol' door proxy fun, because we love getting squeezed by doors here. What? Only me? Nevermind then. Final time of the level: 1:17.976 (In-game time).
Level 2
Level 2 is one of the longer levels in the run, and with good reason; the level is huge. Right from the get-go we're faced with a long puzzle where two balls must be placed on two buttons to let the player at the top progress, but this is still accelerated via the use of another door proxy to boost the ball toward the button. We then swim for the first time, making sure to carry as much speed into the water, as we're quickly decelerated back to a slower speed after a short while. We then meet a water fountain puzzle that we totally skip via the use of a technique called "buddy jumping." Basically, we just jump with one character on top of the other when they're at the peak of their jump in order to maximize the height clearance we can get; while trying to slow down as little as possible this is an arduous task, but it was crafted flawlessly, and compounded with little adjustment needed to hit the button right afterwards, it made the sweet and small segment even sweeter.
(Small note, for the uninitiated: In Pikuniku, the player will not be able to kick in whatever direction they wish whenever they wish, the angle at which the character's legs are facing also impacts where one is able to kick.)
Moving on, the next puzzle involving a couple more balls and buttons is meticulously skipped with more buddy jumping and careful kick placement. Some time can be killed with the player lagging behind here as we wait for the other player to set up the puzzle skip, laying the ball we kicked earlier across on a button to jump off of, letting us use a zipline located on the other side of a wall (usually used to collect a trophy in 100%) and skip the whole puzzle below. At the end, we meet a familiar friend: another ball, and his buddies, too, ball #2 and ball #3, which we must place on top of 3 buttons to open the door to the exit. This is done with some coreographed movement that lets us place the first ball very quickly and then carefully kick the other two balls in such a way that the door opens mere frames before we reach it. Final time: 1:30.904.
Level 3
Level 3 is a driving level. Both players get on cars and have the ability to use a boost after a certain amount of cooldown time. The level is pretty strightforward, just use some ramps to jump across the level and skip turning around. Final time: 1:16.267.
Level 4
Level 4 has both players tangled together, meaning they're not free to roam the level by themselves. As soon as we jump off to the left they find a ball to their right, with they push and then kick down to a button as quickly as possible. They then make it down a tight passageway where they both barely fit together, and dropping down makes them both be on top of each other. When rolling, this can be used to accelerate in mid air, even when there is no ground to roll over. The rest of the level is simple, just take the best lines and kick your way to victory. Final time: 0:40.796. Shortest level so far, and by a lot too!
Level 5
This level starts off with a climb to the highest point of a room with several spikes and two buttons at the top that must by pressed together to drop two balls that we quickly place on top of two more buttons. After this, we use that rollie-on-your-homie tech once again to quickly get the player lagging behind to maximum rolling speed as quickly as it's possible. After this, we get both players over a small gap, and get to use the spikes we see to boost ourselves forward even more. Despite how easy it looks, landing in the perfect spot to go further right is quite tricky business. We then finish the following section as intended and finish the level. The shortest and sweetest level in the run: 0:35.608.
Level 6
Level 6 starts off with another door proxy, some tight movement from the player at the bottom, and some swag acorn kicks from the player at the top. They then both meet in a room where one of the players is sent across a door to get a ball so that both players can cross, and after that's done they skip the next section in a pretty clever way; they can technically both reach the following zipline from the ground, no need for that box at the top, quick and easy time save. We then meet a set of boxes displaying poker symbols, where we want them all to show a heart. We do this by kicking them at the right time, but unfortunately we run into the first cycle-lock in the run, though a short one as we simply wait a couple more seconds to kick the final box into place to finish the level. Final time: 0:52.421 (sad, I know, so close!!).
Level 7
Level 7 is another driving level, but here we make use of a secret black car that can be found mid-way through the course. This particular vehicle has the peculiarity that its boost cooldown timer is much shorter, allowing the user to quickly make it through the level. There is some lag nearing the end of the level, but that is because the level loads several barrels for the puzzle after the racing portion. When the race is over, we reach a small pond with a couple tunnels, where it looks pretty impossible to fit a car across it. Who said we had to do that though, when you can just... get it up top instead...? We use the shortened boost cooldown to propel the car over the lakem in order to use it to skip the last puzzle of the level by making both players get over a tall wall. That's not all though, as we get the car over it, too, so as to make it to the finish boat even faster than without it, and while playing a pretty iconic jingle extremely fast. Wanna "take me on" again? Final time: 1:22.400.
Level 8
Level 8 is another level where both players are tangled together. This one, however, is way more open, and so there is some use to the entanglement. Jumping and kicking one of the players in the air with the proper timing can initiate a "kick hover," where it is possible to hover for a short while to skip landing on the fountains and the bottom, and also speeds up the section since getting kicked is certainly faster than not getting kicked. We then skip a puzzle with the use of a cactus and a bit of juggling ability to get it over a big chunk of floating plaform and onto a button to skip ahead, where we then have to balance on top of a spinning platform to jump over to a grappling hook that takes both players over to the finish. Final time: 0:54.279.
Level 9
The final stretch! We start the level off strong by skipping the repeated use of several levers, and even using one to boost the bottom player further forward. We then time several button kicks perfectly to get both players on the bottom path where some springs yeet them across the landscape; a beautiful sight to behold. We then meet a small ball puzzle where both players climb up to place two balls onto two more buttons while having to deal with a spinning box that moves cripplingly slowly. After this we reach the final two puzzles, where 3 balls connected by a string must be kicked onto three buttons, then a fourth bigger ball and then a cactus onto the last button, to reach the final room where two balls must be pushed over a spring pit to reach the end. The springs can be avoided by landing in between them in just the right way. And with that, all levels done. Final Time: 1:43.107, the longest level is fittingly the final one!
Final time of the TAS, including all non-gameplay sections: 11:58.13
I hope my overtyped breakdown isn't too much to read, I really enjoyed the process of making this movie. I can definitely make some improvements, especially in the final level, where some of the lineups didn't work so well, but that's something to be dealt with later. Thank you very much for reading, watching, commenting, and analysing, it really means the world to me!
nikuyo: Hola Zarza, welcome to TASVideos, and thank you! This was a delight. The mix of the fun coop shenanigans and cool physics based puzzles make for a fun movie to watch and judge!
Accepting. Changed the branch name to best match the name given by the main menu.
I’m gonna try this again and hopefully it’ll work. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Unity’s annoying sync stability in libTAS is to blame.
