Heartwarming / Pikmin 4

• Olimar's sheer devotion and love to his family is even more apparent than ever in this game, talking about them often in his notes in treasures or with the Rescue Corps and even despite Leaflings being stripped of their identity and memory, Olimar as a Red Leafling recalls his name and his desire to see his family for a brief moment before passing out. No other Leafling can recall their memories before being cured, showing just how strong that desire to see his family is.
  • Bernard also notes that Olimar turning castaways into Leaflings was likely done in order to save their lives. Even in his altered state, the man was still helping others.
• Olimar interacting with the Rescue Corps is very sweet as he shows nothing but appreciation and kindness for their help, getting along well with the crew like bonding with Shepherd for their love of dogs, thinking that Oatchi would get along well with his own dog, Bulbie, or Collin having no trouble in him observing Night Expeditions out of curiosity or them being curious at Olimar's adventure. Olimar is also incredibly grateful and thankful to the Rookie as well. This is even more so when in previous installments, he was either alone or didn't always get along with Louie or the President.
• The animated interactions between Oatchi, the Rookie, and the Pikmin when you stop to do anything. It can revolve with Oatchi laying down on the ground with the Pikmin either dancing around him in a circle or dancing on top of him. The Rookie, meanwhile, looks back at the Pikmin as the latter look back at them or copying them stretching.
• The fact that for once in this series, you have a whole team waiting for you at base camp. In 1 and 2 Olimar was basically a lone survivor while 3 it was purely a race against the clock with a crew thrown together. Here, you have the rescue corps and then as you save castaways, your camp fills with life. Also you have Oatchi with you as your constant companion. You might be stranded but you're not alone here, which is argulably more depressing than running out of food or breathable air.
• In one of Olimar's logs, as a possible nod to "The Night Juicer" Pikmin short, he accidentally scares a Pikmin by him almost taking a bite out of it by mistaking them for a Pikpik carrot in a hunger haze, but once he realizes his mistake, he immediately apologizes to the terrified Pikmin and hugs them to comfort it.
• The second half of the game is all about curing Oatchi's leaf tail that prevents him from leaving PNF-404. When the Rescue Corps notice this, they waste no time turning back to the planet and staying there until they find a cure.
• Completing Olimar's Shipwrecked Tale successfully shows that while Olimar was able to get his ship fully working, Moss entered his ship without knowing and started to suffer greatly as he was exiting PNF-404's atmosphere. Despite knowing his life support system was going to give out, he did not hesitate one bit to return to save her.
  • Although Olimar still fails to escape the planet, your reward for finishing it is the rebuilt S.S. Dolphin, meaning despite Olimar pulling what was essentially a Heroic Sacrifice to save Moss, his efforts to repair his beloved ship weren't all for naught in the end.
• The true ending of the game. While Moss and Olimar have to part ways for good, she's shown to have become the Pikmin's new leader. This means Moss finally has the companionship she's always wanted while the Pikmin now have a permanent leader to watch over them. Even the final boss, the Ancient Sirehound, is shown to be peacefully living with the Pikmin, even if they are a bit scared of it.
  • Due to Olimar's distress call essentially derailing the time of the incident that caused the debt (since Louie ended up being stranded as well), it means he won't be immediately sent out and lose his ship. Olimar will get to go home to his family, with the S.S Dolphin.
• Olimar's notes on the Love's Fortune Cookie treasure makes it clear that despite the implications of being a Henpecked Husband, he and his wife are still in love.
  "Before we got married, my wife took a compatibility test to assess our relationship. It was all for a laugh, but we got 120 percent, indicating we would be eternally happy together. I don't really believe in all that fortune-telling stuff, but that test got it right."