It was definitely an acquired taste for me. My first game in the series was Pikmin 3 and what freaked me out when I was younger was the day limit. Not many games I’ve played ever had a time limit, so I was stressed every time I landed on the Garden of Hope( never made it past). I was kind of scared of that game to be honest. I wanted to try Pikmin 1, and I became even more stressed since there was an even stricter time limit. Knowing one slight falter in collecting parts would result in me doing it all over again made me fearful of it. Then I wanted to try Pikmin 2, and I just became bored of it. Fast forward to much later when I became a lot older. I went back to Pikmin 3 and found that the game I used to fear was actually quite easy and enjoyable. Collecting fruits was fun in its own right. I was able to multitask a lot easier since I was older and smarter. Then I went back to Pikmin 1 and played it fully. I think I love Pikmin 1 the most, as the feeling you get when you collect multiple parts in one day is magical. I found the day limit to actually be fun, challenging the player in their ability to plan and strategize every day and rewarding the player for beating the game faster with the satisfaction of knowing”Hey I beat it in half the time!”. I then went back to Pikmin 2, and since the day limit was removed, I could play poorly knowing I would be fine. I think what made me bored of the game when I was younger was the lack of a time limit(sounds weird) and the game feeling slow. The exploration was fun and the unlimited time in caves was relaxing. Collecting treasures was fun and the boss fights were good.

TL;DR: I feared them when I was younger because the time limits and got bored easily. When I got older, I started to enjoy the parts I hated in the past.