Splatoon is a franchise that’s been out for 7 years, exhibiting innovation with every new game. With the end of the “Grand Fest,” Splatoon fans are eagerly awaiting the new direction Nintendo is taking the next game in the franchise.
On May 28, 2015, Splatoon, Nintendo’s take on the third-person shooter genre, was released on the Wii U. The game sold about 4.5 million copies. Splatoon started production in late 2013 and was directed by Yusuke Amano and Tsubasa Sakaguchi and produced by Hisashi Nogami, who had all worked with Nintendo before.
The instantly recognizable characters—humanoid squids called “Inklings” are here. In development, the game had many other character concepts; the earliest ones were blocks of tofu before the developers switched to rabbits. Nintendo didn’t like the rabbit idea, so they pitched characters from the Super Mario pantheon, robots, and “macho men” as candidates. Later, the squid was chosen due to the correlation with the game’s main premise.
The gameplay is relatively simple: two teams of four players work against each other to cover as much ground as possible. The team with the highest percentage of the map covered will win. There are also different types of weapons and gear with different abilities. Later, Splatoon 2 added more weapons, gear, and the mode “Salmon Run,” a wave-based PvE mode where a team of four works to collect as many golden eggs as possible before time runs out. Splatoon 3 also added a new mode; however, it was more of a mini-game than full mode.
The first two games’ story modes are somewhat basic; however, via sunken scrolls, the player can learn about the fall of humanity due to global warming and the great turf wars that took place years before Splatoon. “Octo Expansion” and “Return of the Mammalians” further the knowledge of the end of humans and the rise of the current-day planet with the professor and Alterna, a human safe haven under Mt. Fuji.
The detail is incredible. Locations are based in real-life places. You can see some locations from others, like Inkapolis Plaza from Inkapolis Square and Commander Tar Tar’s statue from Hammerhead Bridge. Most of the songs produced are credited to in-universe idol groups and musical artists; Dedf1sh and Deep Cut are both credited as musical artists in Google. Multiple real-life concerts for these idol groups have also been hosted using the same technology as artists like Hatsune Miku. Music also changes based on what is currently happening in-game, like when submerged in ink, the music and sounds will become muffled to match.
The art for the series is candy for both the eyes and the ears. The art and music are directed by Seita Inoue and Toru Minegishi, respectively. The music sounds amazing and almost always fits the moment. The artwork is equally amazing, featured throughout the game and in most promotional material.
Many in-game events encourage teamwork and competition among players. “Splatfests,” which star the idol group of that game, have the player choose a team to compete for in “Turf Wars.” “Big runs” are events in “Salmon Run” that pit the players against the Salmonoids while on normal battle stages instead of “Salmon Run” stages. “Final Fests” are like “Splatfests,” however, they hold much more meaning. Final fests mark the end of major updates in Splatoon games but also affect the next game in a major way, from the story mode to the entire theme of the game, like the “Chaos vs. Order Fest”
Splatoon 3, the most recent game in the series, sits at a spectacular 4.1-star rating on Google. Many reviewers say that they loved the additions since Splatoon 2: new weapons, gear, maps, DLC, events, and even the hub. Critical reviewers don’t share the same enthusiasm, complaining about unfair matchmaking and constant disconnects on launch.
Splatoon has its cons: the learning curve, the tedious grind for new gear and abilities, and the unfair matchmaking. However, due to the developer’s care for both the game and the community, many problems from the franchise have been fixed either in an update or within the next installment.
If you’re a fan of games that put a spin on a genre the Splatoon franchise would be great for you. Splatoon 3 is the best option for new players due to the amount of content. With the amount of effort and love put into the series, it is a wonderful game for folks of almost all ages.
