It wasn't obvious until after the release of Splatoon 3 just how much this game offered to the overall franchise. If you dryly look at it on how it was at launch then yeah...I understand the disappointment, but i feel like this game did a lot of things right with one of them being Splatfests. I still haven't felt as excited for a Splatfest since they stopped organising them for Splatoon 2 and that majorly has to do with the implementation of the Shifty Stations and how fun even the worst ones were.

I never played Splatoon 1 so I have nothing to compare it to. It was ok, I played a couple of times but never got too into it.

I like its ideas and the music is weird but kinda cool. Yeah idk, I rather just play a real shooter lol.

3 stars and a half because of Marina. She ignites a fire inside of my chest AND my balls.

This game coming out so early in the Switch's life was definitely extremely important for the early momentum of the system. Very much a right time at the right place kinda game. Splatoon's appeal absolutely towers over the audience the WiiU got, so it's nice to see the series truly reach the audience it deserved. In the process though this is very clearly aggressively rushed. Or if not rushed, the focus was put a LOT harder onto the competitive shooter side of things and I think it doesn't mesh well with what made Sploon fun conceptually to begin with.

Maps are just so much smaller in 2 compared to the original game. They're also a lot blockier with less verticality and complexity. Specials are also retooled to be less "kill buttons" and more useful tools. Feels a lot more focused on close range skirmishes. Which generally feels alright for the ranked modes like the tower or ink zones. But the big MAIN mode turf war feels at odds with the new focus. The maps are so small it genuinely feels like the first 2 minutes 30 seconds of the 3 minute match mean nothing. It's just whoever wins the fight at the end. I remember being constantly frustrated how many maps were just walled off spawn points, and one point in the middle you'd fight over the whole time. I don't think I can think of any other sequel that took the "smaller = better" approach. Even the hub world is smaller.

I can get into the ranked modes well enough and have fun but at the end of the day Turf War IS Splatoon to me, and that mode being gutted really hurts the game in my eyes. Then you've got a single player mode that's just more of the same mario galaxy-esque auto pilot floating platform levels, which is a huge bummer. I'd have loved a splatoon single player that takes place in real locations instead of a bunch of floating platforms in the middle of nowhere. Customization for your character which was a big part of the first game didn't really see much of an upgrade. It's probably on par as far as clothing options but it being just more of the same really hurt the "Keep it FRESH" mantra the OG game thrived on. Why can't we buy pants yet?

Still I absolutely had my fun with this game. Looking back, Pearl and Marina really carried it for me. Wasn't as into it as a whole package but Pearl's chaotic gremlin choices and her dynamic with Marina really kept the Splatfests fun to participate in and fight for. I don't say this often but the writing was SOLID. Not just comical but easy to really attach yourself into the event and characters. Overall they were more memorable than any of Sploon 1's Splatfests imo, which I already loved at the time. So that's one area 2 exceeds 1 at least. Best part, and also the most frustrating, 2 had Splatfest exclusive maps (Put together by Marina in lore). AND THEY WERE BIGGER AND MORE COMPLEX IN DESIGN THAN ANYTHING IN THE NORMAL ROTATION?!? It's such a crime that these maps weren't just added to the daily rotations after Splatfests ended. Hecc them having to make Splatfest exclusive maps kind of tells me the designers knew they botched Turf War a bit. But yee bottom line Pearl and Marina singlehandedly made Sploon 2 fun for its whole life cycle.

Almost forgot to mention Salmon Run. Dunno, I definitely like it but it doesn't feel very well integrated. It's very side-mode content that doesn't feel like you're getting much out of it. Definitely fun as a break from the main modes, and given that Turf War was kinda gutted it's nice to have another stand out mode to play. But it never left a big impact on me.

Fond memories of the Splatfests and what this game did for the launch year of the Switch. But imo it's not as cohesive in its ideas as the original. And given Splatfests are over, my ranking of how the game is experienced now would likely be much lower. But I was really into what was presented to me during its time.
TEAM MAYO FOR LIFE <3