Splatoon 3 was a good time, especially as someone who never touched the franchise before. I’m marking this as Complete as I’ve finished the Alterna story mode, but I plan to continue playing multiplayer with friends.
At this point, I’ve played plenty of Turf Wars and had some Salmon Run sessions. These multiplayer modes are very fun, and do a great job at highlighting what makes Splatoon as a series unique from other shooters. The simple concept of covering more of the battlefield than your opponent is paired with surprising strategic depth, and I can see myself easily picking this up to play with friends for years. The maps, especially for Turf Wars, are varied and interesting, and I’m excited to see more of what Salmon Run has to offer as I play more maps and use more weapon types. All this alongside the series’ trademark goofy meets cool and cute artstyle and its eclectic yet appealing soundtrack make for a worthwhile multiplayer experience.
The singleplayer is no slouch either though it doesn’t go above and beyond itself. The campaign is broken up into multiple island overworlds that task you with clearing out a dangerous fuzzy substance using Power Eggs you earn by completing levels. Levels are usually short but feature fun challenges that require you to learn and utilize pretty much every weapon, sub-weapon, and special type in the game. A lot of these can feel gimmicky and shallow, but the later levels start to add some nice complexity. The run of levels at the end in particular are a nice challenge to cap things off.
What is consistently engaging though are the bosses. Creative with their weaknesses and use of the game’s unique mechanics, I had a blast with each one, and they made for great highlights to finish off every couple islands or so. I honestly wish there were more as not every island ends with a boss fight.
There’s not really much else for me to say. At this point, Nintendo has figured out what makes Splatoon click and continues to plow ahead without making any revolutionary changes from what I can tell. I kinda wish we had gotten a more in depth campaign instead of a collection of short, sometimes gimmicky challenges, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun with them regardless. The hubs were fun to clear and explore too. Overall, it’s a good time even if it’s not a stellar experience.
At this point, I’ve played plenty of Turf Wars and had some Salmon Run sessions. These multiplayer modes are very fun, and do a great job at highlighting what makes Splatoon as a series unique from other shooters. The simple concept of covering more of the battlefield than your opponent is paired with surprising strategic depth, and I can see myself easily picking this up to play with friends for years. The maps, especially for Turf Wars, are varied and interesting, and I’m excited to see more of what Salmon Run has to offer as I play more maps and use more weapon types. All this alongside the series’ trademark goofy meets cool and cute artstyle and its eclectic yet appealing soundtrack make for a worthwhile multiplayer experience.
The singleplayer is no slouch either though it doesn’t go above and beyond itself. The campaign is broken up into multiple island overworlds that task you with clearing out a dangerous fuzzy substance using Power Eggs you earn by completing levels. Levels are usually short but feature fun challenges that require you to learn and utilize pretty much every weapon, sub-weapon, and special type in the game. A lot of these can feel gimmicky and shallow, but the later levels start to add some nice complexity. The run of levels at the end in particular are a nice challenge to cap things off.
What is consistently engaging though are the bosses. Creative with their weaknesses and use of the game’s unique mechanics, I had a blast with each one, and they made for great highlights to finish off every couple islands or so. I honestly wish there were more as not every island ends with a boss fight.
There’s not really much else for me to say. At this point, Nintendo has figured out what makes Splatoon click and continues to plow ahead without making any revolutionary changes from what I can tell. I kinda wish we had gotten a more in depth campaign instead of a collection of short, sometimes gimmicky challenges, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun with them regardless. The hubs were fun to clear and explore too. Overall, it’s a good time even if it’s not a stellar experience.