I play Splatoon for the story. I can't make myself be consistent with any kind of online game, even one in a franchise I love as dearly as this. And thankfully, Splatoon 3's Story Mode (titled "Return of the Mammalians") didn't disappoint. I don't think it's as good as Octo Expansion, but it took the best parts of that and combined them with parts of 1+2's base campaigns to give us the best base game campaign in the series so far.

The multiplayer is still fun as ever, with a number of QoL changes that shake things up a bit, but I've probably put less hours into it than any Splatoon game thus far.

I honestly don't understand what all the fuss is about with this game. There are specific things that bother me about it like forced easy-mode features like affection bonuses and EXP Share, and I do wish they carried over more stuff from Platinum, but even considering that, this is a great remake and easily one of the best Pokemon games in recent memory. The region looks great and is better than ever to explore thanks to no longer having to load up my team with useless HMs, the remixes are all sick, and the expanded teambuilding options via the Underground are appreciated and a much needed improvement to the meager DP dex. (Although I do wish they did a bit more in that regard - I miss Rotom and Porygon-Z.) I dunno if I can conclusively say this game is BETTER than Platinum, but at the very least, I don't think I'll be going back to that game unless I'm in a really nostalgic mood. For their first game and considering the evidently tight deadline they were up against, ILCA did a great job with this one.