Splatoon 3

YOU’RE A KID NOW….
Upon entering the main plaza, eagle-eyed players may spot the kindly old man Captain Cuttlefish peering out from underneath a manhole grate. Upon following his, he jumps upon you saying that you are now the latest Agent of his squid squad. He can see the potential in your eyes, so there’s no need for any kind of evaluation or training.

The problem he has is that the Octarians have once again returned, this time in fuzzy form! Their goop is everywhere, and the fuzzy stuff isn’t so easily cleaned.

The story feels very reminiscent of the previous games, even though there is a plot twist that comes later to help set it apart. It’s fine for the most part and relatively inoffensive, even if the climax of the story is remarkably cliché as it ends up doing the same thing many game franchises end up doing eventually.

YOU’RE A SQUID NOW…
The story is really just a setting for the levels to take place, as it follows a similar format to before. The environments where the level entry points (kettles) are located in are far bigger than before, with level entry points tucked away behind fuzzy ooze. In order to gain access to them, you need to earn power eggs within the levels to power up your companion Small Fry so that he can eat it right up. There’s a nice amount of openness to these areas that allow you to proceed as you want, with the next area opening up as soon as you have enough to clear the massive goop that blocks the area exit point. It’s refreshing in how open it feels, as it will allow for future non-100% playthroughs to feel a tad different. It’s a shame that all of the game areas have almost the exact same theming, making everything just kinda blend together after a while. 

The levels themselves are where the real meat of the experience lies, and those who have played the second game will find no real surprises here. Rather than opting for larger levels than before, most of the stages are comprised of small combat or puzzle challenges that you need to see your way through. Combat stages are relatively straightforward, with some basic platforming that sees you climbing surfaces using your squid form as you create an inky path for it to move around. The puzzle stages though are where things get more interesting and are also where some of the best stages lie; notable examples of some of my favourites include a curling section where you need to use your bombs to hit certain targets, an artistic puzzle where you need to destroy creates to make one structure match another, and a maze that seems boring at first but offers a slight… twist, shall we say. Anyone who has played the Octo Expansion will have seen many of these puzzle types before, but they still remain a lot of fun here – even if they’re mostly stuff we’ve seen before.

Everything culminates in an endgame reminiscent of the Wily Castle stages from Mega Man, with a series of stages that offer a tough and unique experience to test everything you’ve learnt so far. These stages are some of the best in the game, and show off what the game could have been if the main levels were a little bit more fleshed out.

Where the game really shines is with the boss fights, however. There are five boss battles throughout the campaign, and not only are they the highlight of the story mode, but they are also the best bosses in the entire series. From an unexpected first boss encounter that offers a decent challenge for the very start of the game, to one that pays a very strong homage to my favourite Mario game, they’re an absolute delight. Each one takes the mechanics of the game and uses it in a very creative way. Even when I was starting to feel bogged down with some of the main stages, the desire to see the next boss encounter was enough to keep me going.   

YOU’RE A SQUID
If I was only going to talk about the single player elements of the game, this is where my review would end. ‘What about the card battle minigame?’ ‘What about the character customisation?’ I hear you cry. Unfortunately, even though those  technically count as single player content, they’re actually gated away behind an NSO paywall. Even though these functions are designed for the solo player, you need to achieve rank 4 online in order to be able to access it. Heck, you need to play one multiplayer match to even name yourself. That’s right, unless you’re a payer, then all you’ll ever be is ‘Player’. It’s a frankly disgusting move that turns what would have been a solid single player experience into one that forces you into buying into Nintendo’s online service. 

Awful business practices aside though, the extra content available is surprisingly quite decent. The newest addition to the franchise, Tableturf Battles, are not only really good but also probably my favourite part of this third entry. These consist of 1v1 card battles against the AI, where you place a card down to fill an area of the map. The tetromino-style shapes need to be connected to some of your existing ink, making it a battle to see who can fill in the most space. Their awkward positioning means that you have to strategise well to ensure that you can try and prevent your opponent from expanding further, whilst also ensuring you have space to place further cards.

Adding to the strategy, you can discard cards that don’t fit in the hope that something else might fit better, or even activate a special whilst in a pinch that will allow you to cover your opponents ink with your own shape. Add to that plenty of obtainable booster packs to customise your deck, and you have a pretty fleshed out experience. It’s such a shame that it’s relegated to a hidden area of the plaza and locked behind the NSO paywall, as this is such a great addition that many will likely completely miss. It probably should have been its own standalone release with multiplayer functionality, but alas it was not to be. Perhaps we’ll see more from Tableturf in the future – Tableturf 99, perhaps!  

YOU’RE A KID
As for the multiplayer portion of the game: well, this is certainly Splatoon. On the surface, it plays pretty much the same as it always has, but with a bunch of improvements to help make things flow a bit smoother. UI changes are the most notable differences, with it being easy to keep a track of where your team-mates are, where specials are, who has died, and so on. The additional weapons and special attacks do help it feel a little bit different, but this is still the same Splatoon in essence – and that’s fine. For a series where the multiplayer has always worked remarkably well, small refinements to enhance the experience are probably better than huge shifts that could potentially spoil it. 3-way battles are a new addition to the series, making things that bit more hectic, but we’re already seeing how tough the dev team are finding making appropriate Splatfests for it.

Salmon Run also makes a return, and also plays very similar to before. This co-operative experience sees a team of four collecting eggs from waves of enemy AI. Boss creatures that are way more powerful, but drop a bunch of eggs, help to spice things up a bit, but this is essentially a horde mode – but it’s also a lot of fun. Aside from some new enemies to face, the main changes are the ability to play the mode whenever you want (finally!) and being able to throw eggs into your basket. Small changes, perhaps, but enough to make it feel a lot better than before.

As a solo experience, Splatoon 3 is technically the best it has ever been; although it’s still unfortunately nowhere near as great as it could have been. There’s so much potential here that still remains untouched, but the experience still remains a lot of fun. For newcomers, the game is an easy recommendation with its vast amount of content and improvements to the formula; for everyone else, it really depends on how much you like multiplayer. As a solo gamer, I felt a tad cheated by the lack of any real improvements to the formula, but I’m sure veteran multiplayer splatters will no doubt sink hundreds of more hours into this third entry,