My verdict, Splatoon 2 will reinvigorate current Switch fans but not create many console owners outside of Japan.
Splatoon 2 is fun. Splatoon 1 is already like Quake, and Splatoon 2 is literally a safer version of Splatoon 1. Splatoon 2 even changes out the mascot girls to ones that they hope are more appealing to the West. It’s fun, it’s visually easy to understand, it even got my girlfriend interested in playing it and she’s terrible at video games. It’s a little hard to control, but they’re keeping motion controls optional and adding a bunch of control options.
I’m a Splatoon fan, and I plan to use it to give me something more arena based compared to the structured team fights of Overwatch, and I even have more options to play with friends. But it has zero options for local co-op, so you have to love the game and possibly have friends with Switches that love the game to get much play out of it.
There’s a campaign mode, but I hear it’s the same length of the first game’s campaign (8-10 hours tops) but with more weapon options. It’s still Super Mario Galaxy type fare. People clamored for them to expand it, but it sounds like they instead put that effort into adding another multiplayer mode, a horde game mode, and it looks fun enough to me but again you’ll need internet or nearby friends with their own Switches and a copy of the game.
What the game will expand on is its limited time nature. Maps and ranked modes will still rotate so you’ll have a limited time to catch a particular mode each day, although Turf War should still always be available. Shops have new items every day still, the new Horde mode isn’t always open, and tickets you gain from the Horde Mode and Campaign Mode will get you the option buy experience and money boosts that I believe you’ll have a random choice of that changes each day. And of course, there will still be Splatfests once a month for 24-hours each, that give you the rarest item in the game worth thousands of in-game credits. In some ways its mechanics are like a F2P game, except you don’t have the option to pay extra real money for anything.
The game officially releases July 21st, but I’m curious as to how people who have never played it before enjoyed the Splatfest yesterday. The motion controls give you the best precision, at least almost equal to playing with a mouse, but it takes a lot of getting used to. They also balanced the special abilities much better this time around. I hope people like it, but I’m not going to pretend that many people in the West will care.
Next email:
I’ve played the live demos, the testfires.
The controls are on point, I love them. Besides not being able to change them beyond enabling and disabling the motion controls (turn motion on) I love them.
I do not care much for the aesthetics and art styles. I mean there are some cute things in there and it’s cool how it’s all cohesive but it’s like a parent appreciating a themed room for their child that was done well. You can admire it, but you wouldn’t put that shit in your room.
If a TimeSplitters game could release with these controls and be as configurable as TimeSplitters 2 & 3, I’d be in love. I’d have a shooter to play. I mean at this point, I’d even take High Voltage’s “The Conduit”. I don’t need things to be macho, I do play Team Fortress 2. Despite loving Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and TimeSplitters, I could never get into Haze or Homefront. I just want something more meaty with a first-person view that is arcadey and has a style that speaks to me more. Metroid Prime is coming, but unless they’re stealing Hunters style multiplayer we’ll need something else. Nintendo’s track record is poor and short there, the last time they made an effort at a fps on a console, they released Geist. Don’t Google that, you’ll hurt yourself.
Next email:
There have only been demos so far. The game comes out Friday. I am planning on getting it, mostly because there are no other shooters on the Switch, and because it gives me a game to play with friends that isn’t Mario Kart. On that note, I’m not surprised you didn’t like Mario Kart 8.5. I thought Mario Kart 8 was the second-worst Mario Kart after 7, and was severely imbalanced. It started out fun, but then the imbalance ruined everything. Mario Kart 9 (or is it Mario Kart Switch?) needs to be good.
I only played the demo for the first Splatoon, so I have no expectations regarding the sequel, and I can certainly let you know what I think about Splatoon 2 after it releases.
Mario Kart sells. Therefore, it will be more of the same. People like whatever is in it. But I’m not feeling Mario Kart 8.5 which is a huge surprise to me.
I did really like Zelda BoW “Wow!”, but I do not desire to play the game on hard mode now. I see hard mode as missing the point of the ‘open world’ design. I want more ‘world’, not more ‘harder’, but I might try it later on. Not much else to play on my Switch at the moment.
Don’t worry, I don’t think you need to be a Japanese child to enjoy Splatoon. 33 year old American male here, and I think it’s a blast. Strip away all the bright neon colors and goofy character designs and just the core mechanic of competing against another team to cover the arena with paint is like no other game out there.
If I had any gripe about the first game, it’s that I never could get used to the motion controls (apparently not a problem for most players), and so I was stuck aim with the analog stick instead. Still, that just means I had to work harder to get good. From what I’ve played of Splatoon 2’s demo it seems they improved both the motion and regular controls, so I’m sure you won’t have a problem should you decide to check it out.
And one more email:
Hey master malstrom, haven’t write you in a long time :)
You want opinions about Splatoon? I got it for my Wii U and it was very fun. Lots of action and many gear and weapon options. But I only played it for a couple of months and stopped playing it. I think I got until level 20 more or less. I sold it to buy Resident Evil 7 and was thinking in getting it again but I am not so sure.
My analisis is that the game is fun to play, but it has a huge online focus. The single-player mode is just OK. Nothing outstanding. A mix of platforming and shooting. It has a very mediocre 2-player offline mode where you compete with another player to pop up balloons (what’s Nintendo’s obsession with balloons anyway?!). The online mode is where the money is. And it is fun but can be annoying. Lots of cheap shots and players.
The another thing that put me off, and is a personal matter, is that the presentation is aimed to a very niche-type of Japanese gamer: teenagers. The way the game promotes armor, gears and weapons is about “looking cool!” and “having cool points” and all that. For a man near is 40s like me is just..weird. Like being the only adult in a party full of 14 year olders. You can see that the game was a huge hit in japan between teenagers while in America is only among N64kids. After a while is annoying. Maybe that’s why I get tired of it.
In conclusion: if you don’t japanese jpop stuff and like online gaming you may enjoy it. If not well, there’s nothing much to see. I am not sure about Splatoon 2 but I guess it will be the same.
Take care!
My biggest issue with Splatoon 2 is that all its value is on the online play which is dependent on the playerbase. Honestly, there is nothing else coming out on Switch this ENTIRE YEAR that I want except, maybe kinda Splatoon 2. Isn’t that sad??
Malstrom's Articles News 