What is Splatoon 3?
Splatoon 3 is the third game in the titular franchise. Splatoon 3 came out this year (2022) for the Nintendo Switch and is a third person team based shooter. Splatoon is unique from other shooters and more family friendly because winning is based on what team can splat more ink across the arena by the end of the match rather than who can get the most kills. The game fills a void for shooters in Nintendo’s catalog but still maintains the family-friendly nature of a Nintendo game.
Game Review:
Splatoon 3 is my first foray into the franchise. I personally am not a big fan of shooters in general (particularly of the first-person variety), so this being third-person is why I was more open to playing it. From what I’ve read and heard, it plays much like the previous game, Splatoon 2, but has added some quality of life improvements. One improvement is having more game modes available to play all the time. Splatoon 3 offers many different game modes to play: Turf Wars, the single player mode Alterna, Salmon Run, Splatfest with the new tri-color battles mode, and Tableturf Battles.
Turf Wars is the main game mode of Splatoon 3. These games start with 2 teams of 4 inklings (squid characters you play as) competing against each other. Teams start on opposite sides of the map and are tasked with inking the map and using the tools at their disposal to take each other out when they cross paths. Players also have access to some fun movement mechanics such as being able to go into squid form and swim through ink on the ground. At the end of the match, the game will show the map from a top-down view and calculate the percentage of the map inked by each team to determine a winner. These matches are fast paced as they only take 3 minutes to complete as teams frantically spray paint across the map. Splatoon 3 starts new players out by having them play casual matches until level 10 when Anarchy Battles then become available, which is the ranked battle system of the game.
Splatfests are special events that take place occasionally in Splatoon 3 where the game asks the player to pick a team based on their opinion of some question. The first Splatfest of Splatoon 3 asked the question “What would you take with you on a deserted island?” and gave the options of Gear, Grub, or Fun. After selecting your team you compete in turf wars to earn team points, and the winner is announced at the end. Another way to earn points for your team is to play the new Tri-Color team battles that pit 3 teams against each other in a chaotic ink-splatting frenzy.
Salmon Run is an online wave-based PvE mode in Splatoon. Instead of competing against real life players, you and a group of players comprise a team of 4 that is tasked with collecting salmon eggs and defending them from the computer controlled Salmonids. The AI enemies are much easier than a human opponent and can be fun for less competitive players. Salmon Run offers a wide variety of enemies with 11 distinct boss salmonids that drop the salmon eggs. Fans are pleased that this game mode is now available all the time rather than a limited time event as in previous Splatoon games. This game mode is great if you are not a fan of competitive online play but still want to play online with friends.
Tableturf Battles are a new mode to the Splatoon franchise. It is a mix of a collectible card game (CCG) and Tetris. You play cards that have associated shapes with them and play the shapes on the grid based map to “ink” the area. You do this against an opponent and cannot play ink on the same spot except in the few turns where you use special points earned through strategic placement of your ink splats. This game mode is a fun side activity that can be a reprieve from the fast action of the main gameplay.
Between online matches, players can visit the weapons dealer store to unlock new weapons, through acquired currency from leveling up, that provide new methods of splatting the map and opponents. I have a gripe with how long it takes to earn the currency to unlock new weapons. You only get 1 ticket to exchange for a new weapon after each level but a new tier of 2 or 3 weapons will be unlocked each level. This makes it a frustrating slog to unlock new weapons and figure out which play style suits you best. Players are also encouraged to spend gold coins earned through play to buy new pieces of equipment that fashion your inkling while also providing helpful buffs to your character. Splatoon 3 places a big emphasis on fashion and making your inkling look stylish which does not personally appeal to me. I tried to use the different outfits for stat buffs but I didn’t really focus much on how my inkling looked. If fashion speaks to you, though, then this could be a fun activity for you.
Splatoon 3 also offers a single player game mode called Alterna. The mode starts with an old inkling asking you to meet him out in a new area and help him investigate a dangerous fuzz that has been growing. As you make your way down the area you fight a boss battle with a villain from the previous games that tests the skills you’ve learned up to that point. I won’t spoil where the story goes but you get introduced to a whole new area and have to traverse it, fighting bosses and completing levels along the way.
The way Alterna is set up is where there is a certain number of levels playable in each area with varying amounts of salmon egg rewards that you get for completing the level. The salmon eggs you earn are then used to clear fuzz out of the way so you can explore more paths of the area and eventually move on to the next area. You do not have to do every level or clear every bit of fuzz so there is some choice provided to you in that. Each level consists of a challenge that tests some aspect to the gameplay and some are very challenging while some are pretty easy.
The story of Alterna in my opinion is not a strong point. The story is very obvious with the twists and turns, there isn’t much suspense that works on someone who can read between the lines. The story also gets a bit anime and ridiculous at the end in a way that really put me off. Again I’m not going to spoil it but there ends up being very big stakes at the end of the story, but stakes that I personally did not find compelling.
Family Friendliness:
Splatoon 3 is about as family friendly as you can get with a shooter game. You do still technically attack opposing players and they get splatted but players have a quick respawn time and splatting opponents is not the goal of the game. Teams who focus only on attacking the other team will assuredly lose as splatting the ground is most important. There isn’t much in the game that I would deem inappropriate. I personally would be fine with my child playing or watching me play this game.
Features for Parents:
Except for Alterna, Splatoon 3 needs to be played almost exclusively online. This means you need an internet connection and can’t necessarily play offline, except for the story mode. Shopkeepers won’t even let you shop without an internet connection which is frustrating. This need to be online can make it difficult to be available for your spouse or children when they need help. This game does offer some support in that it has control sensitivity settings as well as a setting that allows you to lock in the colors so that it may be easier for someone to see. The game does not offer many features outside of this that are parent friendly so I can’t say this game is accessible to play as a parent.
Final Verdict:
Splatoon 3 is a fun family friendly shooter game that builds upon the previous games’ nonviolent twist on a shooter game. The need to always be online inhibits the ability for this game to be truly accessible to a parent, particularly a parent of littles. If you are a fan of shooter games or have history with the Splatoon franchise this game might be worth your time. But in my opinion this is not a must play title for 2022.
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