i just be way too gay sometimes

I’ve been meaning to get to Splatoon 3 for quite a while now. I’ve had it for months, but it was just never the top of my priority list, so it just sat in the backlog. Only because I promised my friends I would play with them in the upcoming Splatfest did I finally get around to playing it. It’s been a good while since I played Splatoon 2 and the Octo Expansion, and because of that, I forgot how much fun I had playing the games. And on top of it, I finally got a chance to experience a Splatfest, and actual Turf Battles this time around, which I think elevated the overall experience.

Now, when it comes to the games I play, I typically prioritize the single-player experience. Multiplayer games just aren’t what interest me, so I typically don’t focus too much on them. In that regard, I want it to be known that my review of the game will also focus primarily on the single-player campaign of the game. Though unlike with Splatoon 2, I did play the multiplayer mode as well, so I will be able to talk about it this time around.

First and foremost, I think Splatoon 3’s main campaign is probably my favorite campaign of the three campaigns I’ve played (2, Octo Expansion, and 3). The general structure of the campaign is really fun, and I really felt motivated trying to get as much as I could done. Particularly, my favorite aspect of the game’s campaign is the explorable overworld. While it’s not the first to have one, it really feels like it placed an emphasis on it this time around. Hidden treasures and secrets are littered throughout each major section of the game, and areas that you cannot traverse unless you pay a fee. It’s also really nice how the game remembers where in the level you’ve splatted. It in some odd way makes it feel really personal, as a showcase of the time you’ve put in.

Some of the treasures you can obtain through exploring the overworld, or beating bosses helps you upgrade your character in specific ways. Either increasing the power of Little Buddy, increasing the power of your weapon, upgrading ink capacity, or even increasing movement speed while in squid form. I ended up completing the entire skill tree, though it’s honestly not too difficult to do, it kind of just happened naturally. Regardless of that though, I honestly just really like skill trees, as it’s a really fun way of customizing and personalizing your character.

While the explorable overworld is my favorite aspect of Splatoon 3’s campaign, what I think shines just as strongly is the level design. Splatoon 3’s level design is top notch, and I think there’s only one level out of the over 70 that I’ve played that I don’t particularly care for. That level particularly was “One Way Ride Through Target Town”, which compared to the other levels in the game, was noticeably much harder. Especially if you tried to do it with the weapon the game suggests. Regardless of that level, every other level of the game was super fun. I’m really glad that Splatoon 3 took the same general structure of levels that Octo Expansion did. In particular, it’s not just “reach the goal” kinds of stages, instead there’s unique ideas in each level. Some levels you can only use sub-weapons, in other stages there’s a thick fog covering the stage, and in some you have to survive. I still don’t really care for the fact that certain levels cost power eggs to access, but it was never that big of an issue. What makes up for that though is that practically every level aside from a small handful are completely optional. Beating each level gives you an enormous amount of Power Eggs the first time you beat it, but every subsequent level clear rewards you with not as many. Particularly, a first level clear gives you about 1400 Power Eggs, but every time you beat it after that it only rewards 300. You could beat the same level over and over to get Power Eggs if you’re struggling at a specific level. The game is really forgiving in this regard. There is a level you gain access to once you beat everything else which is much harder than the rest of the game. I did not play that level.

In a similar vein as well, the overall selection of bosses in Splatoon 3 are probably my favorite of the overall series. The first few bosses are really fun, and while I was challenged, I beat them all on my first try. What makes the bosses really fun to me is the dialogue and banter that occur, as it felt like that was a bit lacking in the previous campaigns. In particular, I think the boss on the fourth island is probably my favorite. Though with that in mind, I feel like the game’s final boss is probably my least favorite boss of the game. It’s a really fun concept, but I think it could’ve been done a bit better, especially the second half of it.

When it comes to the main campaign of Splatoon 3, yet again I think overall it’s probably my favorite campaign of the three I’ve played. But unlike my time with Splatoon 2, I was able to get a shot at playing the multiplayer, and I participated in my first ever Splatfest. Turf Battles in Splatoon were really addictive as I played them. When it comes to the turf battles, they seemed to be about 2 and a half minutes in length. I honestly couldn’t see what the total time for each match was, as I was too focused on the game to see how long each round was. But I feel like the short length of each match is really good, especially for a game like Splatoon. I probably played about 100 matches total, which I think is enough for me to at least have some form of opinion on. I also particularly like that the goal of each match is to cover the most terrain with ink, it provides a really unique goal, and methods to achieve it.

I’ll be honest I’m probably not that good at Splatoon? I won a lot of matches, and I top-scored a lot, but I also was absolutely destroyed in other matches. I was told by a friend that casual games don’t have skill-based match making, which would explain for something like this. Regardless, I had an absolute blast with the game. I particularly found myself using the Dualies, and I ended up playing really aggressively because of it. I found myself often charging into enemy bases, and using the Crab Tank to splat their base. In the rounds I was doing good in, I splatted so many people on the opposing team.

I’m also really happy that I was able to participate in a Splatfest this time around. It was something that I entirely missed out on when I played Splatoon 2, since Splatoon 3 was already out by the time I played it. There’s a unique atmosphere to being in the game while a Splatfest is happening, and I’m glad I was able to experience it firsthand. I was on Team Ghost for anyone was curious.

Of course there’s more stuff I’ve yet to do in Splatoon 3 that maybe I’ll get to at a later point. Particularly, I haven’t played Salmon Run yet, as that feels like something I should play with friends instead of playing with random people. I definitely want to try it out at least once, but I haven’t yet, and I planned to review it once the Splatfest ended. Side Order still isn’t out yet, and I definitely want to play it when it comes out. I’m not done with Splatoon 3, but I think I’m at the point where I can properly review it.

And in the end, I absolutely loved my time in Splatoon 3. Maybe due to the fact I was able to play with friends this time around, it became my favorite of the series. Though then again, I haven’t played the first title (I don’t have a Wii U though). The main campaign is amazing, and the competitive mode is really fun now that I’ve had a chance to play it. One of my friends kept getting jokingly upset that I haven’t played Splatoon 3 yet, and now I understand why.