- They added stage-specific dialogue for the Splatcast! I really missed that from Splatoon 2.
- It's been long enough that I think I've given it a fair shake: the design of the new stages isn't very good, is it? It's all so flat and bland and samey. It really is just all S shapes with a raised bit in the middle. I miss the verticality of the old stages (I'm the sick bastard who wants Moray Towers back). The returning stages have shown up the new stages every season so far.
- That said, I like that the Barnacle & Dime stage appears to be the mall's creche. The baby jellyfish zoning out in the little ballpit perspex boxes are cute.
- I'm trying to pick up the Painbrush. I'm struggling! I know it's just how the learning curve goes sometimes and I don't think I'm actually salty about it (yet), but it is frustrating that I can barely ink with it yet every other Painbrush player can destroy me instantly after less than a day of learning it. Oh well! We go again.
Whining
Alright. There's something I'm not getting about Barnacle and Dime. I'm on 8 losses in 10 turf wars on that stage, and most of those have been when the opposing team pushes into our turf and bottlenecks us. I try not to get into the habit of blaming team members and I'm the common factor in all my teams, so it must be me doing something wrong. But I've tried all sorts of approaches and I just can't get any other results, and once you're pushed back into your spawn, that's just it. This stage is worse than Mahi-Mahi for bottlenecking. This challenge has been miserable. I'm considering avoiding this stage at all costs in future, and I'm pretty easy-going with other stages, I think. I even like Undertow!While I'm griping: I don't mind the debuff to my beloved Sloshing Machine, because it's barely noticable and the Sloshing Machine is still pretty powerful, assuming you can aim with it and avoid dying (both of which are admittedly major difficulties for me). What I do mind is the explanation in the patch notes: "the Sloshing Machine was designed for fighting in places with height differences or lots of obstacles, but it has proven highly effective even in battles in flat places." Mate. If you want me to only use it in places which aren't flat, you should design some places which aren't fucking flat