Splatoon 3 Nintendo Switch Review – Is It Worth It?
Hello there lovely p polit alex from Nintendo life here and today it is Finally time for us to review for you Splatoon 3 on the nintendo switch this Review was originally written by me like All the previous splatoon games it’s uh I had to do a hat trick but anyway That’s more than enough waffling let’s Dive right into things [Music] When the original splatoon launched on The wii u back in the space year 2015 it Was pretty groundbreaking nintendo Making an online shooter it sounded like A recipe for confusion but as they so Often do nintendo took a formula that Had been refined to the point of parody And decided that it would be fun to be Able to swim in bullets then they made The bullets ink and everything came Together splatoon 2 took this bullet Breaststroke formula after just a few Years and suited up for the nintendo Switch it was an upgrade in every sense But now we’re reaching the big number Three so what are we looking at here the Halo 3 or driver 3 of the splatoon Series as soon as you boot up splatoon 3 You’ll be met with an instantly familiar Experience hang the crown to score Points swimming it to move faster Surprise surprise it’s splatoon again What’s striking though is for how Familiar everything feels it also feels
Almost unfathomably slick in comparison To its predecessors nothing’s going to Leap out of you from a mechanical Standpoint but almost every possible Area where things could be fine-tuned Has been addressed when you load up the Game now you can simply ignore the news Update telling you what maps you’ll be Playing on the excellent salmon run mode Is now accessible 24 7. you can join Lobbies with friends and play tuff or on The same team you can play the Single-player missions in practically Any order that you like more on that Later whilst there is no one major Inclusion that sets this apart from Splatoon 2 the veritable militia of my New show that the developers have Employed is simply staggering weapons Feel more balanced maps feel tighter yet More open the tender missiles feel like They’ve finally been nerfed the list is Frankly endless so let’s break it down Into a few chunks and even then we’re Not going to be able to cover absolutely Everything the single player has always Felt somewhat of an afterthought in Previous games it’s always a very Welcome inclusion but it’s apparent that The lion’s share of the focus was on Multiplayer which for a multiplayer game Is probably for the best things improved Notably with splatoon 2’s octo expansion And we’re wiggling all eight tentacles
With glee when we say the splatoon 3 Single player return of the mammalians Is taking reams of notes from that Excellent slice of dlc more cut scenes More variety in its mission structure a Simple but undeniably charming and Engaging plot it’s just an all-round fun And more fleshed out time to give you an Idea of how wild and wacky the missions Can get we jump from a standard get to The goal affair right into another that Stripped us of all of our weaponry and Forced us to simply jump over increasing Numbers of shock waves until a timer Finally decided we’d done enough you’re Almost always given a choice of weapon As well with more outlandish choices Netting you a slightly higher reward so There’s a good deal of replayability as Well but most importantly your progress Is gated only by the fluffy ooze that Turns you into a mammal as soon as you Touch and that’s still not a joke you Can clear this goo by netting enough Power eggs from missions to bolster your Small fry little buddy’s feeding Capabilities lob him onto the Appropriate bit of ooze and puff it’s Gone in a flash of mammalian extinction These can also hide some of the frankly Insane number of collectibles to be Found in the overworld by no means are These at all necessary but it’s nice to Have something productive to do outside
Of the missions themselves we were able To reach the final island of the game Before we’d even done half the missions On the first the game doesn’t strictly Encourage this but conversely it also Does absolutely nothing to stop you it Is a shame that thematically each island Whilst being distinct doesn’t have said Theming reflected in its missions Instead you’re simply whisked away to a Mystery zone which could be Anywhere it’s a minor nitpick in what is Otherwise probably the strongest Splatoon single player to date but a Nitpick regardless one gripe that we had With splatoon 2’s single-player offering Was the fact that all the upgrades you Unlocked left you feeling overpowered as All hell towards the end whereas return Of the mammalians instead strips you Down metroid style and upgrading merely Brings you as far as we can tell up to Your fighting fit online self that you Were before you got mixed up in all this Fuzzy business the world you explore in Single player feels much more cohesive Than before and that sentiment can be Extended to the entire game we were Thrilled at just how much has been done To eliminate menus in splatoon 3 but Without making things needlessly Convoluted just for the sake of Immersion immersion is still rife though Whether it be the online lobby that
Reminds us of sports or ledger center Halls with its high ceilings and distant Thrumming bass notes or grizzco which Really does feel about as legitimate as We imagine mr grizz’s bookkeeping to be No matter where you go in the world You’ll almost always be given the Freedom to move around Freely unless doing so would make the Experience lesser such as the weapon and Gear shops where i mean let’s be honest You’re just gonna buy everything up as Quickly as you can anyway wandering Around on two limbs isn’t going to Improve that particular shopping spree And because we can’t gush enough about The improvements the online lobby is Just to die for you can bring up a menu At any time to queue yourself up for one Of the many online options available but As soon as you’ve done so you’re once Again free roaming around the lobby’s Interior with your equipment of choice You can simply just stand there as it Won’t be long before you find a game or Practice dealing death and swimming Lengths just to keep your hands busy We’re sure nobody can deny that this is A lot better than just a list of names On the right hand side of an otherwise Practically static menu screen all of This adds up to make splatsville the Biggest and most alive feeling of any of Splatoon’s hub worlds but if the
Illusion of reality isn’t your thing you Can burrow yourself into the new in-game Card game on offer table turf battle in This deceptively simple yet dense side Game you’ll be laying various shapes Down to wink as much of the table’s turf As possible with each card offering a Unique and wacky shape to work with it’s A surprisingly well thought out Inclusion and one that we feel that many Other publishers would just choose to Release as a standalone product as it Stands here though it’s a hugely Enjoyable little freebie added into a Game already bursting with content There’s more to do in this game than we Possibly expected and we haven’t even Mentioned the entirely superfluous Custom locker system through a set of Arguably clunky controls you can stuff a Load of things that you own in your Locker to show them off To someone who might want to have a look It’s limited it’s time consuming and it Has no impact whatsoever on the rest of The game but we can’t deny that it’s Just fun to try and cram as much Splatoon related guff into our Rectangular prison as possible and we Haven’t even mentioned salmon runner i Mean we did mention it but we haven’t Mentioned it properly gone are the Arbitrary time restrictions meaning Grizzco is open 24 7 and in their place
Is the horrifying notion that after your Third wave you might come up against a Colossal king salmonid waves feel Tougher but fairer at the same time with The introduction of your ability to Throw eggs and that might sound minor But believe us it is anything but we’ve Had to bust cartfuls of golden eggs from The beach to the high tide egg basket Throw bombs into the mouth of a giant Enemy salmonid as well as classics such As using cannons to keep hordes of Co-hawks at bay it’s certainly more Salmon run but it’s more varied more Exciting more rewarding and more Terrifying but despite all of this we Can’t help but feel that after five long Years Fans deserve something more the table Turf battle is a nice inclusion but Whereas splatoon 2 got the excellent Salmon run to make it truly stand out Over splatoon 1 splatoon 3 struggles to Boast anything as substantial that does Not take away from every one of the Countless improvements featured but it’s Still lacking that one big addition that Is reasonable to expect after so many Years since splatoon 2’s launch in terms Of visuals and performance it’s the same As the minutia we mentioned prior small Changes but oh so many of them ink looks Glossier than ever and reflects light in A way that just makes us want to reach
Out and touch it the inkling and octane Proportions have been lengthened Slightly perhaps these inhabitants are Collectively older and if 59 frames per Second isn’t enough for you we’re Pleased to say that just like all Previous games we could not shake its Rock solid 60 fps loading times are also Supremely fast and when combined with The tighter lobby system we were able to Squeeze far more games into our hours of Playing than we ever would have been Able to in splatoon 2. nice splatoon 3 Is more of the same but refined to Borderline mechanical perfection it’s The most fun we’ve had with an online Shooter in years and for series veterans It makes splatoon 2 feel entirely Redundant for all but it’s unique Single-player content which still isn’t As good it feels like the development Team have solved every single problem The splatoon community has been bleating On about and then fixed some more that We didn’t even realize were problems Until they were fixed there’s nothing Revolutionary about it compared to its Predecessors and it’s perhaps missing a Big new idea that you might expect after Five years but splatoon 3 is the Pinnacle of the series and the pinnacle Of shooters on switch [Music] Oh
[Music] You’ve reached the end of the review uh It’s time for alex’s personal thoughts But i wrote it all i can add is that i Just i just absolutely love this game i I wouldn’t say i’d fallen out of love With splatoon 2 but it wasn’t really Grabbing me in the same way as before And splatoon 3 has dragged me right back In like it really is It’s such an improvement in every regard And I’ve i’ve got to be honest it broke it Broke my heart to you know sort of Say that oh it doesn’t have that one big New idea i just really wish they’d added Something Some new idea in there some big new idea And i know there’s tri-color turf wars But that doesn’t really cut it even Though it doesn’t have that Quote-unquote big new idea Most of the worries that i had during The preview phase have just melted away I mean that that is still a sticking Point but it’s a very minor sticking Point the actual game itself Is just so well refined it is so Gorgeous and if you if you love splatoon 2 And you i would say if you put more than Like 20 hours into it i can highly Recommend this i think you’re going to Have an absolute blast with it and if
You put like 500 hours into splatoon 2 Which i know some of you have Well you’re going to buy this anyway Because it’s a good
