Splatoon 2 review by Tyson

Overall

Pass

     The first Splatoon was a game that I found interesting but it didn't end up amazing like I wanted. Nintendo has now released Splatoon 2 and sadly this game does nothing for me. The problems that I had with Splatoon didn't get fixed or changed. This is a game that I cannot recommend to anyone.


Gameplay

     My favorite mode in Splatoon was its single player mode and sadly I came away disappointed with Splatoon 2's single player mode. The story once again focuses on the Octarians stealing the Great Zapfish. It is up to you to beat down the Octarians and get the Great Zapfish back. To make matters worse Callie is also missing and we need to find her. The single player mode still plays out as it did in Splatoon. Each stage is focused around some kind of mechanic like platforms you can move or these sponges that expand you get ink on them. Beating a stage will require you to get the zap fish at the end or in a few stages collecting enough zapfish throughout the stage. Sadly each stage also felt a bit similar. If you played Splatoon then you know what are you getting in these stages. As you beat all the stages in a given area you will then be able to fight the boss of that area. The bosses are pretty neat in a design sense such as fighting some weird toaster oven or a giant samurai squid but sadly they never excited me like they did in the first game. Overall the single player mode just felt boring and in no way feels fresh.

     I think most people will probably play Splatoon 2 for the multiplayer mode and much like in the first game I came away disappointed. The new multiplayer mode Salmon Run is probably the best mode as it has players teaming up to fight fish creatures and collect eggs. But this mode is ruined by a weird time setup. You can only play this mode at certain times during certain days. The rest of the modes are the same as they where Splatoon. So get used to lots and lots of Turf War sessions. I also didn't like how the issues that I had with the first game still aren't fixed. Why can't I change my weapon in the multiplayer lobby or during a respawn. Having to exit out of the multiplayer to make changes to my character is dumb. Also why is the games match making so horrible? Why at level 3 am I going against other players in their 30s? Can't the game find low level players like myself to play with? The new voice chat feature for this game is one the worst setups I have ever seen. You will need to use a mobile device and possibly some cables and adapters to get this to work. Why it was setup like this I will never know. Nintendo just doesn't seem to pay attention to what other developers have accomplished in the online scene and in my opinion it really hurts Splatoon 2.


Control

     The only part of the control setup of Splatoon 2 that I didn't like was its motion controls and you can turn those off. Playing the game with the joy-cons or a pro controller is definitely the way that feels the most enjoyable for me to play this game.


Graphics

     While the graphics are good there is also no form of evolution between Splatoon and Splatoon 2. The game visually is the same as the first game and I found this to be disappointing. Thankfully what is here is good and I did like certain graphical effects like ink effects. The game also runs at a smooth frame rate which is good as well.


Sound

     Like the graphics not much has changed in the audio department and it is a bit sad. Stuff still sounds good though. I also did like the sound used for the inklings language. Overall I just wish the game came out with a lot of new stuff then just feeling like they copied all the assets over from the first game.