This review contains spoilers

the DLC kinda disappointed me ngl, I still absolutely love it don't get me wrong, but the story didn't really do much, even with the cutscene of Inkopolis Plaza and The Splatlands getting mind/soul fucked or whatever, it didn't really make me feel like I had any pressure. The end with you just wailing on Order with the saturated chips did feel epic, but nowhere CLOSE to the ending of Octo Expansion, or even Return of The Mammalians.
I might just be a Splatoon nerd, but the difficulty really isn't there in my opinion, I know it's a completely different system, but Octo Expansion really went way harder on the player.
I really wish some more characters were involved, or that reconfiguring the palettes felt way more rewarding, JUST giving you keys is lame, and it would've been cool if they ACTUALLY tied into the story more.
The Dev Diaries explaining that the Memverse was to help people that were sanitized is actually the most interesting part of the story, it's really cool how everything in this series feels like it's connected, but that's really it in terms of interesting story for me, I feel like I can gush about the previous campaigns for hours, but I don't know if I really can for this.
as it stands I would really rather play Octo Expansion or even the Splatoon 3 Hero mode, it's not a problem with me not liking Rougelikes, I actually love returning to the spire so many times, but it's just that the other campaigns make me feel better, it's hard to explain.
None of the songs really stood out for me, which is definitely NOT the case for ANY of the other singleplayer campaigns in the series, the only part where any of the songs even caught my attention was in the FINAL FIGHT when I recognized the song as Ebb & Flow, THAT'S IT, which is a little sad, I'm not saying the music is BAD, not at all, but I won't be listening to it on my free time like I do with the other songs on the series.

it feels like I'm being overly negative, and I like this DLC, I really do, the aesthetic is pretty, the gameplay loop is addicting, the characters are fun. it's just that the stories are what make my favorite Splatoon campaigns, and I KNOW that the story that started in Splatoon 1 ended with Return of The Mammalians, like the developers said in an interview, but it doesn't have to be that for it to be interesting.

either way, Pearl Drone is the best thing ever, so the DLC HAS to be 5/5 /j

Reviewed on Feb 27, 2024


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