I really love me some Splatoon. I’ve been eagerly waiting for Side Order’s release since Splatoon 3 dropped as it was announced before the game’s initial release. I was immediately on board for another Off The Hook focused DLC campaign as Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion was easily my favorite piece of Splatoon content. Octo Expansion came with a brand new story that delves into aspects of the lore unexplored at that time, fantastic new music, a super interesting setting, and added a new playable species that fans have been begging to play as since the series’ inception. I’ll just rip the bandaid off and say that Side Order comes with none of that. In many ways, it doesn’t feel like it was worth the wait but nonetheless, it does come with its own unique merits that end up adding some value to it.
Splatoon always held a special place for me because it oozes a unique style and aesthetic that is contemporary, lively, full of personality, fashion-forward and deeply experimental, especially in its music. There’s a specific atmosphere to Inkling culture that has been present and ever-evolving in every iteration of the series. Octo Expansion immediately stood out as it was set in the deep underground that included the other creatures that aren’t on the surface with a focus on the titular Octarians and their struggle to break out of the historical oppression they’re in, cathartically culminating with the Octolings reaching the surface and assimilating to its culture. Now all of this is mere subtext as the games are still “you’re a kid that shoots ink” but there’s always something happening under the surface with these single-player campaigns that I always loved looking into.
Octo Expansion was a really tough act to follow, and unfortunately it has cast a giant shadow on Side Order and any future paid-content. Side Order takes place in a new version of Inkopolis Square that has been stripped of all of its life and colors. I won’t be spoiling anything other than what was shown in the initial reveal trailer so I’ll let you go through the thrill of figuring out what has lead things to become this way. Right off the bat, I can tell you my first issue with Side Order and that is its atmosphere and aesthetic, or should I say lack thereof. I understand this bleached-out look was the intention they were going for but it really left this expansion feeling lifeless, dull, and devoid of any personality. Even the music, which I’m used to being experimental and genre-defying, is now spacious and more ambient (in Splatoon standards I mean). I don’t know, I appreciate the drastic shift in atmosphere Side Order offers but it’s just not interesting to me by any means and honestly takes away my favorite aspect about the franchise which is the atmosphere and life.
My second biggest criticism of Sider Order is its story. With the somewhat intriguing premise, my mind kept coming up with theories about what was going on and what happened to everyone and I can say that everything I came up with was a lot more interesting than what was actually happening. I mentioned earlier how all the Splatoon campaigns have some deeper subtext or just something unexpected happening below the surface. That is absolutely not the case with Side Order. Granted, I’m writing this after rolling credits once and I’m aware that there is a completion bonus and I’ve been working towards that. So unless there’s a whole lot locked behind that 100% completion, this story is just whatever. I wish I can say it was predictable but it managed to do everything worse than every prediction I made. There’s really nothing interesting going on here.
This was just kind of crushing especially since it’s pretty much a sequel to Octo Expansion where you even get to play as Eight again but alas, Side Order is no Octo Expansion and doesn’t have so much of what made that special to me. I will say, Pearl and Marina are my favorite characters in the franchise and without getting into the nature of their involvement in Side Order, they are once again the heart of this. I love them with all of my heart and getting to see them again filled me with so much joy.
The gameplay of Side Order is the area where I at least have more positives to say. Side Order is a roguelite mode, my second attempt at the genre after last year’s God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla expansion. I can definitely say I enjoyed this attempt at a roguelite a lot more and I found myself to be having an actual good time with it. The unfortunate baggage that comes with the genre is the loss of meticulously designed levels to procedurally generated ones. I do miss the level design of the previous single-player campaigns, but there’s definitely a lot to appreciate here. They translated the roguelite gameplay loop in a great way actually. The levels have a good amount of variety; they do get repetitive but Splatoon is Splatoon and it feels like it was built for these bite-sized quick challenge type of levels. Especially when that’s ingrained in the identity of the game, just like how Turf Wars are quick matches that you should be able to get in and out of easily, and Side Order manages to fulfill that.
While Side Order feels lackluster as a new single-player campaign, its biggest strength is that it feels like a fun new mode. It can get quite addicting to play through and honestly I feel like it has added some incentive to jump back into Splatoon 3 when I want to get into an offline quick session. 100% completion does require 11 complete runs with different weapons and honestly I’m very compelled to give it a shot. I’ve been wanting a reason to get back into Splatoon 3 and I feel like Side Order provides my money’s worth by adding in a new mode with a fun level of challenge.
Splatoon always held a special place for me because it oozes a unique style and aesthetic that is contemporary, lively, full of personality, fashion-forward and deeply experimental, especially in its music. There’s a specific atmosphere to Inkling culture that has been present and ever-evolving in every iteration of the series. Octo Expansion immediately stood out as it was set in the deep underground that included the other creatures that aren’t on the surface with a focus on the titular Octarians and their struggle to break out of the historical oppression they’re in, cathartically culminating with the Octolings reaching the surface and assimilating to its culture. Now all of this is mere subtext as the games are still “you’re a kid that shoots ink” but there’s always something happening under the surface with these single-player campaigns that I always loved looking into.
Octo Expansion was a really tough act to follow, and unfortunately it has cast a giant shadow on Side Order and any future paid-content. Side Order takes place in a new version of Inkopolis Square that has been stripped of all of its life and colors. I won’t be spoiling anything other than what was shown in the initial reveal trailer so I’ll let you go through the thrill of figuring out what has lead things to become this way. Right off the bat, I can tell you my first issue with Side Order and that is its atmosphere and aesthetic, or should I say lack thereof. I understand this bleached-out look was the intention they were going for but it really left this expansion feeling lifeless, dull, and devoid of any personality. Even the music, which I’m used to being experimental and genre-defying, is now spacious and more ambient (in Splatoon standards I mean). I don’t know, I appreciate the drastic shift in atmosphere Side Order offers but it’s just not interesting to me by any means and honestly takes away my favorite aspect about the franchise which is the atmosphere and life.
My second biggest criticism of Sider Order is its story. With the somewhat intriguing premise, my mind kept coming up with theories about what was going on and what happened to everyone and I can say that everything I came up with was a lot more interesting than what was actually happening. I mentioned earlier how all the Splatoon campaigns have some deeper subtext or just something unexpected happening below the surface. That is absolutely not the case with Side Order. Granted, I’m writing this after rolling credits once and I’m aware that there is a completion bonus and I’ve been working towards that. So unless there’s a whole lot locked behind that 100% completion, this story is just whatever. I wish I can say it was predictable but it managed to do everything worse than every prediction I made. There’s really nothing interesting going on here.
This was just kind of crushing especially since it’s pretty much a sequel to Octo Expansion where you even get to play as Eight again but alas, Side Order is no Octo Expansion and doesn’t have so much of what made that special to me. I will say, Pearl and Marina are my favorite characters in the franchise and without getting into the nature of their involvement in Side Order, they are once again the heart of this. I love them with all of my heart and getting to see them again filled me with so much joy.
The gameplay of Side Order is the area where I at least have more positives to say. Side Order is a roguelite mode, my second attempt at the genre after last year’s God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla expansion. I can definitely say I enjoyed this attempt at a roguelite a lot more and I found myself to be having an actual good time with it. The unfortunate baggage that comes with the genre is the loss of meticulously designed levels to procedurally generated ones. I do miss the level design of the previous single-player campaigns, but there’s definitely a lot to appreciate here. They translated the roguelite gameplay loop in a great way actually. The levels have a good amount of variety; they do get repetitive but Splatoon is Splatoon and it feels like it was built for these bite-sized quick challenge type of levels. Especially when that’s ingrained in the identity of the game, just like how Turf Wars are quick matches that you should be able to get in and out of easily, and Side Order manages to fulfill that.
While Side Order feels lackluster as a new single-player campaign, its biggest strength is that it feels like a fun new mode. It can get quite addicting to play through and honestly I feel like it has added some incentive to jump back into Splatoon 3 when I want to get into an offline quick session. 100% completion does require 11 complete runs with different weapons and honestly I’m very compelled to give it a shot. I’ve been wanting a reason to get back into Splatoon 3 and I feel like Side Order provides my money’s worth by adding in a new mode with a fun level of challenge.