I think this is a pretty fun little expansion, and a fun little foray into roguelikes for Nintendo. Notice how I said little twice?
I don't want to sound like an entitled gamer with this review, but my biggest complaint with Side Order is that it felt like it was JUST short of being something really special. The first chunk of this DLC is really cool, the tutorial climb up the tower is full of dialogue and character interactions, there's cutscenes and intrigue. You get to the top and win the fight! But uh oh, the real big bad appears! Back to the bottom of the spire with you! Now for the roguelite to begin!
Now the first couple runs of Side Order proper are really fun! Seeing all the new bosses, the new enemies and floor layouts, the new chips to modify your weapon! It's all super cool to see, what's next! With little to no upgrades its super challenging and has a good amount of butt clench! I really was proud of myself for beating it on my third attempt (#humblebrag) because it felt like the odds were against me! I cleared the final boss with my final life and got hyped up for the final sequence of the game! It was a really good time, and now they're challenging me to beat it with every weapon? Sick!
However that's where the cracks start to show.
The first thing that kind of grated on me was that excluding the final boss, there are only 3 possible bosses, and you see 2 of them on each run. This leads to the randomness of bosses during runs being, pretty limited. I wish they had either had all 3 bosses during the run and eliminated the random chance, or perhaps added just one more boss so that there weren't so few boss combos possible. Second, the chips simply aren't as run changing as they should be. The ultimate change in each run is what weapon you're using, it doesn't feel fun to build around certain chips when all that REALLY matters is the gun. Finally, the "hacks" from Marina make subsequent runs trivial once you have enough. After clearing the tower 2-3 times, I don't think I lost a run until the final challenge.
As for the story, well. It's really bare bones. You get scraps each time you beat the final boss with a new weapon, and the dev logs explain how the expansion came to be, but it's not really anything crazy, unlike the octo expansion in the (much better) game before this. There's some cute dialogue in the elevator going up the tower, but in a game that encourages you to beat it at least 12 times, it repeats too soon, and I started skipping it.
Ultimately I think it's the best part of Splatoon 3, which is not a high bar as I think splat 3 is a step down from it's predecessor. So if you already own the game and have 20 bucks to spare, check it out, its fun enough to dive back into Splatoon for a bit.
Finally I want to talk about the final challange Spoilers ahead for that I guess (it's just gameplay mechanics.)
The idea of climbing the tower with no upgrades again was cool, something deserving of a giant reward. It was cool to some extent! I liked only having one life, it made every mistake feel grave and I went into a panic! Beating the final boss as "wimpy" as possible felt cool too...
and then nothing. no cutscene. barebones rewards. nothing. Hell, the story implication is that you just saved your own soul and they don't. really mention that. I was really pissed at this. I get a reskin of a weapon I don't use in the multiplayer, and a sticker for my battle tag? and story wise all i get is a pat on the back from Pearl? come on dude.
I don't want to sound like an entitled gamer with this review, but my biggest complaint with Side Order is that it felt like it was JUST short of being something really special. The first chunk of this DLC is really cool, the tutorial climb up the tower is full of dialogue and character interactions, there's cutscenes and intrigue. You get to the top and win the fight! But uh oh, the real big bad appears! Back to the bottom of the spire with you! Now for the roguelite to begin!
Now the first couple runs of Side Order proper are really fun! Seeing all the new bosses, the new enemies and floor layouts, the new chips to modify your weapon! It's all super cool to see, what's next! With little to no upgrades its super challenging and has a good amount of butt clench! I really was proud of myself for beating it on my third attempt (#humblebrag) because it felt like the odds were against me! I cleared the final boss with my final life and got hyped up for the final sequence of the game! It was a really good time, and now they're challenging me to beat it with every weapon? Sick!
However that's where the cracks start to show.
The first thing that kind of grated on me was that excluding the final boss, there are only 3 possible bosses, and you see 2 of them on each run. This leads to the randomness of bosses during runs being, pretty limited. I wish they had either had all 3 bosses during the run and eliminated the random chance, or perhaps added just one more boss so that there weren't so few boss combos possible. Second, the chips simply aren't as run changing as they should be. The ultimate change in each run is what weapon you're using, it doesn't feel fun to build around certain chips when all that REALLY matters is the gun. Finally, the "hacks" from Marina make subsequent runs trivial once you have enough. After clearing the tower 2-3 times, I don't think I lost a run until the final challenge.
As for the story, well. It's really bare bones. You get scraps each time you beat the final boss with a new weapon, and the dev logs explain how the expansion came to be, but it's not really anything crazy, unlike the octo expansion in the (much better) game before this. There's some cute dialogue in the elevator going up the tower, but in a game that encourages you to beat it at least 12 times, it repeats too soon, and I started skipping it.
Ultimately I think it's the best part of Splatoon 3, which is not a high bar as I think splat 3 is a step down from it's predecessor. So if you already own the game and have 20 bucks to spare, check it out, its fun enough to dive back into Splatoon for a bit.
Finally I want to talk about the final challange Spoilers ahead for that I guess (it's just gameplay mechanics.)
The idea of climbing the tower with no upgrades again was cool, something deserving of a giant reward. It was cool to some extent! I liked only having one life, it made every mistake feel grave and I went into a panic! Beating the final boss as "wimpy" as possible felt cool too...
and then nothing. no cutscene. barebones rewards. nothing. Hell, the story implication is that you just saved your own soul and they don't. really mention that. I was really pissed at this. I get a reskin of a weapon I don't use in the multiplayer, and a sticker for my battle tag? and story wise all i get is a pat on the back from Pearl? come on dude.