This is what Splatoon 2 should have been the whole time. Reviewing this game at launch will probably be a very dated thing to do considering it will probably look completely different in a year or so, but I don't have that much bad to say about it. Hopefully it will only get better from here. Grizzco should have been open 24/7 from the start and the fact that it wasn't in splat2 was actually braindead. It still annoys me that there are only two stages for each battle rotation. If one of them has Wahoo World, I'm immediately playing a different mode. Fortunately, one of the best parts about Splatoon 3, is that I can switch up whatever I'm doing and still retain my attention. Splitting ranked modes into single and series was actually a great move, because single is super low stakes and I feel way more comfortable trying out new weapon sets and generally just not getting tilted. If one of the ranked modes has rainmaker (ew!), I can just switch to the other ranked mode anytime I want. If I'm bored of battling in general, I can cool off with some tableturf battles.
The new special weapons are super fun and way better than most of the previous games'. I'm not a fan of the stringer weapon type, but I could get used to the splatana.
The story mode was better than past base game story modes, but didn't surpass Octo Expansion imo. I wish you were able to unlock the hero replica weapons of all weapon types like in splat2. As of right now, you only get the hero shot.
Salmon Run always ruled and it only really got better. I love how there are more rewards and customization options, because after I hit profreshional in splat2, I felt there was little reason to keep playing.
Customization in general will keep this game alive so much longer than the others, if the devs put some stake in it. Unlocking emotes, splashtags, locker items, etc. gives the proper extrinsic motivation that players need to keep playing after they squeeze this game dry for 100+ hours. That goes for cool gear as well. More, please.
The dripfeed-style content distribution that the splatoon team loves to do is not something I'm too fond of, but with the amount of modes that are already present (and other games I have to play), I'm not nearly as upset about it as I was with splatoon 2. Confirming DLC pre-release was very scummy, but as long as I get my money's worth in content, I'll be okay.
The worst part about this game is the servers. Full stop, they suck. Communication errors happen way too frequently, and they're always server-side. I may change the rating in the future based on how the forthcoming waves of content are, but this game will never deserve higher than what it has now if the communication and server issues don't get a major fix.
But yeah this game is fun!
The new special weapons are super fun and way better than most of the previous games'. I'm not a fan of the stringer weapon type, but I could get used to the splatana.
The story mode was better than past base game story modes, but didn't surpass Octo Expansion imo. I wish you were able to unlock the hero replica weapons of all weapon types like in splat2. As of right now, you only get the hero shot.
Salmon Run always ruled and it only really got better. I love how there are more rewards and customization options, because after I hit profreshional in splat2, I felt there was little reason to keep playing.
Customization in general will keep this game alive so much longer than the others, if the devs put some stake in it. Unlocking emotes, splashtags, locker items, etc. gives the proper extrinsic motivation that players need to keep playing after they squeeze this game dry for 100+ hours. That goes for cool gear as well. More, please.
The dripfeed-style content distribution that the splatoon team loves to do is not something I'm too fond of, but with the amount of modes that are already present (and other games I have to play), I'm not nearly as upset about it as I was with splatoon 2. Confirming DLC pre-release was very scummy, but as long as I get my money's worth in content, I'll be okay.
The worst part about this game is the servers. Full stop, they suck. Communication errors happen way too frequently, and they're always server-side. I may change the rating in the future based on how the forthcoming waves of content are, but this game will never deserve higher than what it has now if the communication and server issues don't get a major fix.
But yeah this game is fun!