Maybe I'll write an actual review some day but here's some quick thoughts:
- The aesthetics are incredible. This game is an artistic achievement, I've never seen anything that looks and feels like it. Amazing touches like the music in the lobby and foyer.
- The gameplay is real damn fun. Getting a good run makes you feel like a god, everything just dies nigh instantly. The main problem is variety: not enough different floor objectives, not enough enemies & bosses, and not enough different color chips. The way the system works where every weapon basically already determines the run since they each have a specific category of power ups they are much more likely to get makes replaying weapons you've already beaten a run with kinda boring.
- The ending is good but frankly, not as good as something like Octo Expansion.
- The music is good too, very different from the rest of the series and I definitely prefer it that way, but again to my ear not as good as Octo.
- The story is fine in isolation but that title ain't lying: Side Order feels like a side mission. If you think about how important to the world of Splatoon the events of Octo Expansion felt and compare that to the events of Side Order, it's hard not to be a bit disappointed. The way it unlocks is pretty strange too: after your first run the story is essentially over but the game leaves many mysteries still open that gradually get answered by doing runs with other weapons. Fine on paper, but even with all of the weapons completed and all of the "lore" read, I still feel Octo had a much stronger impact.
Edit: after lots of mentally going back and forth between 4 and 4.5 stars I think I'll leave it at 4.5. Although this "review" sounds pretty negative it only is because I'm directly comparing it to the pinnacle of Splatoon instead of looking at it in the wider gaming landscape and compared to the other games I've played: yeah this is still leagues above most of them. What can I say, I just like my gay little squid games.
- The aesthetics are incredible. This game is an artistic achievement, I've never seen anything that looks and feels like it. Amazing touches like the music in the lobby and foyer.
- The gameplay is real damn fun. Getting a good run makes you feel like a god, everything just dies nigh instantly. The main problem is variety: not enough different floor objectives, not enough enemies & bosses, and not enough different color chips. The way the system works where every weapon basically already determines the run since they each have a specific category of power ups they are much more likely to get makes replaying weapons you've already beaten a run with kinda boring.
- The ending is good but frankly, not as good as something like Octo Expansion.
- The music is good too, very different from the rest of the series and I definitely prefer it that way, but again to my ear not as good as Octo.
- The story is fine in isolation but that title ain't lying: Side Order feels like a side mission. If you think about how important to the world of Splatoon the events of Octo Expansion felt and compare that to the events of Side Order, it's hard not to be a bit disappointed. The way it unlocks is pretty strange too: after your first run the story is essentially over but the game leaves many mysteries still open that gradually get answered by doing runs with other weapons. Fine on paper, but even with all of the weapons completed and all of the "lore" read, I still feel Octo had a much stronger impact.
Edit: after lots of mentally going back and forth between 4 and 4.5 stars I think I'll leave it at 4.5. Although this "review" sounds pretty negative it only is because I'm directly comparing it to the pinnacle of Splatoon instead of looking at it in the wider gaming landscape and compared to the other games I've played: yeah this is still leagues above most of them. What can I say, I just like my gay little squid games.