Nintendo’s biggest titles tend to strike an interesting balance between gameplay and story. Shigeru Miyamoto is often cited as a proponent of fun mechanics over story, leading to controversial entries in the super mario franchisee. However, The Legend of Zelda is full of iconic stories and characters, and MercurySteam’s Metroid Dread ended the story of the series that had been building since 1986 splatoon franchise is more about gameplay as Nintendo’s answer to live-service shooters, but Splatoon 3 have the most narrative impact to date.
While the legacy of names like super mario and The Legend of Zelda speak for themselves, splatoon is a more recent venture. It debuted in 2015 and quickly became a powerhouse, according to Nintendo’s Investor Relations financial data (as of March 31, 2022) the sixth best-selling Wii U game. That success resulted in a Switch sequel just two years later, which received a massive DLC expansion in 2018. Splatoon 3 don’t wait for a new console, but it can make up for that with an impressive story that follows Splatoon 2‘s Octo expansion based on comments prior to launch next Friday.
Splatoon’s story so far
As mentioned, splatoon is a kid-friendly shooter series based around online multiplayer matches similar to Duty or Halo. Multiplayer is where fans will spend most of their time, but as in those other franchises, there are single-player activities that help people learn the ropes before going head-to-head. The main story content in splatoon and Splatoon 2Called “Octo Valley” and “Octo Canyon” respectively, are as easy as it gets.
In Octo Valley, players Inkling becomes Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon and helps undercover idols Callie and Marie (the Squid Sisters) free the Great Zapfish that is powering Inkopolis from Octarian leader DJ Octavio. Octo Canyon is similar, with players acting as Agent 4 and also battling a brainwashed Callie. However, the Octo expansion is where it went deep. This DLC allowed players to choose Octoling characters for the first time, freed from Octarian control thanks to the Squid Sisters’ “Calamari Inkantation” performed during the first game. The newly dubbed Agent 8 works with Splatoon 2‘s idol band Off the Hook to stop a darker plot: AI commander Tartar tries to wipe out Inkling society.
A lot of splatoonIts narrative strengths have always been a result of environmental narratives, allowing players to learn more about this post-apocalyptic society of evolved marine life through the cities and scant documentation of the collapse of humanity. Octo Expansion took it a step further by not only giving more weight to the story of the original game, including a boss fight with Agent 3 ‘cleaned up’ by Commander Tartar, but also using that as a way to present details about world building . Splatoon 3 promises to pull more on this thread.
Splatoon 3 is smart to make way for more
Fans who entered Splatoon 3The Splatfest World Premiere knows that the game is moving away from Inkopolis, instead set in the Splatlands, where a town called Splatsville appears outside the ruins of Paris, France. Early marketing revealed that the game’s story mode is called “Return of the Mammalians”, which carries the torch of the Octo expansion by putting Agent 3 in charge of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. The player’s custom character instead becomes a new Agent 3, who is sent to a missile launch site in an icy region called Alterna to investigate bizarre clutter that makes Octarians blurry.
The Splatoon 3 Directly on August 10, did not provide many new details about what to expect from Return of the Mammalians, but it promised fans that they will “experience the epic finale of this Splat-tastic saga.” This will not be the end of the general given content Splatoon 3 has a shelf life of about two years, and “large-scale paid DLC” is on the way, according to the Direct. However, with fragments of story footage from DJ Octario and captured Zapfish, this points to the end of splatoon‘Octarian War’ storyline.
Since Inklings and Octolings live peacefully in Splatsville, it makes sense for Nintendo to finish off the aggressive cult of opponents led by DJ Octario. By doing so, the franchise will be given a new lease of life and space to hopefully explore more complex ideas, such as the threat of residual old-fashioned technology as seen in Splatoon 2Octo expansion. Hopefully Return of the Mammalians ends things on a high note anyway, that way fans will be interested to see what comes in the inevitable Splatoon 4 and further.
Splatoon 3 will be released on September 9 for Nintendo Switch.
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