Topic: Splatoon 2

The new music felt so weird. Not in a bad way, but it made me lose my focus in the beginning.

@Mintendo It's definitely a big leap away from the original stuff, which was all from the same 'band' (Wet Floor).

I must say, I'm digging the riff-heavy sea shanties more than I was expecting though. And the acid piano stuff is growing on me.

Looks like the recent topic of discussion in the plaza this time is Star Wars Battlefront II's loot boxes. Seeing a lot of posts like "EA, take notes".

I've only seen the one "EA take notes" post (that's an existing meme, by the way). Otherwise the plaza seems quite healthy and positive... unless you're the developers and don't want people pointing out that you accidentally deleted the Great Zapfish.

@Zyrac Oh, I thought it was something that came out of the loot box mess (some of the others I saw were a similar tone). About the Great Zapfish, was it confirmed to be accidental or is it speculation?

@Grumblevolcano Oh, I just meant "existing" in that it's not a new squid thing. I think it did originate from the loot box issue.

It seems they stated on the official Japanese Twitter account that the Great Zapfish's absence is in fact a mistake.

Lost three matches due to disconnects in a single hour. Yep, that's my Splatoon as I know, love and sometimes hate it.

Definitely agree with @-Green- on the Smokeyard. It's so dull looking and its design is just meh. I mostly ignore the lifts (unless it's high tide or the shore is filled with chum). Like with Snapper Canal, I had actually thought they'd split the stage in two but again, nope.

Kinda disappointed we're not walking all over the fruits and veggies in MakoMart but I think it wouldn't be very healthy for the customers if we were allowed to lol. Other than that, I like it. It's got loads of up and downs, not too many open areas.

People are already at Level 52? Sometimes I wonder if these people do other things beyond playing Splatoon. Definitely won't have so much time with Xenoblade 2 releasing next week and the hype is slowly building.

I gotta say I'm not digging the new music. Generally it's fine, sounds like a mix of Rednex and Apocalyptica.
But it's not a great fit for Splatoon at all.
Usually I'm all for changes and new directions, but this time I think they deviated too much from the original Splatoon/Splatoon2 style. It just feels like a completely alien element in the game.

So in a way, I have to agree, it's distracting because it doesn't mesh well with the game.

I should get back into this game. I haven't played it in forever. I mostly just jump in for the Splatfests now, although I missed the last one. Maybe I'll enjoy it more now that the Tri-Slosher isn't nerfed into oblivion. It's one of the only weapons that I can do pretty well with. Everything else, I'm just okay with.

I actually really liked Smokeyard! ..especially because my scores just seemed to go through the roof playing it! ..admittedly, the weapon selection helped (Splatershot + Dualies + Slosher couldn't have been much better for me!) - but I was just loving how action-packed the stage was! ..just seemed to be full-throttle from start to finish - frantic, fast-paced and a whole lot of fun!

I can kinda see where people are coming from regarding the stage perhaps being not the most original creation ever (there doesn't seem to be much point to the movable platforms in the centre, for instance, as others have said) - but I did quite like the general layout - certainly had a whole lot of fun playing it!

I just think that Salmon Run, in general, could benefit from a little more map diversity - possibly taking us to a few more varied locations etc (eg. a different setting - like an ice stage perhaps?) ..but I'll be playing quite a bit more of it, I'm sure - and certainly won't be disappointed if Smokeyard comes up in the rotation

Count me as a Smokeyard fan too. Sure, it's not a super-duper creative layout, but that's not a requirement for it to be fun. I do think the moving platforms can be useful for their speed. And I actually really enjoyed using the E-liter there, even though so many people hate chargers in Salmon Run. There might not be a lot of aesthetic variation in Salmon Run stages, but I like the consistently dreary, post-apocalyptic theme to them.

So, the Hydra showed up. This set certainly has immediate appeal to me - I like Splatlings, I like Autobombs and I like the Splashdown. However, I'm not sure how well these things work together. The Hydra would rather not be in Splashdown range, and it can't comfortably spam Autobombs like with lighter weapons that have them. Still, I guess these tools could provide some good pressure if used well. I'm definitely willing to give it a shot, and I'm doing alright with it in Rainmaker so far.

Edit: I think I jinxed myself. What utter destruction I just suffered.

@Zyrac I don't think Rainmaker is the best mode to use the slower, heavy duty weapons like Dynamo Roller or Hydra in. The objective is just too mobile, and potentially dangerous against entrenched opponents.

The sun in Smokeyard seems consistently more dim, like it's even earlier in the morning than usual. That you can see a cityscape in the distance on top of that somehow makes the map feel even more isolated and creepy than usual.

Huh, in Tower Control on Mako Mart, the spawn point is in a different position than usual. Do any other stages do that?

Not sure if anyone's been watching the Splatoon Koshien matches, but a team of primary school girls (8-14) just ripped up the battlefield and it was amazing. Four slightly sheepish looking men walked away from the stage.

Overpowered schoolchildren aside, it's well worth a watch. The mode is sadly set to Turf War, but the standard of play in all quarters is still impressive.

Not me. I don't really care for the competitive scene, no matter the game. Plus, there are those games where I can't just sit down and watch other people play them, I gotta get up and play my own copy. Splatoon's one of them, Stardew Valley as well.

That aside, this must've been a hilarious match. I'd so love to know what those guys were thinking when they walked offstage lol.

I'll be getting back into this with you guys soon. Now November 25th has passed and Im not so depressed I can balance my site, youtube, game development and playing games.

Which means Splatoon!

@GoldenGamer88 Yeah, I get this. There are lots of games where getting too into (or going anywhere near) the competitive scene makes me feel weirdly uncomfortable.

But with Splatoon, it's such a wonderfully dynamic, creative game that I've found I actually enjoy watching even when
I'm not playing. And I feel I've learnt a lot from it too.

I sort of accidentally watched the Koshien games, as the official account has posted the links to them. Basically, they drive around Japan in a truck filled with gaming stations, which then unfolds into a little open air theatre, and all the people from that region who want to watch or play assemble. It's quite a spectacle!

But yeah, I'm not going to shove competitive nonsense down anyone's throats! I just tuned it, and watched the schoolgirls sweep the field, so I wondered if anyone else had caught a match.

Y'know, I quite enjoy watching and learning from competitive Smash, but competitive Splatoon kind of intimidates me because it involves teams that are actually coordinated and constantly communicating with each other. This may sound strange, but I think I prefer the usual bumbling attempts to work with people you can't really talk to. It's less stressful to me, and I guess I don't want to be shown how pathetic it is by comparison.

@Zyrac Ha, I am the exact opposite. I find competitive Splatoon a surprisingly easy, playful and comfortable thing to watch, whereas competitive Smash scares the living daylights out of me. It makes me want to shrink into a little ball and question if anything I know is real.

I suppose it depends on how closely you can relate to what's going on. I love Smash, but I put it into the 'fun game with friends' camp, whereas Splatoon has sort of driven me into a more competitive online-based mode of thinking by design.

But both games can be enjoyed both ways, and that's pretty magical.

I was at the national Splatoon 2 championship finales at the dutch comic con and I was very intimidated by their immense skill and coordination. It's nothing compared to true Smash Bros competitive though, just watch this video for instance... magic?: