Topic: Splatoon 3

@WoomyNNYes You know how the quickest way to get Sheldon licenses is to reach 1 star freshness with a weapon and then move onto a different weapon? Well it's similar here, each weapon allows you to get a certain amount of keys and those keys allow you to unlock more weapons (it's not just weapons though, there's other rewards too).

@Grumblevolcano Thanks! I just fugured it out.
Yeah progress = keys = get weapons

Not a single one anywhere. I was hoping to find/watch something before deciding on this, given that $25 is damn steep for a piece of DLC.

Took me three tries, but I managed to beat side order (with brella)! The bosses were great, the levels were fun, my only criticisms are that the story was a bit half baked and it was a bit too easy. But overall, it was great, and I can't wait to unlock everything!

@VoodooTrumpet Yeah, I got deflated with the DLC when it was announced half of it would be the hub area from the first game so I've been putting off buying it.

Well, after toiling away at school for most of the day, I'm finally able to play Side Order! I've somehow managed to avoid all spoilers for it up until now and I've got a few predictions as to what might happen in this as a result:

• Dedf1sh is the villain
• Agent 4 returns
• They reference Girl Power Station from OE
• There's a remix of Into The Light
• There's an entirely unrevealed main character that you'll eventually meet
• There'll be weapons in this that aren't in multiplayer yet

I'm probably incredibly off-base with the majority of these so we'll see what happens I guess XD

"Half of it would be the hub area"... Inkopolis Plaza from Splatoon 1 was mainly just a bonus to encourage pre-orders. Side order is a single player campaign game. I've already played it for 6 hours. The polish, music, and gameplay design & innovation is quite impressive, I think. I don't regret paying $25 USD, but that's me.

ALREADY WORTH IT IVE ONLY DEFEATED FIRST BOSS AHHHHH

@BingleyBongley You had success with the brella? Really? Impressive. So far, I've made the most progress with the bucket+suction bomb+ink strike. Only gotten to floor 17 or 18 so far. Really struggled with rotating floors boss when I had the charger.

Those of us who've played Side Order so far, how does the performance stand up (Im still waiting for reviews)? I remember seeing the frantic nature of the overview trailer and worrying for stuff like the frame rate and potential lag.

Hello and goodbye, I am leaving until I beat Side Order!

Just spent the last SIX HOURS glued to my TV screen while playing through Side Order and dude. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE THIS IS SO F***ING GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not gonna lie to you: I was really worried about Side Order prior to its release. Splatoon 2 is practically defined by how utterly incredible Octo Expansion was and given how divisive Splatoon 3 has been (for both legitimate and harsh reasons), a lot was riding on Side Order. But (and this makes me happier than you could ever imagine) I'm pleased to say that, so far at least, it has been nothing short of perfection.

Right off the bat, I have to talk about the roguelike mechanics because Squesus Christ they are implemented into Splatoon's core gameplay so well, it genuinely feels like they've been doing it for years beforehand. Everything from the chips to the floor deviations to the enemy types to the PRLZ to the vending machines; everything feeds into each other so well and it really idealises the whole 'ooooooh I can definitely do this next time!' addage that makes roguelikes as a genre feel so great to play. I can definitely see myself pouring dozens of hours into Side Order ALONE, it's just that well-designed from top to bottom.

The story and characters are also pretty fun so far too! I'd definitely say they take a backseat in order to make the gameplay as good as it is, but there's still a ton of great interactions and bits of lore you can uncover for yourself (the Marina Dev Logs in particular are like dopamine to me, I NEED THEM ALL ASAP). Acht's also really cool as well and I definitely think they're going to grow in importance as the runs carry on (plus I'm just super-happy my favourite Splatband character managed to not only get into the games proper, but as a main character at that XD).

Oh and before I forget, special shoutout to the music especially. I remember not being too wowed by Side Order's music when it was initially being shown off in trailers but man: actually hearing it in-game has made me warm up to it considerably. And this isn't even accounting for all the bangers that they didn't show off in advance! (the theme for the fight against the big rotating vortex genuinely sounds like something straight out of Undertale and I love it XD)

Overall, I'm having an absolutely brilliant time so far. We'll see if the repetitiveness that roguelikes can offer suffer from will set in before long but for right now? This is peak Splatoon baby.

OMG, when you go Super Saiyan in the final boss battle..

The stages for new season challenge have been revealed, Mincemeat Metalworks and Marlin Airport further showcasing that there's no surprise second stage.

I'm unsure whether the situation is going for a big finale in Sizzle Season 2024 or perhaps the rumours about Switch 2 being delayed to 2025 results in the final 2 seasons of content (Fresh Season 2024, Sizzle Season 2024) being spread over 4 seasons (Fresh, Sizzle, Drizzle, Chill). In the latter case, FinalFest would be in February 2025.

Switch is kind of in a weird situation at the moment where there's not much left for 1st party multiplayer games. Maybe F-Zero 99 and Tetris 99 gets more events but the only guarantees are that Smash Ultimate has 1 more spirit event and Splatoon 3 definitely has Fresh + Sizzle seasons left.

@WoomyNNYes Surprisingly enough, in side order, I think sprinkler's one of the best subs, and it's personally my 2nd favourite (nothing beats fizzy!). The maps are quiet small, so it effects a sizeable area, it's super useful for the zones levels, and, most importantly, it shreds those big fat fish enemies (I refuse to learn there names). You know how you can throw a sprinkler in the dummies in the lobby to do a surprisingly high amount of damage? Well if you throw a sprinkler and a fat fish walks onto it (which they always do) it completely shreds them. Also, you can sort of forget about your sub. I feel like the main weakness of the brella kit is actually the special. I really like triple splash down, reefslider and kraken for brella, so you can run away in tight situations! Sorry for the hugeblock of text...

@BingleyBongley More than three sentences, you've been reported! XD JK, I don't think it's a big block of text.

@WoomyNNYes I meant the dummies in the multiplayer lobby, where you can throw a sprinkler literally right inside them. Doing that shows how much damage the sprinkler does if all the shots hit. In side order, there are tons of enemies, so most of the shots of a well placed sprinkler will hit. Even if it doesn't always look like it, your sprinkler will do (up to) as much damage as your sprinkler in the lobby dummy. Sprinkler also synergizes well with brella (in Side Order) because it's good at paint and can do lots of chip damage. Brella also spends a lot of time just sort of doing nothing, so it's nice to have a sprinkler painting and stuff. Just remember to place a new one every once in a while because they get weaker over time. I might of exaggerated a bit before, but sprinkler certainly isn't the biggest problem that this hit has. Ink storm sort of sucks, because it can't get you out of tight situations, and its weird paint pattern is much less useful than it is in multiplayer. Brella often gets overwhelmed, and ink storm does nothing to help that. At least its not Wave Breaker... Also, if you want to play brella, I'd recommend upgrading the pearl drone to help with your Doing-nothing-and-just-letting-more-enemies-spawn™ problem. Mobility, ink efficiency and all the damage chips also help a lot. Am I close to your definition of "big block of text"? XD

@Fizza
Oh man, your post has me hyped beyond measure!

I just got my Switch Pro OLED and have been preoccupied 24/7 setting it up and testing games to see their performance issues fixed, and that's been dominating my free time all week to the point I completely forgot about Side Order!

Now I wanna play so bad but gotta go to bed to get up for work tomorrow. 😩

But tomorrow is Friday. This weekend is dedicated to Side Order. It sounds so incredibly, astoundingly, insanely good!

Ahhh, I BEAT IT!!<333 I wasn't in any rush since I was having a great time with multple tries at the tower, and building up buffs. I probably played the tower about 8-9 times before I beat the tower, which took up like 12-15 hours. I was taking my time.

• I don't have any problems with the story. I think it's on par with splatoon stories. I enjoyed it.
• These bosses are great! End boss was pretty amazing.
• Game's music & ending is so polished. Proper splatoon!<3
• Post-game-story is cool. I'm playing the tower again with a different weapon kit. (And I got the things you get for beating the story)

@BingleyBongley OK, the brella kit is actually pretty sick. The sprinkler & ink storm are damage multipliers if you use both at once while also shooting the brella. I got a main weapon shooting rate buff, and a special charge buff, and I'm CRUISING through the floors easier than the bucket/suction bomb/ink strike. Granted, I'm only on floor 11 or 12 at the moment. Anyway, I see why you liked this kit. I'm looking forward to seeing how other weapon kits work out after you get a few buffs on them - really changes the dynamic.

I haven’t played OE but heard this is a bit of a sequel in-terms of story to that, so can anyone summarize the events of that dlc rq?