Splatoon 3: Chill Season 2023 - Every New Weapon, Stage, Feature

It honestly bums me out how fast I dropped off Splatoon 3, despite a strong hype lead up to the game, and a great first month with it.

But more than 1 and 2, 3 felt like it's been dragging its feet on content updates, with additions being even slower and the first two games. I know it's a bit much to ask for, but Splatoon 3 should have started with a lot more content than it did, and only added to that even more consistently to the point it renders 2 completely obsolete.

But that's just my opinion on the matter. Perhaps one day I'll return to the game, once most/all of the new content is in.

@Browny I think the decision to do 2 years of updates was a blessing and a curse. Splatoon 2 only did a year but they updated the game frequently. I think with 3 they thought the 3 month seasons would let a proper meta develop so they could better understand balance between weapons and find ways to develop new weapons to keep the game fresh, and give players who have strayed to other games a reason to come back. Nintendo has dropped some BIG games since Splatoon 3 dropped, and this gives players time to explore TotK or Mario Wonder and still feel like they can keep up with Splatoon 3. On the other hand, 3 months is a long time to wait for new content and dedicated players start to really feel that lull between updates, and it makes updates feel underwhelming when they finally drop because people have had so much time to build it up in their heads. In my opinion every season update has been huge and has always brought me back for a while to see what’s new, but I’ve also never seen a season update drop where the community didn’t complain about not getting this thing or that thing. I think a monthly release schedule with smaller updates might have been better received. Some weapons have had to wait a looooooong time to get their second kits.

@dr_frahnkunsteen
Honestly, I get the pros and cons as listed, and I even agree with the possible justification.

Follow Splatoon 2, and they burn up their reserves of content too quickly. But the Splatoon 3 model makes everything way too slow as a result.

I think a big part of this stems from Splatoon 3 being on Switch in the first place, rather than on the new console. I look at both, and while both have their own flavors, it's still Splatoon. Outside novelty, why would I want to play 3 over 2 when 2 has a wealth of MORE content, if not inherently "new"?

It's a bit of a mess either way. I don't begrudge the game or Nintendo, honestly. Mostly lament for myself that the game couldn't hold me as long as Splatoon 2 did. And I don't attribute that to series fatigue, as I want to play more Splatoon. But if all I'm doing is the same half dozen maps...

It's a bit of a sad pickle.

So happy to have the dualies with splashdown back. Was one of my favourite set ups in 2. 3 has been the better game in my opinion, and I’ve put more hours into it than I did 2. Honestly just being able to matchmake with my friends in any mode, with ease, will always put splatoon 3 way higher in my books. I’ve enjoyed the catalogues and “battle pass” esque seasons and updates. Amazing game

@JimNorman

Undercover Sorella Brella - All the same stats as the normal Sorella Brella but teamed up with a Torpedo and Splattercolor Screen.

This is actually a re-kit of the Undercover Brella. The Sorella Brella is the re-kit of the Splat Brella.

@Grim @Browny

I’ve taken to the idea that Splatoon, for better or worse, is a perfect candidate for a first free-to-play “live service” game from Nintendo. Yes, that involves the baggage that comes with the term, but there’s also some upsides, and the timing seems to line up too well. I’ll explain…

1. The seasonality of updates, with catalogs, weapon kits, and quality of life improvements, already falls under the “live service” banner, albeit one where the only costs are the price of the base game and the time investment a player chooses to put into each season.

2. With this in mind, Nintendo could choose to remove the barrier to entry that is the cost of the base game, and perhaps use a model like Halo Infinite’s, where the multiplayer is free-to-play, but the single-player campaign is a typical purchase for actual money from the store. Nintendo has seemingly been inching this way even with Splatoon 3, with the aforementioned seasonality of content, the additional single player DLC, the near-monthly Splatfests, certain other aspects such as Sheldon tickets to purchase weapons, and even PvE in the form of Salmon Run.

3. The move to this model for the series could help with the balance between drip-feeding content around seasons, and getting burnt out on content by just a few months in. That’s not to say the latter situation isn’t even more likely with a F2P/Live Service model, but it could also just be my own tendency to become overwhelmed by the finite nature of it, as that’s the biggest reason I don’t even attempt to progress the catalogs anymore myself.

4. Nintendo promised two free years of Splatoon 3 content updates, and the end of that promised two years leaves enough time in the year for Nintendo to announce their next console (my money’s on Super Nintendo Switch) and potentially the next entry in the Splatoon series. Of course, since we’d all love to see backwards compatibility with the first Switch generation, they could also announce the new console earlier in the year, potentially lining up with a new season in Splatoon 3, or even renewing the promise of seasonal updates beyond two years, which could still line up with a new console.

5. It’s a real stretch, but earlier in the year next year is when Nintendo will be shutting down online for Wii U, and of course the Wii U was the console that Splatoon originated on, so Nintendo could go full-circle and release the next Splatoon as just that, which would work from the perspective of repurposing the original name as a name for a F2P “live service” project, and as a path forward from the trilogy to something more in-line with what the series is known for (multiplayer).

All of that being said, I’m not entirely sure Nintendo is that forward-thinking just yet…