Nintendo has kicked off another round of 'Ask the Developer', a series in which key members of a game's development team dive into the creative process behind some of Nintendo's biggest Switch games. This time, of course, we're looking at Splatoon 3, which is due to release later this week. You can read the full interview with the game's developers right here.
In discussing how the series has grown with its audience and how Nintendo landed on the creative direction for Splatoon 3, game director Seita Inoue revealed a rather surprising source of inspiration for the game: Splatoon 2's final Splatfest event, Chaos vs. Order (yes, we know it wasn't the final final one..!).
If you remember, of course, Chaos won over Order (poor Marina), and this development gave Inoue the inspiration for how to approach the third entry to the series:
"This title is set in the chaotic city of Splatsville, a densely populated area crowded with buildings from various eras. We decided on chaos as the theme for this title because Team Chaos won the "Chaos vs. Order" Splatfest, the final online battle event of Splatoon 2."
Inoue went on to explain that the team has no idea what the outcome of Splatoon 2's final Splatfest event would be, and even went so far as to state that they began imagining how the game might look if 'Order' wound up winning. Personally, we're not so sure it would have turned out so great!
While it's great to hear the full confirmation from Inoue himself, the chaotic direction of Splatoon 3 was nevertheless heavily hinted at when the game was initially revealed back in February:
"Here we see Splatsville, the newly discovered “city of chaos.” It has a dated feel yet seems densely populated. Research indicates that Splatsville’s development has accelerated rapidly since the Final Splatfest a year and a half ago, even though it’s located far from Inkopolis."
In case you missed it, make sure to check out our full review of Splatoon 3; we awarded the game a 9/10, calling it the "pinnacle of shooters on Switch" but highlighting the lack of a much-needed "big new feature".
Are you excited to check out Splatoon 3 later this week? Ink up and let us know in the comments!
[source nintendo.com]
Comments 23
I would've really loved to see a splatoon game set in a dystopia run by marina but this is cool too!
Check out the world map! It’s kinda mind blowing!
Worst kept secret of the last 2 years.
Man, so much attention to world-building is what makes this series feel so alive!
Cool!
People here in the comments predicted this at the time, kudos to you guys for figuring it out!
@Jackpaza0508
Perhaps the DLC will address this in turn, just so Order isn't entirely left out.
Still wish order had won but I will let folks enjoy their game.
deciding between Joker "I'm an agent of chaos" or game/cartoon "Let's get Chaotic". was on the winning side for both final splatfests.
Did anyone have doubts about this?
Seemed deliberate from the first trailer...
For Order I'm imagining a very "city of tomorrow" flavor. I can't imagine it being easy to pull off the urban style Splatoon is known for in that setting.
More interesting is the notion Splatsville grew very fast and very recently, so I wonder if there's going to be a story based reason for the migration. But Inkopolis seems fine so it wasn't the "chaos" of some disaster.
1984-style super-sterile corporate bureaucracy Shell-A-Con Valley where the fresh out of college OG splat kids bring down their employers, and everything goes gradually from black and white to color like that movie Pleasantville.
Order story arc would rule!!
This comes as no surprise to anyone who played the first two games.
Would've loved to see a sleek empire-style map, but this sure is really cool too!
Equips cracked Eye of Justice helmet once again.
MAY ORDER NEVER DIE.
I still want to see what the latter would inspire.
I totally forgot if they outright said this when the Splatfest was happening or it was just so obvious everyone assumed it.
hi honey
So they did the same thing with the final Splatfest from the first Splatoon game, where the winner was the one who helped you in the story mode for Splatoon 2, and the loser becoming the "villain" of the game.
Personally, I was on Team Callie for the final Splatfest from the first game, so I didn't like that she became a "villain" in Splatoon 2. But I hated even worse how she became one, being brainwashed with those hypno-goggles. They really did her dirty in Splatoon 2.
I would have preferred that her jealousy of Marie being more loved than her boiling over, causing her to defect to the Octarians willingly, but during the final battle, she is nearly crushed by the stage collapsing, and Marie saves her life. They have a heart-to-heart, with Marie telling Callie that she was always Number 1 in her book, Callie tearfully apologizes for her actions, and they mend their relationship.
And with this new theme for Splatoon 3, to me, "Order" would sound something more authoritarian in nature, with a shadowy leader of the Inkling city in charge, where freedom of speech, expression, and movement are heavily restricted, and you are part of a small rebellion against them.
Turns out that the shadowy leader is none other than DJ Octavio, leader of the Octarians, himself, attempting to rule the Inklings through subterfuge instead of open warfare this time around.
This causes the rest of the denizens of the Inkling city to rise up against him, even high-ranking Inklings who did not know of his true nature as an Octarian, and overthrow his rule once and for all.
someone upset that if order won it would actually looked beautiful, instead we got chaos, which i theorized a while back in the splatfest mentioning that this was gonna happen except for the fact that i was also thinking/believing that it was gonna be a hot mess, personally i was right, it's edgy but i still like sp3, just don't like that chaos won very much.
ironically enough i still remember the fest in which the ones who chose chaos were going around how it felt rigged the matches, cause even the opposing team was noticing something felt off and it did..played the rounds and still remember how off it felt. it didn't feel fair at all.
so i will take what inou stated with a grain of salt, i really get the feeling the guy wanted chaos to win - should've been honest instead of hiding it? idk odd thing to not just state it right off the bat, anyway i adore the artwork T_T...
Well durr. Called that one when they announced the Splatfest.
Got my preorder in! So hyped! See yall on the field.
Most interesting thing I learned from the "Ask the Developer" series is the fact that the original prototype for Splatoon involved two slabs of Tofu (of all things!) squirting out ink to claim territory. As development progressed, they apparently changed it from Tofu, to Rabbits, to its final form of Squids/Inklings.
Splatsville needs a better name. It doesn’t really give off the chaotic vibes; it just makes me think of camping in the countryside for some reason.
That image looks awfully familiar.
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