In which rassicas plays (and reviews) Side Order

[@BanishedHand]

I wish the palette lore had more depth. Like each palette's owner would have their own inner reasoning for having a world of Order. Because Order should've been *the* manifestation of *all* order, not only just the octarian's, but also the inkling's and other creature's views of order.

[@StepInTheNightsky]

There is no heterosexual explanation for Marina's diary. And laptop background. And drawings of Pearl. And elevator dialog with Pearl.

[@empirebeach]

i love how everybody in the splatoon community wholeheartedly agrees on the fact that marina definitely has a crush on pearl lmao

[@Pearl_Blossom]

​@@empirebeach even the developers agree, it was officially confirmed on a relationship chart from a few years ago

[@hyperprincess48]

Marina is a confirmed lesbian and there's nothing we can do about it.

[@dragonchicken5659]

There is no heterosexual explanation for marina

[@Inmortuae2233]

Marina def lesbian but idk if pearl is

[@spilledpeaches2376]

i feel like nintendo really set people up for disappointment by initially announcing the dlc with really cool but extremely early concept art, leaving people to think it was gonna be all dark and philosophical. What we did get is amazing and I love it but i have seen some people sad we didn’t get what the concept art showed. Not to mention the silhouette of agent 4 in the promo poster getting everyone’s hopes up about them lol. The main story was also REALLY short like i thought the story would progress a bunch each time you cleared the spire so even when i beat 8’s palette i was just like, “that’s it?” But personally i think the $25 alone was worth seeing iso padre again, i missed him so much :’)

[@Samuel_1802]

"They could've done a little bit more? ...Yeah, they could've done a little bit more" This is honestly Splatoon 3 in a nutshell

[@soffirechange]

fr 😭

[@kraklp0p]

So real i dont understand why the game is like this so often

[@Teriiiyakiii]

I'm kinda mad we never got to see the blurred photos in the first trailer. It's like it was hyping itself up to be a really deep story, but I feel like we didn't get much story-wise at all. Eight didn't even get their memories back, which was kinda the whole point of the Memverse.

[@watcherwhowatches6725]

The nuclear warning architecture had me so hyped

[@Pearl_Blossom]

Eight might've still gotten their memories back, they just didn't show it. Eight's story just kinda ends with no aftermath, no confirmation or denial of anything. Maybe it's because they're still a half-player-insert rather than entirely their own character? Still there could've been more

[@BabyGhast4]

That’s what really irks me about this DLC. The gameplay is great, the atmosphere is great, the music is great and so on, but it really lacks a deeper meaning to me. It felt like there was little worldbuilding, and the tension of the story goes away after the first successful climb since (spoilers) the final boss’ brain gets permanently nuked back into the brain of a toddler.

[@McGeeMcGeeMcGee-g7w]

8 got their memories back in octo expansion. That's what the mem cakes were. Plus the memverse was for sanitized octarians, something 8 never was. I do agree with you otherwise though, the story was really lacking. Like they don't even make the programmers responsible for Order.

[@torthos1]

​@@McGeeMcGeeMcGee-g7wMarina's logs literally state that 8 doesn't remember anything before Kamabo Co., and that's why Marina wanted to test the Memverse on them first, to get their memories back, so idk what kinda fanfiction you're on

[@harriscatron8886]

That Iso Padre reaction...dear god my heart. I was just as excited when I first saw him.

[@undynesgaming9462]

Yes I can't believe they added him into the lobby

[@KhaozDeluxe]

I wished he had a similar role to Murch and Spike though.

[@litterlyjusttj]

i’m so happy we get to see him again! he is criminally underrated

[@dannym2804]

29:47 the number of negative adjectives uttered in this level is very amusing

[@supersaiyankirby]

So glad someone else thought it was funny they kept the 2D dedf1sh png with the new renders for Off the Hook

[@joelsytairo6338]

I noticed that on my second play through it low key creeped me out

[@Katie-hj5eb]

Should have ended in a Pearl & Marina wedding

[@litterlyjusttj]

or one with 8 and 3

[@LemmaEOF]

I can't believe that the Unity game engine is canon to Splatoon now

[@Empy_C.]

wait what? what line of dialog confirmed this??

[@kytoaa_]

Same! My first reaction to seeing it was “that’s just Unity”

[@undynesgaming9462]

Whatcha mean by that?

[@LemmaEOF]

@@Empy_C. The window Marina has up on her screen at 8:05 showing off the Memverse - It has a scene view in the middle, a scene tree in the upper left, the component editor on the right, and the asset navigator on the bottom left, exactly how they're laid out in Unity

[@C_Yo]

This was also my only thoughts during that explanation sequence

[@DrGameNWatch-e3w]

I really feel like you're my Splatoon Matpat. I mean that with utmost respect.

[@aboringperson9069]

A... splatpat?

[@Teriiiyakiii]

Splatty Patty

[@SadSquishyBoy42]

YESSS THIS

[@DrGameNWatch-e3w]

@@aboringperson9069 This had me wheezing at work lmao.

[@TroyVan6654]

We're all game theorists

[@MrTootyRole]

Gotta love how splatoon bosses are slowly turning into Kirby bosses

[@rune2O2O]

they always were kirby bosses

[@yggdrasilsaltar]

the real side order was the friends we made along the way

[@JoyconSwitch]

The real side order was pearl's side order of fries

[@dragoknight489]

i actually kinda liked the smollusk notes being the 'lore' reward for clearing specific palettes just because that gives us little bits of characterization for smollusk itself in a way we haven't really had in-game for any of the previous antagonists except arguably deep cut (and now i wish rotm gave us a similar 'note scraps' thing for deep cut outside of the sunken scrolls for their clans)

[@starlightrai]

I wish there was more about agent 4 in this. Like maybe we can get photos of agent 8 and 4 together as roommates and friends. To build up new players relationship with that boss battle. And maybe we can get a significantly harder one at the end. But that’s just my hopes

[@Devilcakes]

Yeah but like... we both played Agent 4 and Agent 8 in Splat 2. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, one is the golden child here and it ain't the squid.

[@Ivy64_]

​@@Devilcakes I don't think 2's hero mode being the least popular is a good reason to relegate 4 to nothing more than a name drop.

[@Devilcakes]

@Ivy64_ No, I'm coming for 4's throat: "Agent 4 is not the favoured child by Nintendo."

[@waddledeepaddy24]

​@@Devilcakes i find it both funny and messed up how 4 is the only agent that hasn't committed a world-saving act neo 3 defeated grizz 8 defeated tartar and order (and they're not even an official agent) idk anything about splat1's hero mode since i started at splat2, but captain 3 helped with fighting both tartar and grizz and all 4 got to do was beat up octavio to save callie

[@Devilcakes]

@waddledeepaddy24 3 *was* a nameless entity like 4. Who then became sort of a mythic figure in the games following it, starting with Octo Expansion. If you hoped 4 would have more weight than some wig on a mannequin? Sorry... I've kinda not regarded Agent 4 as much, as they lack that identity that other remaining characters have. (See above. 3 and 8.)

[@MayaFey11]

I love that Rassicas' reaction to Iso Padre at the Café was exactly like mine

[@Duckamoly]

There is no neurotypical explanation for the reactions in this video. Great as always

[@Vicvillon]

the 25 minute zones game I felt deep in my heart 😭 you’re so strong for not walking back to the elevator after the first lost life

[@Bi_scotti_5]

sitting here just whisper screaming JUST GLIDE during that splat zone level lmao also I love your smollusk voice

[@rassicas]

at that point in the recording, i thought gliding could only be done coming out of the cages X(

[@TroyVan6654]

You were forced to do a glide from within the map (from the same grate, too) in the tutorial, but people just mindlessly play through tutorials without remembering anything. The grate is there to force you to jump in kid form, not swim form. Guess who proceeded to jump from behind the grate...

[@radsake]

@@TroyVan6654 it is not that deep my guy, sometimes mechanics go over people's heads and that's been a part of gaming since gaming exists lol

[@InkInkly]

she whirling accelerando on my towering nobilmente till i'm drizzling capriccioso

[@watcherwhowatches6725]

😭

[@Pearl_Blossom]

[Extremely loud incorrect buzzer]

[@directrix777TrixieKagami]

This is so great, I hate it so much

[@Glory2Snowstar]

You lost the Zone and the house!

[@TheLetterS-f2c]

She Drizzler on my Steelhead til I Big Shot

[@kirrb-dot-exe]

I liked that they had a lore thing of people moving from splat 2 to 3, with deep cut noting how empty inkopolis square looked nowadays

[@marciiiiii]

at 32:32 me and rassicas both said "25 MINUTES-" in the exact same way at the same time

[@elnic_kai]

my only real gripe with side order is that we didn't get a new ink tank design and that the credits were in the default text instead of the new font they made for the intro that said 'nintendo presents'. made it feel more unpolished than lack of stage variety or anything else.

[@angrychicken7097]

reusing cutscenes and boss fights kinda confirmed the lackluster-ness in side order for me

[@sherbertshortkake6649]

No little art during the credits...no Nogami pose...

[@VerkrVerkr]

im still working on getting all the colour chips to 100% but otherwise its kinda a lackluster experience compared to octo expansion, i wish they had saved marina for the last fight at least to give more purpose than still not getting 8s memory back

[@rassicas]

i think marina's placement so early on is fine considering her role in the story. but yeah they couldve done a bit more with side order in terms of story for sure

[@QueenSharotto]

Sorry to hear about your cold, I hope you’re feeling better.

[@rassicas]

it'd be very concerning if a cold lasted for nearly 3 weeks...but no it went away a while ago, im good now thanks!

[@plaidhatter1674]

​@@rassicas Mine did. Glad you are feeling better.

[@leafymeat8829]

New torture method just dropped and it's called Coverage(Between-Crosshairs)

[@thegoon3840]

*25 FUCKING MINUTES ON ONE LEVEL* ALL U HAD TO DO WAS PRESS B IN THE AIR I CAAAAAANNNNTTTT

[@TroyVan6654]

Or, you know, *not* hold ZL in the air.

[@thegoon3840]

yeah that too lol

[@matiasnl]

I don’t even think you have to push B, it activates automatically istg

[@guster-animations]

the floor is a pain regardless like i dislike it even more than sisyphean

[@ClavicleTheft]

I did the same exact thing the first 2 or 3 times I played that stage to be fair I think it was more like 10 minutes for me though. Probably would've just given up after like 15

[@superlagbro192]

Btw rassicas, you need a 0:00 timestamp for chapters to work. Thought i should mention since chapters are already mostly set up in the description.

[@rassicas]

was wondering why it wasnt working... thanks!

[@pinkbluesapphire]

17:02 sometimes foreshadowing is relatively obvious

[@unburdenedash9295]

Seeing them unlock Murch's pallet made me realize every pallette unlock is random. I thought they were in a fixed order that's pretty cool. Also #freesquidbeats

[@dudalina9223]

29:48 This is so funny to me. Pretty much EVERYONE forgets about the drone in this stage, including me. I had to battle through this stage like 3 times with one loss included before I remembered about the drone gliding

[@undynesgaming9462]

I used drone gliding so much I forget I can't use it after I leave side order 🤣

[@Sunnysideup420]

To be completely fair with the lackluster story, I feel like it’s because there really isn’t much to do with Inklings Vs. Octolings and the whole humanity is dead plot anymore. To me, ROTM felt like a finale for that part of the lore about what the humans left behind. Side Order, in terms of story, feels like the writers are trying to figure out where to go from here. Another comment stated that the way the lore and story is told is like Splatoon 1 which makes more sense when you think about it. I think this was trying to tie loose ends to Splatoon 2 (specifically Octo Expansion because of Iso Padre) while also trying to decide what to do next with the colorful world of Splatoon

[@angrychicken7097]

I agree that there isn’t much to do with humans being dead anymore. Inklings vs Octolings COULD have a little bit more to explore (for example, the octolings are free to go to the surface but what about the rest of the Octarians still stuck underground?), but I agree that the conflict between the two species has pretty much done its time. Maybe the developers did have a “what do we make a story about now?” moment when creating Side Order, but I don’t think that should have been the case at all for them. Cleaning up the remains of Octo Expansion was a great idea as that game opened up a huge side of the lore that we previously didn’t get to see, so expanding on the Expansion is a fair way to set the story. It just feels like they had no idea how to do this. Heck, the story could have been a completely new one too. Octo Expansion’s story had almost nothing to do with the Great Zapfish or Octavio or the Squid Sisters. It told a new story from a different perspective, interwoven perfectly into the overall plot with the inclusion of Off The Hook and Cuttlefish and Agent 8’s identity as an octoling. They could have made a new story from a different perspective again, but they didn’t (and I personally think that’s ok because it would have been less interesting compared to expanding on the Expansion).

[@DekuGamer]

1:42 You and I alike haha. Those backgrounds are too interesting

[@whichcache2517]

36:20 No worries, I've got an enby friend that sometimes accidentally misgenders enby characters as well. Happens to the best of us.

[@koveltskiis8391]

We all make mistakes!

[@gyozapunk]

Imo it's actually better to have these experiences with characters who can't actually be hurt by it, because it gives practice for irl so you don't accidentally misgender anyone who could be hurt by it

[@catchyArsonist]

ur reaction to iso padre was REAL i got so happy seeing him 😭

[@TunaPogluga]

I wish we could have gotten more of a darker/deeper story like the first trailer, I was pretty hyped and was disappointed when we got a very light story. It was a good DLC but imo could've been so much more.

[@Twistystix]

3:26 how did i 100% side order and not know you could make the palette chips make music....

[@undynesgaming9462]

Not a told feature, I had almost gotten all the chips to lvl 3 and accidentally clicked on one of them only to have it play a note, someone somewhere said the if you play the color chips in the final color batter with pearls laser the chips can make the ebb and flow theme?

[@somethingbanter]

in regards to the lore, you gotta remember that all of our dedf1sh lore was through art book stuff and out of game content that no normal player would see. in fact, no normal player knows who acht is outside of their poster and the passing knowledge that they were the dj behind all of octo expac. having that character crop up and the final lore being their sanitization story is actually pretty big for the everyman player. we're just kind of spoiled that we knew so much about Acht before this came out that it doesn't feel like a lot. plus the final boss of octo expac spending its first 2 minutes giving us an infodump about tartar's origin was also kind of... eh. like, it set a big precedent. without that one paragraph of dialogue, octo expac doesn't really have much lore either.

[@mjdevlog]

Appreciated that you take time to edit this out just under 50 minutes! Pure dedication! 32:32 Yeah that level was hell for me too, but on like 15 minutes ish. These level really needs a time limit, like when we survives for more than 20 minutes we can skip the floor or something.

[@Rat_64]

The Memverse is a way to restore memories, right? I think it would’ve been cool if we got a cutscene featuring an important moment from a character’s life whenever we beat their respective palette. Some of my immediate ideas are: -Marina deciding to leave Octarian society -Pearl meeting Marina or perhaps something from their tour -Octavio reacting to the Octarians leaving after Splatoon 1’s story and coming up with a plan to bring them back, leading into Splatoon 2’s story -Callie being taken by Octavio before Splatoon 2 -Marie and Callie performing at a show before they hit it big, maybe singing the original version of Calamari Inkantation -Agent 4 sadposting -Deep Cut’s first meeting, preferably during childhood so we can see Little Man -Deep Cut being bandits -Deep Cut starting the Anarchy Splatcast -Sheldon opening up his first shop or something, I don’t care -Murch developing the necessary quantum abilities to be in two separate cities at once or something, I don’t know -Something really cool and impactful for Agent 8, I have no ideas because anything I say would be too fanfiction-y, maybe a meeting with Tar Tar or something

[@bebbothegreat]

I guess we all expected some mind blowing lore like in octo expansion, so octo feels way better, yeah. Also, Eight's palette should've restored his memory they said, but the devs had the audacity to not make us know anything? Like, come on. I'm sure they are setting it up for Splatoln 4's DLC or something, but we still deserved a little more out of this one (considering it costs more than octo expansion). I also felt like the gameplay wasn't as varied as it could, so that aspect is also a little worse imo. I still liked it, but I wouldn't say I'm satisfied unfortunately

[@Pearl7sp]

i sat there for 15 minutes after the update was released refreshing ngl

[@JmGs-i8d]

The deepest thing given to us storywise with this DLC was a couple pictures and chat logs with Marina showing a bit more of octarian life but so little the grind getting there doesn't seem worth it really, aside from that there was some minor incite regarding events between splatoon 2 and 3 like Pearl alongside Marina having met agent 4 at some point after octo expansion.

[@LostSnowdrift]

29:40 oh no. im surprised you'd even include this in the upload considering how much the internet meme'd on dean takahashi

[@lemonquacklol]

Was waiting for this play through, did not disappoint. I loved the Marina encounter so early on, really made me go “OH”when I first encountered it

[@paulryan220]

I think I have to disagree in the story department. There are lots of cool little details, but the overall narrative feels like Splatoon 1 style of storytelling where anything interesting is 100% in the background. I know Return of the Mammalians wasn't perfect, but it's arguably the most ambitious Splatoon story in terms of how they approached telling its narrative. There really isn't anything in Side Order that's as compelling or engaging as the bait and switch with Octavio in ROTM or ESPECIALLY the rocket ambience, which I still think is the coolest piece of environmental storytelling in all of Splatoon. Adding on to how both campaigns are different, I know how they executed Mr. Grizz wasn't for everyone, but he had a much more memorable presence in ROTM compared to Smollusk. In my opinion, it's frankly a little embarrassing that his entire character's backstory and personality are dripfed through 15-second interactions before you fight him. I rolled my eyes a little when, just before each interaction with him, Pearl steps in to say "hey before we fight let's ask him this question that has huge implications for the lore and existence of this world". Overall, Mr. Grizz role in Alterna felt a lot cooler and added to the themes of Return of the Mammalians far more than what Smollusk added to the Memverse in Side Order. I understand you said ROTM bugged you a lot because there's lots of plot contrivances in order to justify the gameplay loop, and maybe this is a bit biased of me to say, but there are some things in this series that are ridiculous that I just to choose to overlook. In the same series where a cat was given an immortality syrum to grant ETERNAL LIFE and Marina is simply able to create an entire alternate reality, I'm willing to overlook things like kettles existing in Alterna because ROTM does so many other cool things that contribute to a really interesting theme and overall narrative. The Alterna Logs, Alterna as a setting, and Mr. Grizz were so much more enjoyable than anything the Memverse had to offer, which felt like a total waste of an incredibly interesting setting. Despite not being perfect, ROTM finally mixed up Splatoon's approach to storytelling and started to move away from Splatoon's overwhelming reliance on telling instead of showing, so it was disappointing that Side Order's story hypes you up in the beginning only for it to essentially go nowhere, with anything interesting being tucked away in the background, akin to the Sea Scrolls in Octo Valley & Octo Canyon. There are so many things I appreciate in ROTM and I regularly think about how much I liked it when playing this game. Side Order is a great gameplay experience, but is definitely a step back in terms of storytelling imo.

[@thirdwheel9938]

Yall crazy

[@C_Yo]

To your point in the second paragraph, I feel like since the series has canon explanation for what feels like every little thing (super jumps, respawning, etc), it makes these specific things that don't have any explanation stand out.

[@paulryan220]

@@C_Yo That's a fair point, although I think that excuse only goes so far. I can believe things like "Squid Beacons radiate a signal so Inklings/Octolings know where to super jump" is far more believable than "Marina created an entire alternate reality with sentient beings" or especially "humanity, or at least a human, managed to create the solution to eternal life (at least for animals)". Not saying I even have a problem with those things, but in comparison, I think kettles in Alterna or O.R.C.A being a relatively underdeveloped character is pretty minor in comparison. Regardless, I think ROTM does so many other cool things that push the Splatoon series forwards in terms of storytelling, that I'm fine if everything isn't perfect because they're expanding on so much else. The point of my original post was that, in a lot of ways, Side Order's approach to storytelling is the exact OPPOSITE of ROTM's and is a lot less compelling/interesting as a result.

[@C_Yo]

@@paulryan220 yeah that's fair. I really liked the Alterna logs and how it can create some theories about the crystals, and I also liked how we got more lore about Ark Polaris (but the stage still isn't in the game for some reason?)

[@paulryan220]

@@C_Yo I'm pretty sure it's because the King Salmonids can't fit on them, and they probably don't want to resort to a solution like forcing 3rd waves to be low tide so there's enough room. Disappointing, but I guess it makes sense,

[@nolangerrans6083]

I was hoping for the same thing with agent 8 at ammo-knights, especially with the forshadowing and since you have to design agent 8 before you can go to the square anyway. It would have been so cool

[@woahitsfranco5286]

32:30 oh my god all because you forgot gliding exists you poor soul

[@popstarrowlet]

oh.. that's,, my comfort character sitting in a cafe in inkopolis square omg

[@boopergamer]

Im halfway once you finished your first run. But anywho, you said it feels short, and i completely agree lore wise and everything. Im mostly mad how trailers made it look like it was a very dark story with a ton of lore and got basically nothing from the trailer. Using concept art for a dlc trailer when its not even going to be in the dlc is the most unprofessional thing ive ever seen.

[@angrychicken7097]

I wholeheartedly agree

[@dantesdiscoinfernolol]

Seeing people's reactions to the pants jellies, business shrimp, etc. is one of my favorite things about people playing this game, lol. _(Spoilers)_ . . . . Really the only disappointment I have with the story is that Parallel Canon is clearly modelled off Agent 4 - it even pulls from your Splatoon 2 save data! - aaaaaaand it's not actually Agent 4? If it's supposed to be, no one acts like it is, they're just treated like knock-off clones. Agent 4 is mentioned at the very start, Marina asked them to be Memverse security, and yet, they never actually appear. I wish Parallel Canon WAS them, or if it's too hard to work in that much story in the middle of a tower, make Parallel Canon clones, and the real Agent 4 a secret boss ala Inner Agent 3 or something? _(The first encounter with Parallel Canon is real Agent 4 in my heart, I guess...)_

[@didgeridooo]

Side order was so good 😭 i fully 100%'ed it in 4 days and played for like 36 hours in that time

[@ivyw5862]

Lets goo, I’m so excited to see their reaction !!

[@USBmi]

Listen to you get so excited always makes me smile!! Like finally someone else gets it lol

[@Rias-sl6fq]

The excited squeals at the start are so real 😂

[@TheTC]

Part of me wonders if the intro was added last second cuz they couldn't really do as much as they wanted so they wanted a way to say this isn't canon.

[@dahianna.z4564]

DUDE WHEN YOU WERE AT THE SQUARE THE FIRST TIME I WAS WAITING FOR YOUR ISO PRADRE REACTION YELLING AT THE SCREEN “HES ON YOUR RIGHT” ;0;

[@JesseFea]

Good lord you cleared this so fast, you must be really good at this game! Like I was slowly climbing higher and higher the tower over a span of like 7 runs to finish it but you did it in 2! Unfortunately, it seems like actually being good at the game takes a lot away from the experience oof, definitely could have done with some difficulty options

[@Twistystix]

29:40 OKAY I normally would never ever double comment but I feel your pain so bad on this one... except the first time I did that was with the splatling with juuuust too little range and a No-Drone danger. ;w;

[@BIGstonks]

Oh hell naw no pearl danger

[@guster-animations]

3:36 ACHT SAYS “SQUID?” i never noticed this

[@SuperStaticPro]

32:30 Oh.. you poor Soul.. I felt that pain from here. Edit: also yeah. I agree with wanting a little bit more im story and lore. I think the stuff with Acht is cool and finishing up some unexplained stuff in Octo Expansion is excellent. Though I assumed we were gonna get some stuff about Eight. The way the logs talked about the memverse’s goal and how the process worked. I assumed it was gonna impact Eight in some way.

[@Samieisgone]

I love the game play, I still play it a lot like 3 weeks later although I do wish there was more story bc i have a big interests in octarian lore although I did like the cohesiveness of it too! Also 8 definitely deserved some backstory after beating their pallet bc we know nothing about their past sadly

[@MinoriGaming]

in my personal opinion, I think what really sold Octo Expansion's atmosphere was just how long you had to stew on it. It was quite lengthy and Dedf1sh's music is in large part quite mellowed out compared to Splatoon's normal affair, so it gave you a lot of time to contemplate the fucked up little vaporwave world that existed in the Deep Sea Metro. I bring this up because judging from the marketing, Side Order really wanted to aim for a similar air of contemplation that'd let the game's themes draw you in and mesmerise you, but the gameplay itself just doesn't fit that mold whatsoever. The music is too varied and energetic to really lull you into that state of quiet concentration. Its quiet moments are a lot fewer in number and not nearly as long. Say what you will about the 8 ball and picture matching stations in Octo Expansion, but their slow pace and precision-focused gameplay were really good at getting a player focused and immersed in the vibes of the world. The Infinity ball floors by contrast are far too hectic because of the enemy spam, the tendency for the balls to get launched long distances, and the fact that there's an invisible forcefield around the stage, and really that represents the DLC as a whole. It WANTS to be slow, contemplative, and to lure you into its themes, but cannot do that while also being a fast-paced roguelite. That's all to say I do still like Side Order and I think it has a lot of strengths on its own, and I can appreciate the parts where it decided to stand apart from Octo Expansion, rather than trudge in its footsteps like Return of the Mammalians did. I just think the story they were trying to tell didn't quite line up with the gameplay and they both ended up coming at the expense of one another and evening out into an overall pretty decent experience rather than the masterpiece that is Octo Expansion.

[@yoshi.j1571]

29:52 rassicas did you seriously forget you can glide with the pearl drone 😭

[@rassicas]

honestly at that point i thought you could only glide when coming out of the cage, and not just at any jump :')

[@thirdwheel9938]

Starting to think I'm the only mf who cried with side order lmao. The fandom is being kinda cynical about it imo I don't think the story is as as octo expansion's, but I liked how solid it was, both gameplay and storywise Literally my only complaint is they could've dwelled more on the palletes since having a character's soul help you on your gameplay seems like, idk, kind of a big deal???? Great playthrough btw! I really like hearing your thoughts on splatoon. I feel like you're both critical and levelheaded in your splatoon analisis so I really appreciate your videos, most people would disregard it as "well it's a Nintendo game it's not that deep" which feels as a disservice to the game in itself. I love taking this shit seriously it's good for the soul (to me at least)

[@rozzzarukon]

Coverage between crosshairs was the first rigourous level i ever did x( i understand the pain so deeply

[@somethingbanter]

my worry pre-release was that, since they worded it in the interview that their design direction was "what if team order won" everyone started assume this would be an AU where that was the case, and if that had happened it would mean that the events of it would never be referenced again in the mainline canon, or if we swapped canons thereon that splatoon 3 would no longer be canon. i'm glad they handled it in a way that let them have their design element world but also still was canon to the mainline world

[@cohonkersss]

I'm so happy the 25 minute floor was included UAGSJDKFBHVAJSDFDS IM SO SORRY 💀💀

[@jaykebird2go]

I wish we heard more from the other characters whose palettes were present too, like maybe more of what Pearl and Marina thought of them,l (beyond those few lines when you unlock that character's palette), rather than seeing Smollusk's random thoughts that just seems to essentially say "I don't like you!" over and over, although it is a bit amusing lol. I also like that they made this as a followup to Octo Expansion and did fill in some of those gaps that were left dangling. I thought it was going to be pretty light story and lore wise, but I am satisfied with how that turned out. I was so excited to see you post a video on this, and to hear your opinions! Thank you!

[@icyflame716]

It’s fun to see everyone absolutely hating on the same zones stage.

[@ThatGuy-ct6jk]

At 30:00 I also forgot about drone gliding lol. It took me over 10 minutes with splattershot and I never realized until Rassicas pointed out that you can use drone gliding.

[@thatboomerangguy2037]

Seeing as Marina made the vr world for sanitized octarian recovery makes me wonder if it could work with the mammalian octarians as well. (If squidbeak even tells her about them.) She helped all these octarians just to see another group go through something similar.

[@EdgyArmando]

This dlc deserved better. I hate how the jelletons werent faithful to the art in the first reveal trailer. I wanted more realism to Overlorders design. Like if you can put something human into the game like the nils statue, why not use a realistic looking octopus. With the black sludge coated around it of course.😅 I got into the series with this game but the videos you make on its world building make me appreciate it more. After side order I’m just left scratching my head. What’s next for the series’s story?

[@SadSquishyBoy42]

Rassicas… you’re back… hell yeah…. >:D

[@andrewmetz5117]

Some things I think Side Order could have done to satisfy the little bit of me thats wants more from it: Have one more final boss after 8's pallet is beaten. Instead of getting the final boss's views on the characters for beating their pallet, give us a poem like we got from mem cakes in octo expansion. Since the memverse has the connection to the memcakes, give us a memcake poem of some aspect of the characters (with some letters missing to keep it readable while not fully extracting data from the character). Maybe a bit of backstory on Eight, since that is still not fully known to us.

[@TheSmortOne]

Yay! New rassicas vid!

[@TheSmortOne]

I love your content so much! So excited to watch this!!!

[@ShyGuyKart]

THE LEGEND IS BACKKKK! We love you

[@Glory2Snowstar]

OH BOY HERE WE GO I don’t recall much new lore coming from Side Order but I’m hyped to share my suffering of Coverage Between Crosshairs with the Splatoon lorekeeper

[@ariswang4922]

Is it just me or does the final boss resemble some scrapped tartar concepts we saw in haikarawalker

[@lemonexhaustion8525]

thanks for uploading this, it’s nice to see the story without being able to play the game

[@eggmanprettyhotngl.4721]

As an DJ Octavio fan, im surviving off the scraps from Smollusk, Marina, and Acht alone,,, His sticker is on the final DJ setup!! That's so cool!!!!! (I'm losing it)

[@sherbertshortkake6649]

But it was taken off the computer 😢

[@eggmanprettyhotngl.4721]

@@sherbertshortkake6649 I need you to let me have this.

[@edeninreallife]

posted 25 seconds ago lets do this

[@Ray-yj6ts]

I've been waiting for this!!! Thanks!!!

[@taczki2]

My reaction was similar, sitting there at 2 am european time and giggling to myself

[@gitchx9593]

Sideordersideordersideorder 8:38 ohmygod the FEETSIES

[@TheCosmicCloud]

I pretty much agree with all your final thoughts. Side Order was very GOOD, but felt like it fell a little short in both the gameplay and story departments. I’m glad it tied up some loose ends, but I really wish it did a little bit more with its characters, especially Marina, who kinda seems like she had a whole character arc off screen(?) But overall yes, it was very enjoyable and in many ways a satisfying follow up to Octo expansion, which was much needed after the disaster that was ROTM’s plot

[@TheCosmicCloud]

33:29 Also that was an amazing Iso Padre reaction, I felt exactly the same way lol

[@jambles3752]

I'm sorry kind sir, did you just call Return of the Mammalians' story a disaster? I certifiably disagree with your opinion.

[@TheCosmicCloud]

@@jambles3752 "Disaster" might be a bit harsh, but I pretty much have all of the same issues with the story as Rassicas and then some. Alterna is a cool setting, the human lore is great, but the actual character writing is... a bit of a mess, in my opinion. After the great level of detail put into the worldbuilding of the previous games, ROTM fails to explain the basic logic behind its setting and the backstory of its main villain. Half of the characters feel shoehorned in with no purpose, and the ending reveal was frankly just a huge disappointment. I know the story has its fans, but it just really didn't work for me

[@angrychicken7097]

@@TheCosmicCloudYou lowkey just described how Side Order felt. “After the great level of detail put into the worldbuilding of the previous games, [Side Order] fails to explain the basic logic behind its setting and the backstory of its main villain. Half of the characters feel shoehorned in with no purpose, and the ending reveal was frankly just a huge disappointment. I know the story has its fans, but it just really didn't work for me.”

[@TheCosmicCloud]

@@angrychicken7097 ​I can see where you're coming from, but I don't entirely agree. Side Order's wordbuilding is certainly not as strong as Splatoon 1's or Octo Expansion's, but I would argue the world of the Memverse makes sense and has a fairly believable reason to exist. Order isn't my favorite villain by a long shot, but it felt far less offensive than Grizz to me. I can't really argue against the ending being disappointing because... it WAS, but Pearl and Marina are very active members of the story that play much more tangible roles than any of the idols in ROTM, and while Acht doesn't do much, I appreciate their inclusion as a way to give us more insight into the world of the Octarians. I think both stories fail to live up to their true potential and don't even come close to the peak of Octo Expansion, but Side Order was overall a much more satisfying experience for me personally. I can see the pros and cons of both, but that's how I feel

[@ghoststori6578]

dude i was FUMING at that fucking splat zone level i literally forgot you could glide too for some reason lmfao

[@KhaozDeluxe]

29:50-32:35 No way I had the same reaction to this level the first time I played it as well.😂

[@CheesyLizzy]

Dang, sorry your mic didn't pick up everything, that sucks D: I like the subtitles you added though and it's fun watching you experience the game ^^

[@therandomjoshua]

I had no idea you could use the palette chips as a lil soundboard that sooooo coollllll

[@kirbstomp1338]

45:10 ok, I get this but it’s not hard to wrap up the NOTHING they introduced. I seriously prefer mammalians cartoony story that was interesting over side order’s 3 sentences of story.

[@angrychicken7097]

I agree. I personally feel like “all the weird stuff can be explained by the fact that the games takes place in VR” is just lazy writing. Sure, there were real world stakes, but it was just disappointing to me that any weird stuff that is in this memverse world has no effect on the real world. All those weird NPC’s and enemies in the memverse? Not actually real, and they have no backstory other than “Marina programmed them in.” Much different than seeing the train passengers and subway setting in Octo Expansion and saying “yeah, these are real life creatures and settings with real life backstories.”

[@technobeagle9598]

maybe it was just me but side order kind of took some of the magic out of octo expansion. I still love it but like, thinking about why there arent many bosses in side order and the lack of a secret final boss just made me realize the only reason why inner agent 3 exists is because theres already an agent 3 fight. They reused splat2 story mode bosses and 80 levels that barely counts as all unique, while there were cool and special ones there were also a couple that were very similar and most ideas got reused at least once. I think octo expansion is the best splatoon hero mode style campaign hands down and does everything right for that genre but it is a much more limited scope of experiences and corners were being cut all the time. Splatoon is designed gameplay first and I honestly believe that a large reason why sanitation exists is because you dont have to make all new models. However the story that was able to be built from it was weaved in so well through the memcakes, logs, and the finale. Side order's story was probably stunted by the decision to have the main story end after the first completion. Like, in terms of rougelikes, thats weird. They'res obviously the souls with the palate cleansing but again the palates with their weapons came first and the souls being the reason you have to bring them to the top of the tower came second. If you had the true ending of the story be locked behind beating the game with 8's palate the story would have so much more room to explore its themes, like imagine if in the 8 boss fight the freed souls all came to your aid and thats how you stopped the greyscaling, it would have had so much more weight and felt way more like you earned it rather than just vibing so hard you unlock super lesbian death laser mark 2 and then the big bad is neutralized. They chose to end it after the first one though, with everything else being post game. We can only speculate on why, maybe it was the difficulty, maybe they didnt want it to be too long, but for whatever reason it just had no time. Octo expansion also had to be able to be beaten quickly and by players of nearly any skill level but they did that by making all the hard stuff optional but rewarding to make you feel like you have conquered the metro and deserve more than anyone to see the sun. Side order just cant do that, they cant have their cake and eat it too the way octo expansion did and honestly the more I think about it the better side order is in comparison. It is far from perfect but it is fresh in a way splatoon campaigns havent been. The only (technically) reused enemy is the panicking alla mambo (which still was remade and given the physics), this is the largest amount of new enemies added in one game since splatoon 1. It feels like there should be a larger variety enemies and more bosses but compared to octo expansion this game just has so much more things that are new. Yeah it would have been cooler if there were more floor types and more layouts but like, this is so much better than octo expansion for the health of the series. Its all new, and even though that holds it back from being a near perfect experience of the genre like octo expansion I'd take this thing that is so fresh and good that the only real complaints is that it doesnt get to be enough. Side order feels like it is so close to being exceptional but a lot of what its missing would realistically require it to be a full spinoff or the solo mode of a whole new game. It wanted to be more than octo expansion, more than a dlc, and its easy to feel it reaching for that and see where it doesnt quite make it but i think it is honestly crazy it does at all. I really truly beleive that what side order was trying to do makes me like it better than octo expansion, even if it doesnt have the same emotional resonance and lacks the characterization I am still so glad they did not make a third octo expansion and for that matter made something entirely new for the series. As a game its hard to hard to say that one is definitively better, cause then you are talking about what makes art good and, like, blarg. But even though octo expansion excells at being a fun and emotionally engaging experience, side order was built from the ground up in a way that octo expansion doesnt and also is extremely fun and engaging, if not emotionally. I think over time more people will start rating side order closer or maybe even higher than octo expansion and even if its not agreed to be better I think that it represents a shift in single player splatoon that it will be respected for in years to come. sorry for the essay btw

[@litterlyjusttj]

17:01 the way i did the EXACT SAME THING! i can’t play this floor anymore from sheer trauma

[@levelselectleader]

31:30 screaming and crying just use the pearl drone to glide to the other side 😭

[@glowstickspinalfluid]

i want an isopadre amiibo. i love him so much and i'm glad he's back. also an acht one but omg isopadre

[@nullvoid1x]

Cruel_Sisyphean_Eight-Shaped.Floor is true pain took me an hour plus

[@magnafoxodyssey2127]

Yeah screw the Sisyphus stage that early level dual zones crosshair stage is the WORST. ESPECIALLY on short range weapons (tho the trick is to use the glide) I also spent like 20 minutes on tjat fucking level

[@QueenSharotto]

You’re not the only one who HATES the crosshair splat zone stage

[@magnafoxodyssey2127]

​@QueenSharotto People meme on the Sisyphus stage being hard but I never had trouble with it except for the first time I played it, which was complicated by the fact the first time I played it it was also danger lights out plus inked surface. But the crosshair stage gives me conniptions. Learning that you can enter back in the elevator before you start a stage was a life changer I never had to do it again. If it sux, hit da bricks (real winners quit)!!!

[@watcherwhowatches6725]

i think we played side order to unlock the credits theme

[@A_SlickVoid]

My favorite trope in lets plays is seeing someone suffer and hate a level all because they forgot a game function which wouldve essily helped them get through it easy