Why SPLATOON is a “Perfect” game

[@ShadowHawk180]

Other developers: “Here’s a cool little tune we made for multiplayer battles.” Splatoon developers: “This song you’ll hear during multiplayer battles is the first single released by Axe Anglerfish as a solo artist after leaving Typhoon Tribe over creative differences. The influences of TT is definitely still there, but Axe is clearly branching out and getting experimental with his sound. Rumor has it that he’s working on a secret collaboration with a certain someone…”

[@aperson1500]

the detail put into the bands is one of my favourite details about splatoon lore. not only does the game have one of the best soundtracks in any video game, but each song is made by an ingame fictional band/artist, who has their own story and characterisation... it's insane. you can really feel the love the devs have for the franchise

[@Exshem]

Ink is the central mechanic of Splatoon, and currently the best one can find in a shooter genre. It unites and harmonizes everything, from shooting and movement to aesthetics and lore.

[@WarningStrangerDanger]

Ultrakill's blood-is-fuel™ and Doom's push-forward combat™ are close. Both encourage you to sit up and take an active role.

[@ethanbaer65]

I honestly get really annoyed when people call splatoon a "kids game." This game is not designed to be a kids game. I guarantee that there are more or at least as many little kids playing cod or halo as splatoon. It's such a good freaking game and has a rediculously high skill cap, but somehow is still pretty forgiving to beginners.

[@ShadowSkyX]

The only kid thing about it is the rating and how it outwardly looks. The kind of weapons are more unique because they are things you'd imagine using like a weapon as a kid. It's a unique blend of childhood imagination and nostalgia I've never experienced, and i adore it so much. This game reawakened old good memories from childhood i had forgotten about, and made a shooter fun again.

[@ProChara]

The core movement/inking mechanics of Splatoon have been amazing since day 1 its pretty impressive they got it right that try. Splatoon 3 improved a lot to me by mostly allowing you to do more with that system at its best. This was a great summary and explanation of how the risk reward works. Personally I feel the kit system could also see major improvements, its just a bit dated from era with so few weapons/subs/specials, but we'll see what they do in the future.

[@HappyAntenna-TheBlackerBaron]

Hey its that one guy who plays that splatoon game.

[@squiddler7731]

To this day I still marvel at just how well the ink mechanic unifies everything in this game. Like think about it: in any other game, sprinting, crouching and reloading would each be separate actions, and each one would come at some kind of cost (can't shoot, slower move speed, maybe locked in an animation). But in splatoon, all of these things are the same action in swimming, and in any other game having all of this utility with all this mobility would be overwhelming, maybe even broken. But because it all ties back to ink and the fact that you have to stop swimming to shoot again, it's perfectly manageable. You're never expected to shoot enemies while simultaneously moving at high speeds, which makes the game more approachable than if players were always moving that fast. And for opposing players, you can stop them in their tracks by painting their feet; do that and suddenly all that speed and utility is gone, which is how you win fights. It even perfectly complements the teamwork aspect because a teammate can paint for you: having a teammate ink the ground to help you move or escape danger is so much more helpful and tangible than if there were just some healing weapon added to the game. By giving players the ability to universally interact with the world directly and not just with eachother, the game is able to allow teammates to help eachother and hinder opponents in a way that practically no other shooter can.

[@junkyunn]

this is so beautifully put together

[@superlagbro192]

And with turf war, every bullet fired contributes to victory, so you never feel like you're wasting ink or time, and newbies don't feel as pressured to engage in fights.

[@robert2german]

What makes the focus on inking turf so genius is that, ironically, splating others while avoiding getting splatted yourself becomes more strategically significant, because it loops back into the objectives - splatting the enemy reduces their ability to take turf, while staying unsplatted feeds into your ability to taking turf and other objectives.

[@jasonzervos]

The lack of after-purchase paiments/micro-transactions (except NSO) is underappreciated. We get 20+ Splatfests, Big Runs, challenges, new weapons, new stages, new specials, a ton of quality of life improvements, a ton of balance patches, plenty of new gear and personalization and generally an active support from the developers for 2+ years after buying only once the game. It's pretty fair by Nintendo all that

[@PatchworkRose567]

The only paid add on content they seem to do is Amiibo and Single Player expansions. They do both give the player gear and weapons to use in multiplayer but they are both pretty much aesthetic as the weapons are the same build as their basic counterparts and the gear has the same abilities as the countless pieces of gear that exist that everyone has access to. You can play only Splatoon’s multiplayer and still end up in the same place as the players who have bought all of the amiibo and content expansions.

[@SloppyChar]

The reason that Splatoon is so fun for me is because of how different it is. You could put COD, Rainbow 6 siege, and CSGO right next to each other, and You can barley tell the difference. But Splatoon's design is so different, that it will never feel stale or recycled, because it's the first of its kind. A fun, original, shooter game.

[@NorthernDruid]

Part of the genius is that the point made in the video about inking territory being just as valuable as splatting opponents to a large extent also holds true for the more traditional-objective focused ranked modes. In the other modes it's not literally the core objective to hold as much ground as possible, but because being on the opponent's terrain slows your movement speed down to a crawl your agency in playing towards the objective is directly impacted by how much of the map you hold.

[@Dragonrider1227]

What’s most impressive is how it managed to become such a big franchise by premiering on the Wii U. One of Nintendo’s most lowest selling consoles

[@_eggers]

Aside from the core mechanics being so well designed, it was the game that justified the WiiU’s game pad for me. I still hate having to bring up the map on the main screen, it was so much better having it in your hands at all times.

[@matt2027]

To an extent, I think it's debut on the WiiU was a blessing in disguise. It sort of served as a massive beta test for what Splatoon could become.

[@Dragonrider1227]

@@_eggers so I’ve heard. Despite having a Wii U I didn’t actually get into Splatoon until the second one had that free trial. And kinda kick myself for not giving it a shot sooner. I mostly played Mario Maker on the Wii U

[@Lisku_]

its sad how many people don’t play it because its a “kids game because its made by nintendo”

[@Stephen-Fox]

It really does feel like between S2 and S3, the good map designers went to Salmon Run because all of the new Salmon Run stages are fantastic. The other thing about squid form - As I think Dan Floyd put it - Only Nintendo would think to take the functionality of what in other shooters would be crouch, sprint, and reload, and make them the same verb. (That that verb used to be "squid" - I think it's been retconned to swim since the introduction of octolings - is besides the point)

[@silvertusk5491]

One thing I thought you should've mentioned is the Anarchy modes. They give more variety to the gameplay and a way to end games early if one team is clearly better.

[@sir_tut2949]

I tell everyone I can how Splatoon is the best shooter I've ever played. Most people don't give it a chance because it's on Nintendo and the aesthetic. I push through and just hope those I tell give it a shot and fall in love like I have.

[@asimplecadence]

One thing I love is that squids and octopi really are that aggressive in real life, so they're a great fantastic character for a shooter without having to particularly have a central premise about war. Though there is a war in the lore, the atmosphere is primarily about having healthy competition and having healthy rivalry. This is reinforced by character conversations constantly. Sososo good.

[@andynelson323]

Good analysis on game design! I've always thought the core gameplay of Splatoon was really solid. I'm kind of surprised you didn't touch on the ranked modes, since I'd argue the gameplay is even better (or at least more skill based). But Turf War is what most people play, and that's the most important thing to cover. Keep up the good work!

[@monkeychief1904]

This is a really well written video! You really captured the basic mechanics, I would love to see a follow-up video talking about the ranked modes too, cause it really is all based on the same principles as turf war, if you focus purely on the objective, you won’t actually win. It’s still about taking turf, but doing it in a more strategic way, for example if you don’t take the turf/space in front of the tower in tc you’ll have no forward momentum when you get on and the enemy team will be able to come right up to you.

[@theberrycake]

i always thought I didn't like shooter games until i got splatoon, but i realized that i just dont like the dark, war style of other games. Not to mention splatoon is jam packed with little bits of lore and when it comes to lore i am a squee-g

[@reborn2856]

This is a really good video, and absolutely needs to blow up. The only thing that disappointed me was that not once did you talk about the ranked modes or splatfests, since these too are integral parts of the game and without them we would get bored of the gameplay loop much quicker. Still, you did a really good job at explaining what makes Splatoon so different from other shooters!

[@Moutchitos]

2:15 have you ever played ranked

[@Tiquono]

Well hello there small channel! I really enjoyed this video and hope you grow! You're clearly passionate and you've got some good writing skills which you'll undoubtedly keep developing over time! That said, I'd like to offer some critiques. Mainly, do more of your own editing. Use a wider variety of footage (you can use other people's footage as long as you give credit, but if you can get your own footage that's even better); use footage that proves the point you're trying to make (for example, when you're talking about your safe state, you could show a clip of hiding in the ink as someone walks by). In an analysis/discussion style video like this, use more text to highlight the points you're making (you did this well with the diagram, but it could have been done for the rest of the video too). Also, as a smaller nitpick, please don't talk about Turf War as if it's the only/most important mode in the game. Nintendo seems to think that with its marketing and I kinda hate it and I'm sure other people do as well.

[@humanreal255]

Most people think turf war is the only game mode in splatoon and that’s because its the only mode advertised and you have to play for hours to get to level 10 to play the other pvp modes and those are locked to the ranked playlists which sucks but is a bit understandable

[@TheRenaissanceOfficial]

Thanks for the advice

[@reeseseater12]

It is truly a unique game in the genre and I'm like you, I typically don't like the genre but SPlatoon just nails it. One thing about the map design you have to remember is the most important thing about it is that the maps have to be symmetrical in order to put the teams on a level playing field. Even if it's the same amount of surface area changing one side could give a team an advantage or disadvantage because of it. So I do see that as a potential limiter when designing maps, but as they go on I'm sure they'll figure it out and refine it

[@SpaceCadet22]

Glad you specified the core of the game being perfect. Splatoon is my favorite game series of all time but despite having to pay for online, the matchmaking has only gotten worse between entries. It never used to be possible to get two of the same weapon on a team unless both teams get at least one but in 3 it happens very regularly. Something like Double Tri-Stringer vs Double Bloblobber in any ranked mode should not be possible, b but yet it's happened to me before. Despite that, due to that core gameplay loop, it's still my favorite game of all time. I'll deal with the bad matchmaking and peer-to-peer communication if it means more of this game.

[@MegaManNeo]

This series is really fun to play. I'm glad my friend introduced me to the other modes past Turfwar as well :)

[@jjQlLlLq]

Hmm question, have you only been playing turf wars? Cuz inking turf is important yes, cuz map control is important for team's movement as you said, but in ranked mode, the main objective is quite equally to turf and to push objective. Turfing gives you specials, where if you coordinate it with your team it's gonna give your team pushing power to splat enemies & advance the objective especially through choke points. In ranked mode, if you don't eventually splat enemies & push objective, then there's no point in turfing.

[@_eggers]

Splatoon is exactly what I expected from Nintendo’s take on the shooter genre. They built Mario the same way, where just jumping lets you avoid obstacles, kill enemies & get power ups.

[@turtleyoutubeaccount]

videos like this tend to focus so much on turf war when every other mode is so much better and it’s a shame but i guess it’s a product of the marketing

[@walkerpierce5446]

We Splatling users: All risk state, all the time!

[@BlackF0x_]

It is a shame such a great game formula is almost spoiled by poor online connectivity(

[@omegacanon]

If we keep getting good maps like airport that will help

[@timoth4529]

You know with alot of these videos from tourists into Splatoon I feel like they kind of get things right but dont understand why the things are right it is really fascinating.

[@gunjak87]

It is perfect alright as a shooter.. But on the multiplayer scene, the matchmaking and connection issues needs work.. Other than that i love this game so bad!!!

[@Potato-so6zr]

I haven’t had much of those issues lately other than matchmaking taking some time.

[@mellow8176]

awesome stuff! one other loop is how fantastic, deep worldbuilding sort of inherently boosts stories. for example, the octo / squid divide is so intense that octo expansions story is one of my favorite of all time just by sending some characters from one society to the other. meanwhile, even while alternas villain was a bit of a flop imo, it came from such an interesting spot of the lore i was hype. AND gave us more alterna lore!

[@engineergaming3830]

I really enjoy singleplayer games as well but there's nothing better than playing a game with your friends

[@phoenixmorphix]

With8:26 without NSO, you only have access to to story mode and recon. No cosmetics, no multiplayer, no lockers.

[@chunkymonkey7983]

He says that later

[@ogerponreject]

great video!! very in-depth, but wdym the story is weak :( i can def see it for 1 and 2’s base campaign, but everything octo expansion and above goes so insane with the stories!! its like the octo expansion was an answer to the criticisms that’s just my opinion tho!

[@humanreal255]

Splatoon has a lot of lore and the lore is amazing but the story’s are weak like look at side order the only good story in splatoon is Octo expansion and the English translators ruined return of the mammalian they replaced all of Mr grizzes dialogue where he talks about his motives and make him a better character with jokes and that kinda sucks now a whole bunch of people will play splatoon 3 and think Mr grizz is the worst villain in the series and is just a joke character but if they played the Japanese version of the game they would see how good of a character he is and how is motives are more understandable

[@teroblepuns]

The only imperfect thing about the game is the dogshit peer-to-peer netcode that makes online experience laggy as heck

[@glutton07]

Yup. Some stages are literally tetriminoes

[@Shuck34]

Wait until this man realizes anarchy exists

[@eeskaatt]

he didn’t even touch up on the other modes, salmon run and the roguelite shooter take in Side Order dlc.

[@Toyoben_]

Cool vid! :)

[@MikaAndree]

1:10 this statement is not true with that one World 5 level from Splatoon 2, you know what level it is

[@0ctAdar.io712]

Don’t worry, you did an amazing job at summarizing everything

[@JGr2000]

I am into shooters and I grew up playing cod. I love Splatoon, but I really want the devs to add a team detachmatch style mode to future Splatoon games. You would still be incentivized to shoot the ground with ink so you can move around faster

[@hentloll1370]

I personally would feel more iffy on deathmatch style modes in splatoon. A deathmatch mode would disproportionately bias towards backline weapons, since they die less on average. It's not uncommon for frontline weapons to die super frequently during a match, especially for assassin/"rat" type weapons such as sploosh, tetra, and carbon. Additionally, the game has many fast killtimes or oneshots. Besides, the non-turf war modes have what you just stated of an objective that is separate from shooting the ground

[@timoth4529]

Anarchy Battles exsist, they basicly offer what you are asking for. Its not just more turf war its actual objectives with alot more focus on fighting depending on the role you are filling.

[@humanreal255]

There’s more game modes than turf war there’s tower control and splat zones and rainbmaker and clam blitz I feel like if they added deathmatch a lot of weapons would become useless on deathmatch and everyone would just want to play death match instead of the other the modes

[@LOZFFVII]

You didn’t even bring up ranked matches or salmon run.😂 Good video. Glad the algorithm recommended me something from such a small channel to show it isn’t totally useless.

[@Enan63.]

Splatoon, DOOM and ULTRAKILL holy trinty of fun high speed fast paced shooting both gameplay and story!!!!!!

[@aisaboringname]

"they constantly release patches and updates that continue to balance things further" the most recent patch, fitting in one screenshot: jokes aside this game is very fun. loved splatoon 1, loved early splatoon 2 before the meta became ray/missile spam. splatoon 3 is good but sadly missed potential. but it's still my favourite shooter and the series I've put over 3k hours in total

[@Senan_is_cool24]

Nintendo just needs better game design an boom perfect

[@lnterest-ing]

oh shit i havent heard anything from Fluidity in forever! the background music is so good

[@Nintendude.]

9:44 Very intresting, I've played a game called Chrono Trigger and after that I really do like or cared about RPGs yet for a long time I've been looking for a game like Chrono Trigger in the end I just gived up and hated the genre thinking it's a wasste of time and money. I dislike Zelda, (The main series) of FInal Fantasy, Pokemon and especially Kingdom Hearts. Yet I may still dare to look to find it, at times it's ok and even find a game I like but does not give me what I want, still hoping to find another RPG like Chrono Trigger.

[@chunkymonkey7983]

I think of this every day

[@TheSlideCell]

And then people dunk on Splatoon 3 because it DARED to try something different and seasonal updates that are more frequent than the past 2.

[@DieselJT]

Cant agree more! Splatoon is a perfect game!

[@MushroomEater64]

I love splatoon!!

[@j.corbygaming]

Its immaculate

[@Light.--]

The only thing that I would change about spaltoon would be the exclusivity, releasing the game on other platforms would not only resoult in servers taken care of so no more yearly pay (and no mor- [comunication error occurred]), but also people who don't own a switch could finally play the game . The impact would be like this: splatoon becomes the new hit (like helldivers or lethal company), Foamstars ceases to exist (thank god), the other AAA game studios rage-quit because they realize that to make a good game you actually need to put effort in it, splatoon becomes the next tf2 or minecraft ( in the way that the franchise won't be able to die), the gaming community, now stuck to buyah! and This way! as theyr only way of comunication becomes less and less toxic and finally people would stop looking at me weird for listening to squid music

[@dinoontheinterwebs917]

Sadly I don’t think this will ever happen and if it does it will be a long time before for that happens

[@Ellivers]

I doubt it would cause the servers to be taken better care of. Splatoon currently doesn't even use servers for gameplay because Nintendo doesn't seem to like investing in that, and having even more players would only increase the potential cost of gameplay servers. "Communication error occured" isn't due to the matchmaking servers, it's due to connecting clients together for peer-to-peer play.

[@ethanbaer65]

Honestly splatoon just wouldn't work on other platforms. It's just such a quintessentially "Nintendo" game more than even something like zelda. Plus, as far as I know other consoles don't have motion control on their controllers. Anyone who uses sticks exclusively in splatoon is severely limiting themself.

[@Light.--]

@@ethanbaer65 Just let me play splatoon, man, idc about motion control I just want to play it for once, at this point I've been it the community for 7 years and seen every meme, story and change that occurred, I know this game even better than a lot of people who actually play it and yet not a single second I spent on it because of the exclusivity, I think you get my point

[@harrisonmoore3841]

I'm surprised this has only 100 views.

[@TheRenaissanceOfficial]

You were here early.

[@harrisonmoore3841]

@@TheRenaissanceOfficial I see

[@chiliguyanimation]

Let's go

[@boonduckgod1655]

Perfect my azz The gears in salmon run are to expensive

[@ogerponreject]

yeah… same with a lot of badges that are basically unobtainable they’ll probably lower the bar for those rewards in the next game tho

[@chiliguyanimation]

Coolio

[@young_jon_da_sauce_god]

🥱 Gn fam.