Forums / Media / Video Games

Played some more, the only new map in this rotation I was one was the skyrig, but it's a cool map, and I used some new loadouts. I need more practice with the charger, but I'm pretty decent with the roller and the splattershot and .52 Gal. Played more single player too.

I also tapped my Inkling Girl Amiibo to try some Amiibo challenges, this one's challenges seem to revolve around playing the single player stages using a charger instead of the splattershot. Upon finishing a challenge she said "Noice!" I wish I could have screen capped it, I didn't expect something that KYM front paged recently to show up in this game.

Also the Miiverse graffiti is pretty neat. I ran across graffiti of Pepe during one round on the mall map.

Something about the game's warm reception has met me as strangely uplifting. Perhaps it's the fact that a cute, kid-friendly shooter got people excited. Perhaps it's the adorable art style and high energy, perky atmosphere. Whatever it is, it warms the cockles of my heart and that's something that doesn't happen to often.

Now if only I could afford my own copy.

So I split the price with my bro because I don't see this game as worth 60 dollars (yet, as that could change with updates and more time put into the game), but I am definitely enjoying this so far. Like it has a lot of potential especially if Nintendo actually finishes the game and adds modes and stuff. Like just with 2 maps and 1 online mode it's already hours of fun. And from the Direct the single player didn't strike me as too fun or interesting but it actually is very very entertaining. It wouldn't make the game worth a buy if you can't get the online but it does add some more time and stuff to do before they finish the game.

As for online, as I thought before the testfire it has already become very tiered and competitive. Like since I got the game only a few hours ago and some people have had it for a whole day or 2 not to mention Japan (which is where a solid two thirds of the players come from) who have had it for who knows how long. Many people have much better gear than you and it's pretty hard to start off as a newbie. I was losing probably 9/10 rounds at least, it got pretty ridiculous I'll give you that. Even if I'm just bad there are 3 other people on my team, something is wrong when it gets to that point. And it seems like I always get grouped with other low gear people against the crazy high level groups or I might just be paranoid. But yeah, I lose way too much but I still have fun with losing just like in other shooter games I've played.

I preordered a girl amiibo (aka the last amiibo I'll probably ever get) which should get here next week so I'll definitely be making use of that. So yeah, great game so far, excited to play it more later and for Nintendo to actually finish the game they released.

Btw, I love these two.

After watching The Completionist's (first) review of the game, it hit me. It reminds me of a happier time. It's basically 90's Nickelodeon: The Game, with squid ink replacing Gak.

Same, I love whenever I start up the game I get updates from them on what maps are on rotation and their comments on them (they have multiple comments for the maps so they don't repeat the same stuff often), and you can see them in the studio in the Inkopolis plaza.

The first comment they made about the mall map made me realize right away that Marie's definitely the snarky one. Callie said "I love to shop here, but every time I go I get swamped by fans," and Marie responded "Oh, they must think you're me."

Also a comment from Cap'n Cuttlefish in the single player mode was a pretty funny nudge at a piece of fridge logic in the game. Despite squids being normally aquatic, you "die" the moment you fall in water. Cap'n Cuttlefish says in one level "Don't fall into the water! As squids, you know we can't swim. (Heh heh)" and that "heh heh" really in in parenthesis in the game. Basically the devs knew people would question this oddity so they figured they'd just have the game itself acknowledge it.

Well, it is 12,000 years in the future. Much like humans evolved, perhaps squids lose their ability to breathe underwater too.

Oh interesting factoid I just learned. Turns out Nintendo of Europe handled their localization separately of Nintendo of America (most likely to ensure a same-day global release) according to this GoNintendo article

Big differences is the PAL release has some mild swearing (Cap'm Cuttlefish says "hell" sometimes, something you don't see much in E rated games here in North America, that probably would bump the age rating to E10+ at least), and the PAL version has less "punny" dialogue.

Last time I recall NoA and NoE doing separate localizations was with this one Advance Wars game on the DS, which had the subtitle "Days of Ruin" in NTSC regions, and "Dark Conflict" in PAL territories (apparently it was some kind of experiment on the part of the Japanese branch of Nintendo). This resulted in things like characters and factions sporting different names based on region, and significant differences in dialogue, but still largely the same plot.

I'ma remix your face!

You can't handle my spicy wasabi beats!

I'ma dubstomp you into oblivion!

…Oh,

Callie

Marie

Callie+marie

Kalimari

I get it now… ._.

In my time playing games I have done a lot of bullshit things to waste time on.

This game beats them all as it had me walking around the Plaza to check the Miiverse messages people made because of all the drawings. There is some really hilarious stuff in there.

It's a shame the game is getting so much negativity from the community, I can understand it has faults but it's still a lot of fun. Guess I can't blame their disappointment. Ranked battles better come sooner rather than later.

@21
"so much negativity"?

I only ever see one guy complaining about it and it's that one user with the "Link from Zelda Wii U" avatar (sorry, don't remember the guy's name and I'm too lazy to look him up right now). Most people are pretty darn content with the game and are just patiently awaiting the free updates that are coming soon.

Anyway as RandomMan said though, yes I love looking at all the Miiverse graffiti too. It's an awesome feature, and it really helps add to the game's "urban" aesthetic.

I actually love this game the more I play it. It might be tied for my fav wii u game along with hyrule warriors. It just has so much charm. Also something that josie graciously pointed out is the fantastic ost. It's one of those soundtracks in a game where there's no filler music and everything is solid. And as I said before, the single player while easy is much much better than I expected. Like sometimes I like it better than the online. So yeah this game met and possibly exceeded the expectations I had for it when it was announced at E3. Definitely a system seller in my opinion.

And as Lich brought up the characters are pretty awesome. Callie and Marie are basically designed to be hyper-adorable and people like Capn Cuttlefish and Moe constantly make me giggle with their stupid quotes.

Well I don't mean HERE, everyone on the site loves it outside IRC. I mean the internet at large is mostly disappointed. Not negative, that was poor choice of words, but disappointed yes.

as a person who has never seen this game or been involved with it all i can say is that it was very hyped and fell

Meh. Yes, it's fair to say I'm a bit disappointed because once you pumped some hours into the game you notice that they really need to bring those updates quickly. It's hella fun, but I don't see myself keeping this up for more than a month.

But then again, an online match takes just 3 minutes. This isn't a game to play an entire afternoon, this is a game you play when you got time to spare.

Anyone have a favorite weapon to use? I really like using the Aerospray MG: good for covering territory and pretty good overall in combat.

That's mine too, I can also splat any opponents with it pretty quickly too.

I've started using the aerospray too, so my new strategy is just quickly spray a line, quickly swim through it, an just overall make sure you keep moving. Although, as I post this I just hit level 20, and have now unlocked all available weapons, so we'll see if there's anything I prefer.

And if you don't mind, I'd like to add another question, from best to worst, how would you rank the maps? Personally for me, I'd have to go
-Walleye Warehouse
-Urchin Underpass
-Blackbelly Skatepark
-Saltspray Rig
-Arowana Mall

The warehouse is my favorite map too, but I also like the mall.

Anyway I just finished the single player. Without spoiling anything: best final boss in a shooter ever. Holy shit seriously that battle was awesome. I still have to go back and collect a bunch of scrolls, but which ones I DID find revealed some interesting revelations I won't spoil here.

• Arowana Mall
• Saltspray Rig
• Walleye Warehouse
• Urchin Underpass
• Blackbelly Skatepark

I like vantage points, open areas, and narrow halls. Getting to the top of the hill for your side in the middle of the stage is a good and obvious way to know you're maintaining your turf and beginning to impose your influence on your opponent's. I like Saltspray Rig for the same reason as I do Arowana Mall.

I don't dislike Walleye Warehouse, but you don't have many comfortable points to scope an area out. Anywhere you can get a sniper-eye view is pretty much a point where you can be surrounded and chased down.

Urchin Underpass is fun, but it's very difficult to make any B-lines anywhere. It's easy to get surrounded, but at the same time, that makes me play defense a lot more. I don't/can't think linearly. I just go and take what's available and support teammates when I see a skirmish, when I anticipate them getting into one, or I see they're about to get ambushed and I take out the ambush before it happens (people don't use their squid form enough.)

I don't hate the skatepark, but the pipes and curves make movement and inking very difficult without doing a lot of turning around. So it's frustrating, but the aim of the game makes it fun still.

Without spoiling anything: best final boss in a shooter ever. Holy shit seriously that battle was awesome.

I'm pretty much in love with it. It was hard enough to make me lose my first life there, but it didn't seem frustrating at all. And of course, my favorite parts are underneath the spoilers. The whole experience had a little bit of everything without leaving the feeling of it being "Splatoon." It didn't need to be something it wasn't, it didn't try to be, and it was a lot of fun.

I'm hoping they'll add on some more courses in the future as DLC to the single-player mode. It's nice you can go back with the amiibo and redo some of the courses with different weapons which make them whole different experiences (and the squid's time trials and limited ink challenges…ugh…)

I really like using the roller and charger in the stages simply for practice with those weapons. I'm usually pretty decent with the Splattershot Jr. (I just love the gun/bomb/Bubbler combination.)
 
But I'd really like to use chargers more. I've seen great snipers keep entire teams on their heels as the team pushes the other teams back. However, practicing in online battles just brings my team down, and it ends up being a 3.5-4 matchup. So I've been doing a lot of charger challenges with the girl Inkling in order to practice.

The final boss was pretty rad… and surprisingly difficult, at least compared to the rest of the single player, which more or less stuck around the same level of difficulty. The final boss is certainly a test of endurance. I've managed to collect all the scrolls, though sadly you don't get a reward for collecting all of them. The lore provided in those scrolls is pretty deep though.

I love how everyone called the roller OP in the demo, and now you hardly find it being used compared to other weapons.

I guess the demo maps were just the 2 maps with roller advantage.

Anyways, I like the Splattershot Jr. and the Splattershot Pro. Perhaps I should give the regular Splattershot a chance again.

Any weapon can be "OP" if used by the right person.

But, one things for sure, I suck with most weapons except the splattershots and rollers. Also, love the sticky paint grenade. Throw it over a ramp or onto the ground before dying and kill people with it. Also, good for a large group of people are held up at. Get some turf and some kills.

Really, I love this game. I wish they were more modes. Turf war is fun. But, I would like to see more variety. Maybe some type of race mode? Sneaking missions?

But, overall, still having fun. It's a good game to pass the time on. Can't wait for the patches and see what else to come. But, until then, it's no TF2 or WoW where it can hold my attention for more than 2 to 3 hours.

It might be because there's only like 2 rollers in the game gotten early on while all other 18 are chargers and particularly lots of splattershot tier weapons. Also the game kind of indirectyl recommends people don't use the roller that much since if everyone on the team has a roller you'll probably lose which people learned quickly.

Well technically there are 4 not including the amiibo one, but you have to unlock the other two via defeating single player bosses. I can say for a fact that one of them is obviously designed to be as OP as possible.

Also I kinda wish that the Beakon was available with another weapon besides the Krak-On Roller. That's one of the few sub weapons I actually use but since I've kinda moved past the roller I wish it had another compatible weapon.

Thank fuck

EDIT: Also

That certainly was fast for new content. Guess the criticism really did reach them.

After 4 days, Twenty-One can finally play no-fun allowed mode.

Hey, so after playing over a weekend and there being enough folks at Level 10 for ranked battles (and what looks to be hopefully weekly/biweekly updates), do you guys have any general tips to share with newer players (or more experienced ones)? We might get some people who lurk, have the game, but don't post.
 
My main suggestion: You probably shouldn't spend much time running on foot unless you're firing. My finger stays on the squid trigger. It's almost like a stick shift transmission: My finger only comes up off of the gas (i.e., squid) to shift gears (i.e. fire/use sub weapons.) You move faster, you're harder to see, you refill ink, you get your health back, etc.

Hey, so after playing over a weekend and there being enough folks at Level 10 for ranked battles (and what looks to be hopefully weekly/biweekly updates), do you guys have any general tips to share with newer players (or more experienced ones)? We might get some people who lurk, have the game, but don’t post.

Git gud.

(Start with the single player to get the hang of the controls first and remember that you don't have to use motion controls but are free to switcht to right-stick aiming.)

Got to play a few ranked battles, which happened to include the new game mode Splat Zone; the setup of this new mode makes battles even more intense, seeing as how everyone's trying to get to a single specific area. Ranged weapons certainly help, and ink strikes are most likely gonna be something common.

I also got to try the new Zapper weapon and the new map: the map's got plenty of books and crannies you can use to get the drop on enemies. As for the Zapper, it's a good weapon overall, though I'm not too fond of the Echolocator (though that would help in Splat Zone).

My first ranked battle… holy crap that was close!

>enemy team takes control early and maintains the Splat Zone
>when their timer reaches 3 seconds left we take the spot
>Me the only player equipped with a Krok-On Splat Roller so I'm all like
>We maintain the spot for the whole 100 seconds we have control and I splat anyone who gets in the middle
>Victory

I checked the weapon stats and it's bascally a Splattershot Jr. with more range (and a bit less ink spread). The only reason why I often stepped away from the Splattershot Jr. for other weapons was due to its poor range, an issue fixed with the Zapper.

It has been my to-go weapon ever since.

And the Echolocator has saved my ass so many times already. Knowing exactly where an enemy is has gotten me more kills than the Inkstrike or Killer Wall would and has saved my own ass as well because I noticed an enemy ambush.

Oh yeah, a tip I got for people I discovered: Don't think stacking up perks like extra damage or higher defense will double or triple the effect. It adds up but the added help is so little in comparison that it will often be more beneficial to create variety with your perks.

Speaking of abilities, what abilities do you guys find useful? I've been trying to find a certain combination of 3 star gear consisting of ink saver, ink recovery up, and maybe special duration up. I might end up paying Spyke to add another slot to one of my shoes to make it 4 slots.

I've also been enjoying Ranked battles, but for some reason I always get stuck on the shitty team full of people with the exact same shitty weapon so we lose often. I'll get up near to the next rank followed by a bunch of shitty matches an go right back to square 1.

As for gear an abilities, Currently I have my main abilities of swim speed boost, ninja squid and Stealth jump. Ninja Squid especially saves my ass a lot.

I'm about being sneaky with the Splattershot Jr., tossing bombs and ducking with Splat Bombs, and using the Bubbler to force retreats from smarter players, corner less experienced ones, and make a safe retreat myself if I can't easily afford being splatted right then. I play aggressively, looking to cover ink for my own movement and then going on sprees when the opportunity presents itself in our ink covered territory.

• Ink Saver (Main and Sub) or Ink Recovery Up
  • I only fire for short periods of time, and throw bombs less to splat opponents and more to make them move. I need to do both whenever I so choose especially if I'm in a tight spot and can't move without being noticed.
  • And I'm usually trying to hide anyway, and I rarely take to the offensive unless I've got enough room to duck into squid form which would recover my Ink. So I'd save a main slot for Ink Saver or Ink Recovery.
• Defense Up and/or Swim Speed Up
  • Defense and evasion is good so when I get snuck, I have enough time to duck away and take the upper hand. Alternatively, if I know I'm boned, I can stall, spray ink, keep the ambusher(s) on their toes, and make them have to account for the mess I made. If my teammates can, they might be able to ambush my attackers. But only if I'm good enough to evade getting splatted. Defense Up helps with that.
  • With improved defense, I can also just get into a war of attrition all other things held equal. ** And with the ability to swim more quickly, I can bluff an attack and make a hasty retreat to safer ink or another enemy ink-covered area, or I can bluff a retreat and dart back in when they think I'm long gone or just realize they can't spend that much time on me.
  • It's also good to have both if you can carve out an area on their side of the map. You can bait their team to attack you. You can stall them for a few moments at the end of the match to keep them from wanting to press into your own territory or the middle grounds. If you don't get taken out immediately, one or two (or three or four) teammates will focus on you and trying to stop you instead of spending that time covering land.

I'm finding that Ninja Squid can be useful, but only with very good players. For the most part, the action moves too quickly for people to notice, especially if you're attacking intermittently and/or there's other action going on. With better players or snipers who have it out for the opponent specifically, they're not going to get distracted.

Linkling

GOTY

So, I didn't buy Splatoon yet (and likely won't until the end of June), but I went to the Splatoon Wiki and looked up these guys called "Octolings".

And it made me have an idea: How about a gamemode that's like Mann vs. Machine in TF2?

It could be like Turf War, but with CPUs and maybe some platforming elements, like the levels of Octo Valley.

Just something I thought would be a cool idea.

Relatable.

It's strange. I am normally repelled by anything attempting to look hip and trendy. I can't stand vapid youth culture, particularly Japanese pop idols. Yet, I love the overall aesthetic of Splatoon. Don't know why it's more palatable, but it is.

As for the game itself, I'm having a lot of fun, but it needs more everything. Stages, game types, customization options. Splatoon is a game with DLC written all over it.

Also, the puns are great. Personal favorite: "Chill like krill."

Well it seems we already get the Paintbrush

It'd be cool if we got a version of Shadow Mario's paintbrush from Super Mario Sunshine. Regardless, it's nice the game's been getting recent updates, though I kinda wish there were more game modes for both Regular and Ranked Battles.

I hope you can use it like a sword and write Japanese curses into your enemies so that their ink devours their teammates.

:I

I tried the Paintbrush; it seems like a fairly good weapon, though I'm about as good with it as I am with the chargers (I'm not good with chargers). Anyways, just how much points get increased each time you win a ranked battle? A few hours ago, netting a win meant my rank score would increase by 10 points, and now it does it by 8. Keep in mind that I'm still the same rank as I was hours ago (because ranked battles are difficult).

Interesting read:

Tbh, I'm perfectly fine with Splatoon lacking voice chat. It's a shooter, and the type the more hardcore shooter fans already seem to think has potentional for competetitive gaming.

But Splatoon is an all-ages, family friendly type of game. And in-game voice chat tends to be generally not so friendly. If you want Splatoon to appeal to a wider audience, then no voice-chat is a perfectly fine choice.

@RandomMan
The lack of voice chat also doesn't bother me, and I kind of feel that voice chat could've been a detriment to the game, but I can understand where the complaints are coming from.

Some have suggested a form of limited voice chat where you can only speak to and hear people in your friend list. A fair suggestion imo. But I don't think that one should be something to add until like August when you can make your own lobby.

I'd like voice chat for the friend lobbies at the very least. I'd say I'm in the camp that would like voice chat, but overall don't mind either way. It would be nice to be able to coordinate with my team and to yell at the useless guys literally painting right behind me down narrow corridors instead of going elsewhere. I guess I understand the arguments against, but for such a strategic game, I'd say it needs voice chat even more.

As for the new paintbrush weapon, I really like it. My main attribute would be speed, I don't like to hang around in one area for too long and move around a lot. In that respect the Paintbrush is really fun, and the lack of range doesn't really bother me as much because a) I spend most time swiping anyway and b) It's compensated by being the fastest weapon. My only problem is it's lack of power, because the moment I bump into an opponent I'm basically dead. I've found it to be kinda useful for ranked, but I'm not playing ranked as much now because I swear I get stuck on the worst team every time and it's just so frustrating.

@RandomMan
If I were to offer my own two cents into team communication, I don't the focus should be on voice chat, but instead in-game cues of some sort. So you know how in-game, you can press the d pad to use prompts, like Booyah! or Come on! ? I think that could've been elaborated a bit more; a prompt system similar to TF2's voice commands would be an interesting alternative. Each d pad input has a specific prompt that can be used as some form of limited communication with teammates. Any thoughts?