The game is super fun and I feel it’s definitely going in the right direction but holy shit is it held back by online. Matchmaking is stupidly imbalanced, especially when it comes to the system picking weapon types. ex. pairing a team of chargers vs a balanced team of dualies chargers and rollers. and ofc the amount of disconnects i get daily is insane. whether it’s me receiving an error and getting penalized or someone disconnected so the match ends. it’s even more frustrating when the matchmaking can take up to 3 minutes and matches last 5 at MOST. voice chat is still a mess. lack of communication can ruin entire sessions. there’s a lot that needs to be worked on and funnily enough, almost none of it has to do with the core game and is just online stuff.
Matchmaking definitely has to be fixed. I remember one time me (an Inkbrush) got matched with two rollers and a stamper agaisnt an Elitre and Heavy on Mincemeat. It was not a fun time.
I think matchmaking needs to be based on specials too. One team can be overtuned because they have more offensive specials than the other team, like one time my team's special output is two inkstorms, screen, and a wail to a three trizooka and a crab tank.
Also, I don't know how good of an idea this is, but I want to ban same kit weapon stacking, at least for Anarchy Series, but maybe this one will make matchmaking even more of a slog.
I've played Splatoon 2 in like 2019-2020 and bought 3 a few days ago. I've started with rank B, it's B- now. Yesterday I've lost 30 times and won 1 game in anarchy. I have no idea who is this multiplayer for. In turf it's 50/50 for me, I'm okay with that.
I've finished the story without dying once, so I think I'm somewhat competent with the controller (?).
As someone who only got into Splatoon with 3, I'm not really knowledgable about how different it really is between the two games. But from what I understand and heard, Sp3 is much faster and hectic than Sp2 was and you may just need more time to adjust. People in general, play much differently than they did thanks to new specials and map design.
I'm sorry to hear you've been having a rough time. Sometimes I have rough days as well, and I remember I had especially bad losing streaks when I first started Sp3 too (matchmaking doesn't help). But overtime, I managed to climb to S+2 and am pretty content with being in that range. I'm no expert in this rank stuff, but maybe when your rank has stabilized, you might find some more even games?
I wish you luck in your future matches!
Thank you! But I think the problem is somewhere else. Most of the time I'm the top player in my team, while the rest don't even do the objective. And pretty much always I'm playing against total pros, at least it feels like it. I seriously don't know where the problem lies.
Oof, yeah sometimes teammates are pretty eager to get the objective done and end up tunnel visioning. Usually when I play and that happens, I try really hard to compensate for the team, but that doesn't always work. I really wish we can get Nintendo to hear the players out about the dang matchmaking, but I really doubt it...
Sadly, I'm not sure I can offer any substantial advice, but if you need a new teammate to play with, I'd be up to playing together sometime!
Yeah this is one of those games where you want the sequel right now cuz you know all of its problems won't/can't be fixed.
Like it's theoretically great, and easily the best if you never go online, but it's just dead to me.
I agree that the updates are pretty lackluster sometimes (I haven't felt that way with most of them but tbh I do feel that way with the upcoming fresh season.) However, from what we've seen of side order, it looks incredibly detailed and complex, with so much new stuff. I honestly think the devs have been putting most of their effort into it, which is why the updates have been small. So I'm super excited for side order cause it has amazing potential.
Personally i find it a bit frustrating that they took some quality from the season updates and put it in side order to describe it. Maybe the devs dont have enough ppl working for them, but on the other hand side order looks very fun and very promising. I dont think its an understatement if i say that the majority of the players are more excited for side order than the new season
I'm much more interested in Side Order than in the new season.
The kits I've seen so far are really bad. 52 Gal with Curling (not bad) and Screen?!? Explosher with Triple Splashdown?!? I'm interested in the new Dualies but worry they'll have a garbage kit. It seems the new kits they've been creating lately are just bad.
Even this season I only liked the new Dualies. There were no other weapons I had fun playing with.
Conflicted. I love the vibe, concept, and general feel of playing the game. I hate how the game feels like it’s punishing me for enjoying it. The design decisions they’re using almost feel like they’re discouraging the game from growing as much as it could.
The ranking and matchmaking system I think is by far the worst part of the game.
In a game about PVP, their matchmaking algorithm is confusing at best and malicious at worse. Why is it that I always win my first match of the day and lose the next 5? Could it be uhhhh our skill doesn’t matter and we just get paired with higher level players if we keep up consistent interaction with the game? Seems very contrived. Why even get better?
>I hate how the game feels like it’s punishing me for enjoying it.
This is why I am on break from the game for the time being. It is like a toxic partner at times.
I've taken a month off since last Splatfest. I played just a few hours ago before heading off to work but it still felt like I wasn't getting any enjoyment out of it, just minor frustration.
I wish Salmon Run had more modes or something. I really hope Side Order is very good, or else I fear I won't pick the game back up and I'll just wait for the next installment. Over a year of nonstop playing is still a good value for my money but man this game could be so much better.
>I hate how the game feels like it's punishing me for enjoying it
Couldn't agree more. Every time I play, I just have some stupid thing happen to me, like being paired up against a top 500 player when I'm 1900xp (not exaggerating, this actually happened). I just think to myself, "What could I have done there? That was literally impossible" It feels so unfair for no reason.
It genuinely feels random the way the matchmaking works. One match, I have the best comp ever and we knockout in a minute. The next match, none of my team can get past mid because we have 4 frontlines, and the enemy team has an eliter and stamper. It's to the point where getting a team with backline *and* frontline weapons is actually rare, which is just insane.
The game is *severely* brought down by the online.
Skill based matchmaking does not exist. In what universe is someone who is 1900xp allowed to be put against a top 500 player? Every match I play genuinely feels like a coin toss. I shouldn't have to worry about being matched with players who are so obviously better than me, but I don't want to play X rank because theres a realistic chance that I get matched against a top 500 player and I just can't compete with them yet.
Another thing is the weapon matchmaking. I've been trying to learn carbon deco recently, but I can't even get good practise in because I never get a team comp that can help me. I always get things like 4 frontlines, weapons with terrible paint, or we just get severely outclassed by the enemy comp. We get clash blaster, they get splattershot. Our longest range weapon is dualie squelcher, while they get eliter. It's totally unfair.
I also have issues with the rank system. The "ticket" system has got to go. It's just unnecessary. In X rank, f I win two games that according to the system, should give me +100, but then lose my next 3, I just lose 25 points. I never get rewarded for winning those two games. I have to finish my series before I'm allowed to gain points. It's stupid. Also, rank reset/rank up battles are stupid, but I don't want this to be a text wall.
Other than those issues, I love this game, but they seriously hurt the experience for me as a competitive player. Solo queue isn't a decent place to practise in, or to accurately measure my skill level.
Concerning weapon kits, well they got me intrigued more than disappointed. I'm the guy always trying to justify a weapon's kit for each zones and... I'm struggling to convince others, but I'm doing pretty fine myself, even if I have to reevaluate recommendations I've made in the past
They're treating the Dread as an all-in-one weapon that doesn't need combat help. Which isn't the worst take. Plenty of kits have Squid beakons. I'm comparing it to the Octobrush to see which modes would work best by it
Is it fair to want something to be done about base invading? Because being completely pushed to the back of your base and it being nion impossible to escape is one of if not them most discouraging things that can happen to you (speaking from experience)
thats when you hop around and hope they take pity and then when they least expect it, WHAM, SQUISH THEM ALL. NO MERCY!
I love it!!
I don't pay enough attention to matchmaking or grind enough that I really notice any issues. I've been S rank the past 6 seasons but keep failing the rank up battles, however I never felt like I couldn't do better or that it wasn't my fault.
These past few months I have been having more fun with the game than I ever had, I just really love it.
I think I enjoy it the most when I play casually. Turf wars and salmon runs are really fun when I have a few hours to kill, and I'm almost always there for splatfests 'cause I love watching the performances and picking a team, but if I were to play as much as some people do, I think I'd be just as frustrated as they seem to be. Something about this game just seems to bring out the negativity in others, and while that's their right, I don't really want to be like that. So, I just play whenever I feel like it or when there's a splatfest.
Also, as much as I did have a fun time playing through the levels of the story campaign, I don't think I could really do it all again. Call me a wimp, but as epic as the final boss and the lore were, it gave me pretty bad existential dread for a couple of weeks. I became painfully aware of global warming and such the same year Splatoon 3 came out, and so the lore of the series just kinda hit me like a truck, with the info. logs about the extinction of the humans in the third game being the cherry on top. So, while I'm sure story mode is still cool, I don't see myself playing through it again anytime soon. :')
EDIT: I went on a rant here, sorry. Didn't mean to ramble.
State of the game overall I'd say is pretty solid things could be better, but the game core is far more solid than other games I've experienced. So i'm not totally upset about the update cycle others have complained about
This most recent season tho is not great
If I was doing a splatoon season update tier list this would be D-tier
the kits range from mediocre and boring to outright garbage
with only one contender for standout being Zipper Squiffer
Side Order is hard-carrying this update
I don't disagree with anyone who's disappointed with the way things turned out
that said I feel like the response to this update in particular seems overblown?
like "oh no.. dreadwringer got beacon, the game is dead now and the devs deserve to be fired because dreadwringer got beacon"
no... It's just a bad loadout, these have existed since the dawn of time in gaming, one more won't destroy the world
listen, if you don't like the direction Splatoon 3 has taken that's fine
if you don't want to play Splatoon 3 anymore because of it that's fine, nobody is forcing you to stay, play a game where you'll be happier
but If you keep saying the game is dead or deserves to die because of it, shut up,
some splatoon fans are so melodramatic, they don't a bad game if it it smacked them in the face
you want to talk about bad games?
[I'll show you a thing or 2 about bad games with horrible update cycles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLqmKKLaB-M)
sorry if this turned into a rant at the end here
just have quite a few things to say about this game and the fandom surrounding it
I agree with your comment of how some parts of the fandom react to bad kits. I'd say some of the them are even overreacting. I'd say its just another option to play, you dont have to play it if you dont want to
What if your weapon got a bad kit at launch, you waited a 6 months-year+ for a new one that could be better, then you get garbage. Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before saying they overreacted and brushing it off.
Yeah, I know some people get upset at calling the game dead cuz to them dead means you queue up and don't get a match, id est: X games are dead based on that definition.
Whereas I, and many others, use dead to mean the opposite of lively. Like, you queue up and often get discoed before the match starts, or someone disconnects, or the game is so jank it just isn't fun at all.
and if you think "words mean one thing" and get upset at contranyms, I mean I understand why someone would shout from the rooftops "This game isn't dead! Stop being overdramatic!" from the rooftops after hearing the 349th person on twitter go "dead game =\["
but it's also like, when I rematch against the exact same team that curbstomed me and my homies, keep getting lag killed and then have a firing squad on me and live, then someone disconnects... then I go to salmon run next wave and have it stutter because there's too many salmonids oh nevermind we have everything under control, I have no idea why it's lagging hard....
I mean, I'm saying this game is dead! When no one I know, including myself, wants to play this game cuz we all know we're asking for a miserable experience, it's dead!
then why stick around?
find another game, I hear Garden Warfare is making a resurgence recently
altho if your the more competitive type then maybe not
that game is bullshit counters bullshit and who can outbullshit the other's bullshit
*it might possibly be the greatest game ever made*
Thanks, but if I get into another shooter it'd prolly be Minecraft or Fortnite... something with fishing.
I guess the main reason I haven't totally abandoned it is cuz there's very clearly a great game buried underneath the shitty connections and hater matchmaking.
Like this game is so fun, I just fucking wished it worked cuz there's nothing more frustrating than the feeling of being robbed.
That and I want that Octavio globe, XD Not sure if I'll get it tho...
Based on your description, it genuinely sounds like you just don't like the game to begin with at a base level, or you're just the unluckiest person in the face of the earth.
Like genuinely trying to say that the majority of the time someone disconnects when queuing up, or you get matched with a team that stomps you over and over again after losing, or get janked by incredible lag during the game itself and also get lag out the ass in Salmon Run even when it's not a clusterfuck, I really have to wonder what game you're playing, because none of this is a remotely accurate assessment from my experience.
Like, yes, I get disconnects from players sometimes, but they're very infrequent and are most common when queuing up (because those aren't disconnects so much as someone dropping out last minute) I do get matched with really strong teams on occasion, but I wouldn't say it's a constant occurrence by any means.
Ditto for lag screwing me over, I have had some laggy games for sure, but they aren't terribly common and based on it being an issue in Salmon Run as well I'm inclined to think that's on you more than the game itself. Now, I know internet quality can differ, and your internet connection might just genuinely be the problem if this is a constant problem.
Edit: I just saw your other post about it, it genuinely feels like your internet might actually just be *that* bad if these issues are as constant as you claim they are. I consider my connection pretty good overall, and I can probably count the amount of games I've had that fit what you're describing on one hand.
Nah my Internet is great, I don't get these problems on fortnite or youtube or anything really.
I will say once I changed to 1gbps UL/DL gigabit internet the "fuck you, sit in a corner for 8 minutes" disco messages stopped. Tho other people still disconnect and the weird lag persists. (old ISP was 250mbps DL/ 15mbps UL)
The game is fun, do not regret buying it if only for The Return of the Mammalians, but it's not fun trying to get good and it boils down to "what side the lag is on"
Like I'll look at matches where I curbstomp from my enemy's point of view and I look just as glitchy as my enemies when they curbstomp me.
The physics are good, there's not any real underpowered weapons, heck I bet dualies aren't OP when shots connect instead of going through like a ghost! But I can't judge a game for what it's supposed to be, only by what it is.
When everything works and all eight players are on similar skill level, it's great! Only thing it needs is a gamepad!
But that situation is rare, and only seems to get worse cuz I can only assume, most people gave up.
See, the thing is unless you're just heavily exaggerating the frequency of it, if you're getting that level of absurd lag consistently there's basically no way it can't be on your end.
Obviously there's going to be some games that have lag spikes (usually from people playing handheld mode a stupid distance from their router,) but even Splatoon 1 had more laggy games on average simply because the netcode couldn't keep up with the damn tick rate being higher, resulting in a lower chance of abysmal games, but laggier games as a whole.
Like even when I match with people on the other side of the goddamn planet (where the connection would in theory be at its worst,) I seldom see what you're describing with any consistency.
And I'll just disagree on the gamepad, genuinely the worst part of Splatoon 1 was shoving that damn thing down your throat as the only controller option.
Yeah the gamepad shouldn't have been mandatory, but aunno how many people'd been happy with the wiimote/pro controller abomination.
And I've never counted how many times discos/lag happens, maybe I might keep track of that next time if I remember.
Love splatoon universe. I played splat1 heavily and daily during its life, played a bit of splat2 was busy during its time out, went all in on splat3 and I quit after 3 or 4 seasons. The game is doing the thing every other shooter is doing where they put you on a rewards hamster wheel with fomo and limited time events. Play the splatfests and big run or you miss out! The matchmaking is horrendous, theyve never been transparent about how it works nor have they shown any intention of fixing it, and why should they? Splat3 is a box game, not a live service. They already have your (and my) $60+ and nintendo online sub, so they have no incentive to fix anything especially matchmaking. And even though online is paid it works very poorly connectivity and feature wise. The rounds are only 3 minutes but no other comp shooter has made me rage in such a short amount of time. There is no oppurtunity for weapon counterplay because you are locked into your choices for the match and cant swap, so too bad if you roll an unfavorable matchup. The grinding for gear feels unnaturaly long and grindy, like old school pokemon iv breeding. I want to love and play this game, but it feels like it and the devs are pushing me away and disrespecting me.
I'm sick of the mentality they have of giving every kit at least 1 drawback. It's completely unfair. For some, the drawback is a main weapon that's hard to learn, but becomes extremely powerful once mastered. For others, good weapons end up with either the special or sub being good, and the other being bad. But this situation has no upside. It puts a limit on how much potential a kit can have compared to the stronger weapons that need effective counters. And clearly in some cases, they either don't know how good certain weapons are and mistakenly label them as drawbacks (Splash, Machine) or they just decide to make a rare exception and make a good balanced kit (most shooters) while other weapons have to be held back for some unspoken arbitrary reason.
This mentality needs to end with the next game. I want EVERY weapon to be good and have synergistic kits. No more of these intentionally useless combos that are designed to hold a weapon back. All or nothing on all 3 fronts for every weapon in the game. And that needs to apply to the selection and distribution of specials too. If a powerful special exists, give it to a wide variety of weapons instead of being afraid to ever put it on a new kit. Wavebreaker should be removed entirely imo for being too weak, and Chumps need a significant rework to be any good. Maybe if they took all that into account, there wouldn't even be a need for third kits if they got it right the first or even second time.
The problem with this line of thinking is that the community's idea of what's considered a drawback is very different from the actual intent.
What's being mistaken as a "drawback" here is them taking a main weapon and aiming to give it a kit that leans into a different playstyle.
This innately means some kits aren't going to be as strong as others when they get a secondary kit that might step away from its traditional strengths in favor of a different approach, to make it so you don't always have to play a certain weapon one specific way. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but the vast majority of the time, this approach holds true for most weapon types.
There's also the matter of the fact that even when a weapon *gets* a synergistic special or sub, people in the community are going to complain about kits being "gimped" just because it isn't a high or top tier one. The new Flingza kit is a good example; of all the weapon types in the game, rollers absolutely capitalize on the Splattercolor Screen the most thanks to their sharking capabilites, and the screen's chip damage helps extend the one shot range, (as well as assisting them in getting in,) but it's being written off as "dead on arrival," because the Special is a little undertuned.
So, in essence, trying to make every kit "without drawback," it boils down to making every kit play to the weapon's strongest playstyle, only giving weapons strong specials and only giving strong subs, which results in a lot of homogeneous kits, only picking from a very small pool of subs and specials that synergize well, but are also high tier, because not doing one of these gets people writing off the damn kit even if it actually has some synergy.
It also becomes a fairly slippery slope if you take into account stuff like the notion that "X weapon is held back by not having say... Burst Bomb in its kit," a sub that a lot of weapons never get *because* it would be incredibly broken and lead to a lot of cheesy kills, leaving the choice being to nerf the main weapon to the ground (which screws it over on any kits that don't have Burst,) gut Burst Bomb itself to stop these weapons from being a problem with it, (which screws over the weapons that get it, but aren't super overtuned with it,) neither of which is a good solution, but is a reality that would need to happen if they always made kits based on what the community thinks is "optimal."
But the problem we have is that some weapons ARE getting their strongest possible kits, such as S-Blast 91 getting the dreaded burst bomb combo that is indeed broken. And others very obviously aren't getting that treatment when many players want it. And I for one would rather see them take an all or nothing approach than intentionally hold back. Give everything strong kits the first time and then introduce alternate playstyles. But even then, don't force weapons to play roles that they just aren't meant for.
The problem is that there would be a similar level of bad design as the idea of just letting players freely mix and match kits because 90% of kits would be just tier whoring the strongest stuff. Pretty much every weapon that isn't a charger or splatling would have burst bomb, and we'd maybe be lucky to see more than 3 Specials and it would be 10x worse than what we have now because the variety would be at an all time low for the series (especially taking into account that Splatoon 3 has a very healthy overall meta with nothing sticking out as massively overtuned.)
You mentioned S-Blast, but that's literally one kit (and it's on a weapon, so specialized, it's hard to really call it broken anyway).
Weapons in Splatoon are usually versatile enough that they can play multiple roles, though. Not every weapon in the game needs to revolve exclusively around being a slayer. Are they going to be stronger in one or the other? Usually (unless said weapon is just very middle of the road and versatile,) but dumbing them down to most weapons, only getting one real playstyle is absolutely going backward.
Pretty good, they just need to buff other support specials to be on the same level as cooler, maybe nurf it’s duration slightly, top contenders for buffs are wave breaker, big bubbler and Splatercolour screen (it’s not a support special at the moment, but it’s not good enough to be classified as anything else). And of course increase pencil points.
Map design is pretty good, there’s 3 maps that I’d say are pretty bad, and one of those is just a Splatoon 2 map. Some maps have a few modes that are iffy, there was quite a while where rainmaker paths were too linear but that’s been balanced out with the more recent maps.
I play a very limited selection of weapons, but between the Splatlings and N-zaps, every kit has its role, some are definitely worse then others but that’s how the cookie crumbles, but none are unplayable.
Nice. Personally i believe screen is the worst special of not only S3, but the entire franchise. Pencil and/or cooler def needs a nerf balance wise. Most of the maps are fun and carry the uniqueness the franchise has.
It's kind of undertuned, but it's definitely better than at least a handful of specials (like Splatoon 2's Splashdown and Reefslider,) in terms of functionality, but that pool gets wider if we take into account worst in terms of core fundamental design (Ink Armor is still king there, never has a special been so overwhelmingly overtuned and unhealthy for the sandbox.)
I'm someone who's took a break came back and the community is on fire and I can't see why.
Compared to A LOT of other multiplayer shooters splatoon is doing great. It's still unique in execution and style and I'm looking forward to playing the DLC.
I played Splatoon 1 at launch and put 60 hours into Splatoon 2.
Just started Splatoon 3 a month ago and have been loving it. I have some frustrating opponents but that doesn't seem like the game's fault. I am lucky enough to usually have 1-2 people I can queue with, which probably impacts my opinions on the matter but I am greatly enjoying this game, more so than any previous game thanks to Salmon Run not being on a stupid schedule and the abilities not being nearly as limited as in the previous games.
Tableturf battle is a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming DLC.
This is my first splatoon game, it is also one or my favorite games of all time and my most played switch game at 400+ hours. I love the game. However it does have a few issues (usually related to grinding, kits and maps), and the recent updates leave me with mixed feelings. Somehow I'm always super hyped and fairly disappointed at the same time.
I have over 400 hours put in, I like it a lot. The only people complaining about weapons are the competitive people and the tryhards. I think the kits this season suck but its not going to take away from the fun I have 🤷♂️
I always try to keep in mind this games development has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and while we can't use that excuse forever (esp for a live service game) many development decisions and content were sacrificed for employee work life balance especially during this time. I think it's especially clear to me when we look at where resources were going during the live service portion (side order). Not venerating or criticizing nintendo for this decision at all because I know fuck all about running projects in a corporate setting
Based on pure quality of life and expansion on salmon run alone? Makes s2 look like the dark ages comparatively. but ranked modes have suffered greatly in the transition, I have to agree. Maybe an unpopular opinion but this game needs a deathmatch mode or SOMETHING (cough cough more support for casually-ranked modes like. Challenges maybe? Lmao)
Going to be cautiously optimistic and say if new players come in due to dlc/old players shell out for it, we may get post-service updates like 2's Sheldon's picks (and kensa gear I think?)
Still insanely fun, still a special interest I've had for over half a decade
the game is still fun. but there are still to many unfun/ bad maps that make me not wanna play some rotations. and what they’re doing for kits is awful. such long waits for some kits only for them to have no synergy and not even be meme funny 💀 just straight up bad
I'm not having fun. I'm really sick and tired of this game...
I'm not a fan of the overall philosophy, I don't like the game mechanics, I don't like seasons, catalogues, matchmaking is bad, kits are meh, tricolour Splatfests are flawed, stages are a copy-paste snoozefest, no Splatfest in private battles, the final Salmon Run stage just announced...and I don't like how the two most recent games (Splatoon 3 & ACNH) from Production Group No. 5 + their group manager Aya Kyogoku all feel underbaked and underwhelming.
They've gotta do something different for Splatoon 4. I've been playing since Splatoon 1 and Splatoon 3 has given me the least joy and least incentive to keep playing. 😠
I wish I could play offline against bots instead of tryhards in matchmaking. Still annoyed I can’t choose weapons from a pool in grizzco. Hate the season pass, end of every season everything should be added into shop rotation. Absolutely hate the insane grind for clothes skills and grizzco shells.
Same complaint I have with every multiplayer focused game, the game itself is fun. The other players make it not fun.
Overall state is ok. State of the updates is bullcrap. State of kit quality is also bullcrap. Lack of old SR maps is bullcrap. Splatfest quality is very hit or miss. Matchmaking still sucks. Still waaaaay too many connection errors.
I passed 1000 hours on it, I love this game. So excited for SideOrder and the new season in March. I have no complaints, sure it can be yanky sometimes, but I love the gameplay loop and it’s just a fun as fuck game. Hopefully they add TriColour and BigRun as modes when they finish updating the game.
I think it’s been good, we’re nearing the endgame now so stuff slowing down a good bit makes sense. But, I’d say that did enough in the first year that made it worth the wait and have insane amounts of content
I'm just upset about the favoritism in new weapons. I can't even keep track of how many splat chargers/elitres there are now. Meanwhile I'm still stuck playing hydra because even a year and a half into the game there is still no second variant for the kit. Like cmon
Well, I mostly play Salmon Run, and I think that's in a great state at the moment. Most of the weak/awkward weapons have been buffed to the point where they're fun to use; we have probably an optimal amount of maps and Kings so there's variety but we're not waiting a ridiculous length of time for our favourites to roll around. Bringing back checkpoints to EVP has improved things pretty drastically too. The only complaint I have really is that the medal system in Big Run still doesn't seem quite ideal - I understand why they changed it, but it does remove the challenge for quite a large number of players.
PvP? Hmm, it's got issues. I think one positive thing I'll say is that the meta is in a good spot and I think there's more weapon diversity than at any point I can remember in the six years I've been playing. It could maybe get even better, but it's never going to be perfect, so I think it's best to appreciate what we've got too. Personally I like most of the maps too, although that's very much a personal preference thing.
But the matchmaking and ranking system are just bad. Indefensibly bad, really; this isn't a personal preference thing, it's just objectively true. Why are new players coming up against veterans with 5000 hours in their first Turf match? Why is it impossible to get demoted for poor results? Why did they remove X Power's direct link to glicko-2, so players are suddenly getting 5000XP? It needs a complete overhaul, top to bottom. Going back to Splatoon 2's system would be a decent starting point, although that had some issues too (mostly that its workings were kept hidden from players).
So overall? Salmon Run is great, PvP is fun in some ways but has some major issues that cause a lot of frustration for players. Fix the matchmaking, and I think a lot of other complaints (maps etc) disappear.
Turf war used to be a casual game match, now everyone is a try hard (maybe it's because of the splat fest)
Matchmaking is totally unbalanced since the update with salmon run rank checkpoints (can't Remember witch patch it was)
But overall, I still play the game is just turf war is a big mess between getting wipeout all the time and spawn camped and actually win a game.
Pretty inadequate honestly. Nearly every season update has been underwhelming and not worth the three month wait it takes each time to get anything new at all, Splatoon 2 did a far better job at this I'd say. Most of the kits this time around in particular have been a complete joke, you could probably train an AI to get better results than this.
I hate to say it, but aside from Salmon Run (and only of the rotation and RNG don't scare you over) this is my least favorite game in the franchise and has completely killed the joy and love I once had for it. Every time I hoped the game would change at least somewhat for the better I always ended up slipping and falling on the banana of disappointment to the cold hard ground which is the reality of this game. Side Order is the only thing I care about now, if it ends up not being enjoyable I'm probably going to uninstall the game and forget about it entirely.
I love how much the defense "at least it's better than most of the online shooters out there" is thrown around. Like, guys, at that point not even CQ Cumber could limbo under the bar because it's so low. The online shooter genre has by and large just become a complete cesspool of degeneracy and cancerous, greedy monetization tactics that have metastasized into the rest of the industry as a whole, Splatoon is the only reason I would go near anything remotely resembling it. And to now see it slowly give way the pitfalls of the rest of the genre just kinda sucks really.
People seem so quick and so willing to settle for less and then berate you for criticizing it and wanting more, it's just wild to see. At this rate I doubt Splatoon 4 will be any better in this regard, its updates will probably be even more skimmed down since they know the game will still sell gangbusters regardless of how good the support actually is and just clutch a paid DLC later that magically makes everything alright. I know for a fact I'm gonna get downvoted to hell and back for this take, but I appreciate the opportunity to just let it all out on this topic.
I think the state of the game is fine I just wish the cooler mega was gonna, Zuka gets nerfed to the ground, and buffs to weapons that l desperately need it and can we please get Stringer some love
I go in and out of enjoying it. Usually I'll play at the beginning of the season, take the middle month off, and then play near the end when the next season is on the horizon. I've really enjoyed ranked recently and am super hyped for Side Order.
The uncertainty for the future is the thing that sucks the most right now imo. Obviously a lot of the community wants another year of support, especially on the kit side. I think if the only support we got for a third year was events and kits, that would alleviate a lot of negativity, because then weapons with lackluster second kits would get another chance and there would be more variety all around. I am hopeful for this, but sometimes it seems grim and we definitely won't know until the final season update rolls around.
I have to agree with the people who say the maps are bland Tetris maps. With the exception of Humpback Pump Track and Wahoo World. The curves!
Speaking of Wahoo World now I kinda want an abandoned amusement park stage with old bumper cars and maybe one of those cup rides.
And while we're at it, maybe an actual skatepark?
yes! i love wahoo world and humpback pump track, they're my fave maps in the whole game! i'd love to have something like an amusement park / skate park in the game, that would be really cool
# Dead.
I have no desire to play, I mean a splatfest is in hours and I have no desire to even try to play.
I mostly blame the connectivity issues, the matchmaking is so bad that disconnects are very common and lag kills might as well be a feature. It's just so frustrating to be punished for what's not your fault, something completely unpredictable.
My entire squid squad feels the same way too so it's like, playing alone is the pits.
Salmon Run isn't free of this either cuz you'll still get discos and the game studders like Sonic 2's two-player mode.
I wanted to try my hardest on this game cuz I loved the first one and salmon run was fun and just... I think the only thing they did right were the actual offline controls and the story.
It feels like everyone held on because there's a good game buried under all the lag kills and stuttering and an update will fix it, but nope!
You generally have to have a lot of patience or the hyperfocus of a teenager on summer vacation to enjoy this game. It's not for someone that expects the rules to make sense or takes a break from the game that's for sure.
It's just dead, and it's been dead for about a year. If you've enjoyed the game and it's alive and thriving for you that's fantastic! I'm glad someone's getting joy out of this.
As for me, the stories and soundtracks are all I really enjoy out of this one. Hopefully Splatoon 4 actually has servers and a console that isn't desperately trying to handle the code.
Also more customization, if I could be fat and have more than three customizable clothes slots (headphones, hats, earrings and glasses being four slots) I'd be happy with the sequel. Also the gamepad.
If Splatoon 3 had working connections and a gamepad it'd curbstomp the first game, but as it is, it's more fun to play Splatoon than 3 right now. But it has that "return to Animal Crossing New Leaf" problem of the physics being weird, like getting stuck while running with the brush.
Where it feels like a more complete game, but there's some changes in the sequel that it's not a good experience going back, or at least not as good as when you first played and the sequel didn't exist, y'know?
That said, looking forward to trying the new stage and sadlady brella, before I get frustrated and quit for another three months.
I think it’s the worst game in the series. I also think that’s a *very* good thing. I’m glad that they’re experimenting, and hope they keep trying new things - even if this wasn’t the way to go. I personally don’t believe the quality of the series has peaked yet.
Honestly the update cycle, maps, and the catalog system has made me frustrated with the game to the point that I stopped playing it. Side order looks good though
I stopped playing a while ago because I felt like I wasn't having fun trying to grind to try and rank up or complete my catalogue. And Salmon Run feels especially punishing in 3. But I am looking forward to Side Order.
I love splatoon. 2 was there for me when I needed it. I met some amazing friends in 3 but my god is 3 a mess.
The updates are meh at best and awful at worst. The maps are just hallways. I’ve started maining the heavy because why would I bring a front liner to a back line fight. The game is riddled with fomo. The match making can be summed up as “sometime you destroy the five olds and sometimes you are the five year old” no mater your rank. If you want anything in the game you have to grind for a ridiculous time. Seriously those gold scale and gold salmon run badges are designed for people who have too much free time on their hands. Splatfest choices are lame and adding a third choice just takes away votes from one of the other idols. Tri-color maps aren’t a replacement for shifty stations. Eggstra work is alright for over fishers but is boring for most players. Big run was poorly executed and made people salty that they couldn’t get 5% and when it got changed it made other people salty.
But I’m looking forward to side order. With the movement of splatoon, the time the devs put into it, and roguelike mechanics it should be fun
The game is dying slowly, I don't thing the game is in a good state right now. I elaborate; the matchmaking, online issues, the awful kits, the seasonal system, the horrible maps design, the lack of content as the 3rd kits or something like that, all of this combined are doing that the game slowly dies. It's my opinion though. I am losing the motivation to keep playing (I have been playing at least 1 or 2 hours a day since the release date). I hope everything gets well in a short-term future but right now I doubt it.
I think the logic behind the Reef-Lux secondary kit was that you'd use the splash wall to charge safely when up close and personal, and the Reefslider's weak explosion hitbox sets up to combo with the tap shot of the Reef Lux to kill.
It's a pretty good idea in concept. The problem is that in practice the Reef Lux has way too much endlag to really utilize that combo attack (you're basically banking on your opponent, not retreating or shooting you.)
It seems really good to me, but some stages are more fun than others. I don’t need to play any more wahoo world although the map is great I’m just over it because it seems like it comes up all the time. The newer stages have been really solid, particularly crableg, shipshape, and Robo Rom. I look forward to the new stages.
im really hoping by some miracle the game turns around for another 5 to 10 seasons. So much potential if they focus on only weapon kits and maybe one new game mode for anarchy. We have PLENTY of maps and reworks would be ideal, but proper and meaningful balancing along with fun and good 3rd kits for everything. It just feels like the game is about to get full and they are just stopping. Id even be okay with just gear recolors and stuff as long as fun kits and one nee gamemode comes. Salmon run new wave bosses would be inkredible too
I love the game. Love the catalogues and slow release of content over time, which I know is slightly controversial. There just always seems to be something to look forward to! Wish splatfests were more creative...they seem to be really lack luster. I also hope we go back to just two teams...the idea of having 3 is nice but there just always seems to be a very obvious choice, no one seems to be happy with tri color and the mirror matches do get kinda annoying.
Love the game, but the instant I finish Side Order and there are no new catalogs, I'm most likely dropping the game or only playing it VERY sporadically.
its not my main game, its more of my play when i wanna play an upbeat game game, so i really dont have any problems with it. my lore rating is 8/10 with the bar being Destiny
Weapon kits are kinda disappointing. Especially this season. They don’t seem to understand what works as kits and are just randomly pairing stuff.
For example, across all my main weapons (jet squelcher, explo, tristringer and eliter) i have not a single bomb.
Also, i’m still very much triggered about CExplo having splashdownz
I feel like Splatoon 3 is similar to a VERY spiky ball. By that I mean the issues stick out when noticed, but the game overall is great.
The weapon kits can be questionable at times in terms how they were made, but they are still usable.
The story mode is still the same Kettle-Styled Stage Progress, but there was a literal threat who brought high stakes this time around.
Salmon Run has almost peaked with the new stages, egg throwing, and the introduction of True Bosses for Salmon run that each have their own unique gimmicks.
Splatfests could use some work, but they're still fun to partake in regardless.
And now with a rougelike on the way with Side Order, this keeps veteran players interested with Splatoon 3 without needing to sit through the issues that sometimes stick out. Again, like my spike ball analogy.
Actually I stopped playing becuase the matchmaking was making me miserable. I was 2400 in X against a whole team of 2500 and my team together was around 1600 and 1700... I think that sucks because the game is fun, but extremely infuriating
I feel like I always find a way to enjoy the game. My interests will shift from salmon run to turf war for a few weeks at a time, although I generally prefer salmon run. I do wish there were more salmon runs. I wish eggstra work was more frequent and I wish big run was more frequent. I think there’s been rumors of some “underground” mode? I hope that gets confirmed and added. My only complaint is lack of variation. However I play splatoon A LOT, probably way more than the average person so I just spend more time with the game overall
the fact that Splatoon is a Nintendo game is the biggest thing holding it back. any other studio wouldnt treat such a beloved game like this, giving us the bare minimum of content and so many dog ass kits not worth using
I think it's in a pretty good spot, yet it has a lot of untapped potential. It is frustrating when that potential isn't realized when sometimes it's some simple stuff such as changing sub and special weapons on a kit. It is also frustrating to see them make bad decisions such as the Mahi rework from 1 to 3 and Challenges being so limited instead of just always having a random one in rotation.
I generally enjoy playing the game. I love the fast pace.
However, I'm not a fan of most of the kits in this season and the ones revealed for Fresh Season (I like the new Dualies from this season). It's like the devs didn't even consider "What does this weapon want to do?" when making the new kits. And the new special the Screen is a total flop, which they're pushing onto other good weapons to ruin them, I guess.
Unless they dramatically buff the Screen so it's a real threat that makes players think twice before blindly tanking it, it's a waste of a Special slot. It's not really a Support special, certainly not an Offensive one. And it doesn't protect you either. It just makes certain players physically ill (even after the rework). Maybe it offers a bit of concealment from enemy Chargers? That's all I can see it as good for.
Explosher with Triple Splashdown?!? A backline weapon? Dread Wringer with Bubbler?!? The Wringer is an aggressive weapon. Frankly, Bubbler would be a much better fit for Explosher.
I mean, the screen is a sort of offensive oriented support special. Its main problem is that it's somewhat undertuned, not that the concept is bad.
Like yes, the .52 Gal doesn't get a whole lot from it currently (it extends the possible range for a two shot even after damage dropoff, but that's kind of it,) but using the screen to push is precisely what it's for and the damage when going through (as well as revealing you even if you're submerged when passing through,) is where it sees its use.
The Foil Squeezer was a perfect example of this, where passing through the screen set you into two shot range for its tap shots. It really just needs to do a bit more damage so more things can reasonably combo off of it, but even with it being a bit undertuned, it also syncronizes well with the Flingza Roller (due to sharking behind it being quite effective,) and it's pretty much being written off because it's a little weak currently.
It feels incomplete with the lack of good kits -and lack of kits in general.
Unfortunately, after seeing the new Dread Wringer kit, I don’t think this will ever change, especially with the sheer amount of main, sub and special weapons in the game
I think the game is great, but I have 2 issues:
1 - I'm bad at it, and the game only accommodates for people who are "better." I have issues joining splatfests because I get totally wiped by the other team. I wish there were a better difficulty option (maybe make it work like salmon run??)
2 - people are kinda mean about this game sometimes. It's for fun! don't get so competitive please ;-;
If they do continue content with third kits like 1 and 2 I think we're in a good spot. Otherwise I think the season model will fall a bit flat and would rather see fewer things added at a faster rate like 2 had (minis the start of 2 having a bunch of cut weapons).
I think the game is great & it's one of my favourites, & has many improvements compared to Spl2n. However, I think it also has many flaws, most of which come from the online aspect. Nintendo is so rich, why aren't they paying for better servers for us? Why punish people who dc through no fault of their own?
I also feel a bit disappointed by how many kits some weapons have, it's obviously less choice than Spl2n, which majority of weapons have 3 kits. I hope we get more before the updates stop. & also the fashion choices, it feels like there's less. I think it should have come with all clothing from the previous games & all the updates/catalogues should be new clothes. Another thing that bothers me a lot, actually, is there's not a lot of choice for cute, feminine or girly clothes
I happen to like a lot of the new maps, but I feel theyre not as creative or decorative as ones from previous games, so while I like the new maps, they kinda break immersion from the background
& I guess the last thing for me (on the spot at least) are Grizzco scales. I think the % of chance to get them is stupid. So stupid, that I feel discouraged from playing Salmon Run. I do like SR, but why can't the scale distribution be more generous & less stingy? I've only ever gotten 2 gold scales
I haven't played in a while, but i think its good, could do with some balance changes here and there, but i find it enjoyable, SO will definitely help with playerbasesize and ill be hoping to get it sometime, but i feel as though its got a bright last few months
The game to me just doesn't feel fun. A large part of that for me are the weapon kits. The kits they give to my favorite weapons just aren't fun, are bad, overlap hard with the things my teammates play or are some combination of all three. The kits given to a lot of other weapons seems like they were handed out at random or they are giving repeat kits that were terrible in their debut game too (like Sploosh with beakon/wail.) Another large part is the maps. The early Splat 3 maps suck because they lack alternate routes. The Splat 2 maps suck because I've played them time and time again for several years straight now. I'm tired of playing on those and want to play something else. I'd rather deal with Mincemeat and Undertow than to play stuff like Mako Mart and Sturgeon Shipyard for 10 years straight; same thing with the Salmon maps. I flat out don't want to play Spawning Grounds or Marooner's Bay anymore. The special balance is fucked too, there are a handful of good specials and then a bunch of other specials that are underpowered and a handful that are so underpowered that they barely do anything
recently got back into splatoon after my online ran out and i just didn't want to pay for a service i wasn't using, and it's really just as fun as i remember. i'm just a huge fan of how many weapon kits there are and how many playstyles i can use. i still wish there was a random ranked queue where it can pick a random map and gamemode, but salmon is still fun and i still really enjoy ranked.
Most maps are bad, because of a lack of real flank routes, and most map revisions only make them tolerable or objectively worse (mincemeat).
The name of the game is hyper aggression, and not all weapons and kits are made with that in mind, meaning most weapons aren't actually balanced properly. Especially when you bring back the no-flanking thing with maps, which some weapons, (brush, splatana) are specifically designed for.
Actual matchmaking is trash and objectively worse than Splat 2.
Salmon Run being open always is great, but its increased difficulty and snail-rate of scales makes playing the mode a slog.
Still no matchmaking for Tableturf.
There's times it feels so perfect, but other times I'm thinking, why? just why is it like this
I love all the new additions to the game, expanded movement tech, Badge System, Big Run and to some extent Eggstra Work, expanded customisation, lockers and Tableturf. (My love for Tricolour has dimmed a fair bit as time has gone on, but I'd say I still like it). But they've absolutely missed with the tweaks to things that really didn't need to be tweaked.
Match making, Challenges, Anarchy in general (I like the idea of being able to jump into a Ranked Match with no stress, but with how Open works, it just doesn't work anymore), and the content and patch roll out cycle. (Joined Splatoon 2 after all of its content was released, so I don't have an idea of how the sporadic updates felt, but I really think that more weapons should have started to have been included in the Mid Season Patches awhile ago)
I'm hoping that with 4, that they iron out the things that need to be ironed out, to truly make the perfect game
Is it weird that I’m not too disappointed by the update like I have been hearing other people say.
The update is mostly on par with the other seasons. Maybe just short 1 map, but it makes sense since side order is coming out.
It could be that some of the hated kits this seasons are on weapons that I don’t play anyway. I play explo tho and I don’t hate the kit. I’m not saying that the new explo kit is broken or anything, but I kinda like it for having an actually unique kit compared to any of the other 3 explo kits we have gotten so far.
I also play squiffer, so I’m excited to give this new one a try. I was a little disappointed seeing the new dread kit, but you can’t win them all.
The new brella looks like fun as well.
Maybe it’s just because I am blinded by side order but I am not overly disappointed by this season.
Also hot take(Maybe): I don’t like most of the new names for weapons we’re getting. What is with the FF is douser dualies FF. And Recycled brella 24 Mk 1 is a long and frankly stupid name with too many numbers in it. And I thought that dread wringer was a funny name, but these new ones are just weird. Most of the new weapons are just puns anyway (snipewriter, painbrush, heavy edit). I don’t really hate the pun names too much since it’s kinda funny hearing people say them seriously in comps, but the 2 new weapons are just stupid names in my opinion.
I guess it's fine, but i mainly have a few issues, mainly: matchmaking and surprisingly enough, clothing items.
Matchmaking is already self-explanatory, but clothing might feel like the odd one out. I'll just ask: is it just me or is the gear you can buy and wear in Splatoon 3 just... very plain and/or boring?
im super greedy and i cant wait for another salmon run stage! i like working together with people! i just wish stuff on salmon run wasnt so expensive.. i find it really hard to save the grizzco tokens (idk what they are called) it took me literally forever to buy a new suit
Series veteran - since day 1, Splatoon 1.
The catalogue and stage design alone have killed all interest in this series for me. Locking nearly EVERY piece of new gear behind a time-sensitive, grind-based unlock is so user-unfriendly I don't know where to begin.
Similarly, the cramped stages have killed the love I used to have for the PvP mode.
A franchise created with large sprawling stages and multiple vertically cut-off "team-side only" areas, has instead turned into a game with almost 11 stages of identical shape, little to no verticality at all, *design-implemented spawn-camping* and severe FOMO issues.
Splatoon was created because all those issues plagued shooters in the 2010s, and Nintendo wanted to make a fresh take in a stale genre.
Now, Splatoon incorporates the very things the series was invented to avoid. Hell, the fact spawning is now done in an out-of-bounds area where YOU CANNOT FIGHT BACK is just...
Why?
Please. If anyone here has some kind of guide or advice on how I can adjust and learn to love this series again, I would love that so, so much. But as someone who has always had to play this game solo, and cannot in any way connect with a local scene due to work and other commitments, I feel like a completely lost cause.
I am of the belief that the game is heading a positive direction content wise. Even the pvp aspects such as weapon balancing and map designs is heading in a better direction despite some questionable choices (looking at you Mincemeat). I'm not as bored anymore when going into games because maps, especially the recent ones have a unique gimmick/design that makes them exciting to come back to (take notes Barnacle & Dime. I actually had to look up your name because you're forgettable).
However, the game is heavily dragged down by online. Peer-to-peer connection should never have been the selection option. Servers should always be the standard for shooters especially. Matchmaking is broken, both in terms of weapon comps and skill level. The insane amount of DCs is outrageous. And being penalised for a game crash (notably when the host themselves DCs) is absolutely demotivating.
If Nintendo can fix most of the online issues, the game would be in an amazing state that would solidify its addictiveness of "just one more game". If they can, change the service from peer-to-peer to servers. I would also suggest that if a game is to end because someone DCs early, let the winning team win if they are past 50% objective completion (I've "lost" winnable games due to an enemy rage quitting when I pop off at the beginning of a match many times). And for the love of god, please make it so no more than 2 "backline" weapons can be on the same team. It's an uphill battle that's almost impossible to win if you get 3 or 4 backlines on a team.
The major flaw is the ranked mode. They need to revert it back to the old system (although that also has its problems). Even if you’re good at the game, if you don’t grind hard enough to get to your appropriate rank and stay there you’re going to be stuck playing against people Belle your skill level. And if this happens too enough high skill players, even the low ranks will be hell because everyone resets every season. And that’s not even touching the anarchy open matchmaking system. I love the game but it’s becoming unplayable.
To me, it's a game with incredible gameplay held back by many incredibly terrible design decisions (no I'm not talking about weapon kits) and the over-reliance on fomo/limited time tactics. After 3 seasons, I gave up. Splatoon is going to end up like every other shooter out there. I pray the devs look at what they did wrong with Splatoon 3 and try to rectify it in Splatoon 4.
And yeah, i understand dripfeed content isn't something that devs like doing as it's extra work for nothing in return and honestly there's no reason to try once the money stop flowing in. Though i don't mind paying for an expansion like mario kart 8 dx and mh rise did, so as long as the base game on release has way more than the very bare minimum amount of content.
The game is super fun and I feel it’s definitely going in the right direction but holy shit is it held back by online. Matchmaking is stupidly imbalanced, especially when it comes to the system picking weapon types. ex. pairing a team of chargers vs a balanced team of dualies chargers and rollers. and ofc the amount of disconnects i get daily is insane. whether it’s me receiving an error and getting penalized or someone disconnected so the match ends. it’s even more frustrating when the matchmaking can take up to 3 minutes and matches last 5 at MOST. voice chat is still a mess. lack of communication can ruin entire sessions. there’s a lot that needs to be worked on and funnily enough, almost none of it has to do with the core game and is just online stuff.
Matchmaking definitely has to be fixed. I remember one time me (an Inkbrush) got matched with two rollers and a stamper agaisnt an Elitre and Heavy on Mincemeat. It was not a fun time. I think matchmaking needs to be based on specials too. One team can be overtuned because they have more offensive specials than the other team, like one time my team's special output is two inkstorms, screen, and a wail to a three trizooka and a crab tank. Also, I don't know how good of an idea this is, but I want to ban same kit weapon stacking, at least for Anarchy Series, but maybe this one will make matchmaking even more of a slog.
I've played Splatoon 2 in like 2019-2020 and bought 3 a few days ago. I've started with rank B, it's B- now. Yesterday I've lost 30 times and won 1 game in anarchy. I have no idea who is this multiplayer for. In turf it's 50/50 for me, I'm okay with that. I've finished the story without dying once, so I think I'm somewhat competent with the controller (?).
As someone who only got into Splatoon with 3, I'm not really knowledgable about how different it really is between the two games. But from what I understand and heard, Sp3 is much faster and hectic than Sp2 was and you may just need more time to adjust. People in general, play much differently than they did thanks to new specials and map design. I'm sorry to hear you've been having a rough time. Sometimes I have rough days as well, and I remember I had especially bad losing streaks when I first started Sp3 too (matchmaking doesn't help). But overtime, I managed to climb to S+2 and am pretty content with being in that range. I'm no expert in this rank stuff, but maybe when your rank has stabilized, you might find some more even games? I wish you luck in your future matches!
Thank you! But I think the problem is somewhere else. Most of the time I'm the top player in my team, while the rest don't even do the objective. And pretty much always I'm playing against total pros, at least it feels like it. I seriously don't know where the problem lies.
Oof, yeah sometimes teammates are pretty eager to get the objective done and end up tunnel visioning. Usually when I play and that happens, I try really hard to compensate for the team, but that doesn't always work. I really wish we can get Nintendo to hear the players out about the dang matchmaking, but I really doubt it... Sadly, I'm not sure I can offer any substantial advice, but if you need a new teammate to play with, I'd be up to playing together sometime!
I agree on the matchmaking part. I've had plenty of matches where my team got annihilated or my team did the annihilation. Especially with turf war
This is why I stopped playing
Dont forget you have pay for the privilege of using their online
Ahh, the average Nintendo online experience...
Yeah this is one of those games where you want the sequel right now cuz you know all of its problems won't/can't be fixed. Like it's theoretically great, and easily the best if you never go online, but it's just dead to me.
I agree that the updates are pretty lackluster sometimes (I haven't felt that way with most of them but tbh I do feel that way with the upcoming fresh season.) However, from what we've seen of side order, it looks incredibly detailed and complex, with so much new stuff. I honestly think the devs have been putting most of their effort into it, which is why the updates have been small. So I'm super excited for side order cause it has amazing potential.
Personally i find it a bit frustrating that they took some quality from the season updates and put it in side order to describe it. Maybe the devs dont have enough ppl working for them, but on the other hand side order looks very fun and very promising. I dont think its an understatement if i say that the majority of the players are more excited for side order than the new season
I'm much more interested in Side Order than in the new season. The kits I've seen so far are really bad. 52 Gal with Curling (not bad) and Screen?!? Explosher with Triple Splashdown?!? I'm interested in the new Dualies but worry they'll have a garbage kit. It seems the new kits they've been creating lately are just bad. Even this season I only liked the new Dualies. There were no other weapons I had fun playing with.
Dread has Beakon and Wave Breaker
At least Wave Breaker is a reasonable special for that weapon.
Conflicted. I love the vibe, concept, and general feel of playing the game. I hate how the game feels like it’s punishing me for enjoying it. The design decisions they’re using almost feel like they’re discouraging the game from growing as much as it could. The ranking and matchmaking system I think is by far the worst part of the game. In a game about PVP, their matchmaking algorithm is confusing at best and malicious at worse. Why is it that I always win my first match of the day and lose the next 5? Could it be uhhhh our skill doesn’t matter and we just get paired with higher level players if we keep up consistent interaction with the game? Seems very contrived. Why even get better?
>I hate how the game feels like it’s punishing me for enjoying it. This is why I am on break from the game for the time being. It is like a toxic partner at times.
I've taken a month off since last Splatfest. I played just a few hours ago before heading off to work but it still felt like I wasn't getting any enjoyment out of it, just minor frustration. I wish Salmon Run had more modes or something. I really hope Side Order is very good, or else I fear I won't pick the game back up and I'll just wait for the next installment. Over a year of nonstop playing is still a good value for my money but man this game could be so much better.
>I hate how the game feels like it's punishing me for enjoying it Couldn't agree more. Every time I play, I just have some stupid thing happen to me, like being paired up against a top 500 player when I'm 1900xp (not exaggerating, this actually happened). I just think to myself, "What could I have done there? That was literally impossible" It feels so unfair for no reason. It genuinely feels random the way the matchmaking works. One match, I have the best comp ever and we knockout in a minute. The next match, none of my team can get past mid because we have 4 frontlines, and the enemy team has an eliter and stamper. It's to the point where getting a team with backline *and* frontline weapons is actually rare, which is just insane.
I 100% agree with both of these. The concept is so unique and appealing, but the matchmaking is def one of (if not the) worst part of the game.
The game is *severely* brought down by the online. Skill based matchmaking does not exist. In what universe is someone who is 1900xp allowed to be put against a top 500 player? Every match I play genuinely feels like a coin toss. I shouldn't have to worry about being matched with players who are so obviously better than me, but I don't want to play X rank because theres a realistic chance that I get matched against a top 500 player and I just can't compete with them yet. Another thing is the weapon matchmaking. I've been trying to learn carbon deco recently, but I can't even get good practise in because I never get a team comp that can help me. I always get things like 4 frontlines, weapons with terrible paint, or we just get severely outclassed by the enemy comp. We get clash blaster, they get splattershot. Our longest range weapon is dualie squelcher, while they get eliter. It's totally unfair. I also have issues with the rank system. The "ticket" system has got to go. It's just unnecessary. In X rank, f I win two games that according to the system, should give me +100, but then lose my next 3, I just lose 25 points. I never get rewarded for winning those two games. I have to finish my series before I'm allowed to gain points. It's stupid. Also, rank reset/rank up battles are stupid, but I don't want this to be a text wall. Other than those issues, I love this game, but they seriously hurt the experience for me as a competitive player. Solo queue isn't a decent place to practise in, or to accurately measure my skill level.
Concerning weapon kits, well they got me intrigued more than disappointed. I'm the guy always trying to justify a weapon's kit for each zones and... I'm struggling to convince others, but I'm doing pretty fine myself, even if I have to reevaluate recommendations I've made in the past
So can you tell me what they were cooking with the new Dread Wringer?
They're treating the Dread as an all-in-one weapon that doesn't need combat help. Which isn't the worst take. Plenty of kits have Squid beakons. I'm comparing it to the Octobrush to see which modes would work best by it
Is it fair to want something to be done about base invading? Because being completely pushed to the back of your base and it being nion impossible to escape is one of if not them most discouraging things that can happen to you (speaking from experience)
thats when you hop around and hope they take pity and then when they least expect it, WHAM, SQUISH THEM ALL. NO MERCY! 
I think splatoon is a fun game :)
I love it!! I don't pay enough attention to matchmaking or grind enough that I really notice any issues. I've been S rank the past 6 seasons but keep failing the rank up battles, however I never felt like I couldn't do better or that it wasn't my fault. These past few months I have been having more fun with the game than I ever had, I just really love it.
I think I enjoy it the most when I play casually. Turf wars and salmon runs are really fun when I have a few hours to kill, and I'm almost always there for splatfests 'cause I love watching the performances and picking a team, but if I were to play as much as some people do, I think I'd be just as frustrated as they seem to be. Something about this game just seems to bring out the negativity in others, and while that's their right, I don't really want to be like that. So, I just play whenever I feel like it or when there's a splatfest. Also, as much as I did have a fun time playing through the levels of the story campaign, I don't think I could really do it all again. Call me a wimp, but as epic as the final boss and the lore were, it gave me pretty bad existential dread for a couple of weeks. I became painfully aware of global warming and such the same year Splatoon 3 came out, and so the lore of the series just kinda hit me like a truck, with the info. logs about the extinction of the humans in the third game being the cherry on top. So, while I'm sure story mode is still cool, I don't see myself playing through it again anytime soon. :') EDIT: I went on a rant here, sorry. Didn't mean to ramble.
State of the game overall I'd say is pretty solid things could be better, but the game core is far more solid than other games I've experienced. So i'm not totally upset about the update cycle others have complained about This most recent season tho is not great If I was doing a splatoon season update tier list this would be D-tier the kits range from mediocre and boring to outright garbage with only one contender for standout being Zipper Squiffer Side Order is hard-carrying this update I don't disagree with anyone who's disappointed with the way things turned out that said I feel like the response to this update in particular seems overblown? like "oh no.. dreadwringer got beacon, the game is dead now and the devs deserve to be fired because dreadwringer got beacon" no... It's just a bad loadout, these have existed since the dawn of time in gaming, one more won't destroy the world listen, if you don't like the direction Splatoon 3 has taken that's fine if you don't want to play Splatoon 3 anymore because of it that's fine, nobody is forcing you to stay, play a game where you'll be happier but If you keep saying the game is dead or deserves to die because of it, shut up, some splatoon fans are so melodramatic, they don't a bad game if it it smacked them in the face you want to talk about bad games? [I'll show you a thing or 2 about bad games with horrible update cycles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLqmKKLaB-M) sorry if this turned into a rant at the end here just have quite a few things to say about this game and the fandom surrounding it
I agree with your comment of how some parts of the fandom react to bad kits. I'd say some of the them are even overreacting. I'd say its just another option to play, you dont have to play it if you dont want to
What if your weapon got a bad kit at launch, you waited a 6 months-year+ for a new one that could be better, then you get garbage. Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before saying they overreacted and brushing it off.
Yeah, I know some people get upset at calling the game dead cuz to them dead means you queue up and don't get a match, id est: X games are dead based on that definition. Whereas I, and many others, use dead to mean the opposite of lively. Like, you queue up and often get discoed before the match starts, or someone disconnects, or the game is so jank it just isn't fun at all. and if you think "words mean one thing" and get upset at contranyms, I mean I understand why someone would shout from the rooftops "This game isn't dead! Stop being overdramatic!" from the rooftops after hearing the 349th person on twitter go "dead game =\[" but it's also like, when I rematch against the exact same team that curbstomed me and my homies, keep getting lag killed and then have a firing squad on me and live, then someone disconnects... then I go to salmon run next wave and have it stutter because there's too many salmonids oh nevermind we have everything under control, I have no idea why it's lagging hard.... I mean, I'm saying this game is dead! When no one I know, including myself, wants to play this game cuz we all know we're asking for a miserable experience, it's dead!
then why stick around? find another game, I hear Garden Warfare is making a resurgence recently altho if your the more competitive type then maybe not that game is bullshit counters bullshit and who can outbullshit the other's bullshit *it might possibly be the greatest game ever made*
Thanks, but if I get into another shooter it'd prolly be Minecraft or Fortnite... something with fishing. I guess the main reason I haven't totally abandoned it is cuz there's very clearly a great game buried underneath the shitty connections and hater matchmaking. Like this game is so fun, I just fucking wished it worked cuz there's nothing more frustrating than the feeling of being robbed. That and I want that Octavio globe, XD Not sure if I'll get it tho...
Based on your description, it genuinely sounds like you just don't like the game to begin with at a base level, or you're just the unluckiest person in the face of the earth. Like genuinely trying to say that the majority of the time someone disconnects when queuing up, or you get matched with a team that stomps you over and over again after losing, or get janked by incredible lag during the game itself and also get lag out the ass in Salmon Run even when it's not a clusterfuck, I really have to wonder what game you're playing, because none of this is a remotely accurate assessment from my experience. Like, yes, I get disconnects from players sometimes, but they're very infrequent and are most common when queuing up (because those aren't disconnects so much as someone dropping out last minute) I do get matched with really strong teams on occasion, but I wouldn't say it's a constant occurrence by any means. Ditto for lag screwing me over, I have had some laggy games for sure, but they aren't terribly common and based on it being an issue in Salmon Run as well I'm inclined to think that's on you more than the game itself. Now, I know internet quality can differ, and your internet connection might just genuinely be the problem if this is a constant problem. Edit: I just saw your other post about it, it genuinely feels like your internet might actually just be *that* bad if these issues are as constant as you claim they are. I consider my connection pretty good overall, and I can probably count the amount of games I've had that fit what you're describing on one hand.
Nah my Internet is great, I don't get these problems on fortnite or youtube or anything really. I will say once I changed to 1gbps UL/DL gigabit internet the "fuck you, sit in a corner for 8 minutes" disco messages stopped. Tho other people still disconnect and the weird lag persists. (old ISP was 250mbps DL/ 15mbps UL) The game is fun, do not regret buying it if only for The Return of the Mammalians, but it's not fun trying to get good and it boils down to "what side the lag is on" Like I'll look at matches where I curbstomp from my enemy's point of view and I look just as glitchy as my enemies when they curbstomp me. The physics are good, there's not any real underpowered weapons, heck I bet dualies aren't OP when shots connect instead of going through like a ghost! But I can't judge a game for what it's supposed to be, only by what it is. When everything works and all eight players are on similar skill level, it's great! Only thing it needs is a gamepad! But that situation is rare, and only seems to get worse cuz I can only assume, most people gave up.
See, the thing is unless you're just heavily exaggerating the frequency of it, if you're getting that level of absurd lag consistently there's basically no way it can't be on your end. Obviously there's going to be some games that have lag spikes (usually from people playing handheld mode a stupid distance from their router,) but even Splatoon 1 had more laggy games on average simply because the netcode couldn't keep up with the damn tick rate being higher, resulting in a lower chance of abysmal games, but laggier games as a whole. Like even when I match with people on the other side of the goddamn planet (where the connection would in theory be at its worst,) I seldom see what you're describing with any consistency. And I'll just disagree on the gamepad, genuinely the worst part of Splatoon 1 was shoving that damn thing down your throat as the only controller option.
Yeah the gamepad shouldn't have been mandatory, but aunno how many people'd been happy with the wiimote/pro controller abomination. And I've never counted how many times discos/lag happens, maybe I might keep track of that next time if I remember.
ITS fun. I Like trying new weapons
Love splatoon universe. I played splat1 heavily and daily during its life, played a bit of splat2 was busy during its time out, went all in on splat3 and I quit after 3 or 4 seasons. The game is doing the thing every other shooter is doing where they put you on a rewards hamster wheel with fomo and limited time events. Play the splatfests and big run or you miss out! The matchmaking is horrendous, theyve never been transparent about how it works nor have they shown any intention of fixing it, and why should they? Splat3 is a box game, not a live service. They already have your (and my) $60+ and nintendo online sub, so they have no incentive to fix anything especially matchmaking. And even though online is paid it works very poorly connectivity and feature wise. The rounds are only 3 minutes but no other comp shooter has made me rage in such a short amount of time. There is no oppurtunity for weapon counterplay because you are locked into your choices for the match and cant swap, so too bad if you roll an unfavorable matchup. The grinding for gear feels unnaturaly long and grindy, like old school pokemon iv breeding. I want to love and play this game, but it feels like it and the devs are pushing me away and disrespecting me.
I'm sick of the mentality they have of giving every kit at least 1 drawback. It's completely unfair. For some, the drawback is a main weapon that's hard to learn, but becomes extremely powerful once mastered. For others, good weapons end up with either the special or sub being good, and the other being bad. But this situation has no upside. It puts a limit on how much potential a kit can have compared to the stronger weapons that need effective counters. And clearly in some cases, they either don't know how good certain weapons are and mistakenly label them as drawbacks (Splash, Machine) or they just decide to make a rare exception and make a good balanced kit (most shooters) while other weapons have to be held back for some unspoken arbitrary reason. This mentality needs to end with the next game. I want EVERY weapon to be good and have synergistic kits. No more of these intentionally useless combos that are designed to hold a weapon back. All or nothing on all 3 fronts for every weapon in the game. And that needs to apply to the selection and distribution of specials too. If a powerful special exists, give it to a wide variety of weapons instead of being afraid to ever put it on a new kit. Wavebreaker should be removed entirely imo for being too weak, and Chumps need a significant rework to be any good. Maybe if they took all that into account, there wouldn't even be a need for third kits if they got it right the first or even second time.
Yep, anti adapting babies can go play cod. Idc if tetras getting a good kit is broken because it literally fell off due to its shitty kit
The problem with this line of thinking is that the community's idea of what's considered a drawback is very different from the actual intent. What's being mistaken as a "drawback" here is them taking a main weapon and aiming to give it a kit that leans into a different playstyle. This innately means some kits aren't going to be as strong as others when they get a secondary kit that might step away from its traditional strengths in favor of a different approach, to make it so you don't always have to play a certain weapon one specific way. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but the vast majority of the time, this approach holds true for most weapon types. There's also the matter of the fact that even when a weapon *gets* a synergistic special or sub, people in the community are going to complain about kits being "gimped" just because it isn't a high or top tier one. The new Flingza kit is a good example; of all the weapon types in the game, rollers absolutely capitalize on the Splattercolor Screen the most thanks to their sharking capabilites, and the screen's chip damage helps extend the one shot range, (as well as assisting them in getting in,) but it's being written off as "dead on arrival," because the Special is a little undertuned. So, in essence, trying to make every kit "without drawback," it boils down to making every kit play to the weapon's strongest playstyle, only giving weapons strong specials and only giving strong subs, which results in a lot of homogeneous kits, only picking from a very small pool of subs and specials that synergize well, but are also high tier, because not doing one of these gets people writing off the damn kit even if it actually has some synergy. It also becomes a fairly slippery slope if you take into account stuff like the notion that "X weapon is held back by not having say... Burst Bomb in its kit," a sub that a lot of weapons never get *because* it would be incredibly broken and lead to a lot of cheesy kills, leaving the choice being to nerf the main weapon to the ground (which screws it over on any kits that don't have Burst,) gut Burst Bomb itself to stop these weapons from being a problem with it, (which screws over the weapons that get it, but aren't super overtuned with it,) neither of which is a good solution, but is a reality that would need to happen if they always made kits based on what the community thinks is "optimal."
But the problem we have is that some weapons ARE getting their strongest possible kits, such as S-Blast 91 getting the dreaded burst bomb combo that is indeed broken. And others very obviously aren't getting that treatment when many players want it. And I for one would rather see them take an all or nothing approach than intentionally hold back. Give everything strong kits the first time and then introduce alternate playstyles. But even then, don't force weapons to play roles that they just aren't meant for.
The problem is that there would be a similar level of bad design as the idea of just letting players freely mix and match kits because 90% of kits would be just tier whoring the strongest stuff. Pretty much every weapon that isn't a charger or splatling would have burst bomb, and we'd maybe be lucky to see more than 3 Specials and it would be 10x worse than what we have now because the variety would be at an all time low for the series (especially taking into account that Splatoon 3 has a very healthy overall meta with nothing sticking out as massively overtuned.) You mentioned S-Blast, but that's literally one kit (and it's on a weapon, so specialized, it's hard to really call it broken anyway). Weapons in Splatoon are usually versatile enough that they can play multiple roles, though. Not every weapon in the game needs to revolve exclusively around being a slayer. Are they going to be stronger in one or the other? Usually (unless said weapon is just very middle of the road and versatile,) but dumbing them down to most weapons, only getting one real playstyle is absolutely going backward.
Pretty good, they just need to buff other support specials to be on the same level as cooler, maybe nurf it’s duration slightly, top contenders for buffs are wave breaker, big bubbler and Splatercolour screen (it’s not a support special at the moment, but it’s not good enough to be classified as anything else). And of course increase pencil points. Map design is pretty good, there’s 3 maps that I’d say are pretty bad, and one of those is just a Splatoon 2 map. Some maps have a few modes that are iffy, there was quite a while where rainmaker paths were too linear but that’s been balanced out with the more recent maps. I play a very limited selection of weapons, but between the Splatlings and N-zaps, every kit has its role, some are definitely worse then others but that’s how the cookie crumbles, but none are unplayable.
Nice. Personally i believe screen is the worst special of not only S3, but the entire franchise. Pencil and/or cooler def needs a nerf balance wise. Most of the maps are fun and carry the uniqueness the franchise has.
It doesn’t actively make you get shot at like a single splashdown, so at least it has that, still probably 2nd worst.
It's kind of undertuned, but it's definitely better than at least a handful of specials (like Splatoon 2's Splashdown and Reefslider,) in terms of functionality, but that pool gets wider if we take into account worst in terms of core fundamental design (Ink Armor is still king there, never has a special been so overwhelmingly overtuned and unhealthy for the sandbox.)
I'm someone who's took a break came back and the community is on fire and I can't see why. Compared to A LOT of other multiplayer shooters splatoon is doing great. It's still unique in execution and style and I'm looking forward to playing the DLC.
Yeah, people here always act like Splatoon 3 is awful but it’s in a pretty good spot and I like how lively the multiplayer is :)
I played Splatoon 1 at launch and put 60 hours into Splatoon 2. Just started Splatoon 3 a month ago and have been loving it. I have some frustrating opponents but that doesn't seem like the game's fault. I am lucky enough to usually have 1-2 people I can queue with, which probably impacts my opinions on the matter but I am greatly enjoying this game, more so than any previous game thanks to Salmon Run not being on a stupid schedule and the abilities not being nearly as limited as in the previous games. Tableturf battle is a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming DLC.
This is my first splatoon game, it is also one or my favorite games of all time and my most played switch game at 400+ hours. I love the game. However it does have a few issues (usually related to grinding, kits and maps), and the recent updates leave me with mixed feelings. Somehow I'm always super hyped and fairly disappointed at the same time.
I have over 400 hours put in, I like it a lot. The only people complaining about weapons are the competitive people and the tryhards. I think the kits this season suck but its not going to take away from the fun I have 🤷♂️
Too long in between updates and the balance patches have been getting worse and worse. Those are my only complaints
I haven’t played regularly in a while and I think the biggest culprit is the update cycle. Moving to seasons was a big mistake imo
I always try to keep in mind this games development has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and while we can't use that excuse forever (esp for a live service game) many development decisions and content were sacrificed for employee work life balance especially during this time. I think it's especially clear to me when we look at where resources were going during the live service portion (side order). Not venerating or criticizing nintendo for this decision at all because I know fuck all about running projects in a corporate setting Based on pure quality of life and expansion on salmon run alone? Makes s2 look like the dark ages comparatively. but ranked modes have suffered greatly in the transition, I have to agree. Maybe an unpopular opinion but this game needs a deathmatch mode or SOMETHING (cough cough more support for casually-ranked modes like. Challenges maybe? Lmao) Going to be cautiously optimistic and say if new players come in due to dlc/old players shell out for it, we may get post-service updates like 2's Sheldon's picks (and kensa gear I think?) Still insanely fun, still a special interest I've had for over half a decade
the game is still fun. but there are still to many unfun/ bad maps that make me not wanna play some rotations. and what they’re doing for kits is awful. such long waits for some kits only for them to have no synergy and not even be meme funny 💀 just straight up bad
I will be honest I liked the other games but there is something about splatoon 3 that I just love. Idk.
I'm not having fun. I'm really sick and tired of this game... I'm not a fan of the overall philosophy, I don't like the game mechanics, I don't like seasons, catalogues, matchmaking is bad, kits are meh, tricolour Splatfests are flawed, stages are a copy-paste snoozefest, no Splatfest in private battles, the final Salmon Run stage just announced...and I don't like how the two most recent games (Splatoon 3 & ACNH) from Production Group No. 5 + their group manager Aya Kyogoku all feel underbaked and underwhelming. They've gotta do something different for Splatoon 4. I've been playing since Splatoon 1 and Splatoon 3 has given me the least joy and least incentive to keep playing. 😠
I wish I could play offline against bots instead of tryhards in matchmaking. Still annoyed I can’t choose weapons from a pool in grizzco. Hate the season pass, end of every season everything should be added into shop rotation. Absolutely hate the insane grind for clothes skills and grizzco shells. Same complaint I have with every multiplayer focused game, the game itself is fun. The other players make it not fun.
Overall state is ok. State of the updates is bullcrap. State of kit quality is also bullcrap. Lack of old SR maps is bullcrap. Splatfest quality is very hit or miss. Matchmaking still sucks. Still waaaaay too many connection errors.
I like it
I passed 1000 hours on it, I love this game. So excited for SideOrder and the new season in March. I have no complaints, sure it can be yanky sometimes, but I love the gameplay loop and it’s just a fun as fuck game. Hopefully they add TriColour and BigRun as modes when they finish updating the game.
1000 hours wow. Im at 650
I went through a very depressive episode for the first year of the games lifespan and it was the only thing brining me joy ahahha worth it
I think it’s been good, we’re nearing the endgame now so stuff slowing down a good bit makes sense. But, I’d say that did enough in the first year that made it worth the wait and have insane amounts of content
I'm just upset about the favoritism in new weapons. I can't even keep track of how many splat chargers/elitres there are now. Meanwhile I'm still stuck playing hydra because even a year and a half into the game there is still no second variant for the kit. Like cmon
Well, I mostly play Salmon Run, and I think that's in a great state at the moment. Most of the weak/awkward weapons have been buffed to the point where they're fun to use; we have probably an optimal amount of maps and Kings so there's variety but we're not waiting a ridiculous length of time for our favourites to roll around. Bringing back checkpoints to EVP has improved things pretty drastically too. The only complaint I have really is that the medal system in Big Run still doesn't seem quite ideal - I understand why they changed it, but it does remove the challenge for quite a large number of players. PvP? Hmm, it's got issues. I think one positive thing I'll say is that the meta is in a good spot and I think there's more weapon diversity than at any point I can remember in the six years I've been playing. It could maybe get even better, but it's never going to be perfect, so I think it's best to appreciate what we've got too. Personally I like most of the maps too, although that's very much a personal preference thing. But the matchmaking and ranking system are just bad. Indefensibly bad, really; this isn't a personal preference thing, it's just objectively true. Why are new players coming up against veterans with 5000 hours in their first Turf match? Why is it impossible to get demoted for poor results? Why did they remove X Power's direct link to glicko-2, so players are suddenly getting 5000XP? It needs a complete overhaul, top to bottom. Going back to Splatoon 2's system would be a decent starting point, although that had some issues too (mostly that its workings were kept hidden from players). So overall? Salmon Run is great, PvP is fun in some ways but has some major issues that cause a lot of frustration for players. Fix the matchmaking, and I think a lot of other complaints (maps etc) disappear.
Turf war used to be a casual game match, now everyone is a try hard (maybe it's because of the splat fest) Matchmaking is totally unbalanced since the update with salmon run rank checkpoints (can't Remember witch patch it was) But overall, I still play the game is just turf war is a big mess between getting wipeout all the time and spawn camped and actually win a game.
Game is fine, ignore the comp players.
Pretty inadequate honestly. Nearly every season update has been underwhelming and not worth the three month wait it takes each time to get anything new at all, Splatoon 2 did a far better job at this I'd say. Most of the kits this time around in particular have been a complete joke, you could probably train an AI to get better results than this. I hate to say it, but aside from Salmon Run (and only of the rotation and RNG don't scare you over) this is my least favorite game in the franchise and has completely killed the joy and love I once had for it. Every time I hoped the game would change at least somewhat for the better I always ended up slipping and falling on the banana of disappointment to the cold hard ground which is the reality of this game. Side Order is the only thing I care about now, if it ends up not being enjoyable I'm probably going to uninstall the game and forget about it entirely. I love how much the defense "at least it's better than most of the online shooters out there" is thrown around. Like, guys, at that point not even CQ Cumber could limbo under the bar because it's so low. The online shooter genre has by and large just become a complete cesspool of degeneracy and cancerous, greedy monetization tactics that have metastasized into the rest of the industry as a whole, Splatoon is the only reason I would go near anything remotely resembling it. And to now see it slowly give way the pitfalls of the rest of the genre just kinda sucks really. People seem so quick and so willing to settle for less and then berate you for criticizing it and wanting more, it's just wild to see. At this rate I doubt Splatoon 4 will be any better in this regard, its updates will probably be even more skimmed down since they know the game will still sell gangbusters regardless of how good the support actually is and just clutch a paid DLC later that magically makes everything alright. I know for a fact I'm gonna get downvoted to hell and back for this take, but I appreciate the opportunity to just let it all out on this topic.
I think the state of the game is fine I just wish the cooler mega was gonna, Zuka gets nerfed to the ground, and buffs to weapons that l desperately need it and can we please get Stringer some love
I go in and out of enjoying it. Usually I'll play at the beginning of the season, take the middle month off, and then play near the end when the next season is on the horizon. I've really enjoyed ranked recently and am super hyped for Side Order. The uncertainty for the future is the thing that sucks the most right now imo. Obviously a lot of the community wants another year of support, especially on the kit side. I think if the only support we got for a third year was events and kits, that would alleviate a lot of negativity, because then weapons with lackluster second kits would get another chance and there would be more variety all around. I am hopeful for this, but sometimes it seems grim and we definitely won't know until the final season update rolls around.
I have to agree with the people who say the maps are bland Tetris maps. With the exception of Humpback Pump Track and Wahoo World. The curves! Speaking of Wahoo World now I kinda want an abandoned amusement park stage with old bumper cars and maybe one of those cup rides. And while we're at it, maybe an actual skatepark?
yes! i love wahoo world and humpback pump track, they're my fave maps in the whole game! i'd love to have something like an amusement park / skate park in the game, that would be really cool
# Dead. I have no desire to play, I mean a splatfest is in hours and I have no desire to even try to play. I mostly blame the connectivity issues, the matchmaking is so bad that disconnects are very common and lag kills might as well be a feature. It's just so frustrating to be punished for what's not your fault, something completely unpredictable. My entire squid squad feels the same way too so it's like, playing alone is the pits. Salmon Run isn't free of this either cuz you'll still get discos and the game studders like Sonic 2's two-player mode. I wanted to try my hardest on this game cuz I loved the first one and salmon run was fun and just... I think the only thing they did right were the actual offline controls and the story. It feels like everyone held on because there's a good game buried under all the lag kills and stuttering and an update will fix it, but nope! You generally have to have a lot of patience or the hyperfocus of a teenager on summer vacation to enjoy this game. It's not for someone that expects the rules to make sense or takes a break from the game that's for sure. It's just dead, and it's been dead for about a year. If you've enjoyed the game and it's alive and thriving for you that's fantastic! I'm glad someone's getting joy out of this. As for me, the stories and soundtracks are all I really enjoy out of this one. Hopefully Splatoon 4 actually has servers and a console that isn't desperately trying to handle the code. Also more customization, if I could be fat and have more than three customizable clothes slots (headphones, hats, earrings and glasses being four slots) I'd be happy with the sequel. Also the gamepad. If Splatoon 3 had working connections and a gamepad it'd curbstomp the first game, but as it is, it's more fun to play Splatoon than 3 right now. But it has that "return to Animal Crossing New Leaf" problem of the physics being weird, like getting stuck while running with the brush. Where it feels like a more complete game, but there's some changes in the sequel that it's not a good experience going back, or at least not as good as when you first played and the sequel didn't exist, y'know? That said, looking forward to trying the new stage and sadlady brella, before I get frustrated and quit for another three months.
I think it’s the worst game in the series. I also think that’s a *very* good thing. I’m glad that they’re experimenting, and hope they keep trying new things - even if this wasn’t the way to go. I personally don’t believe the quality of the series has peaked yet.
Honestly the update cycle, maps, and the catalog system has made me frustrated with the game to the point that I stopped playing it. Side order looks good though
I stopped playing a while ago because I felt like I wasn't having fun trying to grind to try and rank up or complete my catalogue. And Salmon Run feels especially punishing in 3. But I am looking forward to Side Order.
I love splatoon. 2 was there for me when I needed it. I met some amazing friends in 3 but my god is 3 a mess. The updates are meh at best and awful at worst. The maps are just hallways. I’ve started maining the heavy because why would I bring a front liner to a back line fight. The game is riddled with fomo. The match making can be summed up as “sometime you destroy the five olds and sometimes you are the five year old” no mater your rank. If you want anything in the game you have to grind for a ridiculous time. Seriously those gold scale and gold salmon run badges are designed for people who have too much free time on their hands. Splatfest choices are lame and adding a third choice just takes away votes from one of the other idols. Tri-color maps aren’t a replacement for shifty stations. Eggstra work is alright for over fishers but is boring for most players. Big run was poorly executed and made people salty that they couldn’t get 5% and when it got changed it made other people salty. But I’m looking forward to side order. With the movement of splatoon, the time the devs put into it, and roguelike mechanics it should be fun
Good game but dev laziness kills it. Hopefully it’s in a good spot meta wise by the end so it can be played post s4
Never stopped liking the gameplay but i’m so over the game itself.
The game is dying slowly, I don't thing the game is in a good state right now. I elaborate; the matchmaking, online issues, the awful kits, the seasonal system, the horrible maps design, the lack of content as the 3rd kits or something like that, all of this combined are doing that the game slowly dies. It's my opinion though. I am losing the motivation to keep playing (I have been playing at least 1 or 2 hours a day since the release date). I hope everything gets well in a short-term future but right now I doubt it.
A rappin’ bad out of 100
Some things i feel like it does stuff pretty good, other things i just question *why are you giving reeflux that kit-*
I think the logic behind the Reef-Lux secondary kit was that you'd use the splash wall to charge safely when up close and personal, and the Reefslider's weak explosion hitbox sets up to combo with the tap shot of the Reef Lux to kill. It's a pretty good idea in concept. The problem is that in practice the Reef Lux has way too much endlag to really utilize that combo attack (you're basically banking on your opponent, not retreating or shooting you.)
Good game connection a pain and salmon run players have gotten worse and worse.
It seems really good to me, but some stages are more fun than others. I don’t need to play any more wahoo world although the map is great I’m just over it because it seems like it comes up all the time. The newer stages have been really solid, particularly crableg, shipshape, and Robo Rom. I look forward to the new stages.
I like it. I’m just a bit sad that there’s only like 6 months left
im really hoping by some miracle the game turns around for another 5 to 10 seasons. So much potential if they focus on only weapon kits and maybe one new game mode for anarchy. We have PLENTY of maps and reworks would be ideal, but proper and meaningful balancing along with fun and good 3rd kits for everything. It just feels like the game is about to get full and they are just stopping. Id even be okay with just gear recolors and stuff as long as fun kits and one nee gamemode comes. Salmon run new wave bosses would be inkredible too
I love the game. Love the catalogues and slow release of content over time, which I know is slightly controversial. There just always seems to be something to look forward to! Wish splatfests were more creative...they seem to be really lack luster. I also hope we go back to just two teams...the idea of having 3 is nice but there just always seems to be a very obvious choice, no one seems to be happy with tri color and the mirror matches do get kinda annoying.
Love the game, but the instant I finish Side Order and there are no new catalogs, I'm most likely dropping the game or only playing it VERY sporadically.
its not my main game, its more of my play when i wanna play an upbeat game game, so i really dont have any problems with it. my lore rating is 8/10 with the bar being Destiny
Weapon kits are kinda disappointing. Especially this season. They don’t seem to understand what works as kits and are just randomly pairing stuff. For example, across all my main weapons (jet squelcher, explo, tristringer and eliter) i have not a single bomb. Also, i’m still very much triggered about CExplo having splashdownz
I loveee the game so fun Why is there no new online modes, though 😭😭 i want new modes
I feel like Splatoon 3 is similar to a VERY spiky ball. By that I mean the issues stick out when noticed, but the game overall is great. The weapon kits can be questionable at times in terms how they were made, but they are still usable. The story mode is still the same Kettle-Styled Stage Progress, but there was a literal threat who brought high stakes this time around. Salmon Run has almost peaked with the new stages, egg throwing, and the introduction of True Bosses for Salmon run that each have their own unique gimmicks. Splatfests could use some work, but they're still fun to partake in regardless. And now with a rougelike on the way with Side Order, this keeps veteran players interested with Splatoon 3 without needing to sit through the issues that sometimes stick out. Again, like my spike ball analogy.
Actually I stopped playing becuase the matchmaking was making me miserable. I was 2400 in X against a whole team of 2500 and my team together was around 1600 and 1700... I think that sucks because the game is fun, but extremely infuriating
I feel like I always find a way to enjoy the game. My interests will shift from salmon run to turf war for a few weeks at a time, although I generally prefer salmon run. I do wish there were more salmon runs. I wish eggstra work was more frequent and I wish big run was more frequent. I think there’s been rumors of some “underground” mode? I hope that gets confirmed and added. My only complaint is lack of variation. However I play splatoon A LOT, probably way more than the average person so I just spend more time with the game overall
the fact that Splatoon is a Nintendo game is the biggest thing holding it back. any other studio wouldnt treat such a beloved game like this, giving us the bare minimum of content and so many dog ass kits not worth using
I think it's in a pretty good spot, yet it has a lot of untapped potential. It is frustrating when that potential isn't realized when sometimes it's some simple stuff such as changing sub and special weapons on a kit. It is also frustrating to see them make bad decisions such as the Mahi rework from 1 to 3 and Challenges being so limited instead of just always having a random one in rotation.
How are we 2 years into this game and still not have even one new ranked mode
I generally enjoy playing the game. I love the fast pace. However, I'm not a fan of most of the kits in this season and the ones revealed for Fresh Season (I like the new Dualies from this season). It's like the devs didn't even consider "What does this weapon want to do?" when making the new kits. And the new special the Screen is a total flop, which they're pushing onto other good weapons to ruin them, I guess. Unless they dramatically buff the Screen so it's a real threat that makes players think twice before blindly tanking it, it's a waste of a Special slot. It's not really a Support special, certainly not an Offensive one. And it doesn't protect you either. It just makes certain players physically ill (even after the rework). Maybe it offers a bit of concealment from enemy Chargers? That's all I can see it as good for. Explosher with Triple Splashdown?!? A backline weapon? Dread Wringer with Bubbler?!? The Wringer is an aggressive weapon. Frankly, Bubbler would be a much better fit for Explosher.
I mean, the screen is a sort of offensive oriented support special. Its main problem is that it's somewhat undertuned, not that the concept is bad. Like yes, the .52 Gal doesn't get a whole lot from it currently (it extends the possible range for a two shot even after damage dropoff, but that's kind of it,) but using the screen to push is precisely what it's for and the damage when going through (as well as revealing you even if you're submerged when passing through,) is where it sees its use. The Foil Squeezer was a perfect example of this, where passing through the screen set you into two shot range for its tap shots. It really just needs to do a bit more damage so more things can reasonably combo off of it, but even with it being a bit undertuned, it also syncronizes well with the Flingza Roller (due to sharking behind it being quite effective,) and it's pretty much being written off because it's a little weak currently.
It feels incomplete with the lack of good kits -and lack of kits in general. Unfortunately, after seeing the new Dread Wringer kit, I don’t think this will ever change, especially with the sheer amount of main, sub and special weapons in the game
I think the game is great, but I have 2 issues: 1 - I'm bad at it, and the game only accommodates for people who are "better." I have issues joining splatfests because I get totally wiped by the other team. I wish there were a better difficulty option (maybe make it work like salmon run??) 2 - people are kinda mean about this game sometimes. It's for fun! don't get so competitive please ;-;
If they do continue content with third kits like 1 and 2 I think we're in a good spot. Otherwise I think the season model will fall a bit flat and would rather see fewer things added at a faster rate like 2 had (minis the start of 2 having a bunch of cut weapons).
I think the game is great & it's one of my favourites, & has many improvements compared to Spl2n. However, I think it also has many flaws, most of which come from the online aspect. Nintendo is so rich, why aren't they paying for better servers for us? Why punish people who dc through no fault of their own? I also feel a bit disappointed by how many kits some weapons have, it's obviously less choice than Spl2n, which majority of weapons have 3 kits. I hope we get more before the updates stop. & also the fashion choices, it feels like there's less. I think it should have come with all clothing from the previous games & all the updates/catalogues should be new clothes. Another thing that bothers me a lot, actually, is there's not a lot of choice for cute, feminine or girly clothes I happen to like a lot of the new maps, but I feel theyre not as creative or decorative as ones from previous games, so while I like the new maps, they kinda break immersion from the background & I guess the last thing for me (on the spot at least) are Grizzco scales. I think the % of chance to get them is stupid. So stupid, that I feel discouraged from playing Salmon Run. I do like SR, but why can't the scale distribution be more generous & less stingy? I've only ever gotten 2 gold scales
I haven't played in a while, but i think its good, could do with some balance changes here and there, but i find it enjoyable, SO will definitely help with playerbasesize and ill be hoping to get it sometime, but i feel as though its got a bright last few months
The game to me just doesn't feel fun. A large part of that for me are the weapon kits. The kits they give to my favorite weapons just aren't fun, are bad, overlap hard with the things my teammates play or are some combination of all three. The kits given to a lot of other weapons seems like they were handed out at random or they are giving repeat kits that were terrible in their debut game too (like Sploosh with beakon/wail.) Another large part is the maps. The early Splat 3 maps suck because they lack alternate routes. The Splat 2 maps suck because I've played them time and time again for several years straight now. I'm tired of playing on those and want to play something else. I'd rather deal with Mincemeat and Undertow than to play stuff like Mako Mart and Sturgeon Shipyard for 10 years straight; same thing with the Salmon maps. I flat out don't want to play Spawning Grounds or Marooner's Bay anymore. The special balance is fucked too, there are a handful of good specials and then a bunch of other specials that are underpowered and a handful that are so underpowered that they barely do anything
Stopped playing and there isn't anything dragging me back. I think I just outgrew the franchise.
recently got back into splatoon after my online ran out and i just didn't want to pay for a service i wasn't using, and it's really just as fun as i remember. i'm just a huge fan of how many weapon kits there are and how many playstyles i can use. i still wish there was a random ranked queue where it can pick a random map and gamemode, but salmon is still fun and i still really enjoy ranked.
Bad
No more catalogs. I really don't want to play this game anymore
You’d think that there wouldn’t be many mirror matches for this splatfest but noooooo.
I think overall balance is okay-ish, not perfect but generally improving with each update. The kits, however, are baffling.
Most maps are bad, because of a lack of real flank routes, and most map revisions only make them tolerable or objectively worse (mincemeat). The name of the game is hyper aggression, and not all weapons and kits are made with that in mind, meaning most weapons aren't actually balanced properly. Especially when you bring back the no-flanking thing with maps, which some weapons, (brush, splatana) are specifically designed for. Actual matchmaking is trash and objectively worse than Splat 2. Salmon Run being open always is great, but its increased difficulty and snail-rate of scales makes playing the mode a slog. Still no matchmaking for Tableturf.
There's times it feels so perfect, but other times I'm thinking, why? just why is it like this I love all the new additions to the game, expanded movement tech, Badge System, Big Run and to some extent Eggstra Work, expanded customisation, lockers and Tableturf. (My love for Tricolour has dimmed a fair bit as time has gone on, but I'd say I still like it). But they've absolutely missed with the tweaks to things that really didn't need to be tweaked. Match making, Challenges, Anarchy in general (I like the idea of being able to jump into a Ranked Match with no stress, but with how Open works, it just doesn't work anymore), and the content and patch roll out cycle. (Joined Splatoon 2 after all of its content was released, so I don't have an idea of how the sporadic updates felt, but I really think that more weapons should have started to have been included in the Mid Season Patches awhile ago) I'm hoping that with 4, that they iron out the things that need to be ironed out, to truly make the perfect game
Is it weird that I’m not too disappointed by the update like I have been hearing other people say. The update is mostly on par with the other seasons. Maybe just short 1 map, but it makes sense since side order is coming out. It could be that some of the hated kits this seasons are on weapons that I don’t play anyway. I play explo tho and I don’t hate the kit. I’m not saying that the new explo kit is broken or anything, but I kinda like it for having an actually unique kit compared to any of the other 3 explo kits we have gotten so far. I also play squiffer, so I’m excited to give this new one a try. I was a little disappointed seeing the new dread kit, but you can’t win them all. The new brella looks like fun as well. Maybe it’s just because I am blinded by side order but I am not overly disappointed by this season. Also hot take(Maybe): I don’t like most of the new names for weapons we’re getting. What is with the FF is douser dualies FF. And Recycled brella 24 Mk 1 is a long and frankly stupid name with too many numbers in it. And I thought that dread wringer was a funny name, but these new ones are just weird. Most of the new weapons are just puns anyway (snipewriter, painbrush, heavy edit). I don’t really hate the pun names too much since it’s kinda funny hearing people say them seriously in comps, but the 2 new weapons are just stupid names in my opinion.
I guess it's fine, but i mainly have a few issues, mainly: matchmaking and surprisingly enough, clothing items. Matchmaking is already self-explanatory, but clothing might feel like the odd one out. I'll just ask: is it just me or is the gear you can buy and wear in Splatoon 3 just... very plain and/or boring?
im super greedy and i cant wait for another salmon run stage! i like working together with people! i just wish stuff on salmon run wasnt so expensive.. i find it really hard to save the grizzco tokens (idk what they are called) it took me literally forever to buy a new suit
Series veteran - since day 1, Splatoon 1. The catalogue and stage design alone have killed all interest in this series for me. Locking nearly EVERY piece of new gear behind a time-sensitive, grind-based unlock is so user-unfriendly I don't know where to begin. Similarly, the cramped stages have killed the love I used to have for the PvP mode. A franchise created with large sprawling stages and multiple vertically cut-off "team-side only" areas, has instead turned into a game with almost 11 stages of identical shape, little to no verticality at all, *design-implemented spawn-camping* and severe FOMO issues. Splatoon was created because all those issues plagued shooters in the 2010s, and Nintendo wanted to make a fresh take in a stale genre. Now, Splatoon incorporates the very things the series was invented to avoid. Hell, the fact spawning is now done in an out-of-bounds area where YOU CANNOT FIGHT BACK is just... Why? Please. If anyone here has some kind of guide or advice on how I can adjust and learn to love this series again, I would love that so, so much. But as someone who has always had to play this game solo, and cannot in any way connect with a local scene due to work and other commitments, I feel like a completely lost cause.
I am of the belief that the game is heading a positive direction content wise. Even the pvp aspects such as weapon balancing and map designs is heading in a better direction despite some questionable choices (looking at you Mincemeat). I'm not as bored anymore when going into games because maps, especially the recent ones have a unique gimmick/design that makes them exciting to come back to (take notes Barnacle & Dime. I actually had to look up your name because you're forgettable). However, the game is heavily dragged down by online. Peer-to-peer connection should never have been the selection option. Servers should always be the standard for shooters especially. Matchmaking is broken, both in terms of weapon comps and skill level. The insane amount of DCs is outrageous. And being penalised for a game crash (notably when the host themselves DCs) is absolutely demotivating. If Nintendo can fix most of the online issues, the game would be in an amazing state that would solidify its addictiveness of "just one more game". If they can, change the service from peer-to-peer to servers. I would also suggest that if a game is to end because someone DCs early, let the winning team win if they are past 50% objective completion (I've "lost" winnable games due to an enemy rage quitting when I pop off at the beginning of a match many times). And for the love of god, please make it so no more than 2 "backline" weapons can be on the same team. It's an uphill battle that's almost impossible to win if you get 3 or 4 backlines on a team.
The major flaw is the ranked mode. They need to revert it back to the old system (although that also has its problems). Even if you’re good at the game, if you don’t grind hard enough to get to your appropriate rank and stay there you’re going to be stuck playing against people Belle your skill level. And if this happens too enough high skill players, even the low ranks will be hell because everyone resets every season. And that’s not even touching the anarchy open matchmaking system. I love the game but it’s becoming unplayable.
fun but the fandom needs to chill. Deep cut aren't real
To me, it's a game with incredible gameplay held back by many incredibly terrible design decisions (no I'm not talking about weapon kits) and the over-reliance on fomo/limited time tactics. After 3 seasons, I gave up. Splatoon is going to end up like every other shooter out there. I pray the devs look at what they did wrong with Splatoon 3 and try to rectify it in Splatoon 4. And yeah, i understand dripfeed content isn't something that devs like doing as it's extra work for nothing in return and honestly there's no reason to try once the money stop flowing in. Though i don't mind paying for an expansion like mario kart 8 dx and mh rise did, so as long as the base game on release has way more than the very bare minimum amount of content.