Skippable Dialogue and Update Notes
Splatoon got a ton of updates adding new content, maps and more. One of the more annoying issues in the first game, however, had to do with how you couldn’t ever skip information on updates. Every time you start the game up you have to sit through a short newscast, where Callie and Marie tell you which modes and maps are available right now. Having to sit through these update notes time and again whenever you play the game, can get incredibly grating.
Additionally, the weapons store gives you a brief description of each weapon you unlock when you visit it. Unfortunately, tons of weapons were added to the game in the months after its release. This meant if you hadn’t picked up Splatoon for a few months, you found yourself sitting through a few minutes of item descriptions, just hitting A.
While Nintendo obviously wants players to stay up to date with Splatoon, things ended up feeling much more tedious than they needed to. Splatoon 2 should definitely give players the option of skipping dialogue and updates, and give them an easier menu option to browse it all from.
Standard Map Rotation
Splatoon has some wildly inventive and varied maps to play on, an important feature as the main point of the game is actually covering more ground with your ink than the enemy manages to. It’s a little strange then, that you only ever have access to two of Splatoon’s maps per mode at any time. Nintendo chose to have maps cycle out at sets times per day, with only two in rotation at a time.
Because of this, if you’re playing Splatoon for a few hours, you’re probably going to get a little sick of the maps you’re on. There’s also the chance that, depending on your play schedule, you may not even see your favorite map for days or weeks at a time. Things would be much simpler if Splatoon went the route of other online shooters and just cycled through all the maps available, letting players vote between two different ones or a random selection. Matches happen so quickly in Splatoon, that it’s kind of baffling why Nintendo chose to go this route in the first place.
Hopefully, Nintendo adopts a more varied approach with map selection in Splatoon 2, keeping things fresher from match to match.
Playlists for Each Mode
Part of what makes Splatoon so unique, are the fun and inventive game modes it comes with. When the game launched it only had Turf War available, tasking players with inking a majority of the battlefield. Three additional modes have since been added; Tower Control, Splat Zones, and Rainmaker. The catch here, however, is that these can only be played in Ranked Battle or Private Battle with friends. Additionally, Ranked will only be featuring one of the modes at any given time.
For Splatoon 2, Nintendo needs to have dedicated playlists for each mode in both Ranked and Regular Battle. It just seems strange that you can’t hop into any of these modes at any given time, especially if you don’t want to play Ranked. Obviously, you can do so if you have enough friends to fill a match, but it’s far from an ideal solution.
More options for play is only a good thing, and being able to jump from mode to mode could help keep the game feeling fresh during long sessions.
In-Game Clan or Team System
With Splatoon’s big focus on teamwork, you’d think the game would be a perfect fit for some kind of clan or guild system. Obviously, players can go outside of the game to do so, but Splatoon really could benefit from a system like this. Players could group up together and play with friends or other members, and maybe even a separate playlist is created for Clan Battle, purely pitting two clans against each other.
You could also really have some fun, and give clans a set of pre-selected options for creating clan emblems. Obviously, with the family focus Splatoon has, Nintendo would need to be careful and monitor any kind of creations system. Just think of the possibilities, though, when you have Splatfests between different clans. Maybe Splatoon even just has three or four teams to choose from, and if your team wins a Splatfest, you get cool merch emblazoned with your team’s emblem for your Inkling to wear.
Having some sort of clan or team system in Splatoon is just one way to make player’s experiences even more customizable, and help get players invested in the long haul.
More Modes, Maps, and Weapons Available Immediately
Splatoon managed to garner attention at launch for its uniqueness, but it certainly could have done with a little more content from the get-go. Turf Wars was the only mode, there were a handful of weapons and customization options to choose from, and there was a complete lack of private matches and party options. It definitely would have been nice to have a lot of these things at launch, however.
Nintendo did a great job with free follow-up content, but Splatoon 2 needs to have a little more right out of the package. All the modes featured in the first game should be included at the very least, and of course, there will be a host of new weapons. Nintendo has already said that the sequel will be receiving free follow-up content as well, but Splatoon 2 really has the chance to be one of the best games on Switch and a reason to pick the system up.
It’ll be one of the first big multiplayer games on the system, along with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe releasing in April. Splatoon 2 is currently one of only a few titles scheduled to release this Summer on Switch, so it’ll need to have plenty of content to keep fans busy.
Fleshed Out Single-Player
The first Splatoon did feature a single-player campaign, but the big focus remained on multiplayer. The single-player was light on story, stringing together a bunch of levels in one big hub, with groups of levels capped off by a boss battle. The level design really shined in these areas, with each level feeling distinctly different. In addition, you could find scrolls in each level that revealed a tiny bit of lore or provided some additional context into the world of Splatoon. These were often weird things like hinting at the existence of humans in Splatoon’s world, or an ancient war between Squidlings and Octarians.
Nintendo really should lean into the wackiness of the series with Splatoon 2, and create a more fleshed out campaign. Nintendo is best known for their engaging single-player titles like Mario and Zelda, something that Splatoon could greatly benefit from. Using some of the crazy characters from the first game like Captain Cuddlefish but giving them more story and personality, would provide even more incentive to pick up Splatoon 2. Plus it’d be a good training ground for new players to hone their skills before jumping online.
Voice Chat
One of the most baffling decisions made with the original Splatoon, was the lack of a voice chat option. In a multiplayer shooter so focused on teamwork, this is something that seems so obvious to include. Nevertheless, Nintendo chose to keep out voice chat because of online negativity.
Nintendo’s intent behind the decision is clear, but unfortunately, the game really does suffer because of it. Anyone really looking to get into Splatoon and play with friends will want to have an easy voice chat option, and not look outside of the game or console to talk to their teammates.
At this point, we do know that the Switch uses a mobile app for its voice chat feature. Outside of that, we don’t know much about the app itself or how it’s going to integrate into the system. Unfortunately, it also sounds like the app won’t be out until the fall, after Splatoon 2 launches this summer. Hopefully, Nintendo will have something in place at the game’s launch that can streamline chat options a little more, and fans won’t actually have to wait for the option. Voice chat really is one of those features that team-based multiplayer shooters just have to have.
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