Splatoon 2 Preview: Things Are Looking Good, Fam

No one — and I mean no one — turns a genre on its head like Nintendo does. When the original Splatoon came out I was completely taken by surprise. I didn’t review that game. I went in blind and expected a cute-but-empty attempt by Nintendo to take the booming team-shooter genre and replicate it in a kid-friendly, but ultimate stale, fashion. Boy was I wrong.

Splatoon ended up consuming my life for months, being the most innovative, colorful, fun, and competitive shooter I had played in years. I was consumed by the culture, by the music, by the characters and the strange world that they lived in. I couldn’t get enough of it, and I’ve been looking forward to Splatoon 2 for some time now. I’ve had my hands on the game for about half a week, and today I get to share my impressions with you all.

Many of you, like me, are practically playing the original Splatoon all the way up to release day. Many of you have never touched the original and are looking at Splatoon 2 with cautious optimism. I know that feeling. Both of you are wondering: How is it so far?

So far, guys, it’s fresh. It’s really, really fresh.

How does it play?

It plays beautifully, my friends. Absolutely beautifully. Nintendo has managed to keep things locked to a rock-solid 60fps during gameplay, and no matter how high and twitchy you have your motion sensitivity cranked up (I have mine set quite high), everything feels and plays smoothly.

Splatoon veterans will be very familiar with the bulk of the gameplay mechanics here. In hero form (kid form), your avatar controls much like any other in a third-person shooter. The left thumbstick moves, while the right thumbstick is used for broad sweeps to the left and right. You’ll use gyro controls to aim and adjust your sights more finely, and this works just as well as it did in the original Splatoon. It’s not at all hyperbolic to say that this is going to be the closest a console gamer using a controller can come to the speed and accuracy of mouse and keyboard shooters. It feels great, and it’s empowering. For those of you playing Splatoon for the first time, expect a steep (but short) learning curve in the beginning. Once the controls click, however, you’ll fall in love.

I’ve played in TV, handheld, and TV modes using the Joy-Con and the Pro Controller. The Pro Controller presents the most comfortable way to play in my opinion, though it’s just as intuitive with split Joy-Con. With the Joy-Con split, you’ll only need to tilt the right Joy-Con to aim. This works well, but you still need a little bit of room to move and adjust on the fly.

I love to play my Switch laying in bed; I’ll set it in the HORI stand on a flat surface on my waist or stomach as I lay on my back, and I rest with my arms at my side, a Joy-Con in each hand. This doesn’t work so well with Splatoon 2 because I needed to move my right hand more than was comfortable while laying down. This is an active shooter, and if you want to stay competitive, you’ll want to give your wrists and hands some room.

How have stages evolved?

One criticism leveled against the original Splatoon is that the single-player campaign stages were somewhat short and generic. I had a lot of fun in Splatoon‘s single-player campaign, but I can still say with confidence that Splatoon 2 represents a huge step up both in terms of engagement and in level design. Under the terms of the embargo, I can’t open up too much about what you can look forward to until the game launches, but there are a few specific improvements that I can mention here.

The sheer variety of obstacles, mobility enhancing props, and enemy types makes every stage feel like the “whole package,” so to speak. There are more weapon types to use in Splatoon 2, and you’ll be asked to change and upgrade your loadout frequently, but the bulk of the surprises come from the stages themselves.

There are speeding platforms that shoot you forward or up into the air when you step on them; there are special rings carefully placed throughout levels that dish out currency if you manage to pass through them; there are special rails that you can activate to initiate long riding sequences that make Splatoon 2 feel like a fantastic, arcade, on-rails (pun intended) shoot ’em up; long squishy mats roll out, up, and side to side when you shoot them, granting safe passage across obstacles for a limited time; there are hanging ink lanterns that you can shoot with a charger that pull you in as if by a grappling hook.

All of these things, in addition to some world-class stage design and an army of new and familiar Octarian foes, give the stages incredible replay value. I’ve also faced some of the best bosses I’ve battled in a game in years. Splatoon always knocked the boss battles out of the park. 

There’s at least one “wow” moment during every outing, and I’ve been grinning ear-to-ear since I began my journey. I can’t wait to share more details with you all next week.

How does it look?

We’ve heard that Splatoon 2 maintains 1080p / 60 fps which, according to Digital Foundry’s analyses, was a bit of a mistranslation. Splatoon 2 is indeed capable of running at 1080p 60 fps, but the frame rate is the only constant during gameplay. Nintendo is utilizing dynamic resolution to maintain that locked frame rate, and I can tell you right now that you won’t think twice about that while playing. Yes, there is some aliasing, but I’ve never noticed any significant dips in resolution or clarity.

In fact, having spent hundreds of hours with the original Splatoon, I’ve been amazed and delighted by the upgrades in Splatoon 2. There is a marked improvement in textures, in effects, in shadow quality and physics… Even the ink looks much better.

I’m serious. Looking at all of the beautiful ink and flying colors in the original Splatoon was such a psychedelic pleasure, and Nintendo has made the ink in Splatoon 2 even more alluring by adding in these granular, triangular sparkles. I’m not even sure how to describe them. The ink looks a bit like that pretty blue whitening toothpaste you’ve seen with all of the shining flakes inside of it. In the picture below you can vaguely make out the shining bits I’m describing, but in-game they really do add a mesmerizing layer of life and texture to your ink. I found myself slowly tilting the camera to shine the light across my ink at different angles — I felt like a kid staring at an oil spot in the street. It’s a neat artistic addition that, while seemingly arbitrary, makes the game even more beautiful in motion.

I should also note that Inkopolis (the social hub) looks better than ever. The city square is rendered at a constant 1080p / 30 fps, and Nintendo even threw in some anti-aliasing for good measure. The buildings are exploding with life and color. Adverts for the various clothing brands you’ll be wearing in-game splay across giant screens, which clash with multi-colored billboards and ancient statues. It’s a fantastic new hub, and I can’t wait for it to populate with drawings and memes like the old days.