The Splatoon franchise originally began its inception on the Nintendo Wii U in 2015 before launching its sequel the same year as the Switch in 2017. Both entries garnered a very passionate community of players continuously joining online to partake in matches, due to its impressive balance of being competitively viable and accessible for all.
In addition to the standalone gameplay options, these games would also continuously receive events held every so often – Splatfests. In these Splatfests, a question is presented ahead of time along with two answers, to which players will choose a team to be defend/support via Turf War battles for the event’s three days. Once all is said and done, players receive experience points, avatar cosmetics, and other in-game goodies based on how well their team did. This has been an almost monthly staple over the course of the franchise’s history and have been cherished by the fanbase for years now.
So when Splatoon 3 was released in March of 2023 to monumental success, it arrived with many quality-of-life improvements, added features, and a shakeup to the Splatfest formula: in addition to the traditional two teams fighting on a map, there would be a third team added in the second half of the ongoing match, known as the special three-team Tricolor Turf War battles.
This was considered a welcome shakeup of the usual formula amongst the online Splatoon community. However, in this blog entry, I’ll be talking with simplePsyduck – a US content creator on Twitch whom frequently streams Splatoon 3, along with other games. As they are a member of the community, I wanted to know their experiences within the scene, their thoughts on the current state of Splatfests, and what could change in the franchise’s future.
Alright, so to start off the discussion – how long have you been playing Splatoon for (in terms of the IP as a whole)?
sP: “I picked up Splatoon 2 back in 2018; I didn’t have internet so I only played it at places I could take my Switch with Wi-Fi like work or friends houses. In 2020, during the pandemic, after I had moved out of the woods and could get real internet I started playing all the time. It was almost an addiction and is also the reason I started using twitch. I had no friends to play with so I just found streamers who were willing to play with a noob like me and I eventually was like, why don’t I start a channel and do the same? I’ve taken a lot of breaks over the years, the burnout is real sometimes, but I still play the franchise to this day and both Splatoon 3 and Splatoon 2 are the most played games on my switch by a large margin.”
So Splatoon was what got you to put yourself out there and kept you going; good on you, dude. How did it feel to switch from the format you knew with Splatoon 2 to 3, especially with the changes to the Splatfest format?
sP: “Yeah, I mean I always liked performing, I was a choir and theatre kid in school so Twitch kind of provides an outlet for me to “get out there”, so to speak. It’s just a fun artistic project of mine but Splatoon has such a vast community and it’s not only fun to play but has been a great way to meet people, find new friends, and keep the channel growing.”
“Switching from Splatoon 2 to 3 was easy, the core mechanics were all there, they just changed the formula and fine tuned the experience to make it both more robust yet simplified. I have gone back to Splatoon 2 and I never really thought they were much different until you compare them back to back and it’s like night and day how much more refined Splatoon 3 is compared to 2. One thing I love about Splatoon is the constant free updates and new content they continue to add to the games. Even just looking back a couple of versions so many of the maps and weapon mechanics have changed and it’s very refreshing to see a game not only add new content, but make it free as well. The Splatfests are also a really unique mechanic that gets players who may be off Splatoon or taking a break hop back in to take advantage of all the limited time events, exclusive content, and game modes. Having 3 Splatfest teams to pick from makes them far superior to Splatoon 2. It gives us not only more choices for teams, but also the Tri-color battle game mode, which is so much fun and really is kind of a shame it’s only available during the Splatfests and not in private lobbies. Maybe they will add the feature in a later update? All that said, lately I feel they sort of have been overdoing the Splatfests. Just an opinion. I still think it’s an amazing idea and concept but it’s harder for me to get really invested in a grand event when another one will happen next month. They just kind of lose their magic when they are so common, but it never fails to get the player-base connecting, engaged, and playing so I can’t argue with their strategy.”
Do you remember which teams you sided with between then and now? Or at the very least, do you feel like there’s much of an atmosphere difference between your earlier Splatfests and your more recent ones?
sP: “I’ve only had the chance to play a handful as I’m typically busy or just other circumstances. I was late to the game so my first Splatfest was actually a rematch of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” from Splatoon 2. I was team egg and remember streaming the event. We had a lot of fun! I played with some new friends that I still keep in contact with to this day. Looking back I can’t for the life of me remember who won but it was never really about winning. Sure, I wanted my team to do well but it wasn’t because I was devoted to eggs or anything I just like being a part of something and earn clout for the team. Some splatfest theam, tho I am devoted to the cause. Choosing team baby chick for the spring event and team beach for summer were absolutely a no brainer and I wanted our team to come out on top. Others aren’t always so simple, and some themes really do make you think. Asking what you would do if the world ended gave us 3 teams; same old same old, your bucket list, or save the world. I would like to do all 3 but in those final moments I knew I would want to be with the people I care about just living our lives as if imminent doom wasn’t approaching. So I went with same old same old. I guess time would be a factor there. I also geared my team toward people I wanted to play with. For the theme I call ‘Battle of the carbs’ between bread, rice, and pasta… All 3 were great choices so I went with most popular between friends. It’s kind of a bummer not being able to play with friends not on your team, but that’s the nature of the Splatfest. Having that third choice makes us a little more divided but opens up more theme ideas and the new Tri-Color game mode. Plus you can always play together on Salmon Run if you want to set the war aside and join forces.”
“As far as atmosphere, it’s always a blast. The in-game maps and music during Splatfests are always so fun. As the fest is starting you see them bring in equipment and as time goes on they slowly build the stage and floats and have a full out in game concert. Winning 100x battles and seeing yourself on the float as a reward is such a fulfilling thing to see. They’ll even have the announcers broadcast your victories to friends on opposing teams. So many minor touches to really drive the spirit of the competition and festival aspect of the event is crafted so well. Just having a real time sort of event in a video game like that is beyond cool. I think of all the coding and preparation to launch these events and it boggles my mind given the fact this is a one weekend thing, then it’s over. Sure they do one every month nowadays, but they are still unique to each other and in a sense it’s kind of special to experience something like this that won’t really happen again. If anyone knows how to nail atmosphere, I feel it’s Nintendo.”
Speaking on the atmosphere, it’s been speculated that Nintendo made the (at the time) final Splatfest of Splatoon 2 so that whichever side won out would decide what the theme would be for Splatoon 3 – do you think we’ll get that this time around?
sP: “That’s what they were saying they would do about past, present, and future’s grand fest theme regarding Splatoon 4. If that’s the case I guess we should expect 4 to take place in the past. I’ve also heard various rumors and theories like time travel being involved, it being a prequal, or it even being a rehash of Splatoon 1. I take those with a grain of salt. We just don’t know, Nintendo likes to be unpredictable, but if they keep the same formula and continue to refine and expand on what works it’ll be a success. Chaos was the winning team for Splatoon 2, but is Splatoon 3 any more chaotic. Maybe a little thematically. But the core gameplay is still intact and it feels like the Splatoon fans have grown to know and love. Really the differences were never really glaring and noticeable until you compare them directly and really over analyze, same goes for Splatoon 1. Looking back you can see and admire their progression but if you get a feel for one you kind of have a feel for them all, nuances and features aside.”
Alright last question – you mentioned before how the Splatfests are starting to feel a little overdone with how small the time intervals are becoming; how would you prefer the game to be supported going forward?
sP: “Hmm, that’s a good one. The monthly Splatfests are just a little much for me personally but I know socials are blowing up each time we have one so It’s obviously working for them. I would probably just prefer maybe every 2-4 months between them. Other components getting more attention would also be nice, I am a huge fan of the Salmon Run mode so having more Big Run events would be much welcomed.”
simplePsyduck does not provide their real name publically and only goes by the pseudonym.
Contact Email: simplepsyduck@gmail.com
