Everything You Need to Know About Last Night’s Splatoon 2 Direct
Last night’s Splatoon 2 Direct was action packed and filled to the bream (ha ha) with information. At roughly 30 minutes, it was longer than Nintendo’s E3 presentation, and even more detailed. While it’s easy to get swept up in the bigger stories of the night, there were a lot of smaller details that are just as interesting and exciting. Nintendo sent us a press release this morning detailing everything they covered, so, here’s everything you need to know about last night’s Splatoon 2 Direct, straight from the horse’s mouth:
Custom Style
In Splatoon 2, Inklings can be customised to fit the player’s taste. Things like eye colour, hair style and skin tone can all be adjusted when creating a character. And this doesn’t even mention the fresh new gear like shirts, shoes, hats and legwear that can also be equipped. Since two years have passed in the world of Inkopolis, many styles have been upgraded so no one is caught splatted in something that is “so 2015.”
Pants!!! We have pants, people!!! I know it might not seem like much, and as far as we know, there aren’t any stats or abilities attached to legwear, but it’s still super cool to see more opportunities to Stay Fresh.
Galleria
To find all these hot new fashion trends, players just have to make their way to the Inkopolis Galleria. This row of popular gear and weapon shops is where all the cool kids and squids hang out. In Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, a jellyfish named Jelfonzo will help players obtain T-shirts and jackets. A spider crab named Bisk runs the shoe shop Shella Fresh, while Flow the sea slug helps players at the headwear shop Headspace. Weapons can be picked up by stopping by Ammo Knights, run by the knowledgeable horseshoe crab Sheldon. And who doesn’t love food? Inklings can grab a bite at Crusty Sean’s dive to get more points and in-game currency from battles.
There are lots of returning characters here, which is fantastic to see, but the new vendors are just as spectacular as the old ones. The fan favourite (at least in the Vooks Community Discord) seems to be Flow, who is both Fresh and utterly adorable. Also, where can I get one of those pet uhh sea slugs? Whatever Flow has on her hat, I want one.
Gear
Equipping gear in Splatoon 2 will give players special abilities. Each piece of gear has certain abilities, and there are even additional abilities that appear as players use the gear more and more in battle. By speaking to Murch, a sea urchin (naturally), players can freshen up their gear with abilities that reduce ink consumption or help them move faster – some will even decrease respawn time. There is a wide variety of abilities in the game, so selecting the right one to use could make or break the battle.
The PR didn’t go into much detail about this, but the Direct sure did. Murch, the fantastically named sea urchin, can help you add abilities to items, and help you take them off. This is a huge step forward for Splatoon; in the previous game, sub-abilities were totally random, which means that some players could be disadvantaged if they happened to get less useful rolls.
Fresh Features
Some additional features coming to Splatoon 2 include a handy menu that lets players change the sensitivity of the controls separately for TV and handheld mode, amiibo functionality and the ability to post drawings directly to social media. By tapping a Splatoon series amiibo figure, players can save control settings, gear and weapon loadouts, and nicknames to any Splatoon amiibo figure. New and existing Splatoon amiibo are all compatible with Splatoon 2 and can also reward players with exclusive gear when tapped.
We already knew most of this, but it’s good to know that there’s a tonne of accessibility settings, and that sensitivity options are separate for docked and handheld. Hopefully other developers take note!
Turf War
Turf War, which finds two teams of four battling to ink the most turf, makes its grand return in Splatoon 2. There are all kinds of different stages in the game, ranging from city streets, a sports club, an academy, and even a BMX track. Different stages have different environmental hazards, so players will have to work together to figure out the best strategy.
Nothing spectacularly new here, Turf Wars seem to be more or less the same as they were in Splatoon. Some of the new maps look fantastic, though.
Ranked Battles
Every two hours, the three Ranked Battle modes rotate, offering something new to play. The three modes are Splat Zones, which finds teams fighting for control of Splat Zones placed on the stage; Tower Control, a fast-and-frantic mode in which players ride a moving tower; and the chaotic fun of Rainmaker. By winning a Ranked Battle, players can increase their rank in each mode. Ranked Battles can be played online. Ranked Battle modes can also be played in local multiplayer in Private Battle.
Perhaps the biggest change to Ranked Battle, you now have three ranks, not just one. You have a different rank for each Ranked Battle game mode; so for example, you might be an A+ rank in Rainmaker and a C- in Tower control. I’m glad too, because I suck at pretty much everything that isn’t Tower Control.
League Battles
League Battles allow players to form a team with friends, fight alongside them and battle their way to the top of the charts. There are two ways to join in these 4-on-4 battles: Players can enlist one other friend to form a pair and be matched with another pair, or connect with three friends to form a four-squid team. Once teams are created, players compete in Ranked Battle modes to aim for a top ranking.
This is a nice new feature that lets you band together with friends to form a team of two or four people for two intense hours of co-op battles. At the end, you’ll be given a score ranking (called League Power) and be able to work towards a bronze, silver, or gold ranking.
Salmon Run
This new local- and online-multiplayer* mode in Splatoon 2 finds up to four players** working together to defeat bosses and collect Power Eggs in a limited amount of time. Each match in Salmon Run lasts for three waves, with players having to collect a select number of Power Eggs to advance to the next wave – and at least one player has to stay alive. This last part might be tough since the stage is overrun by Salmonid enemies and giant bosses, each with their own weakness. Salmon Run is a frantic multiplayer mode that can be played locally with friends at any time and is also available to play online at designated times, just like Splatfest.
When Salmon Run was first announced to be a limited time feature, like Splatfests, I was very concerned. Salmon Run is the game mode that interested me the most, and the thought of not being able to play it whenever I liked was disappointing. However, the Direct showed us that the limited times for Salmon run are actually quite frequent — about once every other day, for 24 hours at a time. Salmonids are also absolutely terrifying, as you’ll see in the picture below.
Hero Mode
Callie (of the famous Squid Sisters) has disappeared! Of course, there’s no need to panic. Players can just hop into Hero Mode to ink their way through a variety of creative obstacles, monstrous bosses and devious Octarians. This single-player mode is also a great way to learn the basics of the game and try out different weapons.
Nothing much to say about this, except to say that Hero Mode is looking to be just as fantastic as the single player mode in the first game.
So Many Ways to Play
Splatoon 2 can be played in so many different ways, including TV Mode, handheld mode and tabletop mode, as well as online or local multiplayer. And not only are the gameplay options numerous, but the jam-packed sequel can be played anywhere.
This is part and parcel of the game being on the Switch, but it’s nice of them to point this out anyway.
Main Weapons
In Splatoon 2, weapons come in sets of three: a main weapon, a sub weapon and a special weapon. There are many different types of main weapons, from long-range weapons to short-range ones. Some new weapons introduced in Splatoon 2 include the Clash Blaster, Flingza Roller, Goo Tuber and the Dapple Dualies.
The new weapons are looking fresh as heck, and it looks like there are some awesome new weapons coming down the line, like the shotgun/shield combo weapon Splat Brella, and the delightfully strange Bubble Blower.
Sub Weapons
In addition to inking and attacking, many sub weapons will help players with other abilities, such as defending from attacks or revealing enemy positions. The new Autobomb, for example, will find an enemy and automatically follow them, while Toxic Mist fills the surrounding area with a poisonous mist, reducing the ink of opponents who dare step in its range, as well as making them move more slowly.
All of the new sub weapons we’ve seen so far have looked great, but we’re particularly fond of the Autobomb, which is basically an adorable Bob-omb that will hunt down your enemies for you.
Special Weapons
All the special weapons in Splatoon 2 are new. Some of the weapons making their debut are the Tenta Missiles, the Inkjet, the Sting Ray and the Baller, which lets players roll up walls in an explosive hamster ball. Special weapons can be used once a player’s special meter is filled.
The Baller is a hamster ball for squids and honestly I can’t wait. That is all.
Post-Launch Updates
Like the first Splatoon, Splatoon 2 will see a continuing rollout of updates to the game. These updates will take the form of new weapons, like the umbrella-shaped Brella, new gear and additional stages.
We hear that there’s at least a year of content updates and two years of Splatfests coming. Nice.
SplatNet 2
When the Nintendo Switch Online app launches for smart devices on 21st July, players will also have access to SplatNet 2. This Splatoon 2-specific service helps players stay in touch with Inkopolis even when they are away from their Nintendo Switch systems. SplatNet 2 displays information like stage schedules, gear and stats, and even lets users view their Lifetime Inkage, a feature that shows how much turf a player has inked compared to real-world places. The Nintendo Switch Online app allows users to invite other players via social networks and messaging services to join Private Battles, League Battles, Splatfest Battles, and Salmon Run events, and communicate with those players using voice chat.
We wrote an article about this already, which you can read here.
Splatfests
While content updates for Splatoon 2 will last around a year, more scheduled Splatfests for the game are planned for the next two years. To kick things off, a free demo to try out the first Splatfest for Splatoon 2 is going to be held on 16th July from 8:00am AEST. Players just have to download the free demo in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch and get ready to decide if cake or ice cream is their dessert of choice. To prepare in advance, the demo can be downloaded before the Splatfest starts on 16th July. Once downloaded, players can start the demo to vote for their team, and even visit the in-game mailbox to create and share drawings in support of their team.
We wrote an article about this too! You can read that one here.
All in all, Splatoon 2 looks like it’s shaping up to be an excellent game, and we can’t wait to get our tentacles on it on July 21st. You can watch the Direct in its entirety below.
