Splatoon

Gyro allows for far greater fine precision than dual sticks, and feels more natural as a Roller or Brush user.

I'm probably the only person in the world who could never adjust to gyro controls. Certainly not in Splatoon, because putting the thumbsticks on top of motion control for general turning around doesn't gel with me (it feels like the gyro controls are a hand that is constantly pushing my face in the opposite way I want to move). The Wii's pointer controls weren't a problem because you used that for both turning and moving, and there was a clear zone in which it could tell the difference.

Yeah, the Wii pointer control is pretty easy to grasp.

Oh wow the matchmaking is... something. I was in the same lobby with a lv.98 player.

I just got the Octo Expansion... Have to say, I didn't expect such an increase in difficulty. Compared to the original single player, it really feels like they took off the kid gloves, and in a way I'm glad to have some more challenge. Poppin' Fresh Station in particular is the first level that really kicked my ass, though playing in handheld mode without gyro probably didn't help. Only having a little time to hit the balloons, and simultaneously having to watch out for obstacles and stay on the tracks... It's pretty tricky.

I can definitely see why they have an option to pass a level without beating it if you fail a few times. I could easily see kids or just lower skill players in general getting stuck otherwise.

Matchmaking for Turf War is completely random. And yes, sometimes you get a team of four veterans versus three noobs and you.

I just started fighting in the Splatfest for Team Treat. So far, in Pro Mode, I'm 4-3, all against Team Trick, with starting Splatfest Power of 1887.0. I'm off to a decent start, I'd say.

A tip for the squiddos.

FGHIK: Dude, play with gyro aiming. You're sabotaging yourself otherwise.

Gotta say, I adore the Splatoween getup. Hallowe'en is my favourite time of the year, and it's great to see it realised so well, and so lovingly, in Splatoon 2. They even have the jellyfish dresses as bedsheet ghosts!

I also love how they're redoing all the old Splatfests. If they could just keep rotating them until Splatoon 3 eventtually comes out (or even after) that would be ideal.

Edited by VampireBuddha on Oct 31st 2020 at 8:52:36 AM

If you're already good at console shooters, you can do just fine without gyro. That's my experience anyway. But all the more to you if you can actually master it. I can't.

The gyro aim is alright, but I usually prefer to play handheld without moving the console around a ton so... It's kind of inconvenient. It's also a bit confusing when I try to look up or down with the stick but can't. Wish they didn't force that off when using gyro. For the most part minus the aforementioned level, I haven't felt like I was held back by stick controls too much. I'll probably use gyro on levels where fast precision is a necessity though.

I've been continuing and yeesh, some of these levels are downright sadistic with how little room for error you have. I think I've only seen one or two that I'd truly call easy, and I expect to be replaying them a lot to not run out of... Money? Tickets? Whatever they are.

My final stats for this Splatfest.

My win-loss record was 2-3 in Normal mode (with 1 mirror match loss) and 21-21 in Pro mode (with no mirror matches).

Update: Splatfest results are in!

Edited by Lightblade on Nov 2nd 2020 at 2:48:45 PM

Based on the newsflashes, I figured Team Treat would take this one. Glad I picked the right team. Pretty impressive underdog victory, too.

And once more nothing changes. Missed my chance again, but I've since retired from Splatoon...again.

2 is up to 11.27 million units sold as of September 30th.

Okay, so as much as I have praised this game, there is a massive flaw in the multiplayer. You have abilities that unlock as you play, and turf war that matches low level players with high level players without a care in the world. You can't have both! What were they thinking?! Throwing level 9 new players with basic gear up against level 99s with fully upgraded gear perfectly min-maxed for their playstyle? It's completely unfair and a terrible experience. Maybe ranked is better about fair matches, but you have to get to level 10 before you even have that option.

There really needs to either be matchmaking that puts more effort into balanced teams, or no increases to power as you level up. I can only guess they just never bothered to think about what it would be like for new players late into the game's lifespan, when nearly everyone else playing is a veteran who completely outmatches them.

Shrug. Any online multiplayer game is going to run into the same issue late in its life; at some point, the majority of people will have been playing for years, and there simply won't be enough newbies to ease newcomers into the game.

I didn't start playing Splatoon 1 until the Switch was out, and I only started on Splatoon 2 just before the Order vs Chaos Splatfest. Speaking solely from my own personal experience, this wasn't a massive issue for me. Lack of weapons at the early stages is a bit annoying, but clothing upgrades only seem to give modest at best bonuses.

The early weapons may not be fancy, but they do get the job done. In fact you'll have a harder time handling new weapons because they operate much differently than the old ones.

According to Splatmeta, the basic Splattershot Jr. is the 16th most used weapon in all ranked modes combined for October 2020. Although that was because it was the 3rd most used weapon in Splatzones, while it was 18th in Tower Control, 37th in Clam Blitz, and a paltry 54th in Rainmaker.

EDIT: This is X-rank, the highest level of ranked.

Edited by tclittle on Nov 5th 2020 at 12:38:24 PM

The weapons don't really bother me because they all have their pros and cons, it's not just dealing more damage or something like that. So it's not like a higher level weapon is inherently better, it's just a different playstyle.

Regarding the abilities again, I see two solutions. Removing them outright is not an option, people like to be able to customize their playstyle. Nothing wrong with that. One solution would be just better matchmaking, but that's easier said than done, and eventually would result in excessive wait times or put new players with veterans anyway, negating it. The better solution I think would be just to make the abilities easy to acquire and fully customize early on, instead of something you have to play a long time for. Leave the grinding to cosmetic purposes only.

The skill gap is of course inevitable, I'm not criticizing that. It's the statistical advantages with no downside that annoy me. Things like being able to throw another bomb on a full tank or moving more quickly might not seem that significant, but they make a big difference. Especially when you have up to twelve of them.

Mind, I'm not saying the game is literally unplayable now or anything. I certainly plan to stick with it. Just something I think might be a good idea for the next game to keep it fun for new players in the long run. It's good for the game's longevity.

Edited by FGHIK on Nov 6th 2020 at 2:53:58 PM

Basically expect to be paired up with hopeless rookies. Or people who are guaranteed to disconnect. You won't be disappointed.

Also, you're guaranteed to be pitted against a maniac who can consistently get double-digit splat counts.

Or a guy on your team who gets double-digit splat counts, but completely ignores the objective.

At least in that case, that person keeps the enemy busy. I'd take that over a dime-a-dozen clueless player any day.

If it's just one person tying up the enemy team and not everyone except you focusing on PVP. It's not fun trying to solo a tower or rainmaker push :V