Review: Splatoon 2 explained to parents

What parents need to know

Splatoon 2 features children who can transform into squid called Inklings who battle arenas with colored ink shots. When in the form of squid, they can pass through the colored ink faster and hide. You play as a third-person Inkling and face enemies in various levels. The games are similar to paintball games.

Possible configurations of the Nintendo Switch:

Difficulty

Against the computer, there are some pretty tough challenges. Online, the remaining players are now very experienced because the game is long out.

Violence, fear, nudity?

Inklings characters shoot themselves with paint guns, paint rollers, ink bombs, ink rocket launchers and other gadgets creating ink/paint explosions. They attack similar characters and tentacles of enemies, and huge bosses. Some weapons may look like real weapons by far, but everything is being done to mitigate this and the very cartoon environment contributes to this.

Level of language used

Childish language, lots of puns with the world of the sea.

Positive message

Encourages to be social and to play as a team.

Minimum reading level required

Requires reading for years. Adventure mode and menus have a lot of text.

Additional costs ?

An extension can be purchased to play a new story. More details below.

Minimum level of execution on the controller required

Requires time to learn and train. Especially to get around, while managing the camera.
The player will have to go through the tutorial in story mode to understand what is going on.

Requires knowing how to move in a 3D environment by moving the camera.

Principle of the game

You don’t have to have played Splatoon 1 to enjoy this game.

Players can customize their own characters by choosing their hats, sweaters/t-shirts, shoes, and weapons.

Local game modes

Adventure:

A story mode for a single player that lasts several hours.

The Shoal

This mode offers to take on players who have the game and a Nintendo Switch console near you. So each player plays on his console in local WiFi.

Players can either fight a private arena battle (from 2 to 8 players) or a Salmon Run (2 to 4 players) in cooperation.

Online gaming modes

Requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to be able to play on the Internet with friends or other people.

You can play 1 player per console.

Regular Battle: The classic Splatoon confrontation mode: Turf War, in this mode the arena must be painted as much as possible so that its color is most present at the end of the 3 minutes of the match.

Ranked Battle: Ranked games with different modes:

SplatZone:The player and his team must keep and defend a specific area, or even two, for as long as possible for a certain period of time.
Tower Control:The objective is to take control of the mobile stand in order to bring it to the assault of the opposing base. The mobile stand will have to pass through checkpoints to save the team’s crossing.
Rainmaker: The goal is to retrieve the Bazookarpe and bring it to a pylon near the enemy base in a minute, otherwise it explodes and returns to the center. When the Inkling/Octaling holding the Bazookarpe is “liquidated” the two teams must again recover it and bring it as close as possible to the pylon. Victory is assured to the team that deposited it on the pylon. In case the time is up, the team closest to the pylon wins.
Clam Blitz : The goal is to collect clams on the stage. When a player has ten, he gets a “super clam” that is essential to destroy the enemy basket. When it is destroyed, the team must then throw clams in it until the countdown ends. The team with the most clams in the opposing basket wins the game.

League Battle: Play with 1 or 3 friends (if you have 2 online friends at this time, it won’t work) online against opponents.

Salmon Battle: A cooperative mode with 3 other online players where we face hordes of monsters that arrive in successive waves.

Every 2 hours a zone/arena rotation, where players compete, takes place. At this point, the player is interrupted by the characters presenting the news in the game, who explain what are the new arenas today. An interruption that breaks the rhythm and that we could have done without.

Every few months, there are themed events (ketchup or mayonnaise for example, or Mushroom or Star of Mario) where players join the team of one or the other of the presenters for a weekend/weekend. At this time, all the matches made and won, allows the presenter to earn points. At the end of the weekend, the team with the most points receives rewards.

Extensions

A paid extension that adds a dedicated story mode of 80 levels can be purchased separately. If you enjoyed the original story mode and want more challenges, this extension is for you.

Completing this extension unlocks the ability to play with children/octopus (octoling) instead of children/squid (inkling).

To purchase the Octo-Expansion of Splatoon 2, click here.

Conclusion

Splatoon 2 is a great game with a lot of content. However, it will require dexterity to overcome all obstacles and to be able to survive against opponents in line.

We recommend it without a problem.