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When Splatoon 3 reviews hit the internet, the overwhelming majority of critics agreed that the threequel was another stellar entry in the franchise. That said, a smaller subset of reviewers mentioned that they felt the overall gameplay between Splatoon titles hasn’t changed enough.

This sentiment seemed to be echoed online by a vocal group of gamers who felt the same way. Hell, we even had one of our own staffers tackle the topic in a feature! Now with sales data trickling in, it seems most gamers out there were incredibly excited to jump into this third outing for Splatoon, but the talking point remains for others.

We know how all sorts of random people on the internet feel, but how about Nintendo? Nintendo’s Bill Trinen was asked this very question by The Washington Post, and he didn’t mince words with his response.

“I haven’t had a chance to read many reviews yet, but I would almost wonder, you know, how well do they know the intricacies of Splatoon? Because as we have seen from the competitive players, the people that have played this game the most, they are looking at ‘Splatoon 3′ as an amazing, new game that they are all eager to dive into.

I feel like for some reason people like to try to pin [its sameness] on Splatoon in ways that they don’t try to pin it on other games of a similar genre. There is a brand new single player story mode that has been evolved incredibly … that alone to me is worth it. And then I look at the ways that, you know, the new actions like squid roll, new abilities and new weapons …[they] are going to change up your approach to strategy. It’s going to change the way you play the game.”

[Bill Trinen]

While I’m not going to dive deep into my personal stance here, it is a topic we discussed on the latest episode of our podcast. You can tune in to hear my complete thoughts there, but I will say one thing here. I totally agree with Bill’s comments on the single player component. I’ve been playing Splatoon 3 since the day it came out and I haven’t even touched multiplayer yet. It’s been an all-single player affair so far, and you’ll hear about my thoughts in an upcoming review!

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Comments (7)

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zero_revolution

But Bill actually actively plays Splatoon. He posts video clips constantly on his personal Twitter of his matches. Obviously he's gonna defend the game in an interview because he works for the company, I wouldn't expect him to start trash talking it or he probably wouldn't have a job much longer lol, but I also think he is speaking genuinely here. And he's right, the game has been changed up a TON. It's crazy how much they've both refined things and switched it up.

kuribo

1+ y ago

No doubt some things are similar and some things are new. Like with any franchise really.


sligeach_eire

1+ y ago

Paid Nintendo employee defends his company. Shock, horror! Just look at that photo. 🤭


zero_revolution

1+ y ago

@sligeach_eire

But Bill actually actively plays Splatoon. He posts video clips constantly on his personal Twitter of his matches. Obviously he's gonna defend the game in an interview because he works for the company, I wouldn't expect him to start trash talking it or he probably wouldn't have a job much longer lol, but I also think he is speaking genuinely here. And he's right, the game has been changed up a TON. It's crazy how much they've both refined things and switched it up.


the_crimson_lure

1+ y ago

>"For some reason people like to try to pin [its sameness] on Splatoon in ways that they don’t try to pin it on other games of a similar genre."

This right here. Seen a vocal minority of reviewers do this with not only Splatoon 3, but Nintendo games in general.
Such a strange pettiness, but cool Bill called them out.


ninjablaze

1+ y ago

I think Splatoon 3 brings plenty to the table to justify its existence as a sequel, but i have been noticing some irony in the community in that i've seen some of the same people that write off CoD games as the same thing every time be incredibly excited for this game, and that's...pretty hypocritical. There's about as much different here between Splatoon 2 and 3 (or 1 and 2) as there are between CoD games every year.


the_crimson_lure

1+ y ago

@ninjablaze

I'd say the difference is, the last Splatoon game was 5 years ago.

Compare that to CoD's release cadence.


nekotaku

1+ y ago

That picture hahahahaa.