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Splatoon 2 nails it. Each game mode has great design, which is your favourite?

It definitely takes longer to reach level 10 in this game then S1 as a newbie
- There is an established fanbase already competing with them getting the game at the same time
- Levelling is tangentially based on turf inked so high fire rate spammy weapons newbies have access to isn't giving them 2000 exp for 1000+1000 points in turf war, they still only get 800 for winning
- If they're new they're probably not getting 800 points and 5 splats and are probably not even getting the full 400 point bonus for turf inked

Its not all that surprising if they turn on the game on a day when Salmon run isn't available so they don't have that at level 4 to break up the turf war action, or if they do turn on the game on a day when its available and end up playing a lot of it before realizing it gives zero exp.
 
But you know what OP, for a sequel i would have like deeper character customisation, daily and weekly challenge, weapon customisation and...

Just more.
 
Nailed it? Splat Zones is one of the worst multiplayer modes I've ever played.

It's a single-hill gametype with awful rubbing banding issues and almost zero depth.

It's a static objective plonked in the centre of the map where dominate teams can literally watch players spawn and pick them off as they make their way to the zone.

Sorry to be a negative nancy, but I honestly think it's absolutely terrible. lol

Rainmaker is the best if you ask me. It has a constantly moving objective which means you're pulled around the map as people look to make pushes into each other's spawns.

It's dynamic and means, despite being under the cosh for an entire match, you can string one amazing run together and get the win.

Tower Control is alright but feels like a more limited version of Rainmaker to me.

I won't even play rainmaker anymore personally. Don't find it fun. I really enjoy splat zones. You may get dominated once in a while, but the bulk of my splatzone games are pretty close.
 
No
all of the ranked modes have issues with

A) Mobility, if you're the objective you're stuck moving at a specifically reduced pace because you've essentially got one complete loop of the map to complete, and a fresh match starts you halfway there. If you're not on the objective and you're not the person surfing a tidal wave of ink over the enemy team and annihilating them then you're a liability.

B) Tunnel Vision, because of the objective being so important you aren't likely going to be using half of the map. Even when flanking enemies out of an fortified position and using the extra sideroutes / extra surfaces the ranked mode maps usually have you're just taking a slight detour and maybe dropping some extra paint for some super meter, you're never trying to get a decent coverage of the whole map and majority coverage of nooks and crannies so there is never time for you to have interesting engagements in unusual locations of the map and appreciate the terrain.

C) Variety of tactics, since you're never engaging players in different locations/corners/nooks in the maps with different setups (maybe all the walls around them are painted, maybe they have an escape route, maybe you just cut that off, maybe you've chased or forced them to a specific location with a bomb placement) you're always engaging at the exact same checkpoints or flanking in the exact same ways over and over again.

D) Variety in weapon choices. Because the tactics are always the same you're encouraged to use a far more limited set of abilities in each specific ranked mode. Certain specials and bombs and weapon types for each mode are no longer difficult to work around the map or challenging to play with, they're downright crippling your ability to gain >ANY< money or experience / win. It doesn't take long to "solve" this puzzle and some egregiously bad modes for it (Tower Control) have literally had a completely static meta for 2 years.

Of the ranked modes
Tower control is an absolute fuckfest with an incredibly small unreliable moving target that shows the incredible weakness of trying to use the game's cool climbing features on a moving surface
Splatzones is immediately won by the group that gets to the center and sets up good camping positions
Rainmaker is the best because it causes one teammate to have to specifically give up their powers for another set of abilities with interesting tradeoffs and to put themselves into a very vulnerable marked position

I wish that ranked mode was just 100% Rainmaker all the time, I would play it more frequently, as of now though I just used ranked queue for variety on days I feel like playing but I've already done a lot of turf war / salmon run
A) Don't really understand what you mean
B) Obviously coverage doesn't matter as much as it does in Turf War, but it's still absolutely essential in at least Rainmaker in order to ensure mobility of your team and the rainmaker and prevent the other team from swiftly swimming the rainmaker across the map. By mainting an advantage in overall coverage and inking routes forward at all times you can quickly turn the tide of matches. Tunnel vision loses games.
C) True to some extent, but one part of why ranked matches are so intense and fun is because it forces teams into these choke-point or central-area engagements. Turf War has a lot less of that. There's still a variety of tactics you can use.
D) Can't comment on that too much, but I think there are definitely a variety of loadouts you can use in every mode. There are weapons I would never use in Turf War, others I'd never use in Splat Zones. But it's all about playstyles. I enjoy using different weapons in different modes instead of 1 or 2 guns being what I always use.

But you know what OP, for a sequel i would have like deeper character customisation, daily and weekly challenge, weapon customisation and...

Just more.
Would have also liked more character customization. Daily/Weekly challenges might have been cool but I think Salmon Run kinda fills that role. It has monthly gear and a daily superbonus. Hopefully they keep updates coming that add some "more".
 
Honestly, I don't think I have a favorite as I enjoy the modes I've played equally. Turf War is tons of fun for some random casual play, and Salmon Run is a great way to de-stress after playing against other people. I can't say that I'd play either mode over the other if/when I've had the choice.

Haven't had the time to play Ranked battles with friends yet and going in solo just seems like a bad time, so I'll reserve judgement on that.
 
Splat Zones was my favorite in the first game and it's still my favorite now

I love what they did with the center of most of the new maps, it really makes Splat Zones shine. The Reef, Musselforge Fitness, Sturgeon Shipyard, even new Port Mackerel all have great middle sections of the map that get really fun for Splat Zones. the placement of certain geometry, the elevation changes, what's inkable vs. what isn't in terms of walls and surfaces, how you can get to certain areas, etc. they just did a damn good job at designing these maps this time around.
 
Splat zones is definitely my favorite and I find it's the mode people are consistently competent at. With Tower Control and Rainmaker I still get too many people that have no idea what they're doing.

Salmon Run is ace, but should be up 24/7.

Also, allow me to create a pair team in Splatfests, dammit!
 
Single Player is objectively better than every other mode.

Only case you could possibly make is for Salmon Run.

Core reason? I've played all this shit before.
Any that doesn't force me to use the god awful Charge Shot.

Are you not using motion perchance?
I have a full time job and am level 35 at rank S and A+ on most modes, if you haven't broken levels 10 by now you're not really even playing. It probably takes 5 hours or so to do that.

It most definitely takes longer than 5 hours to break through 10. The initial leveling curve is substantially slower.
I was hugely underwhelmed by the single player, seemed like an almost 1:1 rehash at times with nowhere near enough new additions or ideas.

This reads like someone who didn't get to world 3 or barely remembers the first game's campaign.
 
Strong GotY contender for me.

Honestly hard to pick between the modes, I enjoy each so much. However the game obviously shines best during multiplayer, so singleplayer gets relegated to third. But choosing between Salmon Run and Turf War? Impossible.

Right now I think Salmon Run takes it, but in time fighting AI waves may become repetitive so Turf War will probably end up as the winner. Can't wait to hit level 10 and see what else the game has in store.
 
Anyone ever get a Rainmaker player who grabbed the Rainmaker and took it back to your own base? Good times lol

much like all blanket strategies in splatoon that only ever CAN apply to about the last 60 seconds of a match, people will "learn and implement" them for entire matches
 
Haven't played any ranked despite reaching level 20. I just love Turf War that much. I love have more or less the whole map in play, and being able to catch an enemy team by surprise by sneaking behind them at the last minute or so and inking up territory they thought was safe. I also like that every match, regardless of how onesided it is, lasts for exactly 3 min. Matchmaking speeds aren't the greatest, so I want to get my money's worth (so to speak) in terms of playtime per match.

Salmon Run's great, but it has some big problems. A couple of the gimmick rounds aren't explained at all prior to you just plopping down in one, meaning lots of matches paired with people who don't know what to do against Grillers or Motherships or Goldies hidden in pipes. Then there's the fact that High Tide on Spawning Grounds is total crap because of how much of the map is nothing but grated walkways that you can't swim across, which means at the higher difficulties you have to get really lucky to win these rounds, a lot luckier than you do with High Tide rounds on Marooner's Bay. And then there's just the fact that sometimes the weapons offered are crappy. Having two melee weapons as options, or the Goo Tuber, or a couple of weapons with poor ink usage rates really makes it a lot harder than it should be.

Story mode is eh. Thoroughly eh. I like that you can replay through every level with different weapons, and they even add bits and pieces to some levels to make them playable, but it's still too similar on the whole to Splatoon 1's. There's a couple of new gimmicks that get used for one or two stages, but for the most part you could throw any of these levels into Splatoon 1 and no one would bat an eye. Splatoon 1 got away with it for the most part because it was a new game, but I was really expecting more here. Even the bosses felt weaker overall, except for the 4th one. Also upgrading your gear makes the difficulty a joke. The max level Splattershot fires about as fast as a fully charged Splattling for example. I had some modicum of difficulty beating the last boss of the first game, but none here.

TD;DR: Turf War >> Salmon Run >>>>>>>> Single Player
 
I have not yet cracked the single player but Salmon Run and MP are great. I pretty much stick to Turf War but they are all pretty fun. Salmon Run would be my favorite but it needs more stages.

The game is just damn fun and I would recommend it to anyone.
 
The only great mode is Salmon Run and Nintendo decided it was a good idea to put limitations on it. I really don't know what they're thinking.

Agreed, SR is the best. Of course, I have to plan my life around the time it is available just to play it. Great idea.
 
Agreed, SR is the best. Of course, I have to plan my life around the time it is available just to play it. Great idea.

SR is available in 24 hour chunks now. Unless you have literally your entire day taken up by other obligations, you should be able to play some of it whenever it's available.
 
Rainmaker the best. Salmon Run is good too, but I wish it was around all the time. Tower control comes after that, and then Splat Zones. Turf war gets boring really fast, but it's good for beginners.
 
Salmon Run is the best. It's just too bad you can't play it any time you want.

Is this a meme being posted because of how pervasive the opinion is in reality, or is this a true opinion that gets posted so much that it's become a meme?
&#129300;
 
I have a full time job and am level 35 at rank S and A+ on most modes, if you haven't broken levels 10 by now you're not really even playing. It probably takes 5 hours or so to do that.

Too busy playing Salmon Run. I'm still Rank 9 and only got that high because of the Splatfest.
 
SR is available in 24 hour chunks now. Unless you have literally your entire day taken up by other obligations, you should be able to play some of it whenever it's available.

The last two or three times I booted up the game, it wasn't available. Sure they can make it available in some 24 hour chunks, but there are still significant gaps where it isn't. That is a problem.

I mean, the amount of contortion people have to do to defend this... I bought the game on the pretense that Salmon Run would be a mode I could play anytime. And I wish I could, because it's definitely my favorite mode. But I can't because it's locked behind an arbitrary, ever-changing time wall. It's the single most frustrating aspect about this game to me.
 
Is this a meme being posted because of how pervasive the opinion is in reality, or is this a true opinion that gets posted so much that it's become a meme?
&#129300;

None I think, it's the truth. A great mode that's no available at all times
 
Is this a meme being posted because of how pervasive the opinion is in reality, or is this a true opinion that gets posted so much that it's become a meme?
&#129300;
Which part is a meme? It's genuinely a good mode but is time restricted, and a fair few people dislike that aspect of it. It used to only be on 12hrs every other day, now it's 24hrs on with about 10-18hrs off.
 
The last two or three times I booted up the game, it wasn't available. Sure they can make it available in some 24 hour chunks, but there are still significant gaps where it isn't. That is a problem.

I mean, the amount of contortion people have to do to defend this... I bought the game on the pretense that Salmon Run would be a mode I could play anytime. And I wish I could, because it's definitely my favorite mode. But I can't because it's locked behind an arbitrary, ever-changing time wall. It's the single most frustrating aspect about this game to me.

Oh it's still crap that it isn't available 100% of the time. I'm just saying it's way better than it used to be right after release when it was only available in 12 hour chunks and you'd get stuff like "It's on from 3am to 3pm, hope you don't have a job or anything fucker".
 
Salmon Run is like a revelation to me. I love it, and play it whenever it's available. It doesn't hurt that it is easily the best way to make money in the game. I always end up with 100k+ after I play.

I don't have a preferred ranked mode but that's because I haven't played that much. I'm B on every mode except rainmaker where I'm still at C- because I suck and the people on that rank suck as well.
 
The one where I can play casuals with my friends without being in a private match facilitated by a smartphone app. Oh wait.

That said, I do like Salmon Run, but getting through ranked to unlock League is a CHORE with randoms. Shouts to that person who just decided to detail their car after hitting join battle.
 
Turf War is definitely my favorite mode, just in terms of the game design of players being roadblocks more than objectives when you break down the strategy of it. The way the time phases change how you need to be playing to really excel is super interesting, and more or less having an active sense of whether your team needs you as a finisher (covering the random spots missed at base and around the map in the last 30 seconds), a supressor (targeting or pinching off opposing players), or ground-team (steady coverage, with a group rush in the last 30 seconds) at any given time.

I think the frustration of the ranked modes relying *so* much on teammates is particularly annoying here, given the lack of communication features. In the end, this basically makes the ranked modes worthless to me, because even if I'm winning, it feels like a happenstance. It's possible I've just had consistently unfocused teammates, but the result is the same. I haven't had the chance for any of these modes to click with me. I haven't even tried Rainmaker.
 
Level 10 doesn't take very long to reach, you can do in one extended sitting (all within a day!) or a few shorter ones. Lv10 is entry level, and even then, most new players barely have a graps of the mechanics introduced in turf wars, and how essential controlling turf is to every mode in Splatoon. One can argue that if you find the lv10 barrier such a hurdle(time or skill related), then you probably arent "ready" for ranked matches yet. In ranked matches, you'll meet players that made you wish the entry-level was much, much higher. You'll see! ;p

Anyway, I really like all the modes, almost equally. They all bring a refreshing and unique mix of strategy, to the point that my preference usually depends on what mood I'm in at the momemt.

In the original, Splatzones was my favorite mainly because I was less dependent on my teams' effort(or lack thereof, sometimes), than the other ranked modes. Perhaps that influenced my playstyle a lot, in this sequel. I'm currently sitting at:

Splatzones: S
Tower Control: A
Rainmaker: A

Even so, I'm not quite ready to call Splatzones my favorite, as the enhancements to the other modes puts them all on equal ground now.

And yes, Salmon Run is great. I don't mind the event-style play. This isn't here for folks to farm ridiculous bonuses because they play it 24/7. 24/7 play with very small bonuses(or none at all) could have been an option, but I'm sure people would complain about that too. Being an even fits with the nature of the game (and the actual "job!") much better anyway.

I agree with those saying level 10 is a bit high as a barrier. I think it should open up at level 6 or 7.
 
No
all of the ranked modes have issues with

A) Mobility, if you're the objective you're stuck moving at a specifically reduced pace because you've essentially got one complete loop of the map to complete, and a fresh match starts you halfway there. If you're not on the objective and you're not the person surfing a tidal wave of ink over the enemy team and annihilating them then you're a liability.

B) Tunnel Vision, because of the objective being so important you aren't likely going to be using half of the map. Even when flanking enemies out of an fortified position and using the extra sideroutes / extra surfaces the ranked mode maps usually have you're just taking a slight detour and maybe dropping some extra paint for some super meter, you're never trying to get a decent coverage of the whole map and majority coverage of nooks and crannies so there is never time for you to have interesting engagements in unusual locations of the map and appreciate the terrain.

C) Variety of tactics, since you're never engaging players in different locations/corners/nooks in the maps with different setups (maybe all the walls around them are painted, maybe they have an escape route, maybe you just cut that off, maybe you've chased or forced them to a specific location with a bomb placement) you're always engaging at the exact same checkpoints or flanking in the exact same ways over and over again.

D) Variety in weapon choices. Because the tactics are always the same you're encouraged to use a far more limited set of abilities in each specific ranked mode. Certain specials and bombs and weapon types for each mode are no longer difficult to work around the map or challenging to play with, they're downright crippling your ability to gain >ANY< money or experience / win. It doesn't take long to "solve" this puzzle and some egregiously bad modes for it (Tower Control) have literally had a completely static meta for 2 years.

Of the ranked modes
Tower control is an absolute fuckfest with an incredibly small unreliable moving target that shows the incredible weakness of trying to use the game's cool climbing features on a moving surface
Splatzones is immediately won by the group that gets to the center and sets up good camping positions
Rainmaker is the best because it causes one teammate to have to specifically give up their powers for another set of abilities with interesting tradeoffs and to put themselves into a very vulnerable marked position

I wish that ranked mode was just 100% Rainmaker all the time, I would play it more frequently, as of now though I just used ranked queue for variety on days I feel like playing but I've already done a lot of turf war / salmon run

Maybe you're just bad at them. None of your reasons were really all too valid and were mostly just you projecting your personal grievances at the modes not being what YOU like doing. They weren't actual issues with them.

A) I don't even know what this means. No shit the objective causes you to move slower, it's a team sport and you're meant to be protected by your team. Not to mention, in rainmaker a number of stages now have splat rails and other there were always shortcuts to make up for moving slower. In tower control the more teammates on the tower the faster it goes. And in splat zones your mobility isn't affected at all.

B) So what? The whole map doesn't need to be relevant in every mode. Besides they usually give you 1-3 "paths" to carry the rainmaker through a stage and the towers usually go a decent amount around stages to ensure you have open and congested areas and plenty of places for opposing players to attack from. Splat zones is the only one where 100% of the focus is on a singular area (I don't know if this game has stages with 2 zones like before)

C) Again, this isn't really true aside from splat zones, and even then you can venture out of the zone if it's secured to ensure the enemy can't get close.

D) No, you can use whatever you want...the tactics aren't always the same, that's absurd and certain weapons having advantages is natural. That's why the game gives you different weapon types. The idea of a single weapon being just as good for everything makes no sense and the closest to that is maybe the splattershots.

To reiterate, these aren't really issues with the modes
 
Rainmaker > Salmon Run > Inkopolis Square > Turf War > Single Player = Tower Control > Splat Zone

I rotate between different modes during a play session (and yes, I consider strolling through the square and check up the fashion and meme scenes as a 'mode' of its own). That way, I never get tired of the game, there's really so much to do and enjoy.
 
As a casual Splatoon 2 player, there barely are any other modes than Turf War.

The way nearly everything is gated behind levels or time isn't ideal.

I dunno man, the amount of people who get to ranked and not even know the rules is pretty baffling to me, would be way worse if they could access ranked at lv1
 
I dunno man, the amount of people who get to ranked and not even know the rules is pretty baffling to me, would be way worse if they could access ranked at lv1
This. Rainmaker is a nightmare for it. People taking it to your podium, or just picking a high spot and going for splats.

Then again I see people in Salmon Run spend the entire round with a gold egg on their back just splatting stuff, and that has a forced tutorial so who knows.
 
Salmon Run and Splat Zone are great.
Tower Control and turf wars are ok.
Rainmaker sucks ass because I'm yelling at my TV the entire match to take the damn thing to their base not ours!
 
Turf war starts to suck because the game forces you to play it for way too long. It's just another baffling decision that Nintendo won't let you play the modes locked as ranked before playing ranked games so theres no ability to practice those modes before you have to put your rank on the line (also getting to level 10 takes way to long this go round).
 
Turf war starts to suck because the game forces you to play it for way too long. It's just another baffling decision that Nintendo won't let you play the modes locked as ranked before playing ranked games so theres no ability to practice those modes before you have to put your rank on the line (also getting to level 10 takes way to long this go round).

it's pretty much intended to be a difficulty progression
 
I really love the core gameplay mechanics of the game, it feels just right. The single player and Salmon Run are great but in terms of the multi-player I feel the games are over far too fast aswell as certain levels becoming boring due to the whole two hour rotation rule. The game modes and maps also seem very limited for a mp centric game but I guess they'll be adding more of them through DLC.

If they get rid of the rotation rule, up the timers for each game and let people pick different load outs in between matches it would be a mp masterpiece. As it is it's a good overall package.
 
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