As far as I'm concerned, Splatoon is one of the best multiplayer games of the generation, and certainly the most original. It’s been a huge hit for Nintendo but seems to keep missing out on its full due when it comes to critical acclaim, at first because the original launched only with limited content (which quickly built up to an embarrassment of riches) and secondly because the sequel was unfairly dismissed by some as little more than a Wii U port.
Splatoon 2 does already have its own single-player campaign, a competent if unexciting variation on the multiplayer which emphasised puzzle-solving over action and had very little story. Octo Expansion is entirely different and delves into Splatoon’s bizarre post-apocalyptic backstory to take in forbidden medical experiments and explore the history of the evil Octolings.
I'm not going to say any more than that, other than to mention that the only additions to the multiplayer are some special Octoling gear when you start and the chance to play as one if you beat the campaign. But if you think that’s going to be easy then you can think again.
The comparison shouldn’t be taken too far, but the Nintendo game Octo Expansion reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy. Both in the sense that you never know what you’re going to get when you start a new level and the artfully clever way new gameplay ideas are squeezed out of existing mechanics.
Some levels are straight up paintball battles but more often they’re more abstract than that, from pinging a giant 8-ball around an assault course to trying to dodge bullets without being able to hide in ink or carving a statute out of destructible crates.
The expansion is particularly clever in the way it uses the various existing special weapons, such as letting you use the jetpack for the entire level or turning the hamster ball-like Baller into a pastiche of Super Monkey Ball. There are also new boss battles – something Splatoon has always been good at – and a lot of timed challenges and races, that are amongst the game’s most difficult levels.
Since you need a copy of the base game to run it, anyone playing Octo Expansion is already going to be at least passingly familiar with Splatoon, but even so the difficultly level of the game is set extremely high from the very start. As long as you know that going in, it’s not necessarily a fault, but having to pay to start, or restart, a level seems particularly harsh. Especially as it means you have to go back to previous levels to grind for more in-game money (although that is made more palatable by rewarding you with more money if you purposefully use less suitable weapons).
The problem is that the harder the level the more it costs to even try it, which for us is taking the punishing difficulty just that bit too far. Although it does help to make victory taste all the sweeter. Thankfully though, you always have access to multiple levels at any one time and if you fail one multiple times Pearl and Marina will offer to trick the computer into thinking you’ve beaten it properly.
You won’t get the little nuggets of story reward if you do that though (or unlock the secret boss) but at least you might escape with your sanity. It’s impressive how much the expansion adds to Splatoon’s lore and it’s clear that the franchise could expand in any number of ways in the future. I'm sure it will too, but for now this is by far the best single-player experience out of both games.
so for anyone who has played it, or even beaten it (as some have already, and i also did but i havent done a 100% for certain reasons), how do you feel about the dlc? While i do agree it was kinda expensive, i dont regret buying it at all, in fact its probably one of favorite things in the game so far. the hero mode we already had at the start was fun too, but i enjoyed octo more than i did the hero mode. my favorite levels in octo expansion are the 8 ball ones. i know lots dont like them but those are the ones i enjoyed most personally (though i suppose i understand why most dont like them). the story on it i also thought was better than the hero mode's and was more surprising overall with the plot to me
