Splatoon 3 Reviews
Splatoon 3’s campaign features a fresh take on an open hub world design, mixing in short but satisfying missions to let you experiment with different weapons and abilities.
Splatoon 3 has done a great job anticipating the needs of returning players.
There are few surprises to be found in Splatoon 3's multiplayer or campaign, but it is the best Nintendo's spectacular series has been to date.
Splatoon 3 won't change anyone's mind on the series, but several smart changes to the formula make it unarguably the best game in the trilogy.
There's excellence in Splatoon 3 – it just doesn't quite hold for the campaign.
Splatoon 3 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it need to. Instead, it improves nearly every franchise element in sometimes small but meaningful ways. With an already-robust set of content available at launch and at least two years of free and premium content on the horizon, Splatoon 3 is simultaneously the series’ best entry to date and its most promising.
Splatoon 3 isn't quite as novel the third time around, but a great campaign, tons of multiplayer options, and a few new surprises make it much more of a good thing.
Splatoon 3 exudes polish, but lacks ambition
Splatoon 3 feels quite samey, but a high level of polish and the series’ best single-player offering to date elevate this sequel.
Similarly, boss battles feel woefully undertested and suffer from agonizing spikes of challenge and confusion. There's also an overworld aspect of spending in-game money to unlock new paths, though many of the unlocks don't actually lead to new levels; instead, they only dole out cosmetics used to decorate a "locker" interface that is tucked into the very back corner of a single multiplayer lobby. (Decorating your tiny Splatoon 3 locker is perhaps the utter opposite of trimming a bonsai tree; the act of putting objects into your virtual locker is a nightmare of physics collisions and red Xs indicating that, no, you can't decorate your locker the way you want.)
Splatoon 3 is basically exactly what it set out to be: a third entry in the Splatoon series.
Splatoon 3 adds little new to an increasingly familiar formula, but the game features a plethora of enjoyable modes that cater to just about every playstyle.
Splatoon 3 is more of the same, but refined to borderline mechanical perfection. It's the most fun we've had with an online shooter in years, and for series veterans it makes Splatoon 2 feel entirely redundant for all but its unique single-player content. It feels like the development team has solved every problem the Splatoon community was bleating on about, and then fixed some more that we didn't even realise were problems until they were fixed. There's nothing revolutionary about it compared to its predecessors, and it's perhaps missing a Big New Idea™ that you might expect after five years, but Splatoon 3 is the pinnacle of the series, and the pinnacle of shooters on Switch.
Splatoon 3 isn't the most exciting release on the calendar, but it is the best the game has been. As a standalone game it's a rip-roaring success, and perhaps the game that fans wanted all along.
Splatoon 3 builds upon the excellent foundation that was previously laid out by the prior two games, now offering the most balanced experience between its multiplayer and single-player content. Even though it may not be groundbreaking, the numerous improvements and extra content in the game make Splatoon 3 the best entry in the series to date.
A fun shooter that shines thanks to a few tweaks to the original formula, as well as some new weapons, maps, and customization options that make Splatoon 3 the best chapter in the saga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Splatoon 3 is a bit like your mum making your favourite meal when you head home for the holidays. It's been a few years since the last game - while there have been some great improvements and additions, it's the same old Splatoon we know and love, and that's still pretty great.
Splatoon 3 doesn’t drastically change the formula because it really doesn’t need to. Its modes are varied and offer truly different experiences that would shine on their own. If you’re a newcomer looking to break into the series, you may be a little lost at first, but stick with it. It’s an inky mess well worth your time.
Splatoon 3 is better than Splatoon 2: the new lobbies and catalogs make for a more rewarding experiencie... but essentially, is exactly the same, as there are no new modes within the competitive or co-op play. It's very fun but also very conservative, although it is elevated by a great single player mode, longer and similar to the Octo Expansion.
Review in Spanish | Read full review