Splatoon 3 Reviews

Splatoon 3 is ranked in the 89th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Recommended
Sep 7, 2022

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.

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IGN
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

Splatoon 3 has done a great job anticipating the needs of returning players.

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IGN
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

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.

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8 / 10
Sep 7, 2022

Technically this is the best Splatoon ever, but the complete lack of anything approaching a new idea is profoundly disappointing.

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Sep 7, 2022

There's excellence in Splatoon 3 – it just doesn't quite hold for the campaign.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 22, 2022
Splatoon 3 - Easy Allies Review - YouTube video thumbnail
8.5 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

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.

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Polygon
Top Critic
Unscored
Sep 7, 2022

Splatoon 3 exudes polish, but lacks ambition

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GameSpot
Top Critic
7 / 10
Sep 19, 2022

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.

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9 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

Given that Splatoon 3 shores up nearly everything already present in the series and adds a few extras like Tableturf Battle, it’s safe to say that the magic of the series is still alive.

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83 / 100
Sep 7, 2022

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

8 / 10
Sep 7, 2022

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.

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9 / 10
Sep 7, 2022

While I wouldn't call Splatoon 2 old and busted by any means, there's no denying that Splatoon 3 does feel like the new hotness.

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Unscored
Sep 7, 2022

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.)

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Alex Donaldson
Top Critic
Sep 7, 2022

Splatoon 3 feels quite samey, but a high level of polish and the series’ best single-player offering to date elevate this sequel.

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8.2 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

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

9 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

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.

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Sep 12, 2022

Splatoon 3 makes many fantastic improvements and changes to the games before it. These minor additions will surely go a long way in retaining a large number of players, even if most of the brand-new content feels somewhat lacking. Splatoon 3 is the best game to start with for newcomers to the franchise. It might be tougher to convince die-hard fans of its merit, but future updates and changes will likely sway their opinions as well.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2022

The latest edition of Nintendo's popular paint shooter plays it safe, but that's more than enough to satisfy Post Arcade Jr. Read more.

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Sep 15, 2022

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.

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