Last Saturday was the Splatfest World Premiere, a kind of open beta allowing players to dip their fingers in the next opus of Splatoon, scheduled for September 9. The opportunity to discover the new emerging features of Splatoon 3, and for Nintendo to test its infrastructure. You are given the temperature of the event.
Photo credits: Nintendo – screenshots
Nintendo continues the campaign around Splatoon 3, after the long Nintendo Direct which was devoted to him at the beginning of the month. Just like at the time of the second episode, this Splatfest preview will have allowed us to have a good taste of the atmosphere that Splatoon 3 is preparing for us, but also to be able to test some of the new features it will bring. .
Unclear Splatlands, fantastic practice area
After a quick tutorial, we were immersed in Splatlands, the new home of squids. But like any good Splatfest worthy of the name, we discover it revamped for the event, and at night… which has the effect of making it quite simply unreadable and difficult to find your way around.
Apart from this aesthetic detail, we find exactly the same central hub system that made the heyday of Splatoon, but the first major ergonomic innovation is on the side of the multiplayer section, and the training space where the you can directly test the many weapons and tools, while waiting to find a part. A very appreciable detail, and which greatly limits the back and forth in the game menus. Especially since this Splatoon 3 arrives with not only two new weapons, namely the “Eclatana” and the “Transpercer”, but also a swarm of special weapons.
News for experienced players
The Eclatana, which is basically a windshield wiper, looks like a paintbrush at first glance, without the ability to paint while moving forward. But it has a much greater range, and great flexibility of use. For its part, the piercer is a bow firing three projectiles of paint, which can benefit from a very long range. A more delicate weapon to put in the hands of experienced players, but which can prove to be formidable, if well supported.
But it is especially in the radius of special weapons that Splatoon 3 brings a lot of novelties, with no less than ten new toys. The arsenal seems a little more oriented towards utility, like the Zipcaster, allowing you to extend a tentacle to quickly cross long distances. But we still find enough to do big damage, between the Crab Tank or the Triple Inkstrike.
For seasoned players, it’s the new advanced moves that will potentially shine. The Squid Roll allows you to jump in a direction opposite to the movement, while benefiting from a momentary shield. Although difficult to master and place wisely, it potentially allows strategic repositioning in the event of a sudden close combat against an opponent favored by a roll, for example.
For its part, the Squid Surge is a simpler and faster way to climb a wall, and comes as a replacement for the simple jump spam, more conspicuous. A more situational advanced move, but one that shouldn’t drastically change the proceedings in Splatoon 3.
Tricolor the world
What should on the other hand strongly renew the game comes from the second phase of the Splatfest, the tricolor territory wars. These pit 4 squids from the leading team against two teams of two players each, from the other two factions. The leading team therefore finds itself caught in a vice on the map, and will have to protect an objective allowing intense painting. The idea is interesting, but in a game where communication is delicate between the players, this opposition requires coordination which clearly puts the section in the center in difficulty, which caused quite a stir on social networks. To see if Nintendo will readjust the shot by the release of the title or in the weeks that follow.
To end with this overview, many connection problems marred this trial session. Even if we are clearly dealing with a “stress test” for Nintendo, it remains as unpleasant as it is hardly surprising, as the “small craftsman from Kyoto” struggles to make a decent note with regard to online gaming in general.
A sequel that looks good
In summary, Splatoon 3 confirms most of the expectations that can be made of it. Namely a direct sequel which will absolutely not revolutionize the already impeccable formula of the license, but comes to give it a good coat of fresh paint. It remains to be seen for solo players if the campaign will be able to breathe a little more flavor, as the Octo Expansion had been able to do. See you on September 9 for the answer.