re: Splatoon 2: General Discussion and Review Thread

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I think many of us will agree that Splatoon 2 is a great game and if you're a person who always plays alone then you have little to worry about. However if you are planning to play with friends you need to know the extreme restrictions you will be dealing with whether you be playing Multiplayer(competitive) or Salmon Run(Cooperative). Here is a list of what to expect from Splatoon 2's "friend experience":

Multiplayer

1.) There is no Split-screen multiplayer of any kind. Everyone needs their own console and game.

2.) You CAN join a friend in online Regular Battle (Turf War) but the lobby has to have a slot open. You can NOT go in as a group. There are often times the joining player(s) will get stuck staring at a waiting-screen because the lobby filled up as they joined and now they have to wait for their friends battle to be over. Even then, if none of the other players leave the lobby after the battle is over the joining friend(s) will simply have to wait again. (Rinse-repeat until players leave the lobby and slots opens up). If you or your friend(s) want to swap out weapons or equipment it can NOT be done in the lobby. The lobby must be exited to do so. Then the process of joining your friends lobby must be repeated. Also, Regular Battle doesn't play any other game modes besides Turf War. (No Splat Zones, Rainmaker or Tower Control)

3.) When you and your friend(s) manage to get into a game together you may (most-likely) not be on the same team. Splatoon constantly shuffles teams and will often put you and your friend(s) on opposing teams. At this point It's unclear whether the team shuffling is purely random or based on some algorithm but in my personal experience thus far my friend and I have been on the same team in only 20% of battles.

4.) You can not play Ranked Mode with friends. It is a purely random-team experience. Also, Ranked Mode does not have Turf War in its rotation.

5.) You CAN play League Battle with friends. Which is exactly like Ranked Mode. However, to be able to even have access League Battle you must must raise your rank in Ranked Mode from C- to B-. Unfortunately, you do not gain access to Ranked Mode until you reach level 10 from playing Regular Battle. Your friend(s) also have to fulfill these requirements in order to be able group together. (Because League Battle is locked behind two requirements there may not be many people playing so it may be difficult to get matched with other teams.) Also, League Battle does not have Turf War in its rotation.



Salmon Run

[Salmon Run is less restrictive than its multiplayer counterpart but still has its set of caveats.]

1.) Salmon Run can be played over Lan or Nintendo's (awful) Local Wireless at any time. You may play with whatever weapons you want and also have the freedom to set the difficulty over Lan or Local Wireless. However, even on lower difficulties, if you have less than 4 players Salmon Run can boast being near-impossible.

2.) Salmon Run online can only be played when the event is up similar to Splatfests. (Luckily the event happens extremely often and usually lasts for 12 to 24 hours. So being able to play Salmon Run online shouldn't be much of an issue for most players.) You are able to create a lobby and have friends join. When all your friends are in the lobby you must then hit the button to backfill any empty slots with randoms. Then the option to start the run will appear. Unlike Lan Mode or Local Wireless you may only use the weapons that have been predetermined for that particular Salmon Run event and they will be handed out randomly when the run starts. Salmon Run is 3 Waves of enemies per match and every wave you will swap weapons with a random teammate.

[Note: For people unfamiliar with how Salmon Runs reward system works: Salmon Run uses a ranking system. Completing a Salmon Run gives you ranking-points towards increasing your ranking. Losing takes away ranking-points. The higher your rank the more reward-points you get for completing a Run. You need to accumulate a certain amount of reward-points to get rewards.]

3.) When playing Salmon Run online with friends you will be given a warning that tells you that if your friends are a lower rank than you, you will not be able to gain rank. What the warning DOESN'T tell you is that if you are, in-fact, playing with a friend who is a lower rank than you and you fail a Salmon Run (which WILL happen) you will lose about 5-10x more rank than normal. I had spent a long time getting my rank to 'Overachiever' (Rank 3) and dropped to Part-Timer (Rank 1) in a total of 3 losses while playing with a lower ranked friend. (I also, somehow, dropped slightly below my friend in rank during my play session with him. I really am not sure how that happened.)

4.) If you DO NOT go into Salmon Run with friends you will only be matched, without mercy or compromise, with players who are your rank. If you are a particularly high rank and there are few-to-no players within that rank you will be forced to go in solo, fail and lose rank. It's much more reliable to play with friends at a high rank but you must always be sure to keep your rankings synced up with each other. Doing so means you can't play (much) on your own if your friends aren't available. (*Note: Even though you have the possibility of being forced into a Salmon Run online solo; you CAN NOT play Salmon Run over Lan or Local Wireless solo.)

Ultimately Splatoon 2 may be a fantastic game but has an utterly flawed and restrictive friend experience which may be a big turn-off for some people. If you plan on playing with friends: Buyer Beware.

(**Note: If you and your friends are connected to a router (or all have Nintendo Lan adapters) I recommend using Lan mode when playing locally. Nintendo's Local Wireless has a habit of being unstable and laggy with frequent disconnects. Lan mode is much more stable. It is also hidden. To gain access to it go to the Shoal and pick a game type. Then press and hold: L, R, and click left stick in. Hold all buttons down for ~5 seconds and you will be taken to the Lan lobby.)

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