A Rundown of the Splatoon 2 Update
Just a few days ago, Nintendo announced that Splatoon 2 is going to receive two massive updates. The first update has already taken place on November 23 (version 2.0.0) and the second update is set to roll out sometime mid-December.
We can only speculate that Nintendo are doing this to bolster Splatoon 2’s Christmas appeal, as the update is set to drop right around Black Friday and this game fits the bill as a perfect stocking stuffer.
But enough speculation, let’s talk about what these updates are bringing to this wacky shooter!
November 23rd Update
This update is a big one, complete with new battle stages, weapons, gear, music, and many other cool features that keep this game fresh and off the hook!
New Battle Stages
There are four new battle stages and one new Salmon Run stage coming out in this update, but not all of them will be released straight away. The stage that Nintendo showed in their latest video is called MakoMart. This new stage is exactly what the name suggests, a big shopping mart. I never knew it until now, but the idea of me running around a supermarket with a paintball gun just seems like a dream come true. This stage will let me live out a fantasy that I never knew I had! The stage just pops with so much detail that I just cannot wait to cover every inch of it in ink. MakoMart will be available for us to cover in ink on November 24th.
Shellendorf Institute is the other new stage and it has yet to receive a release date. Shellendorf Institute appears to be the museum stage that was shown off in the update video that Nintendo released. I personally think that this stage is a missed opportunity for a Zelda themed stage; I mean, Shellendorf, Ganondorf – Come on!
And the last two stages both make a return from the original Splatoon on Wii U – Walleye Warehouse and Arowana Mall. As Splatoon 2 continues to receive regular ongoing updates, this game seems to be evolving into a combination of new and old. It really speaks to this new IP’s quick success when they can already release old stages in the newest iteration.
Lastly, we have a new Salmon Run stage that will be available to play as soon you’ve downloaded the update. Nintendo wish to encourage teamwork in this stage as players will need to work together to effectively utilise the fan platforms that go from one ledge to the other.
New Weapons
Nintendo are continuing to roll out new weapons as they have been doing so ever since the launch of the game. One noticeable addition is the Hydra Splatling that is being added on November 25th.
New Gear
Nintendo plan to add a whopping 140 new pieces of gear!
This includes new shoes, headgear and clothes, some of which are new and some returning from the original game on the Wii U.
New Music
Two news genres of music have been introduced in Splatoon 2 with this new update. There is a Classically-trained avante garde-style band called Ink Theory, and the other being a punk-style band (my personal favourite) called Bottom Feeders. I personally would have gone with Ink Pistols, but that might’ve violated copyright.
According to the patch notes, a total of five new tracks have been added. These tracks are all battle music and will only play during battles.
Splatoon 2 already feels packed full of unique tracks that these new additions do not seem necessary, despite being absolutely welcomed. The trailer that Nintendo released appears to be playing the music by Bottom Feeders. It gives off that punk rock style whilst also keeping the original Splatoon music flavour that we have grown to love. Nintendo later released a snippet of the new music flavour by Ink Theory, and it sounds just as wacky as ever!
New Hairstyles
This update brings in four new hairstyles, two for male characters and two for female characters.
The male characters are now able to have a short mohawk with a lot of spikes and shaved sides, and the other appears to be a bowlcut with shaved sides (that seems to be the trend now).
The female characters can now choose between a haircut put back into a wavy ponytail, and the other having long straightened hair with a straight fringe.
These new additions appear to be keeping up with the modern trends, so it seems safe to predict that Nintendo wishes to keep this game evolving with the times.
Increased Level Caps
Quite often when I go online to play Turf War, most of the players online with me will be level 50, which makes me stand out being the only player below level 30. But now, this update is adding an increased level cap. Players can now level up to 99. Once they do, they can then speak to Judd and reset their level, and it’ll be displayed as Level ★1. So you know what this means… I’m going to appear as even more of a rookie online.
According to the patch notes, the players who receive a ★ before their level number will still receive prizes from Judd for levelling up. Once a player reaches Level ★99, they can reset again to start at Level ★1. As much as this may seem pointless, you can still see how many times a player has returned to Level ★1 on SplatNet 2.
More Goodies at Crusty Sean’s Food Truck
The greasy crustacean has been hard at work preparing more delicious cash & EXP boosting meals! At Crusty Sean’s Food Truck, you can now get a Fried Whip Cream Double Croissant (say that five times fast…) that let’s you receive 2.5x cash, and a Galactic Seanwich that let’s you receive 2.5x EXP after battles.
New Amiibo Functionality
Everytime I see that a game adds more amiibo functionality, I become increasingly relieved that my up-to-date amiibo collection wasn’t in vain (so much money…).
This update to Splatoon 2 will allow players to tap a compatible amiibo so that they can take in-game photos and share them online. These photos can be taken in specific locations on battle maps and in Inkopolis Square. The feature has also taken a page out of Super Mario Odyssey’s photo mechanic by allowing you to use filters to customise your photos.
Swapping Gear in the Lobby
Hallelujah!
Personally, this is my favourite feature in this entire update. One of players’ main gripes in the original Splatoon on Wii U was that you couldn’t change your gear when you were in the Lobby. You had to exit, customise your gear outside, then have to wait for it to reconnect and find more players so you can rejoin. At times, it could take up to 10 minutes just to change your gear, and if you wanted to max out all of your gear… that’s a lot of waiting (personally, I just played on my 3DS while I waited).
When Splatoon 2 was announced back in January, we all assumed that this would be one of the first new features that they’d be adding, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. But now we can finally say that the wait is over!
The Rest…
Like in most other updates, version 2.0.0 also fixes some technical hiccups that the game was experiencing. There was nothing too game-changing, but it’s nice to have the spitshine that every online multiplayer game requires to run smoothly.
There are also some gameplay changes that have been implemented purely to fine-tune the gaming experience.
For all details on these updates, click here for the update patch notes.
Mid-December Update
This update is still a few weeks away, but Nintendo has shown off what we can expect just before Christmas.
Nintendo has unveiled a brand new mode called Clam Blitz. This mode is all about going around and collecting as many clams as you can. You can collect them by finding them scattered across the stage, or by splatting an enemy and taking their clams for yourself. The idea is to take these clams and throw them into the basket that is situated near your opponent’s base. This basket is protected by a barrier that must be broken through first. The first to 100 wins.
This mode sounds very unique and I can’t really think of anything like it. The closest thing I can think of is capture the flag as you need to go to your opponent’s base; but that’s to deposit your clams, not steal to steal them. It really seems like Nintendo have put their thinking caps on with all of these unique battle modes. I for one am excited to see what Nintendo have in store for the future of Splatoon 2.