Nintendo's biggest titles tend to strike an interesting balance between gameplay and narrative. Shigeru Miyamoto is often cited as a proponent of fun mechanics over story, leading to contentious entries in the Super Mario franchise. However, The Legend of Zelda is full of iconic stories and characters, and MercurySteam's Metroid Dread brought an end to the series' narrative that had been building since 1986. The Splatoon franchise is more about gameplay as Nintendo's answer to live-service shooters, but Splatoon 3 could have the most narrative impact yet.
While the legacy of names like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda speak for themselves, Splatoon is a more recent venture. It debuted in 2015 and quickly became a powerhouse, standing as the sixth best-selling Wii U game (as of March 31, 2022) according to Nintendo's Investor Relations financial data. That success resulted in a sequel just two years later on Switch, which received a massive DLC expansion in 2018. Splatoon 3 isn't waiting for a new console, but it could make up for that with an impactful story following Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion based on comments prior to launch this Friday.
Splatoon's Story So Far
As mentioned, Splatoon is a kid-friendly shooter series centered around online multiplayer matches akin to Call of Duty or Halo. Multiplayer is where fans will spend most of their time, but like in those other franchises there are single-player activities that help people learn the ropes before facing one another. The main story content in Splatoon and Splatoon 2, called "Octo Valley" and "Octo Canyon," respectively, are as straightforward as it gets.
In Octo Valley, the players' Inkling becomes Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon and helps undercover idols Callie and Marie (the Squid Sisters) free the Great Zapfish that powers Inkopolis from Octarian leader DJ Octavio. Octo Canyon is similar, with players acting as Agent 4 and having to face off against a brainwashed Callie too. However, the Octo Expansion is where things got deep. This DLC let players choose Octoling characters for the first time, freed from Octarian control thanks to the Squid Sisters' "Calamari Inkantation," performed during the first game. The newly dubbed Agent 8 works with Splatoon 2's idol band Off the Hook to stop a darker plot: AI Commander Tartar trying to wipe out Inkling society.
Much of Splatoon's narrative strengths have always been a result of its environmental storytelling, with players able to learn about this post-apocalyptic society of evolved marine life through its cities and sparse documentation about the collapse of humanity. Octo Expansion took this a step further by not only giving the original game's story more weight, including a boss battle with Agent 3 "sanitized" by Commander Tartar, but also using that as a way to present worldbuilding details. Splatoon 3 promises to pull on this thread more.
Splatoon 3 is Smart to Make Room for More
Fans who partook in Splatoon 3's Splatfest World Premiere know the game is moving away from Inkopolis, instead based in the Splatlands where a city named Splatsville appears outside the ruins of Paris, France. Early marketing revealed the game's story mode is called "Return of the Mammalians," which carries the Octo Expansion's torch by putting Agent 3 in charge of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. The player's custom character will become a new Agent 3 in their place, sent to a rocket launch site in an icy region called Alterna to investigate bizarre goop that turns Octarians fuzzy.
The Splatoon 3 Direct on August 10 didn't provide many new details on what to expect from Return of the Mammalians, but it promised fans they will "experience the epic finale of this Splat-tastic saga." This won't be the end of content overall given Splatoon 3 has about a two-year shelf life and "large-scale paid DLC" on the way, according to the Direct. However, with snippets of story footage showing DJ Octario and captured Zapfish, this points to the end of Splatoon's "Octarian war" storyline.
As Inklings and Octolings live peacefully in Splatsville, it makes sense for Nintendo to finish the aggressive sect of opponents led by DJ Octario. Doing so gives the franchise a new lease on life, and room to hopefully explore more complex ideas like the threat of remaining old-world technology as seen in Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion. Hopefully Return of the Mammalians at least ends things on a high note, that way fans will be interested to see what comes in the inevitable Splatoon 4 and beyond.
Splatoon 3 releases September 9 for Nintendo Switch.