Splatoon fans are eagerly awaiting the release of Splatoon 3. The game is following up on Splatoon 2’s final Splatfest, which won in favor of Chaos. This was quickly communicated in the reveal trailer with an upside-down Eiffel Tower buried in a wasteland, and further wrinkles have been introduced in the story mode involving strange furry creatures called Mammalians. With Splatoon's stand-out aesthetics and compelling paint-spreading gameplay, Splatoon 3 is likely to be another smash hit.
While everyone is eager to see more of the story, hub, and multiplayer, the last Nintendo Direct instead revealed Splatoon 2’s Salmon Run mode would be returning as Salmon Run: Next Wave. Salmon Run is a PvE mode focusing on a team of players repelling waves of Salmonids, and Splatoon 3’s take on it looks to improve in every way. The ability to pass point-granting eggs between players has been added, and the eggs can even be thrown directly into the goal basket. There are also new tools, enemies, and what appears to be a new endgame boss enemy. Even with that, there are plenty of ways to improve Salmon Run further.
Features and Mechanics That Should be Added to Salmon Run
More specials, Salmonid variety, boss Salmonids, maps, and events are all either confirmed or likely to be coming. What isn't confirmed is any new communication options. Players in Splatoon have very limited ability to communicate with one another, and in a mode that demands precise play from a team of four, there should be more methods of communicating intent and strategy. The left and right d-pad could be used to call for help or to give other such directions. The option to stay with a particularly cooperative team after any given run would also be appreciated.
Players should also have access to more customization that can be felt in matches. The ability to customize Grizzco uniforms would be greatly appreciated, and players could earn higher pay from doing well with some of that profit being converted into a second currency for accessories. A "Casual Friday" of sorts would also make sense, allowing players to bring in their usual outfits and perhaps even a favored weapon to the normally restrictive Salmon Run. Special allowances like these might draw in new players who weren't interested in the mode’s past rigidity.
Major Quality-of-Life Changes Splatoon 3's Salmon Run Can Make
Perhaps the most important change Nintendo can make to Splatoon 3's Salmon Run is allowing it to be accessed more often. In Splatoon 2, the multiplayer modes and maps rotated out on a schedule. If a player wanted to play Salmon Run, they might not have had a choice. While randomly selecting certain maps may still be acceptable, restricting major modes like Salmon Run to specific time slots should not happen. Splatoon has a healthy playerbase, so Nintendo does not need to direct players where to go. Changing this would also allow for more improvements to be made for Salmon Run.
In particular, it would be nice to allow players to select what sort of difficulty and length they can expect when going into a session. Some players want more rounds for more rewards, and others are comfortable playing on lower difficulties. Splatoon 2's Salmon Run automatically scales difficulty, or Hazard Level, to something suitable for the current rank of players involved. This can have unintended effects when "Profreshional" players are teamed up with novices. Things would go more smoothly if players who can take on harder challenges for more rewards are able to do so while scaling up the difficulty for newcomers. Splatoon 3's Salmon Run has lots to offer, and even making smaller tweaks to how it works would make it more appealing.
Splatoon 3 will release in summer 2022 for Nintendo Switch.