The February 2023 Nintendo Direct featured news about plenty of upcoming titles including Pikmin 4, Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - which officially has its May 12 release date. Nintendo also confirmed Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles are hitting NSO, meanwhile updates were provided for ongoing projects like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass. Splatoon 3 players also got a more comprehensive look at what they can expect for the foreseeable future, including the "Side Order" single-player campaign.
Paid DLC was confirmed for Splatoon 3 prior to launch, with a silhouette of Pearl and Marina leading fans to believe it would be a similar experience to Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion. However, the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass is instead a two-part release. Part 1 launches in spring 2023, bringing fans back to the series' original Inkopolis hub world where the Squid Sisters one again perform during Splatfests. Part 2 does not have an official release date as of this writing, but long-time fans should have some idea about what's going on thanks to the Splatoon series' prior narrative conventions.
Splatoon 2's Final Splatfest Forecasted the Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC
Splatfests have been a regular part of the Splatoon experience since its original game released on Wii U in 2015. These monthly celebrations invite players to pick a side in debates represented by each games' idol characters, after which Turf War matches accrue points for their team. More often than not these events are for fun, with the winning idol having a chance to brag as all participating players get varying amounts of Super Sea Snails based on their performance. However, the final Splatfest in each game has long-reaching implications.
Splatoon closed its online updates with a Callie versus Marie Splatfest, letting players choose their favorite member of the Squid Sisters. Marie won, and in Splatoon 2 she became the driving force behind its Octo Canyon story after Callie was kidnapped and brainwashed by the Octarian leader DJ Octavio. Splatoon 2 ended with a Splatfest in which Marina backed Team Order and Pearl backed Team Chaos. After Chaos won, it was clear to see that influence as soon as Splatoon 3 revealed its busier Splatsville hub set just on the outskirts of a destroyed Eiffel Tower.
Nintendo's latest Direct made it clear that the plans for Splatoon 2's Order versus Chaos Splatfest extended much further than fans might have anticipated. The Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion DLC brought Pearl and Marina to the forefront as Off the Hook helped an Octoling named Agent 8 escape the Deepsea Metro. The Alterna storyline in Splatoon 3 focused primarily on the Squid Sisters and the franchise's newest idol group Deep Cut, while tying in Mr. Grizz from the PvE Salmon Run activity, so it only makes sense to check in on Splatoon 2's prominent characters during Side Order.
However, what exactly fans can expect out of Side Order is murkier at this stage. The February 2023 teaser features a slow tilt down over what appears to be the female Agent 8 model standing in a version of Splatoon 2's hub area Inkopolis Square, now completely drained of color as bleached coral grows everywhere. Flashes of imagery featuring primarily Pearl and Marina are intercut with clips one might expect to see in a psychological horror movie like splashes of blood, tentacles shrouded in darkness, and pulsating brain-like folds.
Based on Callie's treatment in the main Splatoon 2 story following her final Splatfest loss, it seems likely Splatoon 3's Side Order will revolve around Marina considering she lost the Order versus Chaos Splatfest. Perhaps it will explore the Octoling idol's memories and trauma from around the time she escaped DJ Octavio's army and met Pearl for the first time. For now, fans will have to wait and see.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.