The penultimate Splatfest in Splatoon 3 is happening, and it's perhaps the coolest Splatfest ever alongside a theme that is actually just really interesting to talk about.
What is Splatfest? It's a Splatoon event in the series, with every game having them generally bimonthly until the content releases for the game stopped. From the player perspective, each game has a different gimmick, but the core things about every game's Splatfest is they take place at night, change the graphics of the game, and have special music. The only mode is Turf War (outside of Splatoon 3's Tricolor Battle), and you are pitted to win against other teams. At the end of the event, the teams are scored on wins in every mode and their popularity, and a winner is calculated based on that result (the calculation has changed in updates and between games way too much to explain in detail). Playing for your team nets you experience points for a temporary Splatfest team level, with each level increasing your reward at the end of the fest. Winning teams are given a few extra Sea Snails, a currency that is only plentiful through Splatfests.
The final Splatfest in Splatoon games usually dictate a part of the next game, with the two examples so far increasing in scope, and the third seeming to put the stakes even higher. In Splatoon 1, the final Splatfest did not have much unique content, and it was Callie vs Marie, the two idol characters of that game. The usual Splatfest music was changed to Calamari Inkantation, the final boss music of the game. Some interesting stuff about that Splatfest is Nintendo sold new physical copies of the game based on Splatfest team in Japan. The only special thing about the event beyond the Amiibo release was that players voted on the three maps that would be played for the period (For those who didn't play the original but are familiar with the series, Splatfest didn't have rotations in Splatoon 1! It was bad!)
The winner was Marie, and Marie was the main guiding character in the next game's singleplayer, with Callie as a semi-villain until the end of the campaign.
(That's Callie's shadow at the top, and Marie to the left of the protagonist at the bottom.)
The "Final Fest" of Splatoon 2 (they officially used that phrase, here; humorously, there were rerun Splatfests the following year to help players find something to do during 2020) was Chaos vs Order, with both sides representing a theme, Chaos being a Mad Max vibe and Order being an authoritarian cyberpunk vibe. They also had different characters pledge allegiance to one side or the other, with the Chaos side being continuing the storyline of the Salmon Run characters, and Order being based on the DLC Octo Expansion's story. As for the event itself, it lasted longer than other Splatfests of the game (usually being 24 hours), and every hour had a different rotation of Shifty Stations. Shifty Stations were unique maps, with most Splatfests having a new one and only that one during its duration. During the Splatfest, special music such as the final boss theme of Splatoon 2 would play. As a last touch, in the last hours of the Splatfest a final Shifty Station was revealed to the players, "M.C. Princess Diaries" that was based on the Octo Expansion DLC, with a special gimmick, along with "Fly Octo Fly", the banger that plays in the final boss of Octo Expansion.
Chaos won, and Splatoon 3 has several areas that take place in the desert, the main story continues much of the Salmon Run plotline, and some other stuff- DLC came out based on Order called Side Order, too. Splatoon 3 came out two years ago, and now it is time for Grand Festival, which seems to be the most interesting Splatfest yet. Grand Festival will be three days compared to the usual 48 hours, and from the moment it begins Tricolor Battle will be available, a mode that was originally a comback mechanic before changed earlier in the game's lifespan, so it's usually a mode reserved for the second half of the Splatfests of the game. On top of that, it will be every Tricolor stage as a possibility. While every Splatfest has changed the graphics of the hubs, especially holiday related Splatfests, Grand Festival takes place on its own hub world that players will be invited to during the event.
There will be three stages where every idol group from every game will play different songs at different real-life hours, with in-game choreography. But even before this Splatfest starts, there will be a special event, a Big Run. Big Runs are events in Splatoon 3 where the horde mode, Salmon Run, takes place in the multiplayer stages edited into a Big Run stage. Players are given the goal of hitting quotas in order to earn rewards. The final Big Run has lore significance in combination with the Grand Festival, as Splatoon 2 had lore about Big Run before it was a thing years later, and it said the 7th would bring chaos- the last Big Run was "BIG Big Run", with implied lore, and the following will be the 8th and final Big Run.
But most importantly, it takes place on a new stage not seen before- the Festival plaza. So it seems that before the event begins, we will have to take over the area before Splatfest.
In the last 24 hours of Grand Festival, this will also be the Tricolor Stage, and the idols will all sing on the same podium. There might be extra stuff, but we simply do not know yet. This is looking to be the best Splatoon event ever, however. Today, there was a six minute song released where the idol groups representing each team talks about why they fight for their side, with Team Present's Off the Hook being the best (because they're cute lesbians [yes, basically canonically]). It is one of the few songs in Splatoon history to have translated, real lyrics (the "squid sounds" are real voice actors being given a script of weird syllables being put through a filter). The song goes through more traditionally philosophical interpretations of what to like about the past, present or future.
(2) Splatoon 3 – Three Wishes – Nintendo Switch - YouTube
Now... After all that information, let's get to things that are more general-audience-minded.
Meta Info:
I actually don't have my team entirely figured out, myself, but I am definitely leaning towards Future, if not Present, for philosophical and practical reasons.
Even if you haven't played Splatoon at all in your life, what team would you choose, and why?
sowwy if this thread is too serious or something for smogoff i just didnt know where to put it :w
What is Splatfest? It's a Splatoon event in the series, with every game having them generally bimonthly until the content releases for the game stopped. From the player perspective, each game has a different gimmick, but the core things about every game's Splatfest is they take place at night, change the graphics of the game, and have special music. The only mode is Turf War (outside of Splatoon 3's Tricolor Battle), and you are pitted to win against other teams. At the end of the event, the teams are scored on wins in every mode and their popularity, and a winner is calculated based on that result (the calculation has changed in updates and between games way too much to explain in detail). Playing for your team nets you experience points for a temporary Splatfest team level, with each level increasing your reward at the end of the fest. Winning teams are given a few extra Sea Snails, a currency that is only plentiful through Splatfests.
The final Splatfest in Splatoon games usually dictate a part of the next game, with the two examples so far increasing in scope, and the third seeming to put the stakes even higher. In Splatoon 1, the final Splatfest did not have much unique content, and it was Callie vs Marie, the two idol characters of that game. The usual Splatfest music was changed to Calamari Inkantation, the final boss music of the game. Some interesting stuff about that Splatfest is Nintendo sold new physical copies of the game based on Splatfest team in Japan. The only special thing about the event beyond the Amiibo release was that players voted on the three maps that would be played for the period (For those who didn't play the original but are familiar with the series, Splatfest didn't have rotations in Splatoon 1! It was bad!)
The winner was Marie, and Marie was the main guiding character in the next game's singleplayer, with Callie as a semi-villain until the end of the campaign.
(That's Callie's shadow at the top, and Marie to the left of the protagonist at the bottom.)
The "Final Fest" of Splatoon 2 (they officially used that phrase, here; humorously, there were rerun Splatfests the following year to help players find something to do during 2020) was Chaos vs Order, with both sides representing a theme, Chaos being a Mad Max vibe and Order being an authoritarian cyberpunk vibe. They also had different characters pledge allegiance to one side or the other, with the Chaos side being continuing the storyline of the Salmon Run characters, and Order being based on the DLC Octo Expansion's story. As for the event itself, it lasted longer than other Splatfests of the game (usually being 24 hours), and every hour had a different rotation of Shifty Stations. Shifty Stations were unique maps, with most Splatfests having a new one and only that one during its duration. During the Splatfest, special music such as the final boss theme of Splatoon 2 would play. As a last touch, in the last hours of the Splatfest a final Shifty Station was revealed to the players, "M.C. Princess Diaries" that was based on the Octo Expansion DLC, with a special gimmick, along with "Fly Octo Fly", the banger that plays in the final boss of Octo Expansion.
Chaos won, and Splatoon 3 has several areas that take place in the desert, the main story continues much of the Salmon Run plotline, and some other stuff- DLC came out based on Order called Side Order, too. Splatoon 3 came out two years ago, and now it is time for Grand Festival, which seems to be the most interesting Splatfest yet. Grand Festival will be three days compared to the usual 48 hours, and from the moment it begins Tricolor Battle will be available, a mode that was originally a comback mechanic before changed earlier in the game's lifespan, so it's usually a mode reserved for the second half of the Splatfests of the game. On top of that, it will be every Tricolor stage as a possibility. While every Splatfest has changed the graphics of the hubs, especially holiday related Splatfests, Grand Festival takes place on its own hub world that players will be invited to during the event.
There will be three stages where every idol group from every game will play different songs at different real-life hours, with in-game choreography. But even before this Splatfest starts, there will be a special event, a Big Run. Big Runs are events in Splatoon 3 where the horde mode, Salmon Run, takes place in the multiplayer stages edited into a Big Run stage. Players are given the goal of hitting quotas in order to earn rewards. The final Big Run has lore significance in combination with the Grand Festival, as Splatoon 2 had lore about Big Run before it was a thing years later, and it said the 7th would bring chaos- the last Big Run was "BIG Big Run", with implied lore, and the following will be the 8th and final Big Run.
But most importantly, it takes place on a new stage not seen before- the Festival plaza. So it seems that before the event begins, we will have to take over the area before Splatfest.
In the last 24 hours of Grand Festival, this will also be the Tricolor Stage, and the idols will all sing on the same podium. There might be extra stuff, but we simply do not know yet. This is looking to be the best Splatoon event ever, however. Today, there was a six minute song released where the idol groups representing each team talks about why they fight for their side, with Team Present's Off the Hook being the best (because they're cute lesbians [yes, basically canonically]). It is one of the few songs in Splatoon history to have translated, real lyrics (the "squid sounds" are real voice actors being given a script of weird syllables being put through a filter). The song goes through more traditionally philosophical interpretations of what to like about the past, present or future.
(2) Splatoon 3 – Three Wishes – Nintendo Switch - YouTube
Now... After all that information, let's get to things that are more general-audience-minded.
Meta Info:
- Team Past's (represented by the Squid Sisters) team symbol seems to imply it could be a game that takes place in an ancient Japanese setting. Some players are picking the team due to this, especially in connection to Splatoon lore that shows things from a time a hundred years ago in-game. A lot of players are also choosing this as a hope for a nostalgic game based on the first title (despite Splatoon 3 being based on nostalgia, grumble grumble.)
- Team Present's (represented by Off the Hook) logo is reminiscent of the general, present Splatoon vibe; the implication seems to be that it would be fighting for a continuation.
- Team Future's (represented by Deep Cut) logo is the most interesting, but it gives me a kind of cyberpunk vibe.
I actually don't have my team entirely figured out, myself, but I am definitely leaning towards Future, if not Present, for philosophical and practical reasons.
Even if you haven't played Splatoon at all in your life, what team would you choose, and why?
sowwy if this thread is too serious or something for smogoff i just didnt know where to put it :w
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