Nintendo E3 2015

It was a good E3... well not so much for Nintendo fans. I'm not going as far as some others and loose my shit, but the Digital Event was pretty disappointing. Even for someone like me, who already had low expectations. But I was a little right with my predictions. We got a new Metroid, a new Paper Mario and a new Animal Crossing. Just not the way the most of us wanted.

But let's talk about the Digital Event in General. After the strong start with the Smash Bros. Micro Direct and the World Championship, many were pretty hyped for the Digital Event. After the strong showing int 2014 the people were expecting the same for this year. Even after Nintendo announced they would focus on games that launch in 2015 or early 2016 many expected some bombs to be dropped. This however didn't happen. The Digital Event was disappointing. It was not awful or the End of Nintendo, as many are claiming, but it was nothing special. It was not E3 worthy.

Let's talk about the Event in General first, before glossing over the individual games. Because it showed one thing clearly. Nintendo is playing it as safe as it can with 3DS and Wii-U now. Also the don't seem to understand E3 at all. Or at least E3 Press Conferences, which the Digital Event is the replacement of.

First about the playing it safe. All the new announcements we saw for the Wii-U were safe bets. We got a new Animal Crossing Game, even though it's only a Party Amiibo nonsense. But now the Wii-U has an Animal Crossing. It probably will sell well and doesn't need to much effort, because it re-uses the engine of Mario Party 10 by the looks of it. The same can be said for Tri-Force Heroes and Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam. Altough I'm sure both will be excellent games, they are also very cost efficient to make. Mario and Luigi just re-uses many assets from Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros. The concept would have been much more interesting on the Wii-U, but of course would have needed much more work.

This is a trend that was clearly visible through the Digital Event. Nintendo is going the way with the least resistance. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but if it's this blatantly obvious, it creates a problem. It creates the image of Nintendo just riding out their consoles on their last breath. This may even be true, but you shouldn't rub it into your consumers face. Consumer confidence and trust is the most important thing in business. It is a thing which is lost easily and hardly regained.

As for Nintendo not understanding E3... E3 is the place for Hype. I know I have spoken pretty critical about the culture of Hype in Video Games, but if there is a place to create Hype with the Hardcore Crowd, then it's E3. And Nintendo had the perfect opportunity to bring both worlds, Hype and Reality, together. Give us a great show during the Digital Event (more games, less Developers talking) and then show us an in depth look at these games (with Developers talking) during the Treehouse Live Stream.

It would have been so easy to make this a great event. Showing Star Fox was a great start. Just don't announce it last year and end the Show with Metroid U (if it's in development, which I truly hope) and bam you have a great Digital Event.

This E3 just once again showed that Nintendo doesn't understand Marketing... or that they don't understand at least half of the time.

But well let's talk about the games that they did show.

Star Fox Zero:

It looks ok. I don't hate the graphical style. It reminds me a lot of The Wonderful 101 and Platinum is also developing this game, so it makes sense. It's pretty clear that it won't be as impressive, as say Bayonetta 2, because the console has to render the image two times. Once on the big screen, for the cinematic view, and once on the Gamepad for cockpit view. But Corneria was really lacking details. I hope they polish the game till release, because, while not looking bad, the worlds seemed rather empty. But apart from that the game looks like a lot of fun, but I'm not certain that this will be the system seller Nintendo is hoping for. However I will surely get it.

Hyrule Warriors Legends:

Well we already knew about it, and I'm not a huge fan of it. I agree with http://touriantourist.blogspot.co.at/ that a full fledged Hyrule Warriors for 3DS would have been better. I'm just not a fan of these remakes only one year after a game has released. Still we get two new characters and all the DLC ones, so the package is really nice for someone, who doesn't own a Wii-U. Still a full fledged Toon Hyrule Warriors with characters from the Handheld Zeldas, would have been better.

Tri-Force Heroes:

Cool game and I'm looking forward to it. Never had the chance to play a lot of four swords during the days, because link cables were a nightmare, but with Online Play this should be a lot of fun. Nothing more to add really, cause I'm pretty happy with this announcement and I'm looking forward to it. Oh and the costume idea is great, but some of them are rather strange.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force:

Well that was a bit of a bummer. At least with no proper Metroid Title going along with it. Honestly it looks like an original IP that just got Metroid tucked onto it, so that it would sell more units. I have no problem with a Metroid spinoff like this, where you don't play Samus, but you can't leave your fans hanging 5 years and then announce this. Along with Metroid Prime 4 this would have been nice, but as it is I can understand the backlash against this game, even if it get's more hate than it deserves. The Gameplay looks nice and all, but nothing all to special. At least this shows that the Metroid Prime brand is still alive, so bring this back into the canon and cross out Other M.

Fire Emblem Fates:

Haven't played any Fire Emblem Games yet, but Awakening is on my To-Do List. This looks like a great sequel. I'm not a fan of the seperate games for separate storylines approach. If the games themselves have enough content I may forgive it though.

Genei Ibun Roku #FE

Batshit Crazy Japanese... that sums this game up pretty nicely. Looking forward to it. I haven't played a Persona game yet, so this will be a first for me. But I like japanese RPGs, so this should be fine. Still all of the non-important characters beeing 2D cutouts, seems like a weird design choice to me.

Xenoblade Chronicles X:

It arrives much later than I have anticipated, but at least still in 2015. The game looks absolutely massive though, so most of the christmas holiday is already booked out I guess.

Animal Crossing:

I'm just glance over these two games, because I'm not and will never be an Animal Crossing fan. But I can understand the disappointment of the fans. After the teases from the developers, everybody was expecting a full Animal Crossing game for Wii-U and instead we get this Amiibo.. thing. It's a huge wasted chance in my opinion. Animal Crossing could have been a big system seller for the Wii-U (at least in Japan) and with this Home designer game they could have pulled of some nice interconnectivity. Design a house on the 3DS and see the same character inhabit this very house on the Wii-U version. Like Metriod Prime: Federation Force it's a nice to have title, but not replacement for a full installment of this series. Oh and also it seems like this bullshit requires Amiibos to actually play the game. So fuck you Nintendo on this one.

Yoshis Wooly World:

Great game. Comes out next week. Expect a review.

Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam:

Mario and Luigi are good games. Paper Marios are good games. So both of them together should make for a good game. Presentation wise this games reeks of a lot of re-used assets, but I don't mind if the game itself is new. Again it's not a Wii-U game, but the 3DS needs love too.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash:

I would have preferred a new Mario Strikers, but Tennis is fine too.

Super Mario Maker:

From the first announcement of this, I was hyped for it. And, like many other Nintendo games, this one got better and better with each showing. The Levels at the Nintendo World championship really did show the absolute craziness that is possible with this game. So many Kaizo Mario levels will be made and I'm looking forward to try my luck as level creator.

All in all this Digital Event was pretty weak. It was not terrible, but also not exciting in the slightest. It definitely wasn't worthy for E3. Maybe Nintendo will fix this in the coming months with some good Nintendo Directs, but for now they fucked up.

But at the same time I'm not sure that this already means they have abandoned the Wii-U. In an interview they stated that Zelda U will still release on the console in 2016, and maybe they have more up their sleeve. As for now we still have a pretty good 2015 in front of us, and if they don't announce anything till the end of the year, then we can start to worry.

But what was your take on this Digital Event and E3 in general? Are you looking forward to any specific games?

And as always

thanks for reading  

source of all pictures: Nintendo

E3 2015 predictions (and wishful thinking)

picture source: Nintendo

The E3 is upon us and we already know almost everything. Fallout 4 got unveiled, Hyrule Warriors 3D, the new Smash Bros. Characters, and lots of other games were we already knew they would appear on the show floor.

Well this won't stop me from speculating about other things however. So here are my E3 predictions. (With a lot wishful thinking)

Later today the Smash Bros. Micro direct will tell us what we already know. Roy and Ryu are two new DLC-Characters for Smash Bros. There will also be a Street Fighter Stage and we probably get a look at the Miiverse Stage. Hopefully Sakurai will also announce some unknown news, like another new character, more stages or the first results of the fighter bailout. But for Smash Bros., that's pretty much it.

But now let's talk about the Digital Event on Thursday. We already know that it will focus on games that launch in 2015 and early 2016 and that it won't feature Zelda U. (Except Nintendo is lying to us, what I don't believe.)

Firstly I think they will tell us a little bit about their future plans with Amiibo and maybe teaser an Amiibo Game in the vein of Skylanders, Disney Infinity and the rest. If it's done well, I wouldn't mind.

DLC will probably also feature in the Digital Event. After the huge success of the Mario Kart DLC, they probably will announce another 2 packs. I personally hope for a Kong Pack with Diddy, Dixy and Cranky Kong as drivers and Tropical Freeze inspired courses. Also they will talk about their plans for Splatoon after the big updade in august and maybe give us a sneak peak into the future of the game. Also maybe Captain Toad DLC, but I think this is unlikely. But I wouldn't say no to a new Book with completely new levels.

Now for the games we already know about. Launch dates for Xenoblade Chronicles X and Fatal Frame 5 are a given. Also probably a launch date of Yoshis Wooly World for our american friends. And maybe we get lucky and get a launch window for Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei.

Then they'll talk about Mario Maker. I also fully expect them to open with this game and the 30^th anniversary of Mario. They'll probably announce new enemies and playable characters. Let's hope they're not gated behind Amiibo use. Apart from that I would love them to announce the Yoshis Island graphics style, but I don't think so.

Star Fox most certainly will be shown. I'm hoping for a local- and online Co-op multiplayer, but it probably will only be local. Also 4 on 4 online battles would be cool, and here the chances for implementation are not unlikely. It would be easy to integrate. Simply put Team Wolf against Team Starfox. Gameplay wise I expect good old Star Fox, with fresh graphics. Map wise I would prefer a mix between on Rail segments and open worlds to freely roam and fight.

Now for the unknown games that are rumored.

Animal Crossing U:

 picture Source: Animal Crossing Plaza

I'm pretty certain that this game will be announced in this E3. There are a lot of hints that point towards it, and Nintendo would be stupid not to launch one of it's biggest franchises on the U. This game could boost Wii-U sales in Japan, seeing how absolutely crazy they are for New Leaf.

Paper Mario U:

picture source: Nintendo

Also a pretty safe guess. I would prefer a new Advance Wars from Intelligent Systems, but I won't complain if this gets announced. As long as it's a successor to the first two Paper Mario titles.

Metroid:

picture source: http://www.infendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/48749-metroid-u.jpg

Retro will be at E3 and if the don't announce a Metroid game, the people will probably riot. Together with the quote from last year that Nintendo is currently working on a 3DS and Wii-U Metroid, I'm pretty sure that we will get a first look at these two games this year. As for what I expect from Metroid: http://dilliansthoughthub.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/the-future-of-metroid.html

New Franchise:

With the resounding success of Splatoon, Nintendo maybe will start supporting more new franchises. I don't think it's very unlikely that we get to see something completely new. This or Metroid will probably be the end of the presentation. And seeing how much fun I already had with Splatoon I'm looking forward to any new franchise Nintend will show us.

So what are your expectations and wishes for E3? Are you looking forward to it?

And as always

thanks for reading

The Problems with Amiibo

Amiibos are great, but the current situation is bullshit. So lets talk about that.

The latest Amiibo wave, which included Lucina, more than ever showed the problems Nintendo has with its products. For example Libro, an Austrian retailer, only received 2 Lucina Amiibos. For the whole of Austria. Currently she sells for a about 39 bucks on Amazon. This poses a real danger for the potential of Amiibos because more and more potential customers can't get the Amiibo they want. ''Why should I even try. I won't get it either way'' Many people already think like that.

The insanity reached its peak when Amazon had to release specific time frames in which you could then pre-order Amiibos.

Nintendo fucked up with the production of Amiibos. There is just no other way to say this. The only question now is, how they fucked up. Either they have very, very conservative estimates of the sales potential Amiibos posses, or they are deliberately holding back their production. Both possibilities show that Nintendo is just stupid, but let's talk about them either way.

After 2 years of losses Nintendo is very cautious. Of course they are. Satoru Iwata needs to secure his position. The company is Japanese, which are generally very risk averse. With the Wii-U situation and the 3DS, which sells good, but not even close to its predecessor, they hoped for Amiibos to be the next big thing. But they also hoped that the Wii-U could compete with the Wii saleswise. So this time they choose a very safe approach, because they didn't want even one unsold Amiibo. And that was ok... last November. But now they have the numbers. They know that people are going crazy over this figures. Time after time they were sold out and Nintendo refused to up the production of them. Their apologies also lose their value after every wave that has stock problems. So they know the demand for these figures and simply still don't want to increase production, because it's better to sell less, but all you have in stock, than to sell much more, but only reach a sell through of 70%. From a business sense this may make sense, but it is very short sighted. Yes they sell all of the Amiibos they produce. Yes the don't make any losses on them. But they're customers also start to lose interest, because the can't get the product they want. After the second, third or fourth fruitless attempt of getting the figure you want, you probably gonna say: Fuck it! And with that Nintendo no only lost 2-4 sales, but also all future ones. Also word of mouth travels fast, and will probably discourage even more potential customers.

Now this was the first possible answer for the Amiibo shortages. The second one is even worse. Seeing the numbers and knowing the demand, Nintendo still doesn't up the production because it doesn't want to. The company wants to create an artificial shortage. With this they increase the demand to absurd levels. (I'm looking at you Rosalina Amiibo) While this is a viable strategy, it's also practically spitting on your customers. And it is a dangerous strategy, because, like I said in the paragraph above, instead of creating more demand it also can create a fatigue. It's a thin line Nintendo is currently balancing on. And if they don't pay attention it may tilt.

Now I'm a Nintendo fan, but I find it hard to believe that the company is stupid enough to not see the clear demand for Amiibos, so I don't think reason one for the shortage is correct. Sadly I think they are creating a artificial shortage. Let's just hope they don't burn themselves with that strategy.

And now for the second negative point about Amiib. The current integration into games. Nintendo sold the Amiibos with the promise, that they would be useful in a wide array of games. And for the first half of this year this was mostly true. But everything changed with Splatoon. When they first announced the game and such, I wrote that it would probably support all Amiibos. It just seemed logical. With the games focus on clothing, it would have been perfect for that. Then the announced the Splatoon Amiibos and I was hyped. Callenging special missions? Ok that maybe is a little bit DLCish, but you get some cool rewards. But then Splatoon released and apart from the three Inkling Amiibos none other were supported. Not Mario. Not Link. Not Samus.

Why?
Scan your Mario Amiibo and receive his Hat for your Inkling to wear. The same goes for Links Tunic, Dks tie, Samus Helmet, etc. It was obvious. But they didn't do it. Any Amiibo integration would have been fine. Just give us an ordinary clothing item and a short challenge mission. But nope. It's eat(have the Splatoon Amiibos) or die (Sucks to be you). It doesn't bode well for the future of Amiibo, if they can't come up with a use for all of them on a game like Splatoon. I mean Yoshis Wooly World does it perfectly.

I don't hope this is the start of at trend, or soon you'll need a specific Amiibo for each game you get. And then they truly are nothing more than overprices, physical DLC.

Luckily I'm done with them, after I got my Zero Suit Samus. But what are your thoughts on this topic? Have you missed out on an Amiibo you truly wanted? Are you happy with their integration so far?

And as always

thanks for reading

source of both pictures: Nintendo

Splatoon Review

Overview:

14 years after release of Pikmin Nintendo finally launches a new big IP. To be fair they often launch smaller new games like Dillons Rolling Western or Pullblox, but nothing that has the potential to stand up there with Mario, Link and the others. But Splatoon sets out to change that fact and a lot of shooter traditions along the way. In its core Splatoon is an online 4 on 4 arena shooter, but unlike other representatives of this genre the team that wins isn't the one with the most kills. In Turf Wars the team that covers the most turf with their own ink wins. This creates an unique dynamic unlike any other shooter I have played.

After starting the game for the first time a small tour of Inkopolis Plaza, the main hub of the game, introduces the player to the different features of the game. While the online component is obviously the main point of the game, it also offers a small Story mode.

Story:

Inkopolis huge Zapfish has been stolen and after following some crazy, old dude down the sewer he introduces himself as Captain Cuttlefish. After 100 years the Octarians, the natural enemy of inklings, have returned and now it's up to you to save the Inkopolis.

As always the Story of a Nintendo game is pretty basic, but it has charming characters.

And they even thought up an explanation for the multiplayer. Turf Wars are simply the favourite way to spent ones free time in Inkopolis.

Gameplay:

But enough of the Story. Let's get to the main course. The Gameplay. And here Splatoon absolutely shines. Like I said earlier, the games main feature are 4 on 4 online battles. Currently the online modes are quite sparse, but Nintendo intends to support the game over the summer with a steady stream of free updates. Turf War is the main online mode. It's perfect for quick, intense and fun matches, while ranked matches offer a more strategical approach with the Splat Zones mode.

In Turf Wars the simple goal of your team is to claim as much turf as possible during the three minutes a round lasts. This is possible, because the weapons of Splatoon don't shoot lasers, bullets or whatever, but harmless ink. Altough it's not as harmless to the enemy, but more on that later. Covering the ground the ground with Ink provides several advantages apart from winning the game. First and most important you can swim in your own Ink. Through a simple button push you turn yourself into a squid. While not really fast on ground, you can swim through your own ink at incredible speed and also swim up ink covered walls, which completely changes the way you traverse around the maps. This also replenishes your ink tank, which serves as ammunition for main and secondary weapons. While swimming in ink only small ripples tell your location, and when remaining completely still, you are pretty much invisible. A perfect way to set up ambushes. The second advantage is that enemy players are slowed down in your ink and gradually take damage.

But don't think that claiming your turf is a entirely peaceful operation. You can, and have to kill your opponents. This provides two important advantages. Firstly a dead enemy explodes into your own ink, claiming the turf around him for your team. Also it prevents him from claiming turf of his own. If you die you respawn at your starting point, but you don't have to get back to the fray by squid, although this is sometimes preferable. With a quick press on the gamepad you can jump to any player of your team. This quickly gets you back into the fray to help, but is also quite dangerous. Without the proper gear the location, where you will land, is shown to all players in the area, so it can happen that you jump right into an ambush and die again.

I have to talk about the Game Pad here, because I think Splatoon has one of the best uses for it yet. The Game Pad always shows a live map of the area. That means you can see every change in turf and all your teammates directly on your gamepad. This is important to keep an overview of the battlefield, as one player that slips behind enemy lines and starts to claim turf there, can deal a lot of damage.

All this features together create an incredible fast paced and action oriented gameplay, where it is possible to turn the game till the last seconds. It often happens that one or two Players slip through enemy lines and start claiming turf, while the other two hold the enemy team off at a choke point. You have to cautiously think if it's better to pursue an withdrawing enemy or claim some turf instead.

Splat Zones on the other hand can only be played once you reach level 10 and offer a different playstyle from the often chaotic Turf Wars. In this mode your team has to claim and defend a specific zone on the map. This makes sure that the battle is always concentrated on one single spot and also increases the value of, for example, sniper rifles, because killing enemy players is much more important in this environment. When your team claims the Splat Zone a timer begins to tick towards zero. However if you loose your Zone you'll get a penalty added. With much back and forth Splat Zone matches usually last far longer than Turf Wars.

Even with only this two modes Splatoon creates many different playstyles which are all valuable, and supports them with a huge array of gear.

Like in any other online Shooter you earn exp and start to climb levels. This unlocks new gear opportunities at the shop keepers in Inkopolis Plaza. And here it shows how deep this game can truly get.

You can individualize the look of your Inkling with Shoes, Shirts and Hats. There is a ton of choice. All of this gear comes with different stats. For example you may buy shoes that increase the rate on which your recover Ink in squid form or a hat that makes you completely invisible while swimming in your own ink. With this the player can build an outfit perfectly fitting his playstyle. A piece of gear can hold up to four effects, but only the first is known from the get go. The others are randomly selected when you level up, but there is a way to reroll the abilities on a piece, if they don't suit you.

The weapons are the most important part in any shooter and Splatoon offers a wide variety of them. Sniper rifles are good for killing enemy players, but not the best to claim turf, while the big Paint Roller is perfect for this and ambushes, but often loses in 1 on 1 combat. There is a weapon for everyone and all of them play pretty differently. A part in this plays that you don't buy one weapon alone, but a set of three. Main Weapon, secondary and Ultimate. Some players have complained that this preset isn't good for variety, but it provides a basis on which all weapons can balanced. This ensures that there won't be one perfect build, which gets used all of the time. As with the Main weapons the secondaries and ultimates offer a great variety, both in defensive and offensive ways.

But as much variety as the weapons and gear offer, the same can't be said for the maps. At least just yet. Splatoon launched with only five multiplayer maps. However one new map and weapon have already been released just three days after launch for completely free. But still, 6 maps aren't something to brag about. Also Splatoon decided to hide this factor, or at least weaken it, with one of the dumbest decisions of all time and my only true complaint about this game. No matter if you play Splat Zones or Turf Wars, the maps are always chosen out of a pool of two. This pool changes every four hours, but still this is a pretty stupid decision. I, for example, love the map Arowana Mall, but I haven't played it in over two days now, because it was never part of the rotation when I played. This can create a feeling of fatigue pretty fast, and should be addressed.

But there are still other modes apart from online. The battle dojo is the place to go if you fancy some 1 on 1 local multiplayer battles. It handles like multiplayer in Hyrule Warriors. One player uses a Pro-controller and the TV, while the other plays on the game pad. In this mode the goal is to pop as many ballons, spread across the map, as possible. It's a fun and small distraction, but nothing more. I would have loved the ability to play this mode online for some battles against friends, who don't live in my vicinity.

And of course there is the Story mode. Even if it was just an addition to beef up the game a little bit, I'm pretty happy they did it. Levels in the Story mode play pretty differently. Here the platforming aspect is much more important. The levels in Octo Valley consist of several floating islands which you have to traverse. It really feels like a shooter version of Super Mario Galaxy. The levels offer a great variety of ideas, although some get used several times. From sponges that grow lager as they're splattered with ink, to invisible paths which you have to make visible, the single player campaign, as short as it is, never gets boring. After roughly five hours you then end one of the best boss fights I have ever faced. 

Sadly you can't use the gear from the multiplayer in single player. Your inkling will always use the standard Hero Weapon and Hero Suit. However you can choose between three types of grenades. Ultimates, like the Ink-Zooka, are actually collectibles during missions.

In the levels you'll find two things to collect. Orange Orbs, awarded for killing enemies, destroying boxes or collected simply in the world, are a currency to upgrade your weapon and side arms. And every level contains a hidden scroll, which contains trivia information about the Inkling Society and at the end provide some (rather dark) background lore. I won't spoil anything, but it's worth to collect them all.

Overall the sinlge player is a little bit too easy, apart from the last boss. Enemys often don't pose a threat and there are many checkpoints.

Now lastly let's talk about Amiibos. While the Splatoon Amiibos are absolutely stunning, they're integration into the game is probably the worst use of Amiibos so far. To be completely honest they are nothing more than on disc DLC. Through scanning an Amiibo you unlock a set of callenges in single player levels. The female inkling forces you to play with the sniper rifle, while the male uses the Paint roller. The squid Amiibo, only available through the special edition of the game or the special pack with all three Amiibos, provides you with such challenges as time limits or limited ink. These challenges change the way of approaching the stages pretty drastically. Completing a set of challenges then awards a piece of gear to wear, an 8-bit mini-game or a new skin for a weapon.

I wont detract any points for this, but it should be noted that this is the absolute worst use of Amiibos since the exclusive spinner weapon in Hyrule Warriors.

Also no other Amiibos are supported. So you won't get Marios Hat as an outfit choice if you scan him.

Presentation:

Splatoon looks absolutely stunning and it can compete with Mario Kart 8 and Captain Toad for the title of best looking Wii-U game. The game runs with smooth 60fps and 720p resolution. Some textures in the back, outside the actual arenas, may look a little bit outdated, but during the intense gameplay you most likely won't notice. I also have to specially talk about the Ink. It truly looks great. Splattering it every where, swimming through it... All of this looks absolutely beautiful and... fun. Without any noticeable frame drops, even during heated matches, and a great attention to detail (even though this will disappear under a layer of ink shortly after the start of the game) Splatoon just oozes the usual Nintendo charm.

The music on the other hand is unlike anything any heard in a Nintendo title. It strongly reminded me of Jet Set Radio. Sadly they aren't all to many tracks in the game, but some of them, like the Main Theme or the second stage song of the final boss, are instant classics to me.

Conclusion:

What a great start for a completely new IP. Never has getting messy been so much fun. The gameplay is fresh and a stark contrast to other modern shooters. It reminded me of the good old days of Quake and Unreal a lot. Fast pace action and a giant variety of playstyles secure a long interest in the game. The two modes, currently available, play different enough and need a different approach for winning. However content is still lacking, but Nintendo intends to provide lots of free updates over the course of summer, culminating in a huge August update. I never had the feeling of playing an incomplete game, but still if you prefer a huge variety of content, I can't recommend this game to you yet, even if it only costs 40 bucks. But even when more maps will be available, they still will be hindered through the stupid rotation mechanic. Also the Amiibo integration is questionable at best.

The Gameplay is Splatoon strongest selling point, supported by great graphics and a nice single player.

In the end Splatoon is a great foundation on which future sequels can stand, but also has no problem holding it's own turf. A unique and fresh breath of air into the world of Online Shooters.

+ Colorful and charming visuals

+ Exciting gameplay, which supports a big variety of play styles

+ Free support with new weapons, maps and online modes

+ Suprisingly great Single Player

- Currently small amount of maps

- Map rotation every four hours forces you to play the same maps over and over.

- Amiibo are just On-Disc DLC

8/10

Source of all pictures: Nintendo