Octo Expansion first impressions
I was honestly really excited about the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion when it came out. I preordered it the same weekend it was announced and kept waiting for any and all updates on it. I was really excited about there being a brand new story and and new things to learn about the lore. I was really interested to see what game design innovations were there if any, and I was ready to play basically a version of Hero Mode only with good story.
I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed for a number of reasons with this addition to the game. I'll get into what I don't like in a minute though. First I'll nail what I find good about it.
the story so far is really interesting, and explores the psychological effects of the brainwashing of the Octolings. I like how they convey how disorienting everything is for Agent 8 and how they show that Octolings aren't actually evil.
the enemy AI is actually good this time, they're not just running around shooting at random stuff, they actually strategize their attacks on you, and it actually feels like you're taking out an enemy. I really can recognize the polish they put into making the enemies themselves a challenge to take on, and I appreciate the effort they put in to make the Octolings you fight actually feel smart.
the environmental detail is excellent, I love how interesting and detailed everything looks, not a single model in this expansion is placed in the environment without an intent in mind, from graffiti on the subway train to IV stands on the trees. everything is a hint and a view into the lore of the game, it's very interesting.
now for what I don't like about it... oh boy...
I can understand the appeal of a difficult game, the high challenge gives you a sensation of euphoria once you beat a level. you get to release everything for a moment and gloat in the fact that you just pulled off something that seems extremely daunting. there's a massive difference between an interesting challenge and unfair difficulty though, and Nintendo showed so little restraint that the game is way past both of those into the realm of nearly impossible. I don't know how they expected a mainstream audience to actually enjoy this, but it's not working for me. I don't like sitting down to play a game I paid about 80 dollars for only for it to punish me for not being quite good enough at it. don't get me wrong, not all of these levels are bad. there are one or two that I've played that I found myself thoroughly enjoying. the first level was fantastic, it had some serious challenge in it, and had a logical progression of difficulty from start to end, it was a truly great level, but it just kinda devolved from there. the next level I remember playing was one where you have to get through an obstacle course in an infinite version of the baller special within a specific amount of time. I really enjoyed this level, it was really hard, but exactly what I had to do was clear, and once I figured out how my approach should work, I accomplished it. another one was a rail based level where you have dualies and your one goal is to make it to the end without dying. it was cool to quickly react to anything and everything coming my way, and think my way around the enemies and hazards in my path. but contrasted against that, you have a stupid shooting gallery level where you need to hit 20 boxes without hitting any balloons, which in itself wouldn't be that big of a deal, it would have some interesting and cool challenges to it, and it would make you think, but if you don't do it in time, our main protagonist gets remotely detonated by the guy who plopped us into the level, which brings me to my next point.
C. Q. Cumber is one of the prominent characters, and owner of the subway train that's taking you to Inkopolis. he has a cool and cute looking design and on his face, he's a likeable character, but don't let that fool you, this sea cucumber is a sociopath. he'll take you to Inkopolis, sure, but you have to do 80 nearly impossible tests for him, and you have to pay him to participate in these tests, and if you mess up just a little bit, he'll inflate your backpack until it explodes, taking you with it. I wanted to like the character, I really did, but I have to say, I hate him so much. I had a stupid grin on my face when he appeared on screen the first time, but now I can wholeheartedly say that said grin has been replaced with a grimace.
Pearl and Marina have integral roles in the story too. I actually like what Marina does, that's some pretty nice stuff, but Pearl does some stuff that in my book, is really not okay. when you run out of currency to continue playing a level, even if you have enough to go back and grind on an early level(you will, trust me) she has the "bright" idea of removing some money from her father's account and giving it to you, making you pay it back to her. you read that right, Pearl forces debt on you. then the game has the nerve to treat you like a child and tell you "when you have debt, you should always pay it back" even though Pearl never asked you if you were okay with being put in debt. I would've said no if I was given the choice, honestly. personally, being in debt whether it's in real life or not seriously stresses me out, that's one of the reasons why I don't like living in the house I'm in, because something might happen and my parents go "ok you owe us now" despite the fact that it's insanely hard for me to make any money due to their own restrictions. I currently "owe" them $150 because they've asserted that it's not a big deal for them to force that kind of debt on me. so it's pretty obvious what Pearl giving me a "loan" of 3000 points reminded me of.
so far, I feel like Octo Expansion is really really promising, but I can't in good conscience call it a good expansion.
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