It's getting pretty close to the third round of Splatoon, and with that, we had a preview event, known as the Splatfest World Premiere, held over August 27th, 2022, roughly two weeks before the release of the full game. With that, we get our first taste of Splatsville, the new characters, the new stages, and new weapons. Ordinarily, for a Splatfest video, I would skip straight to the hosts' introductions to the Splatfest, then to the matches and results, but since this is our first time with all of these, I figured I'll provide a more complete picture!
The preview could be accessed two days prior, during which case you're allowed to customize your Inkling or Octoling, play the tutorial (you may have seen the shortcut video I put up the previousday), hear the full discussion from Deep Cut about the Splatfest, explore the Splatsville hub, and watch Deep Cut perform. I dunno, I know these Splatfests will eventually go away, and I'm an advocate for media preservation, so I want to do my part to ensure stuff like this is not lost forever.
In Splatoon, your goal is not to defeat the most opponents, but to ink more ground in your team's color than the opposing team(s) as a 4-versus-4 battle. After three minutes, Judd and Judd Jr. will determine which team has claimed more territory. A Splatfest is no different, though here you pick a faction and duel against other factions to determine which is superior. Splatoon 2 had over 100 weapons, each with their own unique approach on how to win these battles, and I'm certain Splaoton 3 will increase that number. Previous previews (known as Testfires) had only 4 weapons; this one lets you pick from 26 as a demonstration of the diverse styles and approaches they can have.
I chose Team Paper because I consider paper as the most versatile of these three, in part because it is so malleable. I would deem paper as one of the most important inventions on Earth, as it provided a way of, again, keeping records and documents. For this reason, paper's ease of access and use was a major factor of proliferation of knowledge everywhere. Scissors, meanwhile, is an invention that is completely derivative of paper (except for the wheel, there is perhaps no invention of humanity with more derivative inventions), and paper covers rock. We've also seen Paper Mario defeat Scissors in Paper Mario: The Origami King, so there's that too.
By the way, August 27th is World Rock Paper Scissors Day. Considering the level of effort and research that goes into making a Splatoon game, I don't think that's a coincidence.
This part of a description would normally have a detailed analysis and strategy of the featured weapon, and I have no plans to stop now with Splatoon 3, but since each match here uses a different weapon, I'll instead have each weapon used here covered in a later video. In part, it's because I wanted to sample different weapons and how they're used, including the Sub Weapons (situational use tools that consume a lot of ink) and Special Weapons (flashy, powerful moves or modes that you must charge up by inking ground). But also, in part, I wanted to showcase the variety here.
Match #1
Mincemeat Metalworks
Splatfest Turf War
Hydra Splatling
Color Scheme: Primary Pigments
Song: "?" by Deep Cut
Titles: Variety Octo Gang (Good Guys)
Match #2
Museum d'Alfonsino
Splatfest Turf War
Tri-Stinger
Color Scheme: Primary Pigments
Song: "?" by Deep Cut
Titles: Variety Octo Gang (Good Guys), Variety Warriors (Bad Guys)
Match #3
Eeltail Alley
Splatfest Turf War
Splattershot Jr.
Color Scheme: Primary Pigments
Song: "?" by Deep Cut
Titles: Variety Squad (Good Guys)
After this is the midway point--new to Splatoon 3 is a change in the rules, in which the team leading at that point is revealed, and the Tricolor Turf Wars begin. While set on a normal stage, all three factions participate, with the leading faction known as the Defenders and the others, split into two each, as the Attackers. Attackers begin from the normal spawn areas, but Defenders come in from the sides. In the middle is an Ultra Signal; an Attacker holding it up for long enough will call in their Deep Cut member and convert it into a Mega Sprinkler, which deposits around ink of their color and cannot be destroyed. The game cares only if the Defenders inked the most turf or not; if either Attackers team inks more, they lose and both Attackers teams win.
Match #4
Sturgeon Shipyard
Tricolor Turf War
Inkbrush
Color Scheme: Primary Pigments
Song: "?" by Deep Cut
Titles: Variety Gang (Defenders)
Match #5
Sturgeon Shipyard
Tricolor Turf War
.52 Gal
Color Scheme: Primary Pigments
Song: "?" by Deep Cut
Titles: Variety Crew (Defenders)
And now...for the final results! Tricolor really put Team Scissors to the grinder, and they didn't make it out unscathed. I feel like the Ultra Signal needs to be nerfed, and I was part of the Attacking teams!
