Initial Thoughts...

[Inky]

So i played the testfires and i had been expecting big things from this game. My copy of the game turned up early so i have spent most of the day playing online.

I really, really wanted to love this game. For the 1st 4 or 5 hrs i was not disappointed. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Here's the but...

It's a grind! I didn't expect it to be another grind it out shooter. It is.

After playing for several hours i started to find things becoming a little repetitive. What really makes this happen is the constant firing. I mean constant. NON STOP. Not just myself but everyone. It's fire, fire, fire. You can't use a team mates firing actions as an indicator of where an enemy might be either because he/she is just blasting away at everything most of the time. Just like the other two team mates are. It REALLY limits the tactics involved. You can't trust your team because they are just spraying paint mostly and this brings a whole new meaning to 'spray and pray'
It get's to a point where you don't actually feel part of a team. There are just 3 others running around.

August now seems a very long time away to be adding some of the content needed to keep the online part of the game fresh. I can see a lot of people becoming bored of the multi-player way before August.

The controversial bit.
I want to say now that i was one of the people that thought voice chat wouldn't be needed in this game and that i didn't want/need it but now it seems that without it it's just a bit of a chaotic, repetitive, mess.

The Good News.
The roller isn't OP. It's actually quite rare to see someone online be the highest scorer with the roller at the moment and that includes the more fancier variants of the roller. The roller players seem to be at their best staying back behind the front line and just retaining what you have and then going on a over-the-top style charge in the last minute (good luck explaining that to your random team mates)

This game has so much potential though. It's just a shame it's so limited at the moment. I haven't tried the single player but as that is only 6hrs of playtime i think i'll save that for when i can't be bothered to grind for numbers any more.

 

[bluekentuckyboy]

I have not played a single minute of this game (Not even a testfire) so take my opinion with a grain of salt, however it might become a better experience once the game is out for a month or so. Tactics and cooperation will SURELY get better as people get more experienced with the game and ranked battles will hopefully improve the experience even more.

I honestly don't see voice chat adding a lot. I mean I play team fortress 2 A LOT and almost nobody uses the voice chat for tactics. I mean we will never know if Splatoon players would have used it effectively because it wasn't added but my prediction is it would not have helped.

So just to sum it up, hopefully online will get better as players adjust to the game...hopefully.

 

[Reila]

it's just a bit of a chaotic, repetitive, mess.

Sounds fun

 

[OmegaDivider]

I don't really know. What you find as a con I personally find as a pro.

Besides, 4-5 hours straight can be a bit much for some people. Burn out is a thing.

 

[Inky]

Everything you say bluekentuckyboy is my hope also. I'm sure it will improve a lot. It's just odd getting less than half a game from Nintendo but i guess this is what a lot of people have been asking from them. To do DLC and be more pro-active in making games that evolve. So i'm reluctant to criticise them for this.

It really does feel like an unfinished game though at the moment. That's a bit sad considering it's Nintendo.

But yeah. lets keep optimistic and i do agree that voice chat shouldn't be an issue. It's just that this game has a certain element of chaos about it. No coms does add to it. Personally i would only want to see voice coms used in a party mode situation and not in the public open games.

I'm sure the other game modes (when added) won't be so chaotic.

 

[Inky]

Sounds fun

Haha. Yeah i guess it does when you say it like that :D

 

[Inky]

Besides, 4-5 hours straight can be a bit much for some people. Burn out is a thing.

I couldn't play it for more than an hr at a time. 4-5hrs was a total time played. Not concurrent. If you like grinding out your scores to upgrade you will enjoy it a lot. :)

 

[OmegaDivider]

I couldn't play it for more than an hr at a time. 4-5hrs was a total time played. Not concurrent. If you like grinding out your scores to upgrade you will enjoy it a lot. :)

I'm usually a grinder, so if it all goes like you say, I'll feel right at home.

 

[Trieste Sp]

Interesting...

 

[RespawningJesus]

You also forget that you are playing Turf War only. Ranked Battles will hopefully provide something with a bit more tactics to your liking.

 

[Bottlecapn]

Ranked Battles will feel a lot less repetitive to you, for sure. I'm sure you'll change your mind when you play it. :)

 

[SquidisaWard]

Turf War encourage more "lone wolf" like play. If you do want someone to follow/help you, there is some quick messaging options by pressing the D Pad. It not much but it's still an option.

I think you would enjoy Splat Zone way better as you really need to work together in order to win. You need to be level 10 to enter, however.

 

[DatGuyAegis]

It is a grind but I don't think it is too much of a grind and it keeps it interesting.

 

[Graff]

Well yeah turf wars...

Just wait until the full game comes out and you can refresh your gameplay with other modes.

 

[<π.]

Thanks for sharing your view points on the game. Very well thought out and explained.

I'm going to wait till I get my hands on the game but I'll definitely keep your thoughts in mind as I play.