Daisoujou
Inkling
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2024
- Messages
- 6
I want to kickstart more SR discussion for whoever in these boards plays it, and people love to rank things and throw their opinions around, so here are mine, based purely on enjoyment:
1. Salmonid Smokeyard - Fantastic map design in my eyes. The two island gimmick with moving platforms gives it a strong identity, it's beautiful to look at (that sunset glow!), and there's so much freedom of movement. Pretty much any static is in reach from multiple paths. Swim around the middle, take an elevator, use the paintable walls EVERYWHERE, it all feels great. The map is much more of a clearing challenge than a quota one which I find fun, keeping up with the tide of spawns. If pushed I'd say that CAN lead to comps with really weak damage/AoE struggling a little much, and low tide's random objects can be a little annoying (say, on cannons), but I still love the map too much to mind. High tide is very high pressure but in a way I find entirely fun. Just make sure to spawncamp those eels.
2. Marooner's Bay - Probably controversial, haha. This map leads to feelbad moments in freelance so I get it. But no other map tests your fundamentals so well, playing aggressively for far statics, running eggs at every available chance, weaving intelligent luring in between these tasks, it has it all. And with a lot of difficult to get out of spots it really encourages watching your teammate's back, which is cool... when it happens, haha. The boat design works well with the new egg throwing mechanic. Bonus points for being the only tornado that's kind of fun. Shame the devs want to mostly give it really bad comps, and it has the worst glowfly rush with very few ways to safely remove the pressure and the aggravation of eggs falling off the boat.
3. Gone Fission Hydroplant - Nice and chill, in a good way. Being able to funnel everything to the middle and pick them off from top walls just feels nice; I usually find GFH rotations a good way to blow off some steam. High tide is pretty fun; the biggest point I have against this map is that low tide doesn't feel quite right. If you get middle big shot cannon it disproportionately makes the wave much harder than any other spawn would.
4. Jammin' Salmon Junction - In competition with GFH for easiest, but in a way I like less. There's definitely good stuff about the map, lots of nice paintable wall and hopping across mid feels like some cool movement. The snatchers being consistently fantastic adds to the easiness of the map but also makes it fun to play for higher scores. My biggest issue is that I can't help finding the map very... samey in a way I don't others. The perfect visibility, the way the enemies walk single file up two lines surrounded by safe high ground paths, the way low tide barely feels any different than normal, etc. It ends up feeling a little repetitive for me. High tide is also perhaps a little TOO minimal, feels like I'm on a postage stamp camping 2 spawn points.
5. Spawning Grounds - I'm still settling my opinions on this map, trying to learn it better and come to enjoy it like I managed with Bay, but thus far I'm not a fan. Spots like high tide grates flyfish feel like a mandatory special tax, low tide being all one way paths mostly makes it a DPS check to punch through, and the awkward basket placement makes it really clear that this map was not designed with S3's egg throw in mind. The top cannon feels mandatory but unfun, where on Bay the top cannon is one of my favorites. I can sorta appreciate challenge, but I can't help feeling SG does challenge in specifically annoying ways that restrict your options, compared to Bay forcing a lot of tough decision making.
6. Sockeye Station - Used to find this fairly mid, but my opinion has crashed hard. While not as tough as Bay, it's the map with the second-most quota issues, and in my view that's mostly down to poor design. The spire encourages excessive shore camping (and not running eggs sufficiently), or hiding up there on high tide because it feels safe while putting too much burden on your teammates. Similar bad habits are common on glowflies and grillers because the spots are less intuitive. It's a map that makes people do things that feel like they are helping, but are actually making it harder. On top of that, the spire blocks visibility between basket and shore terribly, the snatchers are often bad and in low tide there are never ANY good snatchers. The only positive thing I have to say about this one is that high tide is pretty fun if people don't overly camp spire.
Lemme know how wrong I am and what you prefer playing ;)
1. Salmonid Smokeyard - Fantastic map design in my eyes. The two island gimmick with moving platforms gives it a strong identity, it's beautiful to look at (that sunset glow!), and there's so much freedom of movement. Pretty much any static is in reach from multiple paths. Swim around the middle, take an elevator, use the paintable walls EVERYWHERE, it all feels great. The map is much more of a clearing challenge than a quota one which I find fun, keeping up with the tide of spawns. If pushed I'd say that CAN lead to comps with really weak damage/AoE struggling a little much, and low tide's random objects can be a little annoying (say, on cannons), but I still love the map too much to mind. High tide is very high pressure but in a way I find entirely fun. Just make sure to spawncamp those eels.
2. Marooner's Bay - Probably controversial, haha. This map leads to feelbad moments in freelance so I get it. But no other map tests your fundamentals so well, playing aggressively for far statics, running eggs at every available chance, weaving intelligent luring in between these tasks, it has it all. And with a lot of difficult to get out of spots it really encourages watching your teammate's back, which is cool... when it happens, haha. The boat design works well with the new egg throwing mechanic. Bonus points for being the only tornado that's kind of fun. Shame the devs want to mostly give it really bad comps, and it has the worst glowfly rush with very few ways to safely remove the pressure and the aggravation of eggs falling off the boat.
3. Gone Fission Hydroplant - Nice and chill, in a good way. Being able to funnel everything to the middle and pick them off from top walls just feels nice; I usually find GFH rotations a good way to blow off some steam. High tide is pretty fun; the biggest point I have against this map is that low tide doesn't feel quite right. If you get middle big shot cannon it disproportionately makes the wave much harder than any other spawn would.
4. Jammin' Salmon Junction - In competition with GFH for easiest, but in a way I like less. There's definitely good stuff about the map, lots of nice paintable wall and hopping across mid feels like some cool movement. The snatchers being consistently fantastic adds to the easiness of the map but also makes it fun to play for higher scores. My biggest issue is that I can't help finding the map very... samey in a way I don't others. The perfect visibility, the way the enemies walk single file up two lines surrounded by safe high ground paths, the way low tide barely feels any different than normal, etc. It ends up feeling a little repetitive for me. High tide is also perhaps a little TOO minimal, feels like I'm on a postage stamp camping 2 spawn points.
5. Spawning Grounds - I'm still settling my opinions on this map, trying to learn it better and come to enjoy it like I managed with Bay, but thus far I'm not a fan. Spots like high tide grates flyfish feel like a mandatory special tax, low tide being all one way paths mostly makes it a DPS check to punch through, and the awkward basket placement makes it really clear that this map was not designed with S3's egg throw in mind. The top cannon feels mandatory but unfun, where on Bay the top cannon is one of my favorites. I can sorta appreciate challenge, but I can't help feeling SG does challenge in specifically annoying ways that restrict your options, compared to Bay forcing a lot of tough decision making.
6. Sockeye Station - Used to find this fairly mid, but my opinion has crashed hard. While not as tough as Bay, it's the map with the second-most quota issues, and in my view that's mostly down to poor design. The spire encourages excessive shore camping (and not running eggs sufficiently), or hiding up there on high tide because it feels safe while putting too much burden on your teammates. Similar bad habits are common on glowflies and grillers because the spots are less intuitive. It's a map that makes people do things that feel like they are helping, but are actually making it harder. On top of that, the spire blocks visibility between basket and shore terribly, the snatchers are often bad and in low tide there are never ANY good snatchers. The only positive thing I have to say about this one is that high tide is pretty fun if people don't overly camp spire.
Lemme know how wrong I am and what you prefer playing ;)
. It's a polarizing love or hate sort of map, so I'm glad I landed on this side of it finally.