Drew Sebastino
Inkling Cadet
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2017
- Messages
- 299
- NNID
- Espozo
- Switch Friend Code
- SW-3924-6316-9401
Hello everyone; I'm new to this website (this is my first post outside of the Welcome Center) so I'm sorry if a similar thread has already been made that I did not notice. (In that case, you may take this one down.) Although Splatoon 2 has been out for over two weeks and I'm sure most of you have moved onto it by now, (just how online games work) how do you think it compares to the original Splatoon? I've played Splatoon 2 for less than 20 hours (and mainly single player) and Splatoon for over 700, so maybe I'm making premature judgements, but I'll post my thoughts anyway.
I find the music in Splatoon was more rock-oriented, while the music in Splatoon 2 has an electronic component. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but it reminds me a lot of F-Zero X to F-Zero GX. I thought the metalcore-esque "vocals" from the original gave the music character, and coupled with the electric guitar, definitely set the mood for Ranked Battle. Ink or Sink was my favorite. I like Endorphin Surge for the killer synth toward the beginning, but as with the rest of the music in the game, it's much more subdued. (The Testfire versions were louder?) I think any songs that were remixed in Splatoon 2 sound much worse than the original, particularly the victory theme. (I actually think the new customization theme is a better remix of the victory theme.) The Hero Mode mission clear jingle is unobjectively 1000x worse, but the Girl from Inkopolis got stuck in my head a lot... Mad props for reusing the theme from Gusher Gauntlet in the first game!
Animations are a toss up. I think I like the victory and losing animations from Splatoon better, but I'd have to look at all of them side by side. I'm very upset you no longer pat the zapfish plushy's head. :( The weirdo throwing the invisible baseball is absent, but I don't think any other animations were removed from the lobby? The person playing the dance arcade machine looks almost exactly like the person dancing outside the store in the original. The animation for Callie and Marie looks very stiff in comparison to Pearl and Mariana. I'm just super upset they changed the animation for trying on a hat, if you know what I'm getting at. ;)
Shadows got a good improvement. Many more aren't pre baked onto the terrain, and the shadow buffer appears to be a higher resolution, even if still a bit low. I think lighting is better overall? I noticed the color of the ink is projected slightly onto the wall on Splatoon 2; I didn't check to see if the first game does that too. All reflections still seem to be fake, but that doesn't surprise me at all considering how much more processing power is required. Resolution is better, although disappointing that it stays closer to 840p than 1080p. However, I really don't have any problem playing SNES games at 224p. The drop to 30fps in the lobby is just as jarring as it was in the first game, but is really a non-issue.
Controls were very hard to get used to, particularly for navigating menus. Repeatedly pulling up the main menu instead of looking at stats for weapons and clothing was very annoying. I kept looking down at my hands when playing on the TV like an idiot, although there's nothing that could be done about that. I've found the game much easier to play in handheld mode, as the controller is much closer to the size of the Wii U gamepad and makes aiming just feel more precise. Additionally, I don't have the problem of looking for the map.
For art direction, Splatoon 2 looks a lot edgier. You can just compare the in-game font. I'm not sure what I like more, but it ultimately isn't that important. (What's with the altered squid icons everywhere though, like the life counter for Hero Mode? The original squid outline is still used for transitions.) I like how things have much more utility, like Splat Zones telling you how much of the zone is covered, or the squid icons now displaying weapons. It's nice that the game displays the number of times you used your special, but I don't know why they removed how often you were splatted, as it has consequence outside of just not being able to get splats and/or use your special. The hit markering is a nice touch, although I heard the game factors this into your splats?
I still find the original hair styles the best. Am I the only one bothered by the fact the tentacles actually change size and position with different hair styles? It's obvious that the male hairstyle from the first game was just the female one tied back, which would lead you to think it isn't possible for inklings to transform their hair like in Splatoon 2. Gender locking the pants is really pretty stupid in my opinion. The original shorts are still my favorite though, so it doesn't matter to me.
I enjoy the weapons much more in Splatoon 2. The Luna Blaster has been nerfed to hell, thank God, though partly through lack of strength up, which means chargers are much less useful, but the ability to store the charge under the ink is very nice. (The get up animation becomes more laggy though.) The Splat Dualies are very fun and have pretty much replaced low range, rapid fire shooters for me. The dodge roll using the jump button is questionable with how many other buttons there are on the controller, but you can just let off the trigger for a millisecond to jump and hold it down again, so you're not really loosing anything. I've found the fact that it makes you "fastfall" very useful for getaways. (Although lag will still kill you behind walls occasionally...) The vertical fling with the roller is unfortunate, however, because even if you start the fling attack before jumping, it will be released before the full height of the jump, unless you're using the dynamo roller.
I don't really know why they got rid of the Seeker; it was easy enough to just jump over. The Curling Bombs are much harder to use, and I think the Auto Bomb is pretty bad no matter what. On Nintendo's quest to make Splatoon less broken and more competitive, I don't know why they didn't get rid of the Splat Bomb; it's basically a free hit.
It's great that the specials have been changed; no free team wipes and inevitable losses from a randomly placed Killer Wail. Although the specials are all less powerful, I find the Stingray to be really bad. It's difficult to hit someone with it, but even if you do, it does so little damage that they seemingly walk through it. I've only splatted one person with the Stingray and hit markered two other people, but maybe I'm just not using it correctly? The Tenta Missiles usually won't kill anyone, but they have much less committal and can overall just make it harder for the other team.
I really dislike what they did to Port Mackerel; the inability to get on top of the crates made it much more about corridor fighting, and I think the map has lost a lot of it's identity because of the change. The maps are much more similar to each other overall in Splatoon 2; many of them are almost a perfect square. (I'd like to see something like Saltspray Rig return where each side is only flipped on one axis. That always stood out to me) However, I love the changes to Moray Towers; I've always hated that stage. Good riddance to Bluefin Depot. Humpback Pump Track is probably my favorite map in Splatoon 2 so far because I think it stands out the most.
While I don't think anyone plays Splatoon for the story, not really anything was changed; just the Octarians stealing the Great Zapfish again. They could have done something cool story wise with Callie, but they just decided to make it a simple brainwash scheme. How did DJ Octavio even escape from the snow globe? I found the sunken scrolls to be pretty disappointing too; the only ones that really stuck out at me were the one poking fun at social media, the story behind the boss tentacles, and the "Bible" passage that reveals that Inkling society even has their own religion.
Hero Mode was overall a pretty samey experience, but I think more polished. All the little gimmicks they added, like the grind rail, boost panels, grappling lures, and Industrial Squee-Gs, were nice touches. The bosses, I thought, were the biggest improvement. I find the regenerating armor a bit too lenient though; I never even lost a life on any of the bosses, save the final section of the last boss (where I didn't know you would be able to just jump over the fist and tried switching rails). It's interesting they made the Ocarians notice you when you swim quickly through the ink, but then just made their shields destructible this time.
I was upset you couldn't splat Marie like you could Cap'n Cuttlefish, even if you throw a bomb behind her and shoot her from the front...
Finally, about Salmon Run, every time I've gone to play Splatoon 2, it's been unavailable. :( Maps rotating every two hours in nicer, although I think having three maps in the rotation would have been even better.
This pretty much turned into an essay... I'll end this by asking you people for your opinions. I actually play Splatoon more than Splatoon 2, because I've been eternally pissed off about only being S. I've found I just do better when I quit with my first loss; I'll go on a long winning streak, and then an equally long loosing streak right after. Lobbies sill fill up just as fast, which is nice to see.
...I can't be the only one who secretly hoped the Squid Sisters would replace Off the Hook upon completing the story mode, can I...? :(
I find the music in Splatoon was more rock-oriented, while the music in Splatoon 2 has an electronic component. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but it reminds me a lot of F-Zero X to F-Zero GX. I thought the metalcore-esque "vocals" from the original gave the music character, and coupled with the electric guitar, definitely set the mood for Ranked Battle. Ink or Sink was my favorite. I like Endorphin Surge for the killer synth toward the beginning, but as with the rest of the music in the game, it's much more subdued. (The Testfire versions were louder?) I think any songs that were remixed in Splatoon 2 sound much worse than the original, particularly the victory theme. (I actually think the new customization theme is a better remix of the victory theme.) The Hero Mode mission clear jingle is unobjectively 1000x worse, but the Girl from Inkopolis got stuck in my head a lot... Mad props for reusing the theme from Gusher Gauntlet in the first game!
Animations are a toss up. I think I like the victory and losing animations from Splatoon better, but I'd have to look at all of them side by side. I'm very upset you no longer pat the zapfish plushy's head. :( The weirdo throwing the invisible baseball is absent, but I don't think any other animations were removed from the lobby? The person playing the dance arcade machine looks almost exactly like the person dancing outside the store in the original. The animation for Callie and Marie looks very stiff in comparison to Pearl and Mariana. I'm just super upset they changed the animation for trying on a hat, if you know what I'm getting at. ;)
Shadows got a good improvement. Many more aren't pre baked onto the terrain, and the shadow buffer appears to be a higher resolution, even if still a bit low. I think lighting is better overall? I noticed the color of the ink is projected slightly onto the wall on Splatoon 2; I didn't check to see if the first game does that too. All reflections still seem to be fake, but that doesn't surprise me at all considering how much more processing power is required. Resolution is better, although disappointing that it stays closer to 840p than 1080p. However, I really don't have any problem playing SNES games at 224p. The drop to 30fps in the lobby is just as jarring as it was in the first game, but is really a non-issue.
Controls were very hard to get used to, particularly for navigating menus. Repeatedly pulling up the main menu instead of looking at stats for weapons and clothing was very annoying. I kept looking down at my hands when playing on the TV like an idiot, although there's nothing that could be done about that. I've found the game much easier to play in handheld mode, as the controller is much closer to the size of the Wii U gamepad and makes aiming just feel more precise. Additionally, I don't have the problem of looking for the map.
For art direction, Splatoon 2 looks a lot edgier. You can just compare the in-game font. I'm not sure what I like more, but it ultimately isn't that important. (What's with the altered squid icons everywhere though, like the life counter for Hero Mode? The original squid outline is still used for transitions.) I like how things have much more utility, like Splat Zones telling you how much of the zone is covered, or the squid icons now displaying weapons. It's nice that the game displays the number of times you used your special, but I don't know why they removed how often you were splatted, as it has consequence outside of just not being able to get splats and/or use your special. The hit markering is a nice touch, although I heard the game factors this into your splats?
I still find the original hair styles the best. Am I the only one bothered by the fact the tentacles actually change size and position with different hair styles? It's obvious that the male hairstyle from the first game was just the female one tied back, which would lead you to think it isn't possible for inklings to transform their hair like in Splatoon 2. Gender locking the pants is really pretty stupid in my opinion. The original shorts are still my favorite though, so it doesn't matter to me.
I enjoy the weapons much more in Splatoon 2. The Luna Blaster has been nerfed to hell, thank God, though partly through lack of strength up, which means chargers are much less useful, but the ability to store the charge under the ink is very nice. (The get up animation becomes more laggy though.) The Splat Dualies are very fun and have pretty much replaced low range, rapid fire shooters for me. The dodge roll using the jump button is questionable with how many other buttons there are on the controller, but you can just let off the trigger for a millisecond to jump and hold it down again, so you're not really loosing anything. I've found the fact that it makes you "fastfall" very useful for getaways. (Although lag will still kill you behind walls occasionally...) The vertical fling with the roller is unfortunate, however, because even if you start the fling attack before jumping, it will be released before the full height of the jump, unless you're using the dynamo roller.
I don't really know why they got rid of the Seeker; it was easy enough to just jump over. The Curling Bombs are much harder to use, and I think the Auto Bomb is pretty bad no matter what. On Nintendo's quest to make Splatoon less broken and more competitive, I don't know why they didn't get rid of the Splat Bomb; it's basically a free hit.
It's great that the specials have been changed; no free team wipes and inevitable losses from a randomly placed Killer Wail. Although the specials are all less powerful, I find the Stingray to be really bad. It's difficult to hit someone with it, but even if you do, it does so little damage that they seemingly walk through it. I've only splatted one person with the Stingray and hit markered two other people, but maybe I'm just not using it correctly? The Tenta Missiles usually won't kill anyone, but they have much less committal and can overall just make it harder for the other team.
I really dislike what they did to Port Mackerel; the inability to get on top of the crates made it much more about corridor fighting, and I think the map has lost a lot of it's identity because of the change. The maps are much more similar to each other overall in Splatoon 2; many of them are almost a perfect square. (I'd like to see something like Saltspray Rig return where each side is only flipped on one axis. That always stood out to me) However, I love the changes to Moray Towers; I've always hated that stage. Good riddance to Bluefin Depot. Humpback Pump Track is probably my favorite map in Splatoon 2 so far because I think it stands out the most.
While I don't think anyone plays Splatoon for the story, not really anything was changed; just the Octarians stealing the Great Zapfish again. They could have done something cool story wise with Callie, but they just decided to make it a simple brainwash scheme. How did DJ Octavio even escape from the snow globe? I found the sunken scrolls to be pretty disappointing too; the only ones that really stuck out at me were the one poking fun at social media, the story behind the boss tentacles, and the "Bible" passage that reveals that Inkling society even has their own religion.
Hero Mode was overall a pretty samey experience, but I think more polished. All the little gimmicks they added, like the grind rail, boost panels, grappling lures, and Industrial Squee-Gs, were nice touches. The bosses, I thought, were the biggest improvement. I find the regenerating armor a bit too lenient though; I never even lost a life on any of the bosses, save the final section of the last boss (where I didn't know you would be able to just jump over the fist and tried switching rails). It's interesting they made the Ocarians notice you when you swim quickly through the ink, but then just made their shields destructible this time.
I was upset you couldn't splat Marie like you could Cap'n Cuttlefish, even if you throw a bomb behind her and shoot her from the front...
Finally, about Salmon Run, every time I've gone to play Splatoon 2, it's been unavailable. :( Maps rotating every two hours in nicer, although I think having three maps in the rotation would have been even better.
This pretty much turned into an essay... I'll end this by asking you people for your opinions. I actually play Splatoon more than Splatoon 2, because I've been eternally pissed off about only being S. I've found I just do better when I quit with my first loss; I'll go on a long winning streak, and then an equally long loosing streak right after. Lobbies sill fill up just as fast, which is nice to see.
...I can't be the only one who secretly hoped the Squid Sisters would replace Off the Hook upon completing the story mode, can I...? :(
