Splatoon 2 [VIDEO] Splatoon as a Competitive Shooter Analysis

[JakeVidya]

Hey there everyone, I just thought I'd share this piece that I've been working on for the last month or so. I've been playing splatoon since it's release on the WiiU, and the game means a whole lot to me. I think it's really great that Nintendo is finally taking an approach to a real competitive online game, but a big point of contention is exactly how well this attempt is, in comparison to many of the other online shooters out there. I've spent a good time doing research, and in this video, I go over key aspects like the game's balancing, online features, I analyze game modes, etc., in an in-depth review of the game as a competitive game, as well as addressing potential changes to the game which could improve the overall experience.
Please give it a watch and let me know what you think.

Just a heads up: there is some explicit language in the video, I'm not sure how important that is on this site, I just want to give a fair warning. The point of the video is to be equally entertaining and informative.

I don't intend for this thread to be a huge competitive discussion, as there are plenty of other threads which deserve the attention more than this one, but if you want to leave a comment, please do so on the youtube page.

 

[Weavile]

You made alot of great points in the video. In my opinion if somebody disconnects from a match only the person who DC should get punished. Yes it would punish people with a bad connection but it would also avoid unpunished quitting. Also we need more buffs to weaker weapons like the Undercover, Tenta, Missiles, 4k, Squiffer etc. And this may be a little selfish considering I'm in the 1% of the playerbase is that the competitive community needs more support, granted the comp scene is 1% of the playerbase but I think there needs to be more things that encourages people to at least try it out. In things like the reddit it's mostly Woomy memes, Veemo memes and I reached A or s rank posts.

 

[Gameboy224]

I'm gonna roll down the list of points I have.

Communication Options:

Spoiler

In minor defense to "This Way!", it's pretty functional, of course only when the other players on your team are actually paying attention. With Splatoon's modes having fairly straight forward objectives, the "This Way!" command is usually quite self explanatory in terms of what it wants you to achieve in most contexts people would actually use it. With 95% of its uses primarily meaning, "advance forwards" or "push the objective". To that same effects, the "Ouch!" command when you die is typically an obvious watch out, there's somebody over here command.

Though I do fully agree that there need to be some more additional quick voice options, like say "retreat" and "help". At least enough to fill in the two D-Pad directions not in use. "Booyah!" should remain just out of pure primal necessity as a fanfare emote.

Game Modes:

Spoiler

This I have to disagree with a bit. While it has certainly been some time since I had last checked the general consensus, I had always thought the vast majority of people saw Tower Control as the competitive Ranked Mode of choice, at least in the west. Splat Zones is certainly the more popular one in Japan however due to aligning directly with the turf control nature of Splatoon, but over on the western side of the world, Tower Control from what I recall was the favored. Because in order to succeed in the mode, it requires you to put up a consistent strategic, constantly moving, offense or defense, while Rainmaker can end quickly, and Splat Zones is a much more sedimentary mode

And I have to greatly disagree with your view on Clam Blitz. Competitive Clam Blitz boils down to two things, you either are able to end is quick in an ingenious push, which requires a much higher level of strategy and planning than say Rainmaker, or you play the team that keeps greater control of the map, therefore allowing you to limit the opposing team’s clam control and stop them from making any pushes. With randoms, yes this mode is a hot mess, but at a competitive level, it is quite the opposite. Clam Blitz is a mode that thrives exponentially with communication.

Player Disconnection:

Spoiler

Agree that they simple shouldn't penalize you regardless when they disconnect. Game changing pushes can happen anytime and the loss of a person even later in a match can easily make the difference, especially in all the other ranked modes besides maybe Splat Zones to a degree.

Having people disconnect is just going to be something that happens regardless, no matter if we're playing P2P or on a server, people with bad internet are people with bad internet.

Otherwise, most of your other points are fair.

 

[The Salamander King]

I'm gonna roll down the list of points I have.

Communication Options:

Spoiler

In minor defense to "This Way!", it's pretty functional, of course only when the other players on your team are actually paying attention. With Splatoon's modes having fairly straight forward objectives, the "This Way!" command is usually quite self explanatory in terms of what it wants you to achieve in most contexts people would actually use it. With 95% of its uses primarily meaning, "advance forwards" or "push the objective". To that same effects, the "Ouch!" command when you die is typically an obvious watch out, there's somebody over here command.

Though I do fully agree that there need to be some more additional quick voice options, like say "retreat" and "help". At least enough to fill in the two D-Pad directions not in use. "Booyah!" should remain just out of pure primal necessity as a fanfare emote.

Game Modes:

Spoiler

This I have to disagree with a bit. While it has certainly been some time since I had last checked the general consensus, I had always thought the vast majority of people saw Tower Control as the competitive Ranked Mode of choice, at least in the west. Splat Zones is certainly the more popular one in Japan however due to aligning directly with the turf control nature of Splatoon, but over on the western side of the world, Tower Control from what I recall was the favored. Because in order to succeed in the mode, it requires you to put up a consistent strategic, constantly moving, offense or defense, while Rainmaker can end quickly, and Splat Zones is a much more sedimentary mode

And I have to greatly disagree with your view on Clam Blitz. Competitive Clam Blitz boils down to two things, you either are able to end is quick in an ingenious push, which requires a much higher level of strategy and planning than say Rainmaker, or you play the team that keeps greater control of the map, therefore allowing you to limit the opposing team’s clam control and stop them from making any pushes. With randoms, yes this mode is a hot mess, but at a competitive level, it is quite the opposite. Clam Blitz is a mode that thrives exponentially with communication.

Player Disconnection:

Spoiler

Agree that they simple shouldn't penalize you regardless when they disconnect. Game changing pushes can happen anytime and the loss of a person even later in a match can easily make the difference, especially in all the other ranked modes besides maybe Splat Zones to a degree.

Having people disconnect is just going to be something that happens regardless, no matter if we're playing P2P or on a server, people with bad internet are people with bad internet.

Otherwise, most of your other points are fair.

Most of the competitive scene has agreed that Zones is the most balanced and competitive mode. TC and RM can be somewhat broken by Sting Ray, Inkjet, and Blasters. Zones doesn't really favor any specific weapon class or special. As for CB, it's still up in the air as to weather it will actually be played in comp.