Switching it Up.

Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion Review

It's finally here and now I'm here to give my thoughts on it!

So first of all we start with a pretty decent introduction, creating some mystery and bringing back everyone's lovable Cap'n Cuddlefish.

After the introduction with Telephone, who might I add is hilarious because of the slang he uses, we meet C. Q Cumber and we can just go.

Every stage has a points system that's very different from the original game. You have the weapons you can use preset and there's lots of variety. Sometimes you only get bombs, other or times you have something like an infinite Ink Jet.

I love all the variety, even though a lot of stages are really short they're all fun and unique. The new 8 Ball stages and Orb Defense stages are great, I especially like what the Orb Defense builds up to in the final sequence.

Sometimes you have just one challenge like avoid all damage or destroy all the boxes in one shot. Or you actually have to fight enemies or even play a round of Rainmaker.

It's so much better than the original story mode and handled a lot better, you can skip a good portion of the stages if you want to and there's no set order. You just go and explore until you find the Thangs.

I always wished there would be new boss battles but it's just remixed previous bosses. The Toast and Octostomp are just harder versions, which is fun. But the Octoshower and Octo Samurai are incredible. You either have a baller or an inkjet and it really changes how the battle is fought.

Pearl and Marina make an appearance and there are some hilarious moments in the discord style chat, as well as some great story development for Pearl and Marina's backstory and their origins.

Every stage was a new surprise and really taught you how the game was played. The main story mode was a basic tutorial but this is something entirely more. You even take advantage of the Goo Tubers charge shot storing.

The comedy is on point and there's also a more serious tone this time. Everyone has lost their memories and they want to obtain mem cakes so they can remember who they were.

You get some nice rewards for it and it encourages you to beat every stage.

After you beat the game you have nice prizes you can earn by wrapping things up as well as a heartwarming bonus chat session.

Once you beat all the stages you get the conductors hat and access and the hardest final boss I've ever seen. It took me hours but it was worth it in the end.

The soundtrack is weird. There's only one actual song in the subway. The rest is just weird little sound bytes like in Breath of the Wild. But it's alright since a lot of stages are so short and action packed.

They expand the lore in some interesting ways and are constantly building things up like Agent 3 being missing, a mysterious Someone attacking everyone, the Octarians all being weird and not alive.

It all culminates in an amazing final sequence that tops the original in every conceivable way. The story gets wrapped up nicely and it's a fun adventure with the great reward of playable octolings.

There was one small disappointment was that there were no hidden collarbones this time around. No sunken scrolls for lore. It's a shame. I understand the removal of sardiunium because you no longer upgrade weapons but I still wish there was some sort of collectible in each stage.

The Octo Expansion is surprisingly long, it'll last you a good 10-15 hours and it has a lot of replay value. I 100% recommend it for a Splatoon fan who wants to see what the devs can do with the game.

Spoiler warning for the story from here on out!

So once you collect the four thangs it's revealed that Telephone wanted to eat you, luckily Agent 3 saves the day but they're knocked out in the process.

You go through an awesome escape sequence where for part of it you have no weapon and then have creative challenges all over the place.

Then you battle a possessed Agent 3 with an incredible song to boot. Though the best part is that the bot is actually really competent and it's just a cool boss.

At the end Pearl and Marina rescue you and then the Telephone is revealed to be the Someone who was running experiments on the Octolings. His name is Tartar and he's some sort of goo AI thing made by a professor. He comes up with this giant statue of a human and threatens to blow up Inkopolis. So you end with this awesome finish where you run around destroying all these bombs and inking his body with a great song in the background. Pearl finishes it with a killer wail, and Tartar explodes.

The secret final boss, Inner Agent 3. Is really tough because of how much randomness there is. Seriously I barely see anyone with the Golden Toothpick still. Just because there's no real strategy other than 'hope you can win.'

So there's my review. What did you think of the Octo Expansion? Did you enjoy it? Thanks for reading and have a great day! Bye!