In the most recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed the next entry in their popular third-person shooter series Splatoon. Splatoon 3 is planned for a 2022 release, which gives us plenty of time to think about what we hope to see in the third installment. Let’s get started!

Robust Single-Player Campaign

Released a mere two years after Splatoon, Splatoon 2 felt more like a superpowered iterative sequel to the original. We can’t blame Nintendo – the first game was released on the failed Wii U console, and the company wanted to ensure the Switch’s launch year was loaded with instant classics. Splatoon 2 more than fit the bill, but one area that felt a little lacking was the single-player campaign, especially when it came to the lore which Nintendo got so right in the first entry. This was eventually remedied by the release of the Octo Expansion DLC, but we hope Splatoon 3 makes a splash from the get-go this time around. The single-player campaigns have always had more sci-fi elements compared to the multiplayer’s urban setting, so we’re curious how that will translate with the third entry, set to take place in an entirely new region called the Splatlands.

New Co-Op Modes

Debuting in Splatoon 2, Salmon Run was a fantastic addition to the Splatoon series. The mode gave players a chance to work cooperatively against bots, and neatly fed into the main game’s abilities system. But while the mode’s maps and occurrences added some variety, it could become monotonous. A new or more diversified co-op mode would be welcomed!

Odds & Ends

Are you ready for a big bullet list of quality-of-life improvements that don’t fit into any single category? Yeah you are!

• Offline Multiplayer for Ranked Mode and Turf War: How is this not a thing already? Let teams practice against bots.

• Hub = Hangout: It would be so fun if the hub were more interactive. Have some hub-only minigames that you can play with friends. It would go a long way to making the shared space feel even more alive, plus add some variety.

• Cosmetic Gear: Surely the Inklings and Octolings want to rock some signature gear that has no impact on their abilities. 

• Gear Farming: Make it not a thing. Getting the perfect gear should be somewhat of a challenge, but currently it’s too much of a grind. Don’t waste our time, Nintendo.

• Custom-Order Gear: And while we’re at it, let us change our gear’s main ability! Annie’s gear shop in SplatNet is cool, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were an option to place an order for gear customized to your preferences?

• Revitalize Splatfests: We just really want to watch Wet Floor perform during the monthly festivals.

• Let Us Skip the Opening News, Already: When your players are going through the trouble of turning off their WiFi before they boot up the game simply to skip the otherwise unskippable opening news segment, maybe it’s time to address that.

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