“A place like this, far from the urban center, became popular after the final Splatfest and developed rapidly.”
As part of Nintendo’s efforts of promoting the release of Splatoon 3, once more Nintendo has brought back their Ask the Developer interview series. In the Splatoon 3 focused instalments, Nintendo are interviewing Producer, Hisashi Nogami and developers Seita Inoue, Shintaro Sato and Toru. In the first of four chapters, the development team brought up many things, including the settings of all three Splatoon games, the differences between them and their distances from each other. Here are their comments in fill.
The World of Splatoon:
Seita Inoue: As you can see, Inkopolis Plaza in the first title and Inkopolis Square in the second title are both located in the heart of the city, and they are only about as far apart as Shibuya Station and Harajuku Station on the train in Tokyo. In terms of distance, it is about 1.2 kilometers (approx. 0.75 miles).
However, we were discussing how we wanted Splatsville to be set in a region far away from the locations in the previous two titles and with a completely different climate. We prepared a map like this so that we could develop the game with an understanding of the geographical distances.
Shintaro Sato: Splatsville is barely accessible from Inkopolis Plaza and Inkopolis Square by taking a single local train line. The distance is similar to that from Tokyo to Atami or thereabouts in Japan. It is in a rural area that would take a few hours to drive on the highway.
For people in the United States, it may be like driving to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. Although geographically quite distant, highways that opened up in the five years between the second and third titles allow convenient access to the area.
Seita Inoe: The Splatlands developed rapidly because the construction of the bridge across the sea made it more accessible from the city center.
Shintaro Sato: While Inkopolis, the setting of the previous titles, was a fashionable and youthful area, the Splatlands, where Splatsville is located, is much more spacious, open, and full of nature. A place like this, far from the urban center, became popular after the final Splatfest and developed rapidly.
Shintaro Sato: For example, Scorch Gorge (pictured above) is a stage in a national park with strangely shaped stone pillars lined up. You can see a spectacular view if you look around from the air with the new action, Squid Spawn.
Shintaro Sato: Also, Undertow Spillway (pictured above) is a huge spillway that used to be in operation but has been neglected and dilapidated over the years. The place has recently been renovated as a battle stage and is starting to catch on.
Source: Nintendo
