[EXPlay] Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC – Expansion Pass Wave 2 (Nintendo Switch)

Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading. In this installment, we’re covering the Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC by developer Nintendo.

Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC: (The Explanation)

The second wave of DLC for the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass is now available on Nintendo Switch. The first wave of the Expansion Pass gave players the ability to swap the sights of Splatsville for that of Inkopolis Square, home to the original Splatoon and the Squid Sisters Callie & Marie, and functions as an alternate hub with all the comforts and features of the Splatsville hub with access to Salmon Run, Turf Wars, shops, and Table Turf games but not Story Mode which is only accessible via Splatsville.

 

In Wave 2, players get to experience a world devoid of colour as they take the train to Inkopolis Plaza. During the ride, they player’s avatar dozes off and is later awakened by a Drone called Pearl. Regardless of whether the player chooses an inkling or an octoling, they will be forced to set up a new octoling character who will take on the moniker of Agent 8 or simply Eight. Eight has lost all of their memories but is eager to help Pearl find her friend Marina who is trapped in the spire in the middle of town.

 

Now, many of you may already know who Pearl and Marina are if you have been playing the Splatoon series for some time. For the few of you who may not, Pearl and Marina were the main musical duo in Splatoon 2 and made up the group Off The Hook Splatoon 3 Side Order is a call back to the final Splatfest of Splatoon 2 which gave players the option to choose Team Order or Team Chaos. With Team Chaos winning the Splatfest and making up the chaotic theme of Splatoon 3, Side Order shows us a world of what could have been if Team Order had won instead of Team Chaos. With that little bit of back story out of the way, we can continue on with the EXPlay.

 

Splatoon 3 Side Order (as I will be refererring to this DLC as from here on out) is a roguelite Attack the Tower mode for the main game. Like with the Octo Expansion in Splatoon 2, Side Order also has its own story and follows Octoling Agent 8 on a daring mission; to climb theSpire of Order. It will not be an easy climb though as the elevator in the Spire only climbs up one floor at a time. Players will then have to choos the type of floor they wish to clear in order to get the elevator to ascend once more.

 

Each floor has an objective that needs to be completed. These objectives are, Destroy the portals, Sink the 8-ball(s), Protect the zone(s), Escort the turbine Tower, Defeat the fleeing foes, and Defeat the Boss. To stop you from completing your tasks, enemies called Jellotons will attack you relentlessy. These fish like creatures come in many forms and are similar to salmonids in that they will horde around you to defeat you. There are several types of Jellotons, with some that will straight up swarm you, others will bombard you from afar, and others will attack you from above.

 

On floors where to can destroy the portals, you will need to concetrate the majority of your firepower in taking them down. Portals spawn Jellotons so the more portals that are open, the more likely you are to be swarmed. In all of the other floors that do not have this objective, you will not be able to close the portals and will have to deal with the enemies as they come to you.

 

Floors with the objective Protect The Zone work like Splat Zones in ranked matches and require you to keep enemies at bay whilst a timer ticks down. If the enemies swarm the Splatzone, you will have to clear them out and reclaim the area to get the timer ticking down again. Once the timer reaches zero, the floor will be cleared.

 

In Escort the turbine tower, this is your typical Tower Control only you have to shoot the turbine to keep it moving across the floor. There are a number of checkpoints that will have some resistance on the rail to oppose you from blasting the turbine straight to the end goal and you will have to follow the tower all around the floor, splatting enemies as you go.

 

Sink the 8-balls requires you to shoot the giant balls over into the glowing green goals on the stage floor. Again, enemies will confront you so you will need to keep them at bay as you get the 8-balls to their goal. As for Defeat the fleeing Foes, and Defeat the boss. the objective speaks for itself. These are the main targets and you will have to defeat them before getting splatted yourself. As always the Jellotons are relentless and will try to stop you in accomplishing your goal.

 

On your first run of Splatoon 3 Side Order, you will only need to climb 10 floors. It serves as a tutorial to take you through the basics of each floor and their objective. Upon completion of the first 10 floors, you will then be able to take on the 30-floor spire and this is where it gets challenging. You will start off with a pair of dualies and curling bomb as a sub weapon and the reefslider as your special. Pearl can assist you by shooting at enemies and can also use specials and sub weapons of her own, as long as you have them unlocked that is (more on this in a moment).

Unlocking weapons, sub weapons, specials and the like require a currency called Prlz and being able to clear the spire. Each main weapon that you use belongs to a palette. The palette has slots in it which can be filled with items called colour chips. There are 62 in total and each belongs to one of six categories: Power, Support, Range, Mobility, Lucky, and Drone. The colour chips give you perks like improved ink consumption, higher attack, the ability to access specials faster, just to name a few and you can mix and match to a certain degree to suit your playstyle. I say that because you can’t just use any particular colour chip you fancy, you can only use the ones you select for clearing a floor and their use is only temporary in that once you beat the spire (or are beaten, you will lose them.

 

On the flipside you will earn Prlz for them upon leaving the spire which can be used to purchase Hacks from Marina. There are a wide range of hacks that can make enemies easier to defeat, allow you to take less damage, increase your damage output and much more. Hacks are permanent but you can turn them off and at any time, if the spire becomes too easy for you.

 

As I mentioned before, you can earn colour chips by clearing floors but you can also earn another currency called Membux. Membux is the standard temporary reward for each level and can be used to buy items at vending machines which can appear on floors. Vending Machines stock lives, Specials, sub weapons and colour chips and can be rather helpful if you find yourself struggling a little bit with pushing through the tower. As you are usually restricted to the default sub weapon and special of a particular palette, it is nice to be able to change it up with weapons that work better for you. Like the Color Chips, Membux will be converted to Prlz upon leaving the spire.

 

Splatoon 3 Side Order is about as easy or as hard as you make it for yourself. As you climb floors, you have a choice of three stages, some of which will have varying difficulties between Easy, Normal, Hard, and Rigorous. You can earn more Membux on higher difficulties, but you will be faced with harder challenges and more enemies. Every now and again, you can find floors with special bonuses. You can be rewarded with more Membux if you complete optional side objectives like don’t glide, don’t move in squid form, don’t use specials, etc. It adds to the challenge somewhat but you aren’t restricted. Should you find yourself needing a quick getaway with a special or a swimming away in squid form, you can do so but it will penalize you by limiting the amount of bonus Membux you earn.

 

Another challenge you can face are floors marked with the words Danger. These floors can restrict the use of specials, sub weapons, the Pearl Drone, make the floor pitch black, increase enemy strength, and/or cover the floor entirely with black ink. These floors you can decide not to play them but avoiding them entirely will force more of them to appear the further you climb the spire so it is sometimes best to accept a Normal or Easy stage with a Danger tag then be forced to choose between three Rigorous stages with the tag instead.

 

To make climbing the spire that little bit more appealing, there are locker keys to be found on every 10th level. There are 30 floors in total and before you can collect the key, you will need to take down a boss. All three keys can only be claimed once on a run per palette, meaning if you collect a key and then die afterwards, you will keep the key but you won’t be able to get that same key again. Keys are used to unlock lockers which can give you access to other weapon palettes, Prlz, and Marina’s Dev diary which provides some deeper back story into why the Spire of Order exists in the first place. Beating the spire with each palette, also unlocks that weapon for the main game.

 

We are coming towards the end of our EXPlay for Splatoon 3 Side Order now. At first, I wasn’t exactly wowed by its appeal and held off getting the Expansion Pass because I didn’t think it was worth the price of admission. The first wave was basically just a Hub Skin and the Side Order portion didn’t feel like it could provide enough substance to take a bite out of. That said, when I finally got round to downloading the Expansion Pass, courtesy of Nintendo UK, I found that the Side Order DLC was actually pretty good and focuses more on combat rather than the platforming aspect like that of the main story.

 

Turf War players and ranked players will feel right at home here and will be able to push their skills to the limits. While Side Order is a single player experience, it combines elements of Salmon Run and ranked battles to create something that hardened Splatoon players can enjoy and even those who enjoy Splatoon but want to improve their skills to so they can hold their own in Ranked Matches better.

 

I may not be a professional Splatoon player but even I found myself holding out until the very end and clearing the Spire with every weapon in Side Order. I found it very addictive in the end and with every run I would get better and better at it. By that I meant I would eventually unlock every necessary hack to make each run possible. The beauty of this mode, however, is that when you are ready to take the hacks off and make a proper run at it, you can then really put your skills to the test.

 

Splatoon 3 Side Order serves up a real treat for season pros and general Splatoon fans. It may feel like a morsel at first but the deeper you dive into this mode, the more you will ultimately get out of it.

Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC: (The Gameplay)

Game Specifications:

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Action, Multiplayer
No. of Players: up to 8 players (Online)
Release Date: September 9, 2022 (EU & NA)
Price: $59.99
Expansion Pass Price: $24.99
File Size: 6 GB
Nintendo.com Listing