Splatoon - The Inking Begins

I've heard Splatoon is a pretty good experience is this true

The demo was fun, don't expect it to be a new eSport though unless they do some heavy balancing. You may have heard people saying the roller was OP and it very much is. Everywhere you walk gets instantly painted along with everything a step or two to the side of you, plus if you get so much as touched by a roller it's an OHKO.

The roller doesn't seem OP based on gameplay vids that I've seen. It's good at laying out ink, yes, but you're also vulnerable against ranged weapons who can splat you without you doing much about it other than trying to run away. I'd argue that it'll be the best in Turf War.

In something like splat zones, which is the competitive mode that's shipped with the game - the roller needs to be in the thick of it all. With everyone focused on that one area, the roller's gonna have a bad time if they want to lay down ink in that area. They'll be immediately focused down and splatted if they attempt anything.

StayPuft wrote:

The roller doesn't seem OP based on gameplay vids that I've seen. It's good at laying out ink, yes, but you're also vulnerable against ranged weapons who can splat you without you doing much about it other than trying to run away. I'd argue that it'll be the best in Turf War.

In something like splat zones, which is the competitive mode that's shipped with the game - the roller needs to be in the thick of it all. With everyone focused on that one area, the roller's gonna have a bad time if they want to lay down ink in that area. They'll be immediately focused down and splatted if they attempt anything.

Yes you are vulnerable against ranged weapons but they have to be perfectly trained on you for a second of two until you die. All I did with the roller was turn a lot of corners to sneak up on people and that worked way better than it should have. The roller arguably has a range attack because when you first put it down it flicks some ink into the air that can hit walls.

The demo was fixed entirely on Turf War with only two maps available so I can't comment much on Splat Zones. I can see however that Splat Zones will be more balanced with the roller due to the more open spaces. I still think a good weaving roller player would dominate it however.

It's very likely it'll be balanced on release but honestly using anything other than the roller on the Splatoon demo felt literally like bringing a squirt gun to a bulldozer fight.


It should also be mentioned that while the rolelr does seem OP, the players only had access to four weapons in the demo (Roller, Splat Charger, Splattershot and I believe Splattershot Jr.

Ganonthegreat wrote:

Yes you are vulnerable against ranged weapons but they have to be perfectly trained on you for a second of two until you die. All I did with the roller was turn a lot of corners to sneak up on people and that worked way better than it should have. The roller arguably has a range attack because when you first put it down it flicks some ink into the air that can hit walls.

You have to remember that this was also the first, what, 3 hours that most everyone had played. Roller is definitely good sneaking up on people, especially those who aren't entirely sure what they're doing. You know what else was called OP in the beginning because people did not know how to deal with him? Little Mac. Now everyone thinks he's a joke, because they know how to deal with him. I really want to say that the roller is the same way, though definitely not become a joke as the ink it lays is still insane. It technically does have a ranged attack, but from what I've seen the range isn't that amazing when compared to an actual weapon, and it is slow.

Ganonthegreat wrote:

The demo was fixed entirely on Turf War with only two maps available so I can't comment much on Splat Zones. I can see however that Splat Zones will be more balanced with the roller due to the more open spaces. I still think a good weaving roller player would dominate it however.

It's very likely it'll be balanced on release but honestly using anything other than the roller on the Splatoon demo felt literally like bringing a squirt gun to a bulldozer fight.


It should also be mentioned that while the rolelr does seem OP, the players only had access to four weapons in the demo (Roller, Splat Charger, Splattershot and I believe Splattershot Jr.

We will have to see when more weapons are unlocked, as well as different weapon combinations. If an aware Splattershot Jr. in the demo saw a roller come up, all he had to do is activate his bubble and the roller is basically screwed. I am curious what other combos will be available, since you can only get weapon loadouts pre-determined, not mix-and-match.

StayPuft wrote:

We will have to see when more weapons are unlocked, as well as different weapon combinations. If an aware Splattershot Jr. in the demo saw a roller come up, all he had to do is activate his bubble and the roller is basically screwed. I am curious what other combos will be available, since you can only get weapon loadouts pre-determined, not mix-and-match.

I met a bubbled Splattershot Jr player on a match while I was a roller. All I had to do was find a cube to run around until it wore off, using myself as a distraction. When it did I just turned around and nabbed him.

It wouldn't work against a competent player but against an average player even the bubble doesn't solve the roller's problem.

Roller will definitely be really good against lesser skilled players, but against more competent players, the roller user will need to be more tricky or just focus on laying down ink and avoiding conflict.

I like this game very much!

AEM wrote:

I like this game very much!

I can't wait till Saturday so I can try the game out. I missed the first testfire, but I should be available for the next one.

Less than 2 weeks now until release

i stayed awake until four in the morning to play the second testfire because i missed the first one due to multiple dumb reasons


and then played thirty minutes of the third one since i was forced to leave it half way through

Maybe we'll cross paths during the one on Saturday

doubtful but you never know

I only played the third hour, but I played the whole thing. The first one was at about 4am so there was no chance and the second one was midday when I was out.

Funny you say that SP, because I did cross paths with a Steam friend during the 4am one.


So who knows?? My Mii tag is AEM so if you run into an AEM on Saturday it's more than likely me.

AEM wrote:

Funny you say that SP, because I did cross paths with a Steam friend during the 4am one.


So who knows?? My Mii tag is AEM so if you run into an AEM on Saturday it's more than likely me.

You are correct, who knows?

It happens tomorrow.

Despite the rocky server start, Nintendo was generous to extend the demo another hour to compensate, and damn it was fun.

After actually playing with and against the ink roller, I can confirm it is not OP at all. It is really good at laying down ink, but it's combat abilities are pretty "bleh" if you can't sneak up on an enemy, which will be hard if you are playing against competent players (third person perspective allows you to see more around yourself than a typical first person shooter as well). If someone sees you coming, you need to either run away or somehow juke them, as anyone is just going to shoot you down from a distance (walking backwards while firing OP). It's "ranged" attack is alright, but if someone notices you, it can be hard to actually hit someone with it since it has a startup animation. If you insist on using the roller, I suggest playing passively and try to avoid combat unless you absolutely have no other choice.

The Splattershot Jr. in the demo was amazing simply because of the Bubbler special. IT MAKES YOU AND NEARBY ALLIES INVULNERABLE, that is an insane advantage. This allows you to either scare off enemies or KO them outright, then take their territory whilst they respawn (which will be longer than normal since the gear in the demo gave you shorter respawn iirc). Avoiding getting KO'd helps your team out more than you know. Similarly to DOTA in a way, the less time you spend dead, the more time you can claim territory (or farm gold and XP, in DOTA's case). Being able to help you and your team avoid death entirely is just an absolutely phenomenal ability, and I think that the Bubbler will become a very common special as a "meta" develops.

I'm definitely getting up early next Friday and getting this game, the demo was just so fun, and the main game offers even more with character customization, a single player campaign, and free updates in the future. I feel like my original views of the game since the direct have flipped 180 degrees, the hype train is real.

This game is still pretty fun.

It is pretty fun

also Ink Roller is being released tonight, people are saying it's gonna be OP as fudge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FuZQIgMZFw

Looks like branding is coming to Splatoon now with a Transformers Splatfest, I'm not sure how I feel about this but it looks cool.

Branding was already in Splatoon, 2 of Japan's splatfests so far have been based on different official Japanese food brands iirc

Still, Transformers is definitely a surprise