Design Choices Make Splatoon 2 eSport Ready

This weekend I found myself playing the "Splatfest" demo of Splatoon 2.  For those of you that dont know, "Splatfest" is the name of the in-game celebration of the Splatoon series where you pick a side and face off against the enemy team.  Sometimes they can last for a full day, whereas this one was considerably smaller than that at 4 hours.  In that short amount of time, it became strikingly clear the change of tone that Nintendo was trying to strike in this game.  They really want it to be an eSport, and I think they might just have a hit on their hands.

Competitive play has been around for decades in video games.  While not widely publicized like they are today, tournaments for competitive games have been a cornerstone of gaming.  Within the past 5 years or so, the phrase "eSport" has been thrown around.  While it is very possible that the name was made as a catchy marketing buzz word, I think that it took on a meaning of its own.

In recreational games tournaments, winners were not always determined based on skill.  Sometimes games like Mario Kart were played.  Games that were based mainly around luck. In eSports, however, things are centered more around skill than anything else.  All parts of the game are designed around each other.  Each move has the potential to be counter played so a skilled player can find a way to victory and the most skilled player wins.

The designers behind Splatoon 2 have taken great lengths to make sure that the game goes further than its predecessor did when it comes to skill based gameplay.  The most apparent evidence of this is found in the special weapons of the game.  Not a single one has returned from the first game, and I now realize why.  Let's run down the list and compare how Splatoon 2 does special weapons better than the original game before it.


Splatoon: Inkstrike 
Once activated, select on your Wii U Gamepad where you want to shoot the missile.  It immediately fires leaving you free to swim away as it shoots.  When it lands, it shows a dot in the center of the targeted area and completely covers the immediate area in ink within seconds.  If you are in the area of effect, you have very little if any time to escape before being instantly splatted.

Splatoon 2: Tenta Missles

This special is reminiscent of the Inkstrke but is distinct in a few crucial ways.  The missiles do have global range like Inkstrike but you have to lock onto enemies before shooting.  You are no longer able to select anywhere on the map you would like to shoot.  Secondly, the missiles hold you in place during the shooting animation.  This means that if you lock onto enough enemies and are held in the shooting animation for too long, you can easily get picked off by any nearby enemy.  The enemies also have a way to dodge the missiles.  If they continue to move once they are notified that they are a target, they can dodge the missiles easily.  As you can see, there are a lot more chances to mess this up than with the Inkstrike, making skill and timing key in getting off a good round of Tenta Missiles.

Splatoon: Killer Wail

This weapon was known mostly for its ability to go through walls.  It does not shoot any ink, but rather creates a beam that splats any enemies within it.  After special activation, your inkling pulls out the speaker.  After selecting which direction you would like to shoot it in, the player sets down the speaker and is free to swim away.  It shoots almost instantaneously (after a build up animation lasting less than a second).  This could splat enemies across the map as long as they were in the beam.  The beam it shot was ROUGHLY 5'x5' making it very easy to be completely engulfed in it before realizing what was happening.  As you can see, counterplay opportunities are very difficult if not impossible. 

Splatoon 2: Sting Ray

This special seems to be the little brother of the Killer Wail.  It, like its older counterpart, is known for its abilities to go through walls.  It also creates a beam but this one quite a bit different.  The beam that the Sting Ray creates is smaller and does not instantly splat the inkling in its crosshairs.   You can move the beam, but it moves very slowly.  So much so that I recommend lining up your target before you activate the beam.  This beam does not have a build up any longer than the Killer Wail but there are plenty of opportunities to counter it.  Because it does not instantly splat an opponent, they have a chance to think on their feet and move away quickly.  Since the beam moves very slowly, they have a good chance of escaping the line of fire.  This weapon is so easily countered, I think that it will probably get a redesign in the future via an update of some sort. 

Splatoon: Inkzooka

Another iconic special weapon from the first game, the Inkzooka is a high powered inkblaster.  It shoots small cyclones of ink in a straight path.  The shots are about 2 feet wide and have a range that is best described as about 1/4th of the map.  There is no way to block the shots as they are instantaneous(The only thing that could block it is another special move called "The Bubbler", but because there is no forewarning before the Inkzooka fires, I don't consider this a counter play, more of a situational lucky break).  The Inkzooka is a duration based special weapon.  This means that you can shoot as many times as you want within the time given.  The only counterplay to this is to hide.  If the shooter sees you and is a decent shot, you might as well prepare to be splat.

Splatoon 2: Inkjet

While not a direct descendant of the aforementioned Inkzooka, the Inkjet is a 2 part special.  The most memorable part of the special is its jet pack ability that blasts your character about 10 feet off the ground.  While you hover, you are given a blaster that shoots balls of ink that explode on impact.  That being said, if they travel too far without colliding with anything, they will not explode.  This means that you need to aim downwards and try to make contact with your shots.  The rate of fire is about the same as the Inkzooka along with the shot pattern (width and range).  This special can be countered by waiting until the duration runs out.  The player that just used the Inkjet is shot back to the position they were in when they first activated the special.  This means that if you watch where the enemy player activates, you can just wait it out until they jump back to the starting area and splat them when they arrive.  Because of this and this, the high visibility of the person using the special, and the need for the ink balls to make contact, this special is has easily exploitable weak points if you know how to capitalize on them correctly. 

The final two are not direct comparisons, but more examples of my underlying counterplay theme.

Splatoon: Kraken

The Kraken ability is the definition of overpowered.  If you were to look up "overpowered" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of this special ability.  This ability transforms your inkling into a monstrous Kraken for a short period of time.  During this time, you can swim through enemy ink and act like a large Splat Roller. If you get close to an enemy, you can use the jump button to do a jumping spin attack that will instantly splat any enemy that it touches.  The only downside to this power up is how visible it makes you.  While swimming, you are above the ink rather than being invisible.  That fact is easily overcome though because the Kraken can swim over anything, including enemy ink, meaning it can escape to anywhere before the timer runs out.  Invincibility combined with improved movement is really really effective and almost impossible to counterplay.  

Splatoon 2: Splashdown

This ability is a fresh concept to the Splatoon world.  Once activated, it makes the player's inkling fly upwards, projecting a ring around it that signifies where the damage will be done. Very shortly after, the inking transforms into a mass of ink and slams back down to the ground below  The range is slightly smaller than an Inkstrike in the first game, but is limited to the area around the player at the time of activation.  This is one of the only moves in the game that is not easily countered but is not powerful enough to to be considered overpowered for a couple of reasons.  When the character launches into the air, they are not invincible. This means that if the player activating splashdown is at low health, you can splat them in mid-air right after activating the special.  On top of that, you have to be close to the enemy to get any splats from it.  Because you have to be so close, there is a higher than average chance of being splatted before being able to pull it off.  Finally, the fact that it is near instant damage is pretty good but not overpowered because there are so many other specials in the game that are better.  This special is best used if you are being cornered by the enemy and have to fight your way out. 

If you didn't read all of the above comparisons, here is the takeaway.  The developers of Splatoon 2 made sure to design a weakness into each special ability.  There is always a way to counter play an enemy attack now and this has big implications for the future of the series.  No longer is the game a mosh pit of overpowered abilities duking it out to see who is on the top when the dust settles.  Now combat has a "call and response" feel to it.  For each action, there is an equally powerful reaction if the opponent is skilled enough to know what that reaction is.  Now, it is more likely that the most skilled player will win rather than the luckiest player.

Now, Splatoon is a viable eSport.

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