Splatoon 3 review: the antidote to your modern multiplayer woes

digitaltrends.com:

In a just world, Splatoon 3 would be the biggest multiplayer game of the year. That’s a level of success it would certainly deserve, as Nintendo has created the best iteration of its wildly inventive ink-shooter series yet. It does that without microtransactions, compulsory log-in bonuses, or pop culture references. Not only that, but it’s been packaged into the kind of content-loaded release that feels all but extinct in today’s competitive multiplayer landscape.

That’s largely due to free-to-play, a business model that gives developers a lot of slack upfront. Free games like Rumbleverse or MultiVersus don’t need to be fully formed on day one — hell, they don’t need to be good at all. They just need to be fun enough to hook players who were curious or bored enough to download them. A full-priced multiplayer game doesn’t have the same luxury. It needs to be a full experience at launch, not just one fun mode if it’s going to convince players to buy in. Splatoon 3’s best trait is that it does not take the challenge lightly.

If you find the current multiplayer landscape nauseating, Splatoon 3 may be the relief you need. It’s not just that it improves on every aspect of the series with much-needed quality of life tweaks and creative new modes. It’s that it cares about how players spend their time between online matches — something that I wish other games would take note of.

Whereas Splatoon 2 felt like a deluxe port of the series’ Wii U debut, Splatoon 3 is a true sequel. There’s less of a feeling that Nintendo is tinkering with a new invention on the fly and working out the kinks as it goes along. Instead, it feels like going from an early access release to a 1.0 launch. This is one of the most confident, full-bodied