Splatoon 3: Side Order

Splatoon 3: Side Order is a 2024 expansion pack for Splatoon 3, a 2022 third-person shooter video game, developed by Nintendo EPD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Announced in February 2023, Side Order is the second part of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass. It was released on 22 February 2024.

Gameplay
Splatoon 3: Side Order contains downloadable content (DLC) expansion to Splatoon 3 (2022). Similarly to the base game, Side Order is a third-person shooter, though Side Order has also blended this genre with roguelite elements. You play as an Octoling, Agent 8, who climbs the Spire of Order, which is 10 floors tall in the tutorial and 30 floors long in the each run after. The player character is forced to climb the spire one floor at a time, completing challenges that are assigned to each floor (i.e. defeating certain enemies, escorting a tower, etc.). A color chip is awarded when a new floor is started (excluding boss fights, which occur every 10 floors). These color chips, as chosen by the player, strengthen gamplay elements such as the player's mobility, their weapon, or the Pearl Drone supporting the character for the rest of the climb. If the player runs out of lives during a climb, all color chips and floor progress is forfeited and converted into a persistent currency (called "Prlz") which can be used to purchase permanent upgrades for future climbs.

Plot
A report from Deep Cut, the hosts of the Anarchy Splatcast, details strange phenomena occurring in Inkopolis Square, the hub world for Splatoon 2, with some inhabitants losing energy and appearing to stand around mindlessly. They then announce a train line opening between Splatoon 3 's hub world, Splatsville, and Inkopolis Square. While travelling on this to Inkopolis Square, the player's main Splatoon 3 avatar falls asleep as a glitch effect takes over the screen, turning the train into an empty and bleak version of Inkopolis Square.

The game shifts control to Agent 8 (now commonly referred to Eight), the protagonist from Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion. They are now in a virtual world called the Memverse (a portmanteau of Memcake and Universe, Memcake being from Memory and Cake.), where they are found by Pearl, who is now a drone. The duo enter the Spire of Order to find Marina, who has gone missing. In the elevator, they find Acht, a formerly "sanitized" Octoling and an old friend of Marina, who teaches them how the Spire operates and how to ascend through each floor, all which are filled with Jelletons, x-ray fish-like enemies. Upon reaching floor 10, they find Marina held captive and controlled by Order, a being formed out of wishes for an orderly world by people who have interacted with the Memverse. After freeing Marina, Order kicks the group out and significantly increases the height of the Spire and the difficulty of the challenges within. Marina explains to Eight, Pearl (who is now back to normal, and can freely change back into a drone) and Acht that Order plans to use the Memverse to create a world of "perfect order" by luring citizens within and taking away their free will via "grayscaling", which causes them to enter a mindless state in the real world. They come across a locker containing 12 "palettes" that the player can equip to ascend the Spire; each palette corresponds to the memories of someone from the real world (including Pearl, Marina, and Eight themselves), but each contains errors - Marina explains that reaching the top of the Spire will allow the chosen palette to be reconfigured, and completing boss fights with a new palette rewards a key, allowing Eight to unlock more palettes. Memory log entries from Marina reveal that she created the Memverse to help other "sanitized" Octolings regain their memories in a safe and fun way by trying to reach the top of the tower, until Order assumed control. Eight then continues to fight their way through the Spire with the help of Pearl

The group eventually reaches the top of the Spire to challenge Order, who transforms into a powerful octopus form. Nearing defeat, Order attempts to "grayscale" all of Inkopolis and Splatsville, but the group survives the attack and defeats it using Pearl's Color Wail attack. Order is reduced to a tiny infantile form known as "Smollusk" and stripped of its influence over the outside world, and the group leaves the Memverse and return to the real world. The player's main avatar then awakens upon arriving at Inkopolis Square. Deep Cut reports that most of the Inklings and Octolings have regained their energy and the Square has returned to normal, but a few people still appear to remain mindless.

Upon returning to the Memverse, Marina tasks Eight with ascending through the Spire and defeating Smollusk (who remains at the top floor) with each of the 12 palettes, stating that it is necessary to reconfigure all of them to avoid complications with each palette's real-world counterpart. Upon defeating Smollusk with the final palette, it admits that it is worried about being left alone forever now that the group's mission is complete. Marina states that it will still be necessary for the "sanitized" Octolings to reach the top of the Spire as part of their recovery, and that Eight can come visit the Spire whenever they want, promising that Smollusk will never be left alone for long.

Development and release
In a Nintendo Direct online presentation on 8 February 2023, Nintendo announced the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, featuring two waves: Wave 1, which includes Inkopolis, the hub world from the first game in the series, would release later that month on 28 February; while Wave 2, Side Order, a standalone single-player campaign, was set to release in 2024.

Reception
Side Order received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator website Metacritic, and none of the reviews they collected have been classed as negative. However, several reviewers said the game "lacked diversity" on the challenges you had to complete, potentially leading to the game feeling repetitive. The soundtrack was widely complimented, described as "stellar" and "on point," and the visual style was well-liked by many. Splatoon has been said to be a "perfect fit" for the roguelike genre, and the way Nintendo merged the franchise with it has been praised.