Reppin’ Team Rock in the Splatfest World Premiere!

We’re only a few days away from the release of Splatoon 3 on the Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo recently saw fit to hold an unofficial Splatfest using a demo version of the game to whet our appetite for the new game.

The test ran from noon to midnight in our time zone on Saturday, Aug. 27, restricting users to participating in turf wars for rock, paper, scissors supremacy. The first half of the event only offered the basic turf wars, but the second half introduced the tri-colored turf wars that are an addition to Splatoon 3.

Unfortunately the game’s full offerings such as leveling up, purchasing items, Salmon Runs and the tabletop card game weren’t accessible in the demonstration, but the Splatfest World Premiere really hit the spot for frantic inking action with the release of the game so close. For a 12-hour distraction, the event served as most of the day for my son and I, who participated on Team Rock (I’ll own up that I just chose the team that was blue).

I had a weapon setup I was really comfortable with in Splatoon 2, so I had a bit of a rough start in the Splatfest. While you couldn’t use the shops, the demo gave you a handful of unique weapons, and these came with pre-assigned sub weapons and special attacks. The availability touched on the wide assortment of new bombs to toss, using the new bow weapon and the range of the special moves available once you fill your meter.

At the halfway point, Team Scissors had actually gained a lead in the Splatfest, which means they were placed in the center of the tri-color turf wars. Four members of that team are placed in the middle, with two members of the other teams positioned on the sides. There is an “ultra signal” beacon to claim at the center of the playfield, and it seems the teams losing into the halfway point claim a “win” if either of those teams claim the most territory.

I didn’t think the tri-color turf wars were as fun as the base team-versus-team mode, but it is also a selectable option for matchmaking – you can continue in the basic turf wars if you wish. However, it was likely everyone was going for this new mode at one point, as we were getting a big string of turf war matches that placed us against other members of Team Rock. This still raises your event rank, but it’s moot point fighting against your own team.

As the Splatfest progressed, you also get the town hub performance with Deep Cut doing a concert. You could run around the town in the demo, but the majority of the features were blocked off. Players could just enjoy the scenery and look at the doodles made by the other players.

At the end of the day, Splatoon 3 as seen in the Splatfest World Premiere didn’t mess with the formula all that much – it felt like playing Splatoon 2 with some quality of life updates and new weapons, abilities and maps to enhance the experience of fans of the fame. I already liked Splatoon going into the Splatfest, but I suppose if you are still new to the series, Splatoon 3 will be a good point to jump in, as it is also planned to have a series of updates to keep things fresh until Nintendo decides to do something new with the series.

We’re now at three days away – Splatoon 3 for Nintendo Switch releases on Friday, Sept. 9!

For an up-close look at how the Splatfest World Premiere panned out for us, check out this video: