Featured Article Summary #130

Splatoon 3: Side Order is a downloadable expansion released in 2024 for the single-player mode of Splatoon 3, a 2022 Nintendo Switch third-person shooter. It was announced in February 2023 and is the second half of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, coming out on 22 February 2024. The story follows Octoling Agent 8, who is trapped in a featureless virtual space called the Memverse and must deal with a rogue AI named Order. Agent 8 teams up with Marina, Pearl (in drone form), and another trapped character, Acht, as they climb a thirty-floor tower to stop Order from taking away people’s free will. Development started soon after Splatoon 3’s launch, aiming to refresh the usual single-player campaign format by changing how progress is handled and adding upgrades. Critics generally liked the art style and how the game mixes Splatoon mechanics with roguelite gameplay, though some felt there weren’t enough different levels over time. Side Order is a single-player DLC for Splatoon 3 where you play as Agent 8 in a third-person ink shooter roguelite. Each run goes through the Spire of Order’s randomized floors, using Palettes and collecting Membux, with objectives involving Jelletons and sometimes bonus or danger modifiers that change gameplay. Bosses happen every 10 floors, and if you lose you reset the run—but your saved Prlz can be used to buy Hacks that strengthen future attempts. The Splatoon games are set about 12,000 years in the future after humans and most other mammals go extinct due to major climate change. Earth has been repopulated by evolved sea creatures that live on land, including the humanoid Inklings and Octolings players control, in the regions of Inkadia and the Splatlands. Inkopolis Plaza and Square serve as hubs in Inkadia, while Splatsville is the hub in the Splatlands, and by the time of Side Order trains connect these cities, where idol groups deliver regular news. In Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion, the Kamabo Corporation ran a subway network and kidnapped Octarians for experiments. Those who did best were killed, their bodies turned into fluorescent paste that could erase memories and control others through “sanitization.” Kamabo aimed to create a top, loyal “apex species,” and before Octo Expansion, a character named Acht chose sanitization so she could focus on music as “Dedf1sh.” A report from Deep Cut describes strange mindless behavior in Inkopolis Square and a new train link to Splatsville, but the trip glitches and traps the player in a bleak virtual version of the world. Agent 8 wakes in the Memverse and teams up with Pearl (now a drone) and Acht to rescue Marina from the AI Order, who has been controlling people and trying to erase their free will. After defeating Order and returning to reality, Agent 8 is sent back to fully master all twelve Palettes to help recover the sanitized Octolings, while Smollusk worries it will be left alone—though Marina promises it won’t be. Side Order started after Splatoon 3’s release in September 2022, led by Kenji Matsumodo and Seita Inoue, with Toshiyuki Sudo as lead musician and Inoue as head artist. The team built a world themed around “order” instead of Splatoon 3’s chaos, using VR-like environment ideas and choosing a tall tower to support repeatable challenges and distinguish it from earlier DLC like Octo Expansion. They shaped the look and music around tenderness, sadness, and nostalgia, designed enemies like Jelletons as skeletal fish, and chose Acht as the player’s guide with Pearl as support. Nintendo announced Side Order as part of the paid Expansion Pass in February 2023, with Wave 1 in late February and Wave 2 arriving later; Side Order released on 22 February 2024. In September 2024, Nintendo also announced a concept-art book (BancalaWalker) and a soundtrack CD (Ordertune), which were released in Japan by Kadokawa on 11 December.