With the release of Side Order, I've had Splatoon on the brain lately. In my review of that game, I mentioned that I hold the Octo Expansion up very highly as the peak of the series to the point of being in my Top 100 games. I wouldn't normally treat a DLC as its own standalone product, but Splatoon's Octo Expansion is... different. Not only does it stand entirely on its own to the point of feeling like its own game, but I think it holds up as the best DLC expansion ever concieved.
But before talking about Octo Expansion, I wanna talk about Splatoon as a whole, because I don't think I've ever delved into why I think the series as a whole is so great. Splatoon has really become one of Nintendo's biggest series in a short time and for good reason, it's one of the most innovative new AAA franchises we've gotten in the past decade. Its unique turf war gameplay helped make the shooter genre way more accessible for people, and it helped to pioneer gyro aiming which I now stand by being the definitive way to play shooters (it's certainly the control scheme I'm best at). But even beyond the gameplay, Splatoon is great because of its world. It's got the kind of punk counter-culture aesthetic that we hardly see in games anymore, a ton of lore both about Inkling/Octoling society and the very Kirby-esque implication that this is a post-apocalyptic Earth, and really likable characters in terms of the various idols, shopkeepers, bands, and playable agents we meet throughout the three games. The world feels so lived in and immersive, to the point where sometimes I'd just boot up Splatoon 3 to wander around Splatsville and take in all the little details. In a lot of ways, Splatoon is probably Nintendo's most immersive series, in that they don't just feel like games but an entire world to hang around in, meet people, and partake in the many different sidemodes. It feels like the biggest remnant of Nintendo's focus on social gaming that defined the Wii U and 3DS, and I really admire that about it. And as someone who has a bit of trouble committing to online games like these, it also helps that Splatoon games often come with a really fun and well-designed single-player mode that brings the story and lore to the forefront, to the point of often feeling like they'd be worth the price on their own
Out of the three mainline Splatoon games we've gotten so far, Splatoon 2 stands out as my favorite in the trilogy. Sure, the first game may be more balanced and nostalgic, and the third game may have more mechanics, content, and QoL, but Splatoon 2 is the entry I easily sank the most hours into. From a gameplay standpoint, it's got my favorite lineup of stages and my favorite implementation of the Splatfest and Ranked Battle modes. It introduced Salmon Run, more customizable passive abilities, my favorite weapon in the Splat Dualies, and even an entire rhythm game mode called Squid Beatz that lets you play every song in the game. The story mode, while not on the level of Splatoon 3's, is a ton of fun and a solid improvement over the first game's with its better difficulty balancing and replayability in the multiple weapons you can use. On top of all that, Splatoon 2 has hands down my favorite idols in the series in Pearl and Marina, aka Off The Hook. These two are so damn likable, boasting stylish and memorable designs, colorful personalities, and a fantastic dynamic. It also has my favorite soundtrack of the trilogy with a wide range of diverse bangers from energetic Turf War tracks (Blitz It, Riptide Rupture, and Don't Slip), phenomenal Splatfest music (Ebb & Flow, Acid Hues, Muck Warfare), and some banging Story Mode music (Shooting Starfish, Bomb Rush Blush, Tidal Rush, Spicy Calimari Inkantation). So even on its own, Splatoon 2 is a fantastic game... but then Octo Expansion was announced.
Now that it's been over five years since that initial announcement trailer, I think it's easy to forget how big a deal Octo Expansion was. For the first time ever, we could finally play as the Octolings, those memorable and fascinating enemies from the Story Mode. And that trailer... So stylish, so grungy, so intriguing. Splatoon always had a bunch of interesting lore for those who liked to dig into that kind of stuff, and Octo Expansion looked to be pushing that lore to the forefront. Best of all, when the game did come out, it absolutely lived up to all of those expectations.
The main premise of Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion is that you're playing as an Octoling named Agent 8 who somehow just managed to break out of the brainwashing (aka sanitization) that the rest of the species has suffered through. Stuck underground, you have to do a series of brutal tasks to work your way up to the surface, all the while receiving help from... Off The Hook. As far as story goes, the Octo Expansion is definitely the peak of the series. It's the one campaign where it really feels like your playable character is driving the story rather than just helping another character with their own story. Agent 8 has a motivation you can empathize with, you want to help them get up to the surface. You also get a lot more context into the Octoling sanitization process, particularly through an Octoling named Dedf1sh who made most of the game's music. As I said with Side Order, Dedf1sh is one of my favorite Splatoon characters for their interesting backstory, and this game laid the groundwork for their appearance in the next game. On top of that, you get way more fun interactions and fleshing-out of Pearl and Marina, with the former in particular garnering a lot of fans thanks to this expansion really showing off her more rowdy personality. One of the expansion's high points is when you hear a demo Pearl recorded and it's hands down one of the funniest things in any Nintendo game.
Octo Expansion also stands out with its fantastic gameplay, and how much it evolves from the previous campaigns. As much as I like Hero Mode, it always felt like a tutorial for Turf War that taught you how to use the game's mechanics without really going far with them. Octo Expansion, on the other hand, wrings every bit of potential out of every single one of Splatoon's mechanics, weapons, and level gimmicks. This campaign has a whopping 80 different challenges ranging from lengthy platforming stages, to short tests of each weapon and subweapon, to obstacle courses that you navigate through using the jet-pack, to precision-shooting tests like the box and the infamous 8-ball missions (I love the 8-ball missions, they're such BS), to enemy gauntlets, to harder boss rematches, to dodging missions where you don't have any weapons, to missions about conserving limited amounts of ink, the list goes on. There's so much variety in what Octo Expansion has you do, and despite the massive amount of missions, there's no filler. The game constantly kept me guessing from start to finish. The Octo Expansion is also a huge spike in difficulty from pretty much everything else in Splatoon, with some pretty infamous and brutal missions, but there's also a lot of forgiveness mechanics like the abundance of branching paths and the ability to skip missions you're really struggle in so even those who suck at Splatoon can still see the campaign through to the end.
And you're gonna want to see Octo Expansion through to the end, because its finale is absolutely incredible. Once you complete enough missions, you'll finally be able to start heading up to the surface, and what ensues is a lengthy multi-stage, roughly hour-long gauntlet that tests you on everything you've learned throughout the game. It starts with a stealth sequence where you have no weapons, before you slowly start to accumulate more and more weapons and equipment as you work your way through the laboratory, all culminating in a jaw-dropping finale where you face off against a brainwashing Agent 3, aka yourself from the first game (I love this trope so much), and save the world from getting destroyed from a giant humanoid statue through the power of Booyah. I mentioned that Octo Expansion has a strong story and great gameplay, but this finale intertwines the story and gameplay perfectly, and really makes you feel that victory. And once you beat Octo Expansion, for the first time in the series, you can finally play as an Octoling whenever you want. It was so heartwarming to see Inklings and Octolings hang around with each other in the game's hub for the first time, it felt like a big turning point for the series. I always thought the Octolings were cool, but after everything I went through with Agent 8, no way in hell was I switching back to an Inkling. Even into Splatoon 3, I'm on Team Octoling all the way.
Despite being a DLC campaign, Octo Expansion also has a great sense of style all its own. Taking place entirely underground, there's such a grungy and dark flavor to the whole game. The main hub is a dingy subway filled with weird species of sealife, and the campaign is coated with this subtle neon 80s vaporwave aesthetic. Most of the missions have a bunch of surreal floating objects in the background, often being Nintendo's previous consoles from the NES to the Gamecube. The soundtrack is also absolutely incredible, easily some of the best music Splatoon has put out. The obvious highlights are the Off The Hook tracks we got like Nasty Majesty, Shark Bytes, and Fly Octo Fly, but equally great are Dedf1sh's more atmosphere EDM tracks which run the gamut from house to breakcore to vaporwave. #8 regret in particular is one of the most transcendant pieces of video game music period.
Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion takes an already great Nintendo classic and improves it so much. As I've said time and time again, it's the peak of the Splatoon series. It's jam-packed with content, super replayable, fully utilizes all of Splatoon's mechanics, and intertwines it all with an engaging story and some of the best music in the franchise. I always liked Splatoon from the first game, but Octo Expansion was what made me a super-fan.
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