Despite my ongoing love for the franchise, Splatoon 3 didn't hold my interest very well at all. To put it into perspective, I only had about 65 hours or so in Splatoon 3, while I had 900+ in Splatoon 1 and 145~ in Splatoon 2.

I found the kits on release incredibly unfun, I wasn't the biggest fan of the new specials, I couldn't get used to vertical flicking on rollers (le git gud), and I thought the maps were linear to the point of absurdity (git gud, once more.) Possibly the worst offender of the map changes is Mahi-Mahi Resort. What in the world did they do to her?

And yet, despite all of that, my love for this franchise has not waned in the slightest. In fact, Grandfest made me wish I'd given it more chances during its lifecycle. I was taken aback at how much fun I was having during the Big Run before Grandfest.

Jiggle peeking in Splatoon? It's more likely than you'd think.

I ended up dusting off the ol' switch to participate in Big Run and the Grandfest. To say that it ended with a bang would be an understatement.

The Splatoon team really needs to pat themselves on the back for this one. Truly one of Nintendo's best moments! What a way to build a massive sense of community. Makes me very happy to have been around since the series inception to be able to experience all the callbacks and cameos. My only regret is that I was only able to play on the final day, but damn if I didn't make the most out of it to the best of my ability. If It wasn't clear enough already, I was on Team Past. Anything for my queens who started it all.

I feel like we're in a time where soulful moments like this in triple-A titles are appreciated more than anything due to the steep decline of most triple-A companies within past 2-3 years or so. In Splatoon's case, especially in the context of a live-service title, this rings even more true, IMO. Such a big "thank you" to the players.

Catharsis in musical form.

What kind of game nowadays is implementing dynamic music dependent on which team is winning in the last minute of the 2v4v2 mode? Or making an in-game Burning Man-esque festival over the span of three days? Only Splatoon. Maybe Fortnite.

Grandfest news made crazy rounds on social media. I saw a lot of emotionally charged posts regarding it all, and I found that really surprising for some reason. Lots of comments of people tearing up at the performance and reminisicing on how far Splatoon has come as a franchise. It was really sweet to see, as I'm the type of person who shys away from showing openly deep appreciation for media out of the fear of being a bit "much." I didn't think people held Splatoon in such a high emotional regard for some reason. I definitely do, and it made me really happy to see others appreciate it as much as I do. It got me thinking about how much I love it, too!

Let's save the world in heels.

Aside from the massive wave that Splatoon 1 created by just existing, Octo Expansion was the second peak of Splatoon. With its gameplay model being soon-to-be core to the series itself, it marked a turning point for Splatoon in a way. There isn't really a point to turn from in a negative sense, as Splatoon itself is one of Nintendo's most popular franchises. I suppose, personally, Octo Expansion just stands out so much from the rest of Splatoon, and holds itself in the same trophy case as Splatoon 1 for me. For such a seemingly bite-sized DLC to be so important...

Fly Octo Fly

Themes of self-actualization, discovery, and expression are the cornerstones of Splatoon. That's one reason, if not the biggest one, as to why I love it so much. It would simply not exist if it didn't hinge on that, as the games setting is a direct result of taking those themes and making it into something creative, fresh, and entirely unique to itself.

Right, I haven't even began to talk about the unimaginable levels of style in these games. Or the fact that this series is dominated by an incredibly cute and strong female cast. Or the level of detail and care that goes into fleshing out the world culturally and aesthetically. Or the different genres it tries to tackle musically while still managing to retain its electronic roots. There's so much to love about this series.

It's almost impossible for Splatoon to feel inauthentic in an aesthetic sense. I can feel however I want about gameplay choices, Splatoon is likely to never disappoint in the style department.

Gameplay wise, Splatoon 3 is far from the best title in the series in terms of fun. I'm pretty good at Splatoon, though I don't engage with the competitive community whatsoever, so I'm not sure what the majority's opinion is of the balancing choices. I personally am not the biggest fan of the kits, weapons, and maps, but I have no overarching opinion on the ranked system, as I didn't play too much.

The gameplay model is extremely repetitive in nature, which honestly brings the question if Splatoon works as a multi-entry series. Are things going to eventually get stale? That being said, with how much success Splatoon brings Nintendo, especially in Japan, I don't really think Splatoon is going anywhere for a long time... Just look at Mario Kart.

This series has clearly left a significant mark on me, and will continue to do so. It's unfortunate that Splatoon 3 didn't click with me like the others, but that's okay.

I'm pretty hyped for Splatoon 4 for now. I'm assuming that this is the end of that trilogy, and they're gonna really go all out with fresh, well, everything, especially with its release on the Unnamed Switch Successor (Super Nintendo Switch? Super Switch? New Nintendo Switch?)

As always, I'm excited to see what path this series will go in. I'm not worried about the results of the Grandfest itself, because I trust the Splatoon developers to, at least, in the artistic department, make a title filled with so much enthusiastic passion and style that I hope to recreate in my own works someday, regardless if it's based off of the past, present, or future.