To date, Splatoon 2 has sold over nine million copies worldwide since its release in 2017, making it one of the top selling Switch games. Still, after two years of smash-hit success, Nintendo announced that the game will essentially come to an end with the Ver 5.0 update coming this month. While this final update signifies the last of Splatoon 2’s support, it’s guaranteed to make sure players can still enjoy the game for years to come.
The update, available on July 31, is changing quite a bit of the Turf War, gear, multiplayer modes and much more. First off, Splatfest (Turf War) is no longer available in its original form but will instead be open in play in Private Battle. The twenty four Shifty Station stages that were used in previous Splatfests can be played as multiplayer stages. The team ink color combinations used in previous Splatfests can be selected.
As far as gear goes, we have the addition of the Splatfest Tee Replica, which is pretty different from the standard. It’s most prominent feature is the “Ability Doubler.” The look of the tee changes with the color of the player’s team. If a player has this gear equipped during Private Battle Splatfest, it’ll make their team’s Splatfest Team Name appear when the match starts.
There have been adjustments to Multiplayer too. The New Albacore Hotel has been modified for all game modes. The number of inkable walls has grown and it’s now easier to gain access to higher areas from a team’s base. Splatoon 2 has also shifted the object placement in game modes like Splat Zone and Tower Control. For Shellendorf Institute, the update has changed the overall object placement. The area of the open spaces has also increased depending on the game mode.
Many of Splatoon 2's weapons have been altered as well. For example, the Sploosh-o-matic, Splattershot Jr., and the Aerospray MG all have increased the damage administered to the armor around a player using a Booyah Bomb by about 17%. The radius for a shot’s explosion has increased and will deal 50 damage by about 2%. Some of the other weapons now have decreased ink consumption or an increase in ink coverage. The Inkjet's speed of shots fired have been increased and the Ultra Stamp has a decrease in the time it takes to finish the first swing among other things. The points needed for using specials has been decreased by ten for many on the main weapons.
With the end of this era of Splatoon, fans are hoping for a third installment of the game. This is especially so since the last Splatfest of the first Splatoon game put Marie and Callie against each other and that ended up being relevant to the story in Splatoon 2. It’s a huge question if the Chaos vs Order Splatfest that just ended is a hint into the franchise’s future. However, according to Hisashi Nogami, the producer of Splatoon and Splatoon 2, this might not be the case. JapaneseNintendo translated his statement to the gaming magazine, Famitsu: apparently, Nogami said that Splatoon 2 had begun development right after the first game was released. The Octo Expansion was a huge focus for the team behind the game so they haven’t solidified any future plans as of yet. Nogami did say, however, that he wants to “return the favor” to fans that supported the series, though what that implies for the future of the franchise remains up in the air. Still, sequel or no, Splatoon 2 has definitely made an impact in its run and there’s much fun to be had even in this stage of the game.