Splatoon 3's Side Order is chaotic and addictive fun

Splatoon made a splash by turning the online multiplayer shooter on its head through creating a chaotic, yet extremely strategic experience. The single player component of the Splatoon games has always been a highlight, since it takes elements from the multiplayer part and uses them in exceptionally creative and fun ways. Side Order is no exception, illustrating its theme of Chaos versus Order as a roguelite where even the smallest change can provide a completely different and entertaining challenge while climbing the Spire of Order.

In the last Splatfest of Splatoon 2, Pearl’s Team Chaos beat Marina’s Team Order. Although saddened by her defeat, Marina was happy to go on tour with Pearl, albeit still wishing for a world of order. Now, in a colorless world, we find Agent Eight along with Pearl (in drone form for unknown reasons) trying to climb the Spire of Order to understand what is happening, while aiming to find Marina as well.

While the story is quite entertaining, explaining further will spoil the fun of discovering it, so we will focus on the gameplay. As Eight and Pearl climb the tower, they will find enemies called Jelletons. They will soon prove to be very challenging and you will be defeated, forcing you to start climbing again. This gameplay loop proves Side Order as a well designed and addictive roguelike that will have you jumping in for another run as soon as the Jelletons splat you.

You start the game with a Palette, which is a combination of a weapon, a subweapon, and a special attack. Once you beat certain floors for the first time with a given Palette, you unlock Keys that you use to unlock more Palettes, parts of Marina’s Diary, or more.

You also have access to Hacks, which are permanent upgrades that make every subsequent run more accessible by giving you more power, lives, or defense. In order to buy those Hacks you need Prlz, which can obtained in certain floors or by exchanging all the Membux and Color Chips that you acquired in a run.

Every run on the Spire of Order is different, thanks to the random nature of each floor. You are presented with three challenges on each, with varying rewards in terms of Membux and Color Chips. The harder the challenge, the more Membux you obtain. Not only can this currency be exchanged at the end of a run for Prlz for permanent upgrades, it can also help your current run by using it on Vending Machines that appear randomly and let you change subweapons, specials, or get Color Chips.

Each Chip will give Eight different abilities that will absolutely change your strategy in every run. Those abilities are the main reason why the game becomes so addictive right away. For example, you may stumble upon many Chips that strengthen your subweapon, so you start using it more, or you may get abilities that make Pearl so strong that certain impossible challenges in your previous run are trivial now.

The fascinating nature of the mathematical models of Chaos Theory are ever present in the game. The fact that they so seamlessly incorporated the main theme of the game into the gameplay is a testament to the quality of the development team. In my winning run, for instance, I got a handful of chips that made me stronger when attacking from afar, while some other chips made my Reefslider stronger with a fast charging speed. Hence, I built up my Special Gauge attacking from safe places and then closed in to finish up Jelletons with my special. The myriad of combinations that can happen at any given run allow for manifold strategies and make Side Order a very special roguelite that represents the best aspects of Splatoon.

Some floors might even have Bonus Goals that will give you more Membux, or they may be marked as Danger Floors with extra challenges like No Item Drops or banning Pearl from helping you. You can skip those Danger Floors initially, but if you do they will appear more often in the later stages, so it may be better to tackle them early on.

Some floors also have a random Boss on them, too. These fights are challenging enough, but not extremely hard, and are quite different among themselves. Once you have defeated them a couple of times, you can get more hints about them from the Jelleton Field Guide. That also applies to any Jelleton you face, so you can fill up a sort of encyclopaedia as you play. Similarly, the more Color Chips of the same kind that you earn in a given run, the more info you unlock about them, providing more of an incentive to keep playing – even if you complete a run of the Spire of Order.

In fact, beating the Spire of Order for the first time also unlocks clothes and items you can use in multiplayer, and a store similar to the one found in Salmon Run, where you can use the in-game currency to buy decorations, banners and more. There’s also a storyline reason as to why you have to come back to the Spire of Order after solving the main conflict of the game, so it’s not just about the collectibles.

Lastly, music is an essential part of every Splatoon game (fun fact: Calamari Inkantation is my favorite Final Boss Theme ever!) and Side Order unsurprisingly delivers on this front. In particular, Unconscience and Spectrum Obligato are fantastic additions to the ever growing library of Splatoon music. I would even consider Unconscience a sonic exploration of a new genre untouched by previous games, which shows the sheer creativity of the composing team.

An incredibly well-designed and enriching experience, Side Order lets every player build their own gestalt of countless random factors that combine to create a cohesive and addictive loop that will keep them entertained for hours. Splatoon keeps proving to be a fantastic franchise that evolves constantly, one that provides excellent single player adventures in addition to its extremely enjoyable multiplayer component.