The Splatoon 2 Devs Discuss The Many Details Not Revealed To The Players

The Splatoon 2 developers recently held a first anniversary interview with Famitsu, during where they revealed many of the in-universe details that aren’t revealed to the player, as well as some future developments planned for the game.

Here are the highlights:

The Music

• Producer Hisashi Nogami reveals that Splatoon 2 was in development alongside updates for Splatoon on Wii U, while Octo Expansion was in development alongside Splatoon 2 updates.

• The Chirpy Chips are a returning band from Splatoon. While “Wave Prism” is a song similar to their songs in the first game, “Blitz It” is them trying to reach for new horizons. Also, the band took a hiatus between Splatoon and Splatoon 2, explaining their absence until the 3.00 update, but the singer has returned with renewed vigor.

• Sound director Toru Minegishi reveals that Wet Floor and Bottom Feeders debuted in Splatoon 2, in order to offer different styles of music compared to the first game. However, by Ver. 3.00, they decided to strike a balance by bringing back a band from the first game, which ended up being The Chirpy Chips.

• Squid Squad, the band which sang original battle tunes in Splatoon like “Now or Never!,” disbanded between Splatoon and Splatoon 2, as each member wanted to pursue solo careers and work together with other artists. However, Minegishi didn’t rule out the possibility of Squid Squad reforming either.

• Inklings forget old things easily in order to chase new trends, but the bands of the previous game have left a mark on inkling culture of today. Wet Floor’s guitarist girl was influenced by Squid Squad, while Ink Theory’s jazz tunes were influenced by Hightide Era.

Caution: Spoilers for Octo Expansion ahead.

Octolings & Octo Expansion

• According to director Yusuke Amano, the dev team discussed playing as Octolings at the start of Splatoon 2 development, but decided against it, as it would be confusing to players if Octolings were to suddenly appear in the Inkling world. Octo Expansion was developed as an explanation, a way to make players sympathize with the Octolings, and as a way to add Off the Hook to the story.

• Surprisingly, Octo Expansion’s stages were not created with practice for Ranked Matches in mind. It just naturally came about when trying to add as much variation into the levels as possible. Octo Expansion also contains a lot of leftover ideas from Splatoon’s Hero Mode campaign, from when they decided to just focus on an A-to-B style of gameplay for those stages.

• C.Q. Cumber isn’t a bad person, he’s just doing his duty. Plus Agent 8 doesn’t die from the explosion – they just respawn like Inklings do in Turf War and other battle modes. This isn’t the case for the final few stages though – if Agent 8 dies there, they really do die. Restarting those stages is actually something like rewinding time, Amano and Nogami explain.

• The CQ Point system was developed as a check-and-balance for the mainly trial-and-error gameplay in the Deepsea Metro. It’s there to add tension to the experience, not difficulty. It also creates a choice on which route to take for the player and also some interaction with Off the Hook, should the player run out of Points, as Pearl will lend Points as many times as you end up in that state.

• There were originally around 150 ideas submitted by the staff, which ended up being narrowed down to 80 stages via a staff survey. Ink & Watch Station was one that was quite popular among the staff, while Girl Power Station was found to be quite challenging within the staff. Amano claims that he’s never failed Girl Power Station ever.

• Splatoon 2 director and art director Seita Inoue wanted the Octoling Boy’s default hairstyle to be an afro. In fact, he’s fine with the afro being the Octoling Boy’s only hair option. Inoue also confirms that the afro doesn’t change the Octoling’s hitbox.

• Amiibos were decided for the Octolings quite early in Octo Expansion’s development, as the staff thought that the Octolings were cute. Usually, Nintendo will gauge interest and popularity before deciding on amiibo.

• The Octolings in Octo Canyon are confirmed to be a little bit older than Agent 8, which is why they look a bit different. Only elite Octoling Girls become the troops that Agent 4 fights in Hero Mode. Octotroopers are different from regular Octolings, though they are still Octarians.

• The dev team confirms that there is only one Agent 8, while the other Octolings you see in Inkopolis Square found another route to come up to aboveground. Agent 8 is also a different character from Agent 4.

• The poems in the Mem Cakes received underground are from Agent 8’s perspective, and the ones based on things they couldn’t have seen before are actually their imaginations based on the magazine at the back of the Deepsea Metro. However, the Octarian-related Mem Cakes are their own memories.

• The four Thangs are replaced at their respective spots every time a test subject enters The Promised Land. Meanwhile, the Sanitized enemies in Octo Expansion are something like zombies, having lost their will in the process.

• Similar to Hero Mode, Inoue drew a short 30-page manga regarding the events in the final sequence of Octo Expansion, as a reference for the direction.

• The idea for Octo Expansion’s final boss, or at least the type of boss it is, is something that Amano had wanted to do since the first Splatoon. Nogami also confirms that Octo Expansion and Hero Mode occur around the same time.

The Future

• Inoue and Nogami discussed how any plot sequences going forward will take into account the Octolings who have joined the Inkling world.

• With Nintendo Switch Online starting soon, the dev team confirmed that all online-related functionality will require Nintendo Switch Online. However, software and gear updates will still be free, as well as single player and local multiplayer.

• How Inkling plays and moves in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been left up to the development team and director behind that game, other than some directional advice. The dev team say to look forward to playing as an Inkling that has a different sort of charm in the upcoming game.

Splatoon 2 is available for Nintendo Switch.