Author: John Scalzo

Splatoon 2 was the subject of the latest Nintendo Direct presentation, and Nintendo delivered a ton of new details about their multiplayer ink shooter this morning. Check out the replay embedded above, or dive into this huge ocean of new information right here…

If you’re still on the fence about Splatoon 2, Nintendo confirmed that a one-day demo of the game will be available on July 15. The servers for a special pre-release Splatfest will be available from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (Eastern Time), and it’ll pit fans of “Ice Cream” against “Cake” eaters. However, for veterans of the franchise, the sequel’s customization screens should feel fairly familiar, but several new options will be available:

• Custom Style: In Splatoon 2, Inklings can be customized to fit the player’s taste. Things like eye color, hair style, and skin tone can all be adjusted when creating a character. And this doesn’t even mention the fresh new gear like shirts, shoes, and hats that can also be equipped. Since two years have passed in the world of Inkopolis, many styles have been upgraded so no one is caught splatted in something that is “so 2015.”
• Galleria: To find all these hot new fashion trends, players just have to make their way to the Inkopolis Galleria. This row of popular gear and weapon shops is where all the cool kids and squids hang out. In Ye Olde Cloth Shoppe, a jellyfish named Jelfonzo will help players obtain T-shirts and jackets. A spider crab named Bisk runs the shoe shop Shella Fresh, while Flow the sea slug helps players at the headwear shop Headspace. Weapons can be picked up by stopping by Ammo Knights, run by the knowledgeable horseshoe crab Sheldon. And who doesn’t love food? Inklings can grab a bite at Crusty Sean’s dive to get more points and in-game currency from battles.
• Gear: Equipping gear in Splatoon 2 will give players special abilities. Each piece of gear has certain abilities, and there are even additional abilities that appear as players use the gear more and more in battle. By speaking to Murch, a sea urchin (naturally), players can freshen up their gear with abilities that reduce ink consumption or help them move faster – some will even decrease respawn time! There is a wide variety of abilities in the game, so selecting the right one to use could make or break the battle.
• Fresh Features: Some additional features coming to Splatoon 2 include a handy menu that lets players change the sensitivity of the controls separately for TV and Handheld mode, Amiibo functionality, and the ability to post drawings directly to social media. By tapping a Splatoon series Amiibo figure, players can save control settings, gear and weapon loadouts, and nicknames to any Splatoon Amiibo figure. New Splatoon series and legacy Splatoon Amiibo are all compatible with Splatoon 2 and can also reward players with exclusive gear when tapped.

While selecting weapons and gear might look the same, Nintendo is lining up a whole series of new weapons for Splatoon 2:

• Main Weapons: In Splatoon 2, weapons come in sets of three: a main weapon, a sub weapon and a special weapon. There are many different types of main weapons, from long-range weapons to short-range ones. Some new (wonderfully named) weapons introduced in Splatoon 2 include the Clash Blaster, Flingza Roller, Goo Tuber, and the Dapple Dualies.
• Sub Weapons: In addition to inking and attacking, many sub weapons will help players with other abilities, such as defending from attacks or revealing enemy positions. The new Autobomb, for example, will find an enemy and automatically follow them, while Toxic Mist, well, is exactly how it sounds! It fills the surrounding area with a poisonous mist, reducing the ink of opponents who dare step in its range, as well as making them move slower.
• Special Weapons: All the special weapons in Splatoon 2 are new! Some of the weapons making their debut are the Tenta Missiles, the Inkjet, the Sting Ray and the Baller, which lets players roll up walls in an explosive hamster ball. Special weapons can be used once a player’s special meter is filled.

Splatoon 2 will also include several new modes (which will be introduced by the game’s new house band, Off the Hook featuring Marina and Pearl) including the wave-based Salmon Run and the tournament-ready League Battles:

• Turf War: Turf War, which finds two teams of four battling to ink the most turf, makes its grand return in Splatoon 2. There are all kinds of different stages in the game, ranging from city streets, a sports club, an academy, and even a BMX track. Different stages have different environmental hazards, so players will have to work together to figure out the best strategy.
• Ranked Battles: Every two hours, the three Ranked Battle modes rotate, offering something new to play. The three modes are Splat Zones, which finds teams fighting for control of Splat Zones placed on the stage; Tower Control, a fast-and-frantic mode in which players ride a moving tower; and the chaotic fun of Rainmaker. By winning a Ranked Battle, players increase their rank in each mode. Ranked Battles can be played online. The modes in Ranked Battle can be played in local multiplayer in Private Battle.
• League Battles: League Battles allow players to form a team with friends, fight alongside them and battle their way to the top of the charts. There are two ways to join in these 4-on-4 battles: Players can enlist one other friend to form a pair and be matched with another pair, or connect with three friends to form a four-squid team. Once teams are created, players compete in Ranked Battle modes to aim for a top ranking.
• Salmon Run: This new local- and online-multiplayer mode to Splatoon 2 finds up to four players working together to defeat bosses and collect Power Eggs in a limited amount of time. Each match in Salmon Run lasts for three waves, with players having to collect a select number of Power Eggs to advance to the next wave – oh, and at least one player on the team has to stay alive. This last part might be tough since the stage is overrun by Salmonid enemies and giant bosses, each with their own weakness. Salmon Run is a frantic multiplayer mode that can be played locally with friends at anytime and is also available to play online at designated times, just like Splatfest.

Finally, Nintendo announced plans to support Splatoon 2 with an entire year of post-launch updates including new weapons (like the umbrella-shaped Brella), new gear, and additional stages. The first piece of bonus content will be tied to the Nintendo Switch Online app, which will be available for mobile devices on July 21. Within the app, players will be able to access “SplatNet 2,” a Splatoon 2-specific service to help players stay in touch with the game. According to Nintendo, SplatNet 2 displays information like “stage schedules, gear and stats, and even lets users view their lifetime inkage, a feature that shows how much turf a player has inked compared to real-world places.”

Splatoon 2 will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on July 21.