Splatoon 3 players are openly mocking the game on social media after a round of map changes did little to improve the experience outside of adding poles to get in the way. While many were hoping for new flanking routes to be added to locations, they found vertical towers placed in certain areas.
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This all comes alongside the first wave of DLC for Splatoon 3, which brought back Inkopolis as a usable hub that functions exactly like Splatsville. With both of these underwhelming updates, tensions seem to be getting a little warmer in the lead-up to the launch of Fresh Season 2023 later today.
The addition of poles isn’t the only map change that inkling and octoling players are upset about. Many are throwing around sarcastic comments about the presence of walls that are un-inkable. Nothing happens when you shoot them, so you can’t use them as methods of getting some verticality. This is lending to conversations about the game being too flat and not utilizing movement abilities added into the game like the Squid Surge and Squid Roll.
This isn’t the first time talks about the game being flat have happened. When Flounder Heights was added to the game, the conversation was essentially the same after it was revealed the “heights” of that area had been severely scaled down. Nintendo’s approach to map design in Splatoon 3 seems to be focused on keeping players as close to the same level as possible, and that turning odd anyone who likes to get the high ground in their battles.
Whether it comes to adding small environment objects like poles or not allowing for enough vertical play, it seems the Splatoon 3 community is increasingly not feeling like their wishes are being met with the map design in the game. Hopefully, Nintendo will turn that trend around soon.
