Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion is an expansion pack to the single-player mode of Splatoon 2, a third-person shootervideo game for the Nintendo Switch. Set in an underground subway station named the Deepsea Metro, the DLC follows an Octoling nicknamed Agent 8 who, after becoming inadvertently trapped in the Metro, journeys through numerous testing facilities with the goal of escaping to the surface. It was released on June 13, 2018.
Octo Expansion follows the story of an Octoling that goes by the name of Agent 8. Their main mission is to reach the surface by collecting four objects called thangs through various challenges. Using the "CQ points" currency, the player must navigate various subway stations and use their points to complete said challenges. The number of points gained or lost is determined by the player's performance in the challenge. These challenges range from defeating enemies within a given time limit, guiding a giant 8-ball, battling a boss, and more. Players can access each level through the subway map in the hub world.
Plot
Players take control of an amnesiac, unconscious Octoling who is found by the character Cap'n Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish was seeking out Agent 3, the protagonist of Splatoon, and decides to help the Octoling after hearing them humming the Squid Sisters' song “Calamari Inkantation”. Cuttlefish and the Octoling are trapped in a subway-like testing facility called the Deepsea Metro, where a talking telephone identifies the player-character as "test subject 10008"; the title's verbosity prompts Cuttlefish to give them the moniker "Agent 8" instead. The Telephone informs them that in order to reach "the promised land", they must traverse through the Metro to collect four objects known as "thangs". Agent 8 is given assistance via radio by Pearl and Marina of the pop band Off the Hook. As Agent 8 clears tests in the underground facility, they obtain small items called Mem Cakes that serve as physical manifestations of their lost memories. After completing several test chambers and collecting all four thangs, which combine into a large blender, the Telephone attempts to kill Agent 8 and Cuttlefish by tricking them into entering it. However, heeding a distress signal sent by Marina, Agent 3 rescues the duo, seemingly destroying the Telephone; they are knocked unconscious in the process. Agent 8 then climbs through the depths of the facility towards the surface via a hole that Agent 3 left in the ceiling, while Cuttlefish stays behind to keep watch over Agent 3. As they reach the exit, Agent 8 is confronted by Agent 3, who has been brainwashed by the Telephone with the use of a turquoise-colored, gelatinous ooze. Agent 8 defeats them, freeing them from their mind control.
After reaching the surface, the trio is retrieved by Pearl and Marina. Upon their rescue, however, the facility itself begins to rise from the ocean, revealed to be an enormous statue of a human; this shocks the party, due to humans having been extinct for several millennia. From within the statue's empty eye socket, the mangled—but still functional—Telephone formally introduces itself as Commander Tartar, an artificial intelligence built by a human scientist prior to mankind's extinction from global flooding. It was programmed to encode and pass the knowledge of humanity onto the next intelligent race. While initially believing Inklings and Octarians to be this race, Tartar became personally disgusted with both their societies and instead reprogrammed itself with a new objective: to destroy all present sentient life and create a new apex species from a genetic ooze made from its past test subjects.
As it prepares to discharge an enormous solar-powered cannon from the mouth of the statue and destroy Inkopolis, Marina devises a plan to stop it from charging by covering the statue in ink. The plan is successful, but the statue plans to fire anyway with its reserve energy. As a last resort, Pearl uses her voice-powered Princess Cannon weapon to counter the laser,[a] destroying both the statue and Tartar. With the threat averted, the group returns to Inkopolis Square, whereupon Agent 8 joins a community with both the Inklings and their fellow Octolings that had already arrived.
Development
Concept art of Agent 8 in a vaporwave-style location. The in-game environments of Octo Expansion were designed to appear "dated" and nostalgic to contrast with the established art styles of previous Splatoon games.
Development of Octo Expansion began during Splatoon 2's series of free updates.[1] Octolings had been considered to be made playable in Splatoon 2, but this was initially rejected for as they felt it would be jarring for Octolings to show up in a non-antagonistic role without explanation.[1][2] Producer Hisashi Nogami wanted to create the expansion in part to allow players to explore deeper into the series' world.[3] The setting of a subway station was chosen as a desire to have a darker setting to contrast the series' otherwise "bright and colorful" world. It was designed to have an older, dated aesthetic, featuring characters who speak in outdated slang.[3] He wanted to represent the setting by having different creatures than the world of Splatoon and Splatoon 2 based on creatures who live on the ocean floor.[3] He also wanted to represent the different setting by putting players in control of an Octoling for the first time in the series to show the difference between the Octoling's and Inkling's culture.[3] It was also designed to give players more details on Pearl and Marina.[1]
The levels were designed to have as much variety as possible and featured cut content from the base Splatoon 2 release.[1] There were concepts for around 150 levels, but only 80 made it into the full game.[1] The final level was depicted in a 30-page manga that art director Seita Inoue created to serve as a reference for direction.[1] The idea behind the final boss was an idea that director Yusuke Amano had wanted to do since the first Splatoon game.[1] The developers added the CQ Point system as a way to create tension and give players more choice in how they play the game. It also served as a check-and-balance system for the "trial-and-error gameplay."[1]
Octo Expansion was announced in a Nintendo Direct broadcast on March 8, 2018. The expansion was made available to pre-order shortly after its announcement, with exclusive in-game clothing items available for doing so.[4] The DLC was formally released on June 13, 2018.[5] A new amiibo set featuring the Octoling Girl, Boy, and Octopus was released on December 7, 2018.[6] A physical version of Splatoon 2 with the DLC included was exclusively sold in Japan on October 8, 2021.[7] On April 22, 2022 Octo Expansion was added as a benefit for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.[8]
Octo Expansion received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator website Metacritic; it additionally garnered a score of 81.64% on GameRankings.[9][16]IGN reviewer Brendan Graeber praised the diversity of Octo Expansion's trials, lauding their inventive utilization of the Splatoon series' ink-based mechanics.[12] Similarly, Kallie Plagge of GameSpot complimented the expansion's experimentation with restricting the player to choosing a select few weapons per level. While she called the levels "great practice" for Splatoon 2's online modes, she acknowledged they could become "incredibly difficult" for those unaccustomed to said weapons.[17]
Chris Carter of Destructoid felt that while some levels were "a unique rush that fills you with satisfaction for beating them", others were tedious. He critiqued the expansion's aesthetics as seldom feeling like a "re-skin of sorts" of Splatoon 2's base single-player campaign, but nevertheless praised its occasional quirkiness.[10] Comparatively, Alex Olney of Nintendo Life applauded the game's presentation as unique and "brimming" with intricate details, additionally commending the soundtrack. He also responded positively to the in-game cutscenes, which he stated heightened the characters' complex personalities.[13] Christian Donlan of Eurogamer named the title a "Recommended Pick", commenting on its challenging yet "brilliant" puzzles, which he likened to the shrines from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.[18]
Reno Gazette Journal editor Jason Hidalgo commented favorably on the expansion's narrative in that it offers "story morsels", principally in relation to the Octolings, which add to the greater atmosphere of Splatoon's world.[19]
Notes
↑The Princess Cannon is modeled after the Killer Wail special weapon from the first Splatoon game.
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