RedShell

Pretty sure it’s just the overall playtime on your save file, so you can pause and continue.

Ah that's a good question. I'd not considered the possibility of DLC for single player content in this. So yeah, there could still be hope yet. Although I'm pretty sure the focus is going to be on multiplayer with this game, but you never know.

Despite looking like a step in the right direction (to bring it back to old-school Mario Tennis and Mario Power Tennis RPG quality) I had a feeling the single player in this might fall short. Just seemed to lack the heart of the adventure modes in those handheld entries. It is indeed a shame. I know I'll still get a lot out of the multiplayer, but it would've been so great to have a really decent single player mode too. Oh well.

Had a quick go on the demo. I love the visual style of this game! Absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately though (and not surprisingly) it doesn't look like the gameplay is my cup of tea. Random encounters do my head in, and the battles seem to go on FOREVER! Although I'm guessing the character type I chose (thief) doesn't really help in the combat situation.

I've not been playing this at all recently (Splatoon 2 DLC is just too good ) so yeah, still stuck on that same damn stage that my crappy electric Pokémon can't beat. Not sure if I can be bothered with the grind to get better Pokémon/stones now really... Perhaps I'll get back to it at some point, after playing through Mario Tennis.

Yeah, the unskippable news update is still the absolute worst thing about the original Splatoon and Splatoon 2. No idea why they won't enable an option for people to skip it, makes no sense at all. Anyway, I finished up Octo Expansion 100% yesterday, so all true Mem cakes obtained and the additional final boss defeated! That boss fight is certainly up there as one of the most challenging things Nintendo has ever created! I see there's been quite a lot of complaining about it online, seems some people really don't like the difficulty of it. Personally, I found it to be hilarious. There's no doubt it is incredibly tough and the odds are very much stacked against the player, but that makes it all the more enjoyable I reckon. Not to mention super satisfying when you finally beat it. Plus, at the end of the day it's an optional boss fight for those that fully complete the rest of the DLC, so yeah, it should be hard, that's basically the whole point. For anyone that wants to know what it is and why it's so difficult, click below. Despite the difficulty, I eventually managed to win. It took a lot of attempts, but (for me at least) it was always fun. Here's what you get, BTW: Any plans for post-MKLeague Splatoon tomorrow night? If so, I'm in! Although League Battle should probably be avoided at the moment, apparently there's an issue where people using hacked Switch systems can force anyone into matches on unreleased stages. Not sure if that could result in bans for legit players, but would rather not risk it, just in case.

Yeah, that guy seems super down-to-earth, which is very nice to see. His approach to improving the industry as a whole is also commendable. I mean, the ongoing thing with cross-play and Sony just makes them look so bad. It's baffling. I've been watching some more reaction vids from E3 recently, especially of the Ubisoft conference, as that moment with the Star Fox reveal is a fun one to rewatch, but also a good indicator of how clued-up/on the ball the people in these vids really are.

Yeah, I totally get that. It's still cool to see what peeps are/have been playing though. Hopefully the paid service will bring about some additional functionality, like a much needed messaging tool.

Just added mine. Are you still not adding anyone to your friend list, H-o-T, in protest of Nintendo's great online capabilities?

Finished Octo Expansion over the weekend, absolutely sensational DLC!! Just fantastic. Can't believe I was almost going to miss out on this. Enjoyed it way more than the standard single player campaign. If there's a Splatoon 3 in the works (which let's face it, there will be ) I really hope its single player content is based more around the design of Octo Expansion. The whole thing was awesome, but nothing prepared me for the sheer insanity that was the final boss... Yeah, that level of crazy is Nintendo firing on all cylinders. It's a beautiful sight (and sound ) to behold. Shout-out to the localisation team too, for some classic references: And last but not least, I love using my Octoling in multiplayer! Best of all, his afro gets perfectly deformed when donning various hats: Never going back to an Inkling now. Ooh, just remembered! There's another cool little feature to the Octo Expansion once you beat it: Which is great as it keeps the DLC relevant even after you've finished it. Anyway, that's enough of me blabbing. TL;DR, Octo Expansion is amazing and you should get it.

Oh man, that cutscene when you obtain one of the Thangs! Nintendo should use the 80s aesthetic more often. Also, how's this for a hilarious attention to detail?:

IN!

It’s a bit of a mix really. The stages feel shorter in this and they generally involve completing a certain task, like defeating a group of enemies, guiding a ball to a specific location, getting through a stage with limited ink, popping balloons, etc... Weapons are also determined by the stage, sometimes you get a choice from a limited selection (which also effects difficulty/reward), sometimes you get no weapon at all! So yeah, it kind of feels like a collection of 80 mini challenges really. I’m enjoying it more than the standard single player, but a lot of that is probably down to the humour and vibe of the Octo Expansion. Check out the Treehouse Live video on this from yesterday, it should give you a better idea of what it’s like.

Update to my coin collection: We should add the completely pointless platinum coins to the list too, no?

Yeah, I admire the dexterity of players that are able to use it mid-gunfight, it's pretty impressive to see someone basically constructing an elaborate shield in real-time. But it's definitely not for me. #toooldforthisshit

Checked this out in portable mode yesterday, and man... Found it to be pretty much unplayable! Small screen combined with big world map/draw distance = can't see shit. Text is basically illegible as well. Anyway, played a few more games docked after that, and I have to say I think it's actually starting to click for me now. As someone that traditionally doesn't care for stealth gameplay mechanics, I find myself enjoying taking that approach in this. Sneaking around more and being patient has also improved my performance quite a bit, so I've been making it to the later stages of matches more often, and that's definitely when things get much more interesting. Still not a huge fan of the building feature, in fact, I think tactically it's better not to do it (unless you really need to) as it just gives away your position to everyone else. I prefer to use the existing terrain for cover, and find that I get ambushed or sniped far less as a result. Speaking of sniping, I was trying to get a kill using a sniper rifle yesterday (as it was one of the daily tasks) but it took me quite a while, as the low frame rate on distant players is super jarring! Got there in the end though, funnily enough on someone who had just revealed their location by building themselves a nice little tower. It was fun watching all of their collected items (they had a lot) sliding off it afterwards.

Made the mistake of watching this on Treehouse Live... and yeah, couldn't resist after that. I am actually enjoying it more than the standard single player so far though, there's some highly amusing dialogue in it: You can rock an afro as the male Octoling too, which is awesome!: Great vibe throughout the new locations as well, and there's lot's of cool stuff floating around in the stages, stuff like this: Anyone else pick it up?

Not tried it in portable mode yet, but performance when docked is pretty dodgy. Seems to be quite a lot of stutter and a very low framerate on distant players, like ridiculously low. I’ll probably keep the game installed though and dip into it every so often, although I still think it’s massively overrated.

Yeah, no Waluigi is a right kick in the balls. Especially with all this echo fighter malarkey. As for the amiibo stuff, it’s basically just a way to train a CPU version of those characters. Nothing too exciting.

This is just nuts. Completely and utterly nuts. And I LOVE IT! From the moment it was clear that every character was returning, my jaw was on the floor. And it stayed like that until the end of the vid. I feel sorry for the next game in the series already though, it is doomed.

I too was slightly disappointed to see the Direct end after Smash, but it's pretty clear now that this is going to be Nintendo's E3 strategy going forward. 1 big game, with lots of coverage for said game. It worked for Breath of the Wild, it worked for Super Mario Odyssey, and it'll definitely work for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. What they are doing with this version of Smash is absolutely insane, they've essentially created pretty much every Nintendo fan's desert island game. Will almost certainly be the biggest selling Smash Bros. title to date and no doubt one of the best selling games on Switch as well. Cannot wait. There has to be quite a few Nintendo Directs planned for the rest of the year though, I mean there's no way this is everything Nintendo have in the pipeline. But yeah, if that means announcements are spread throughout the year (and more importantly, reveals are nearer to launches) then I'm all for them holding back a bit at E3.

Just been watching this: Man, how slow were this lot at realising it was Star Fox?! Well, all but 1 of them. I was practically asleep at the time but still twigged straight away. It's interesting watching these reaction vids though, especially comparing them. They just looked confused and grossed out during some of the Sony ones.

For sure. I was literally nodding off by that point too (after what seemed like 10 hours of pirate ship footage ) but when those SNES Lylat voices kicked in I was like "Whoa!!" This perfectly captures my reaction: