Our Verdict On Splatoon 3's Chill Season 2022 Update - New Stages, Weapons, And Modes - Nintendo Life

While the list of tweaks and additions in this threequel was long, and the mechanics have never been smoother, there were some out there (us included, to an extent) who felt that the series' third entry was good, but essentially more of the same goodness that we saw in Splatoon 2.

With the announcement of the game's first major update and the beginning of Chill Season 2022, all eyes and tentacles have been on the Splatlands to find out whether Nintendo could keep the game swimming forwards or whether this ink would be drying up.

Beginning with the meatiest additions to the game, Chill Season 2022 has brought with it two new game modes, both of which promise to build on the standardised rules that we had before.

The other mode joining Splatoon 3 is X Battles.

Despite his best efforts, this writer is nowhere near the kingly rank of those who are able to enter this game mode.

There are plenty of inkable walls in this one to propel you into the throes of battle above and, again, a good level (pun intended) of raised ground to make weapon choice all the more important.

Salmon Run has also been treated to a new stage as a part of the update in the shape of Splatoon 2's Marooner's Bay.

Bringing back a zone from the previous Splatoon game on Switch doesn't bring back quite the same level of nostalgia as Flounder Heights does; however, with only three locations to its name prior to the update, Marooner's Bay is a welcome addition to the game mode nonetheless.

Chill Season 2022 has managed to shake up our favourites in no time with three entirely new main weapons and ten variations on previously-released ones with an all-new Sub and Special combo.

Finding a new favourite weapon takes a bit of time and while these three haven't quite broken into our main rotation just yet, they add a good level of variation to play and we are having fun getting our heads around their intricacies.

The above additions are all well and good, but one of Splatoon's main attractions for us has always been how stylishly pleasing it is.

Chill Season 2022 continues this with a brand new catalogue (containing new gear, titles, Splashtags, decorations, stickers, and emotes) and around 50 new items added to the stores in Splatsville.

There have also been 13 new Tableturf Battle Cards added as a part of the update, expanding the puzzle side of the game even further.

But the additions that we have received are fun nonetheless and continue to build on the game's keen eye for looking good as you splat your way across the stages.

Aside from the usual bug fixes and tweaks, there have been a number of quality-of-life improvements with the addition of Chill Season 2022 that we felt deserved a moment in the spotlight.

There are a huge number of other changes which have come to the game with the new update including the ability to reset your Season Rank, temporarily change your name, take photos when in Recon Mode and — the biggest change of all — fold your clothes before putting them in your locker.

While these might seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of the update, they each help to make the game that little bit more user-friendly and add some fun additions in terms of customisation.

Chill Season 2022 might not represent the great leap forward that some were calling for when the game was initially released, but for the sheer amount of new content that it has added in one go, it is certainly keeping the game moving with a whole bunch of tweaks and welcome additions.

Splatoon 3 is still Splatoon 3 after this update — as you'd expect — but for a free add-on which gives us all more to do than ever before (and more reason to come back to the game as we slide into the Holiday season) newcomers and experienced players alike will undoubtedly find it a fun new challenge to sink their teeth into.

What do you make of Splatoon 3 with all of the changes under Chill Season 2022!

X Battles are the best part of the new update for mine as they basically fix the complaints I had with Anarchy mode.

Usually I either get lucky and find a good team that can sweep the series or I just struggle to find a good team at all and just get matched up against those competent teams instead.

It’s kind of fun being able to build a sense of camaraderie across multiple matches the same team, but it does mean that ‘searching for a good team’ becomes part of the tactics of the game, and… well, it really shouldn’t be.

I'd say it's a pretty good update.

Nintendo, being Nintendo, loves to min-max content in order to prolong a game's life.

Pretty good update overall but I don't like how they basically gave some of the worst possible kits for the new weapons, it heavily reduces their usage and makes it so most if not all of them will be irrelevant a week after this update

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