Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion

It’s been difficult to find anything negative in this downloadable content that Nintendo has created. With a perfect technical performance, and a musical quality at the level of the best Nintendo games, the Inkling world grows and becomes more mature and interesting than it already was.

A masterclass in how to do DLC right. It fits in perfectly with the standalone game, provides a heap of tailor-made content and furthers the story of the Inklings’ and Octolings’ world effortlessly and beautifully. As a single player experience it outmatches the standard Octo Canyon mode significantly, and even though it does allow players to acquire exclusive items, it manages to avoid affecting any of the mechanics of online play, so non-purchasers will never be at a disadvantage. If you’re a fan of Splatoon in any capacity and you want more to sink your beak into, Octo Expansion is an unwavering must-have.

The Octo Expansion is exactly what a DLC add-on is supposed to be: a unique view on known mechanics. There are eighty creative and tough missions to enjoy, with multiplayerbonuses that are fun.

While the fact that it's a modular design could be equated with laziness for some, Nintendo deserves credit for producing something robust and unforgiving that will test even the most dedicated of fans.

Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion is a tough new addition to the game, and one that all fans should rush back to play.

Challenging and well-designed, Octo Expansion is a nice add-on for the players that are looking for something new in Splatoon 2. And you can play it while offline, so it's perfect to take with you on the go. Just keep in mind that you can't throw your Joy-Cons away while trying to complete a stage for the tenth time.

It's still a good time to play Splatoon, especially if you're up for a solo intermission and keep your expectations in check.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Rarely, if ever, do I review DLC/expansion packs over here on my Metacritic. It's not for any ill will, mind you, but it's because, really, I don't play many of them! With how many games I still have to finish on my backlog, I don't often feel the effort to go out of my way and play a lot of expansions to titles. Just play the base game and continue on from there. However, given that I adore "Splatoon 2," I was admittedly quite excited when I found out that the game would be getting new single-player content in the form of an expansion, because I always found that the single-player modes in both "Splatoon" games were a bit short, so it was nice to get a little more beef this time around. So, would the new expansion meet my excitement? Well, not entirely, but it's good for what it is. "Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion" gives you plenty of beef and bang for your buck if you felt like the base game could've used more single-player content. There's 80 new missions here, and they do follow a number of different formulas: from popping balloons, to defeating as many enemies as you can, to defeating bosses, to grinding rails, the expansion tests all of your "Splatoon" skills. And Nintendo pulled no punches with this one: the difficulty of these missions feels like the equivalent of being slam-dunked into the deep end of a swimming pool by a 7+ foot tall basketball player. I know, extreme comparison, but you get the point: "Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion" wastes no time giving you a challenge. It's nice to see that they didn't entirely skim on the difficulty, and they gave you more than enough to do, which is exactly what an expansion should do. And given that the game does seem to expand on some of the popular lore that more hardcore "Splatoon" fans have been itching for (and also allows them to play as an Octoling, which was heavily requested), plenty of attention seemed to be paid on this one. That said, that difficulty thing is also a bit of a negative: just as it wouldn't be all that fun to be slammed dunked into the deep end of the pool by that basketball player (because you'd probably drown), it can be very frustrating dealing with the fact that a good deal of the difficulty comes from a lot of trial-and-error and, to a degree, "fake difficulty." It's great that they wanted to challenge us a bit more, but sometimes, it just becomes overly frustrating, and it makes the repetitiveness of some of the missions show a bit. And while I don't expect an expansion to drastically change the game, if you're gonna include 80 levels to play, at least don't make them feel so same-y. Oh, and if you don't want to skim on the difficulty, please don't break the game with the skip function. I get why they did it, because it's frustrating, but come on, you can literally skip the final boss by dying once! ONCE! Where's the gameplay motivation if, after all the fatigue the seven trials put me through to GET to the final boss, I can literally win the expansion without even so much as FIGHTING it? I know, it sounds like I'm harping too much on the game, and I don't mean to, because it is a good expansion! It does quite a few things you might not expect an expansion to do, and it gives you plenty of content! That said, it is a slightly flawed expansion, and some of the positives of it can double as negatives. Still, it's a nice addition to "Splatoon 2" that should keep hardcore fans itching for more single-player content happy for a very long time. Final rating: 7 out of 10 "Good"

I'm happy for more Splatoon single player content. However, having now finished all 80 metro levels and the end game bit, I find that this expansion is very hit-or-miss. There are many levels which are very good but there are just as many which are mediocre or poorly designed. Likewise, many of these levels really highlight the game's shortcomings when it comes to core game mechanics like hit detection. The number of times I was hit by projectiles which went past me, or the number of times items like inkfurlers failed to activate on hit, was nothing short of frustrating. The end stage sequence is truly fantastic and reminiscent of old school Mega Man Dr. Wily castle stages. I'm unsure why people are complaining about the difficulty as I found most levels to be not that much more difficult than the base single player campaign. Since its doesn't deviate (much) from the game's core mechanics, most longtime Splatoon fans will blow through this content quickly with the only real challenge being the aforementioned bugs or poorly constructed levels. Unfortunately, its replay value is almost non-existent once you've completed all 80 levels.

Yeah, having to pay 20 dollars, to play a other part of the Splatoon 2 campaign, which in my opinion, is meh, it just does not have a amazing storyline.

Think Mario Party with a metro map as the board and the stops the mini games, - it's just a series of mini games (80 to be exact) with a difficulty that is not true to the franchise, very unforgiving, more targeted to the hardcore dedicated players and not the casual/drop in player so if you're the former this will definitely challenge you, if you're in the latter then you may find it far too punishing. The rewards for the difficulty aren't in line with the effort put in and the points/credit based system (lives) contradicts the difficulty which gives you a limited number of tries, plus the fact that everything can be "auto completed" if it's too hard as oppose to giving you a drop in difficulty is just reinforces the fact Nintendo doesn't know how to target or present this DLC correctly.