Splatoon 2: Distant Islands

Splatoon 2: Distant Islands

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Developer(s)

Star Turn Studios

Publisher(s)

The Fantendo Team

Platform(s)

Series

Splatoon (series)

Successor

Splatoon 2
Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion

Release Date(s)

24 June, 2023

29 June, 2023

1 July, 2023

Age Rating(s)

Media Included

Digital Download

Splatoon 2: Distant Islands is a third-person shooter action-adventure game developed and published by Star Turn Studios and The Fantendo Team for the Nintendo Switch console, and is set to be released in 2023. It is a fan-iteration of Splatoon 2, and it is the sequel to Splatoon: Beyond Inkopolis. The game's setting is said to take place on a fictional location in Inkadia known as Dystania, a chain of islands that is approximately 288 miles away from Calamari County.

It is the successor to the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion DLC, and it is considered an "alternate story" to Splatoon 2, as the game takes place five years after the events of said game. However, it retains the classic gameplay from said game, like ink-shooting mechanics, playing in a vein similarly to Regular Battles and Ranked Battles, and Salmon Run as well. New content also has been added in these modes, such as new stages, gear and weapons, weapon power upgrades with a maximum of up to 5 levels, the scrapped "8-Ball" ranked mode alongside two new ranked modes, and three new Boss Salmonids with more aggressive variants to common Salmonids in the Salmon Run: Distant Destinies mode.

Despite this, instead of a manhole being placed in the game's main setting, a launchpad takes the spot instead, where players get to experience a massive Story Mode campaign unlike Splatoon 2's Octo Canyon and the Octo Expansion DLC, as they take down a huge Octarian army overrunning the three islands in Dystania to find numerous collectibles, rescue Zapfish from bosses, recruit members of the Distant Squidbeak Splatoon on their side and stop DJ Octavio and the Octarians in order to rescue the Great Zapfish.

Story[]

The events of the story mode take place five years after the completion of Octo Canyon in Splatoon 2, where the player character is invited to an "all-yearly vacation" in Dystania, and Pearl and Marina show up driving the Inkopolis Tour Bus, making them ride the bus for a trip to Calamari County. However, not knowing that a horde of Octarians are approaching the bus, they ambush and attack the tour bus, causing it to explode and send Pearl, Marina, and the player character flying a very long distance to their destination.

After they gain consciousness, the Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie meet them and tell the player in shock that the Octarians are invading the islands of Dystania, not long before Callie gets kidnapped again by DJ Octavio's UFO, sending her to the top floor of the Dystania Central Tower. The player then rides the Calamari Cruise with the help of Pearl and Marina at a full-speed arrival to the Dystania Mainland, wears their Hero Suit and becomes Agent 4 again thanks to the request of Marie after arriving, and sets out on an adventure across the islands of Dystania to thwart DJ Octavio's plans, save Callie and take down the island-widespread Octarian army for good.

Gameplay[]

Like Splatoon 2 and the prequel to Splatoon’s fan-iteration, Splatoon: Beyond Inkopolis, Splatoon 2: Distant Islands is a third-person shooter game focusing on online multiplayer battles, in which eight players are divided into two teams of four. Every player has two main forms and may switch between the two at will. The first form is the humanoid form, where players use various weapons of their choice to spread ink and splatter opponents. The second form is the squid form, where players can easily swim through ink at great speed and up walls, recharge the player’s ink tank faster (while in their ink) and hide in their team’s ink. The players can also execute sub weapons, such as Splat Bombs, alongside special weapons, such as Splashdowns.

For the action-adventure genre, it also heavily focuses on a massive single-player Story Mode campaign, where players are assigned as Agent 4 according to Marie, as they explore the three (later four) mysterious islands of Dystania to encounter and splatter new and returning Octarians, recruit Distant Squidbeak Splatoon members to their aid and switch between them at will, find a plethora of collectibles scattered across missions, rescue Zapfish from new and returning Octoweapons/bosses from Octo Canyon (Splatoon 2) and the Octo Expansion DLC, and overcome more challenging variants of missions such as Enemy Ink Evasion and Salmonid Showdown. New hero weapons, such as the Hero Lobber are added, and are given to the player via requests from Sheldon, which can be unlocked after clearing missions he requested them to use it.

Characters[]

Main playable characters[]

At the start of the game, players can choose between either Inklings or Octolings, with two different genders for the characters: male and female. They can also customize their character of their choice, such as choosing skin tones, eye colors, hairstyles, and legwear. Familiar player characters can also appear on the Dystania Mainland, the hub area of the game. Players can also access various types of modes/shops as well as interact with other players' Inklings/Octolings they have battled with recently or with those who recently posted a post to social media.

There are also recruitable types of Inklings/Octolings known as Distant Squidbeak Splatoon members, which are located throughout the Story Mode campaign where the player must rescue them from Dystanian Cage Devices to meet a member of the organization, recruiting them in the process. Players can also switch between up to four different characters, including the ones the player rescued to explore missions. After clearing a mission, players can play the same mission or a different one, either solely or with up to three other members. There are twelve Distant Squidbeak Splatoon members in total, as the Distant Squidbeak Splatoon members included with the protagonists in the Distant Squidbeak Splatoon roster add up to fifteen playable Story Mode characters.

As a plus, one of the main playable Distant Squidbeak Splatoon characters, Agent 8 also has two different Hero Suits, the first one being the Hero Suit that Agent 8 wears throughout the Octo Expansion campaign, and the second being a Hero Suit consisting of Fake Contacts, Neo Octoling Armor, and Neo Octoling Boots.

Protagonists[]

Name	Description	Nicknames	Availability
Agent 4	The main protagonist of the Story Mode campaign. Prior to arriving at Dystania’s islands, they were ambushed by a huge horde of Octarians while attempting to flee from them, but before reaching a dead end, the Octarians end up using their attacks to create an explosion to send them flying to the islands, setting out to take down the Octarian army across the islands after gaining consciousness. They are said to be the leader of the Distant Squidbeak Splatoon, who formerly ventured through Octo Canyon.	Four Leader Hero #4 Agent Snore	Available from the start.
Agent 3	The deuteragonist of the Story Mode campaign. They were stated that they traveled with Cap'n Cuttlefish “for a research trip for the cape”, but they confronted Agent 8 into a long-ago battle under mind-control by the Telephone in the Deepsea Metro. After retiring from a brainwashed memory, they decided to join the Distant Squidbeak Splatoon as the veteran of the organization. They also formerly ventured through Octo Valley to retrieve the Great Zapfish.	Three Veteran Hero #3	Unlocked after clearing the Veteran Cup in the Cephalopod Colosseum.
Agent 8	The tritagonist of the Story Mode campaign. They are said to have ventured through the Deepsea Metro to escape from the facilities they visited throughout Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion. However, they were also stated that they and Agent 3 fought in Octo Valley a long time ago, but “someone” attacked Agent 8, causing them to lose their memories in the process. After a long and tough journey, they decided to join the Distant Squidbeak Splatoon as the rookie of the organization.	No. 10,008 Eight Rookie Hero #8	Unlocked after clearing Mission 88 eight times in Story Mode.

Distant Squidbeak Splatoon members[]

Name	Description	Card Code	Gender	Availability
Maple	An upbeat brown Inkling who has a crispy personality, and has a maple leaf hairpin for headwear. She once moved to Dystania on vacation, but was unfortunately kidnapped by a group of Octarians when she was lost in one of Dystania’s forests. She is the first Dystanian Inkling to be rescued in the game.	DS-01	Female	Rescued at Mission 2.
Mikey	An ice blue Inkling who loves winter seasons, and wears a dark blue jacket with a white hoodie on the back. He was having a snowball fight with some Octarians one time, but they backfired and shot purple ink back at him, getting him kidnapped hours later. He is the second Dystanian Inkling to be rescued in the game.	DS-02	Male	Rescued at Mission 5.
Sally	A passionate silver Octoling who loves cruise ships and harbors. Once she was working at a cruise ship at sea, not long before Octarians boarded the cruise ship and attacked it, causing the ship to explode, making her fly on the shore unconscious. She is the first Dystanian Octoling to be rescued in the game.	DS-03	Female	Rescued at Mission 9.
Fresh	A navy blue Octoling who loves surfing and summer season. A long time ago, he was by oneself surfing at sea, but ships of Octarians approached him and captured him, proceeding to trap him in a Dystanian Cage Device and throwing it into the Inkmuda Kettle. He is the second Dystanian Octoling to be rescued in the game.	DS-04	Male	Rescued at Mission 14.
Natasha	A forest green Inkling who has an interest in nature and scenery. One time, she was frolicking around in one of Dystania's forests before a group of Octarians used their projectiles to make the trees tip on her, but she was soon kidnapped after trying to outrun the phenomenon. She is the third Dystanian Inkling to be rescued in the game.	DS-05	Female	Rescued at Mission 39.
Breuer	A tan Inkling who researches in archaeology, and wears an explorer hat with a ponytail. He was formerly researching with a map on how Octarians first existed on a shoreline before a horde of Octarians ripped up the map he was carrying, and captured him afterwards. He is the fourth Dystanian Inkling to be rescued in the game.	DS-06	Male	Rescued at Mission 42.
Harriet	A lavender Octoling who has a sassy punk-like personality. A long time ago, she was making out with many familiar Octolings at a faraway cabana, before a crowd of Octarians approach the Octoling group and destroy it utterly, causing the Octolings to flee and take her away into a cave system. She is the third Dystanian Octoling to be rescued in the game.	DS-07	Female	Rescued at Mission 46.
Sylas	A peach/salmon Octoling who was a former employee from Grizzco Industries. He was formerly researching on how Salmonids were first discovered, but an Octotrooper fought him, not before the Octotrooper calls up their Octarians to trap him inside a crate and throw it onto a lone cargo ship. He is the fourth Dystanian Octoling to be rescued in the game.	DS-08	Male	Rescued at Mission 51.
Cindy	A cheerful light pink Inkling who worships Off the Hook (especially Pearl), and has a blunt "hip-hop" personality similar to Pearl from Off the Hook. Once she was having an afternoon dance party with Off the Hook, not before Octarians shut down the dance party, kidnapping her with Off the Hook telling them to put Cindy down, but they ended up sending her to the bottom floor of the party stage, much to Off the Hook's dismay. She is the fifth Dystanian Inkling to be rescued in the game.	DS-09	Female	Rescued at Mission 82.

(W.I.P.)

Secondary characters[]

(W.I.P.)