Flounder Heights

Photo From Nintendo

Yesterday Nintendo released another new map to the Splatoon rotation called Flounder Heights.  This is one of the two maps teased in the August Update trailer and probably is released for the New Global Testfire this weekend and for the Japanese Splatfest.

After playing a few matches on this level I was impressed. This map feels massive in size and I spend most of my games inking turf trying to find other players.  I easily got over 1100p using the splattershot jr without really trying. 

The map does have some opportunities for strategic attacks.  The map is divided into multiple levels and literally almost every wall can be inked. One would think this would be a sniper map but I disagree.  The map has two major paths, high and low. If a sniper is up high it's easy to sneak by them underneath undetected.  The high and low split also makes this map great for ambushes. Jumping off buildings or climbing up walls can easily get behind enemies.  Or you could be like me and just throw bombs off the towers at people. 

I really enjoy Flounder Heights and it is one of my favorite maps now. 

KFlave signing out!

Next American Splatfest

Photo from Nintendo

The Americas are about to receive their first sponsored at the end of the month.  Nintendo and Hasbro have announced that on August 28th the next Splatfest will be Transformer themed with Autobots vs. Decepticons.

Now this is not the first time Nintendo has let third parties sponsor Splatfests as Japan has had half of theirs focus on brand name products.  I am debating whether Transformers are popular enough to make people want to participate.  I've seen lots of posts floating around with people asking what Autobots are.

It is a good first try none the less, but in the future maybe Nintendo can help settle more meaningful product debates...  Like Pepsi vs Coca Cola or McDonalds vs Burger King.

Anyways.

KFlave signing out!

New Global Testfire

For anyone on the fence about buying Nintendo's colorful new shooter your about to be offered another free trail opportunity.  Nintendo recently released the August 2.0 update to Splatoon which included many new features such as new game modes, better match making systems, new weapons and more gear.  Some have argued that these options should have been in the game from day one and I agree with them a bit.  The lack of modes, maps and weapons where a turn off for some people and I believe Nintendo has realized that.  This is why from August 21 - 23 they have announced a new global testfire to give players another chance at seeing what the game has now evolved into.  Anyone with a Wii U will be able to download the demo and battle with people on all the newlevels and modes.

Personally I hope this generates more intrest in the game.  I love Splatoon and hope people give it another change.  Splatoon isn't your normal shooter but it has its own charm that setts it apart from the rest.  It's a refreshing change to the over used shooter formula. 

In the words of the Squid Sisters, "Stay Fresh!"

KFlave signing out!

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One month of Blogs

So my blog has been around for one month and I am pleasantly surprised at the response it has gotten.  In 4 weeks I have over 2,600 page views from 24 countries, with 2,400 views coming in the last two weeks.  Thank you for all the love guys!

Now with school starting back up in the next few weeks my blog schedule will be changing a bit.  I will now only be writing posts 3 times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  That way I can focus on getting ready for school and focus once it has started.  

Now I am in the process of looking for a good capture system to record gameplay on both my laptop and wii u.  Once that is all set up I hope to start a lets play series sometime in the future. I already have some ideas for games to play.  So the fall is going to be exciting!

Thanks for everything!

KFlave signing out! 

Fourth Japanese Splatfest Coming Next Week

Photo from Nintendo

Looks like Japan's fourth Splatfest is coming soon.  After playing some turf wars I noticed some Splatfest T-shirts so I decided to look into it and see what I could find.  On August 22 Japanese players will battle it out to decide which insect rules the grass.  Ants vs Grasshoppers!

Good luck to both teams!  I personally would probably choose team grasshopper to salute my prairie homeland.

In other news Nintendo has been talking about the new maps coming soon.  So we squid kids have a lot to look forward to still in August!  So stay tuned for updates!

KFlave signing out!

Rainmaker: Welcome to God Mode

Photo from Nintendo

Splatoon has just released the long awaited Rainmaker mode and it definitely lives up to expectations.  Now the basic mechanics of the mode are well known, it is a reverse capture the flag.  The maps have been changed slightly to accommodate the new mode adding at least two hills to each level that act as the goal, get the rainmaker to the hill and you win.

Now the rainmaker itself is the most powerful thing in Splatoon.  In order to gain control of it you have to pop a shield that looks like the ones that protect Zapfish in single player.  You best hope your team is the one who pops it because once the rainmaker breaks free a wave of ink flies out killing the other team who is in close range.  The weapon itself is like God Mode.  Yes you do move slower while carrying the weapon, but the charge shots you fire are devastating.  A fully charged blast from the rainmaker fires a massive tornado of ink that can easily destroy 3 or 4 of the enemy team members.  Its slow charge and movement do make it vulnerable to attack, but in a range fight it can stand up for itself.

In my opinion Rainmaker is the only game that forces 100% team work in a group.  In Splat Zones you can almost run around like Turf War.  Tower Control has everyone scrambling for the tower but I never see a coordinated attacks in it.  Now with Rainmaker one team member picks up the weapon and carries it.  You gain points by moving the Rainmaker forward so you must defend your team mates with your life. The rainmaker needs to be defended because it is weak to attack at close range.  Stray too far away from the person with the Rainmaker and its very likely that they will be splatted and you'll lose control (or just lose in overtime).

Last words of advice...
RESPECT THE RAINMAKER          WORSHIP THE RAINMAKER                   BE THE RAINMAKER

KFlave signing out!

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Childhood Gaming Pac-Man!

Photo from Namco

In my early childhood I did not have many video games to play but the ones I had I played to death.  I have a couple favorites including Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3, Super Mario Bros 2 and Pac Man: Adventures in Time.

It is great to see that many of the old retro games have been remade and re-released for virtual download.  Unfortunately not all games are given this reboot due to a lack in popularity or other reasons.  I sadly have not been able to find a digital version of Pac-Man: Adventures in Time.

Personally I love this game.  It was great to play back in the early 2000's.  Its plot has Pac-Man being sent back in time to recover pieces of an artifact the was destroyed by an evil entity. As the player you have to guide Pac-Man through multiple historical worlds each with a set number of mazes you must complete.  The ghosts change their appearance in each world with them starting out as cavemen and eventually, by the final level, they are futuristic robots.  Overall it does stay true to Pac-Man's original formula but it does have nice twists.  Some levels have obstacles that you will have to avoid other than the ghosts.  These include boulders, spikes and jousting knights.  Some levels require you to complete the withing a time limit as parts of the level disappear halfway through the level.  Now one of the best parts of this game is the 3D build of many of the levels which is a great change of  pace.  Now the game does have some annoying parts, such as not being able to find the last pellet to complete the level.  Even with that I still love this game!  I really wish Namco would release it for digital download sometime.

KFlave signing out!

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Heavy Splatling - The rapid fire charger

Took a while but I finally finished play testing the Heavy Splatling and I have to admit I enjoy this gun a lot.  The Splatling class gun is a mix of a rapid fire regular gun and a charger class weapon.  In order to fire the gun it must be charged first before firing.  The Spatling has a crosshair which is different from all other guns.  While the gun is charging a two rings appear around the crosshair.  The first ring indicates how far the gun will fire and the second ring will determine the duration of the fire,  One nice thing is that if you need to abandon your attack and retreat you can stop your fire by diving into the ink.  This can be a hassle if you like to dive in the ink a lot as your fire will be interrupted every time you dive.

Now the Splatling gun has a certain play style that may not appeal to all players.  Its charge time destroys any hope for it to be a close combat weapon.  Luckily the gun has a very high range and a rapid fire to make up for the charge.  This means the Splatling is a perfect weapon for players who like to attack from a distance as you can pick off enemies with a rapid fire blast.  Now if you do get caught off guard or get cornered by your foes the splash wall is a life saver.  It also is very good in close combat maps like Port Mackerel.  Through the wall up and rapid fire your enemies into retreat to give you or your team time to make space between the two battling sides.  The special weapon for the Heavy Splatling is the inkstrike.  Since the weapon can cover ink pretty quickly, you can expect to be firing many inkstrikes throughout a match.

Now I haven't spent much time testing the gun in ranked mode because I don't want to risk my current rank of B.  I can assume this gun would have some pretty good coverage in Splat Zones and the Splash Wall would help cover a team attack the tower in Tower Control.

How do you like the Heavy Splatling?  What is your favorite strategy when using this gun in Turf Wars and Ranked Mode?  Leave some comments below and let me know!

KFlave signing out!

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Octoling Rumors Or Truth?

It seems that Nintendo is teasing the Octolings again. Hackers seem to have found a way to play as Octolings which isn't new news.  Although this time the Octoling characters now have faces and show some similar expressions to the Inklings when they win or lose.  This makes it seem like the Octolings are almost ready for battle.  

Personally I still would play as an Inkling.  I think it would be cool if Nintendo just made a wave mode for the Octolings.  Or  maybe have the opposing team skinned as Octolings instead of inklings.  Or just have special events where the players have to fight off an Octoling invasion.    

Either way I love how Splatoon's creators have actually been listening to their fan base.  I think the players can provide great feedback to help make the game even better. Although... I'm not a fan of the pants store or hairstyle ideas.  But that's for another rant.  

KFlave signing out!

Dancing in the Moonlight - Splatfest Trubute

Once again great job to everyone who participated in this weekend's Splatfest both teams were fantastic!  Now I've spent a lot of time recently digging through fan art of Splatoon and I saw some that made my heart melt.  Also I found one of my favorite songs from a few years back and thought it would work great with Splatfest to make a tribute video!



All the fanart belongs to their original creators.  I just wanted to make a fun showcase of them to a song I felt was fitting.   Please enjoy!!!



KFlave signing out!

Splatfest #3 Hot Dogs VS Marshmallows

Photo from Searching-for-banana-files

Another Splatfest has come and gone. Unfortunately I was unable to reach maximum Rank this time due to catching the flu and having to work.  (Got to Champion) Marshmallows defiantly had the popular vote based on how many times I was matched up marshmallow vs marshmallow 64% in the end. But from the battles I did see, from either playing or watching SwimmingBird941's live stream, is that team Hot Dog sent their elite forces to battle against the massive waves of Marshmallows.  I did feel that Team Hot Dogs was very skilled at pinning Team Marshmallow down to the spawn area in Moray Towers and spreading out in Camp Triggerfish / Blackbelly Skatepark and just covering more turf.  Netting them 52% of the victories.  Luckily the popularity held out and Marshmallow pulled off the win with 256 - 244. Either way congratulations Team Marshmallows on your victory!  Good job to everyone who played,  Enjoy your Super Sea Snail!!! With the new gear you'll need them.

KFlave signing out!

Image found on Searching-for-bananaflies tumblr

Splatoon's Deadliest Bucket: The Slosher

Photo from Nintendo

I've heard a lot of debate over the Slosher in recent days and I thought I'd through my opinion out there.  Some people have been calling it over powered and I believe this is false.  This weapon is very new and people haven't been able to fully develop defense strategies yet.  After using the Slosher myself I think that it is a very unique weapon.  It has a very capable range flinging ink far out straight ahead of you.  These tosses are very powerful like a roller able to splat an inkling in just two direct hits.  The power of this weapon is the ability it has to fling deadly amounts of ink up or over walls.  Ranged weapon users can only run away as they can not actually shoot over the wall accurately to counter attack.  The Slosher if used right can become a big threat in tower control if they can get above or close to the tower and shower it in ink.  Now the weapon does have some weaknesses.  It has a slow fire rate so you can quickly swim away from one if you are under attack.  I have been able to out flank them as well.  Since the slosher only fires straight if you quickly move to the side of them you can splat them before they can turn on you.

What are your thoughts on the Slosher?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.  I'd love a good debate!

KFlave signing out!

Splatoon Over 20 Level System

Photo from Nintendo

Hope everyone is enjoying the new Splatoon 2.0!  Just wanted to talk about the over 20 level system.  Nintendo has made some interesting changes by completely redesigning leveling.   Points are now awarded in a Splatfest like manner with a win in Turf War netting you 3 point and inking 400p of turf 2 points. (200p gets you 1 point)  Ranked mode is also a different system with each minute your team lasts giving you 1 point (up to five munites) and victory giving you 3 points.  Knockouts are still the best giving the winning team 10 points.

Now this system isn't bad, it just takes some getting use to.  Getting to level 20 just requires you to play the game and turf ink.  Since all weapons are unlocked at level 20 it makes sense for a change of pace.  Level 20 - 50 feels like the game shifts to a more skill oriented system making victories count for more over just inking turf.   Victories are very helpful in leveling up because they almost double your experience gained.  I can expect to see the majority of 20 and over players in ranked mode since the highest rewards are there.  If you last five minutes you gain as many points as a turf war.  Now the under 20 group will shy away from ranked mode for leveling as a defeat still nets you little to no experience.

See you all in Ranked Mode!

KFlave signing out!

Urchin Underpass - A whole new level

Urchin Underpass will never be the same with the August Update.  Say good by to the narrow pathways and choke points the map is completely opened up.  .  Unfortunately some of the old sniper areas have been compromised in the update the new platforms make up for it. To replace the narrow paths the stage is covered in many raised platforms making it a perfect place for snipers The center of the map is now more open leading to more chaotic battles as both teams can enter the area easily.   New trees have been added there for cover and sadly my old favorite tree has been destroyed,,,  At least the grass and stump still mark where it once stood.  I have easily increased my score from averaging 600p to now getting 900p with the Splatershot Jr no problem.  It really does feel like a whole new level!

 Loving the update and the music! Its amazing.  Weapon reviews to come soon!

KFlave signing out!

Youtube Love - Favorite Youtube Channels

Now I spend a lot of time on youtube.  Usually I'm watching let's players and finding out what games I should talk about.  (That's how I found Splatoon)  Even though I do not have a large following I thought it would be nice if I showed my favorite Youtubers some love.  I have a list below highlighting my favorite channels.   Now this list has a lot.  Everything from TsukoG's kazoo music to Sam Green's animations and it has some of my favorite let's players and my inspiration to make a blog.  Check them out and tell em KFlave sent you.


One Day to August Update....   Be prepared for more Weapon and Stage reviews for Splatoon.

No big post today as I'm working on things for the future. Trying to iron out some bugs to make my blog better.

KFlave signing out!



Music:

TsukoG
https://www.youtube.com/user/TsukoG

2CELLOS
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyjuFsbclXyntSRMBAILzbw

Animations:

Sam Green
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRJT1Crn3uwKJ4VHHr0CBg

Christopher Niosi
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKnUnMncnZ7zHxtxBNzdvaA

Let's Players:

Swimmingbird941
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXQ7Z7Rd3aAgCdFnVascMLA

ChilledChaos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5KTtyzcJK2R4VUhsCVYUQ

ZackScottGames
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzNhowpzT4AwyIW7Unk_B5Q

Game Grumps
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9CuvdOVfMPvKCiwdGKL3cQ

Markiplier
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_YxT-KID8kRbqZo7MyscQ

August Update Balance Patch

Got a lot of things to talk about today with the August Update.  Splatoon will receive its second balance patch along with the added content on the 5th.  One obvious update is to Urchin Underpass but there are a few more stage changes as well.  These include changes to maps like Saltspray Rig and Kelp Dome to fix issues with Ranked Mode.  Also some special weapons like the Eco-locator are having there charge rates changed to balance them out.  Now to my favorite changes.   A few abilities will also experience a balance patch.  Tenacity will now be activated from the start of a battle if your team has fewer players and not after you started inking.  This is something I enjoy because Tenacity is my go to headgear ability.   Finally the most important change is happening to Splatfest.   The result adding system is getting changed so Splatfests no longer are just a popularity contest.   Win percentage from battles will be multiplied by 4 in the end.  This means that battles are going to be very important in decided the upcoming American and European Splatfest as less popular teams now have greater hope that their battle skill can actually make a difference.

KFlave signing out!

Range Blaster

Photo from Nintendo

I'm not very good at using the blaster class of weapons in Splatoon; but I can value the potential benefits of the Range Blaster for those skilled enough to use it.  Now the blaster is not great at turf wars because it can not cover ground very quickly.  This weapon does however shine in Ranked Battles as it has a higher range then other blaster weapons.  Blasters are great for tower control as you can easily hit anyone riding the tower.  Now the splash wall sub weapon helps a lot as you can use it for cover while you attack your enemies.  If you find a choke point on the map you can easily control it with the use of a well placed splash wall.  As always the inkstrike comes in very hand in ranked mode for claiming a splat zone or attacking an enemy tower.

Inkbrush Nouveau

Photo from Nintendo

There is not too much to say about this Inkbrush upgrade in the area of performance as it's speed and ink coverage are pretty much the same.  The only major difference with this weapon are the sub and special.  The inkbrush to me personally feels like a stealthier weapon since its sub, the sprinkler, can be left behind to cover turf and the special, the inkstrike, is useful for inking contested areas.  The most effective way of attack was always by surprising your enemies by hopping out of the ink.  Now the Nouveau seems like a more offensive weapon choice due to the ink mines and bubbler that come with it.  This inkbrush is on the front lines.  It lays ink mines when retreating to destroy enemies giving chase and when the bubbler is charged you head out on the attack for close combat battling.  I enjoy using both of these weapons a lot.  Which one you prefer will depend on your play style.  Offense of Defense.

KFlave signing out!

Splatoon New Weapons! Inkbrush and Blaster

Photo from Nintendo

Along with the official announcement of the next Splatfest in the Americas Splatoon now has two new weapons to explore!  The Inkbrush Nouveau and the Range Blaster.  The new inkbrush is hyst like the old one only with an ink mine sub and a bubbler.  The new blaster has a higher range but reduced fire rate with the splash wall for defense and an inkstrike for offence. With these new weapons and the two from the August Update on the way expect many weapon reviews to come soon!

KFlave signing out!