The Splatoon series is a fresh take on a familiar genre. Though players can eliminate their opponents in classic shooter fashion, the primary objective of an online Turf War battle is not to rack up kills but to cover the ground of each arena with as much ink as possible. In practice this makes Splatoon and its sequels colorful, cartoony alternatives to the often grim, cynical multiplayer shooters like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto Online. The latest entry in the Splatoon series, Splatoon 3, once again features the series's popular candy-coated aesthetic and madcap paint-spraying action. Its main hub area, Splatsville, abounds with player-created fan art showcasing Splatoon-themed takes on popular memes, surprisingly skillful portraits of the game's Inkling and Octoling characters, and signs of support for the LGBTQ+ community. For anyone sick of toxic gamers, cruelty, or gore, Splatoon 3 might provide the perfect way to kick back: a fun, lighthearted online shooter with creative and compelling gameplay.

Splatoon is Engaging, Expressive, and Inclusive

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Image via Nintendo

The Splatoon games are popular with a wide variety of gamers regardless of age or personal identity because of their focus on fun frenetic gameplay and self-expression. Rather than solely appealing to one type of stereotypical hypermasculine gamer, Splatoon 3 gives players the opportunity to express themselves and share what makes them unique via their play style, personal attire, and artwork. Most shooters restrict gamers to realistic guns or sci-fi laser blasters, but because of Splatoon 3's paint-spraying motif, players have a bit more variety when it comes to weaponry. Traditional PvP gamers might opt for the squirt gun-esque Splat Dualies or the paint sprayer-inspired Aerospray MG. While these weapons spray multicolored ink rather than bullets, they provide experienced shooter-enthusiasts with a play-feel similar to more realistic war games.

What makes the Splatoon series special is that in addition to gun-like devices there are plenty of viable options for players who wish to forgo firearms altogether. As the primary objective of many Splatoon modes is to coat the ground with more paint than the opposing team, it isn't necessary to focus solely on a weapon with the most killing power. Instead, players can choose cartoonish and comedic weaponry like giant paint rollers, oversize brushes, and good-old-fashioned paint buckets, each featuring their own unique mechanics, sub-weapons, and situational usefulness. If players want to get involved in online shooters but have trouble aiming at fast moving opponents, there are weapons that can allow them to still stay engaged and competitive without feeling like dead weight. Splatoon 3's variety of weaponry and adaptability makes it fun for long-time fans of shooters or those just dipping their toes (or tentacles) into the genre for the first time.

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Another fairly progressive part of Splatoon 3 is that players no longer have to choose a gender during character creation, instead selecting whichever hairstyle they feel best represents them. The base player character models in Splatoon 3 are fairly androgynous half-squid, half-kid characters, meaning players can style their avatars however they'd like without worrying about conforming to any outmoded gender norms. Whether a player chooses to wear clothing that appeals to them aesthetically or gives them a boost in combat is wholly their choice. Of course there is always the chance that the clothing that gives a player the best upgrades might make them look like a fashion nightmare, but the game has mechanics for re-rolling gear abilities to alleviate that problem as well.

Many games feel limited in terms of representation for female and LGBTQ+ gamers, but Splatoon 3 places fashionable and fun female characters at the forefront and allows players to style and represent themselves in a way that matches their personalities and identities. Thanks to the inclusive art posts and positive, welcoming messages displayed around the game's main social hub, Splatoon 3 functions as a community where gamers can be themselves no matter their sexuality and/or gender expression, which is all too necessary in an online space with a tendency to marginalize them or pay them lip service without providing proper safety tools for their online experiences.

Less Jawing, More Drawing

Many Splatoon 3 players credit the game's dearth of rampant toxicity to something that it lacks: built-in voice chat. While most modern online shooters allow (or force) players to hear their teammates, communication in Splatoon 3 is limited to pre-set text chat with phrases like, "This way," "Ouch," or "Booyah!" Though the text options are extremely limited even compared to other games with built-in chat, they suit Splatoon 3's emphasis on laid-back fun and marching to the beat of one's own drum. Players cannot be forced into unwanted strategy meetings by strangers online or berated for having fun rather than playing ruthlessly. No stream of consciousness rambling from other players means no pathway to hate speech either. Of course, toxic players always have the option of going to social media or speaking to their real-world friends (existence permitting) to express their frustration with whatever's bothering them about their teammates, but there is zero chance that players in-game can hear these malcontents spewing obscenities. This is a welcome change from typical online shooters, which typically default to allowing voice chat as soon as someone joins a match. Annoying or hurtful players can be muted in most games, but this requires the extra step of choosing to mute someone, something that can be occasionally difficult or tedious to manage mid-game. Muting is generally reactive rather than preventative, meaning players can choose to silence a vulgar offender after the toxic player has already said something terrible. In disallowing in-game voice chat and restricting audio communication to the Nintendo app or third-party software, Nintendo has effectively rid the Splatoon community of verbal harassment in one fell swoop.

As mentioned earlier, players do have the option of expressing themselves differently in Splatoon 3: by drawing pictures or scrawling text on their Nintendo Switch touch screens. Artwork, memes, and text can be posted and viewed in the main social hub, Splatsville, where it pops up like dialogue bubbles from the players scattered around the city or emblazons neon signs along tall buildings. The artistically-inclined can share their artwork with Splatsvilles around the world. Typical gaming communities tend to use any text or art creation methods to post shocking or vulgar things as frequently as possible, but surprisingly, a vast majority of Splatoon 3's art posts are either wholesome or humorous. Like in other games, players have the ability to report problematic posts for being offensive, but the fact that the reporting functionality actually works as intended in Splatoon 3 suggests that the Splatoon community is more civic-minded than their peers when it comes to keeping Splatsville clean.

An Inkling of Positivity

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Image via Nintendo

Though even Splatoon 3 has occasional toxic behavior with players aggressively targeting or taunting their opponents, the overall multiplayer experience is one of joy, frenetic action, and laughter. Games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley are wonderful choices for those who appreciate slower-paced, charming gameplay, but when it comes to action-packed online shooters, there are relatively few games that provide the balance of rapid-fire action with safety and inclusivity like Splatoon 3. The continued popularity of the Splatoon series makes it clear that the market for creative shooters without toxic masculinity and bloodshed exists. It is only a matter of time before more game developers take the hint.