Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3 is the upcoming third entry in the Splatoon series. It is currently scheduled to release on Nintendo Switch in 2022, and was revealed in the 2021-02-17 Nintendo Direct.

Development
Splatoon 3 will be the first game in the series to be localized into Korean and Chinese.

Story
The game takes place in the Splatlands, a sun-scorched desert inhabited by battle-hardened Inklings and Octolings, and Splatsville, a city of chaos, one and a half years after the final Splatfest, Chaos vs. Order. The outcome of the Splatfest is likely the reason the game's design is themed around chaos.

Gameplay
Like its predecessors, Splatoon 3 is a third-person shooter game focused on online multiplayer battles, in which eight players are divided into two teams of four. Players have two main forms and may switch between the two at will: their humanoid form, in which they can use weapons to spread ink and splat opponents, and their squid or octopus form, which, if they enter their team's ink while in the form, allows them to swim through ink at great speed, including up walls, recharge their ink tank faster, and hide.

Players will have access to new movement techniques to dodge attacks and expand the possibilities of attacks. "Squid roll" allows them to leap and twirl out of their ink, and a "squid surge" allows them to quickly swim up ink-covered walls and jump out at the top.

In the Splatlands, players in online battles enter the battlefield with the spawner drone. It floats above the stage behind each base and allows players to aim at their desired deployment location within a certain reach. After choosing where to deploy, the spawner drone launches players to that location in squid or octopus form in a similar fashion to Super Jump. The regular spawn points are still present on the stage, but not confirmed to be usable.

Characters
At this time, only two characters are known:
 * The player, an Inkling or Octoling
 * The player's "Little Buddy", a Smallfry.

Player customization
The genders of the Inklings and Octolings are no longer explicitly stated. Instead, the player "selects a style". Octolings can now be selected from the outset and the Inklings have a cut in their left eyebrow.

New player customization options have been added:
 * New eye colors, including heterochromatic eyes that form a gradient from one color to another.
 * New hairstyles
 * Hairstyles are no longer split between genders; any hairstyle can be selected within variety of that species.
 * At least 4 new Inkling hairstyles and 4 new Octoling hairstyles will be available.
 * In keeping with the "chaos" theme, many of the new hairstyles are asymmetrical.
 * The "Hippie", "Topknot", "Haircut", "Pigtail", "Banger", "Double-Bun", "Tentacurl" hairstyles are also shown to return.
 * 1 new piece of legwear, plus all legwear is no longer split between genders.
 * New gear.

Players now have a "Little Buddy"; a Smallfry with seven hair customization choices.

Locations
At this time, these locations are known:
 * Splatlands
 * Splatsville
 * Ammo Knights
 * Battle Lobby Tower
 * New stage set in a desert terrain

Modes
So far, Turf War is the only mode that has been confirmed and with no change to the rules.

Stages

 * A new stage is shown in the trailer, with a visual aesthetic very similar to Saltspray Rig or Salmon Run stages, but located in a desert wasteland instead of at sea.
 * A job listing for a level designer by Nintendo announced at the same time as the game's reveal includes "既存ステージの改修" (renovation of existing stages). This could either mean that stages from the previous games will be returning, or that the role's responsibilities will include fixing bugs and balance issues in stages after the game's release.

Main weapons

 * A bow and arrow-style weapon was added. Once charged, it fires three strings of ink simultaneously. Its design seems to be based on a fishing rod, using the reel and string.
 * Several weapons already present in the previous games seem to have gone through a re-design, including the E-liter 4K Scope, Range Blaster, Splattershot, Hydra Splatling, Dynamo Roller, Sloshing Machine, and .96 Gal.

Sub weapons

 * The Splat Bomb appears very briefly in the Splatoon 3 trailer at the 2:29 mark. It is currently unknown if it will retain the same attributes from the previous games.

Special weapons

 * A special weapon similar to the Inkzooka appears that fires three blobs of ink together.
 * The weapon is shown to eject white capsule-shaped shells when firing. Three capsule slots are seen, so it may be assumed you can only fire this weapon three times.
 * The character in the trailer using the special is the same character that uses the bow and arrow in the previous scenes, so it might be a part of that weapon's set. It was also seen reverting into a Splattershot, so it is likely a part of a Splattershot's weapon set.
 * A new miniature floating beam special weapon was added. It consists of six separate Sting Ray-like lasers that pierce any stage obstacles, and seem to follow enemy players in pairs. The design of the contraptions these lasers originate from appear similar to miniature Killer Wails with the bottoms of Suction Bombs attached to them.
 * A crab-shaped robot that can transform into a ball has also been seen.
 * Tenta Missile-like projectiles can also be seen in one of the pictures.

Music
The trailer contains a new remix of Splattack!, different from both the original version and the Octo Expansion remix. It is currently unknown if this remix will be included in the game, or if it was created only for the trailer. This remix seems to suggest the game's music will follow a more rock-esque style, especially considering the overall theme of the game seemingly being based on Chaos winning the Final Fest.

Trivia

 * In the Splatoon 3 announcement trailer, it can be seen during the Turf War match that the bow and arrow player starts at the yellow team and switches over to the purple team mid-match.
 * The ink color set shown in the announcement trailer is similar to the Color Lock set in, as well as one of the Ranked Battle color sets in.
 * This is the first Splatoon installment to take place outside of Inkopolis.
 * Inkopolis Memorial Mixtape ends with the same drum loop used in the Splatoon loading screen followed by the opening of the original version of Splattack!, similar to the Splatoon 3 announcement trailer.