Return of the Mammalians

“	Join Agent 3 and the New Squidbeak Splatoon in a hairy fight against the unruly Octarians. Discover the secrets of Alterna and the Fuzzy Ooze.	”
— Splatoon's official website

Return of the Mammalians is a single player game mode in Splatoon 3. It involves the player donning a Hero Suit and venturing into the Crater and Alterna (the setting of the story) to defeat the Octarian army.

Story

An Inkling or Octoling, accompanied by their "little buddy", Smallfry the Smallfry, are scrap hunters who search for junk gems by day and splat it up in Turf Wars on the side. When they go through a manhole, they meet Craig Cuttlefish on the other end at the Crater, who dubs them the new Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. The New Squidbeak Splatoon's mission is to stop the continued fight against the unruly Octarians, who are suspected for the recent disappearance of the Great Zapfish in Splatsville.

The areas throughout the campaign have a large amount of Fuzzy Ooze. In order to get through areas, Agent 3 has to take care of the Fuzzy Ooze, which Smallfry can eat as long as they have the right amount of Power Eggs. Cuttlefish also notices that the Octarians have furs grown over their body, as opposed to their previous appearances where they were smoother. When Cuttlefish tries to contact with Agent 1 and Agent 2, DJ Octavio interveres, but there is static noises for some reason.

After reaching the center of the Crater, DJ Octavio appears in his battle mech named Octobot L3.Gs, trying to confront the two for the recent disappearance of some of his Octarian armies, but when asked about the stolen Great Zapfish, DJ Octavio states that he does not even know about it this time, and engages Agent 3 in a fight. Upon being defeated, DJ Octavio tells Cuttlefish and Agent 3 that he indeed did not steal the Great Zapfish, and Cuttlefish thinks that someone else might have done it, but before they can continue, the ground beneath them collapses as Fuzzy Oozes flows out. Cuttlefish and Agent 3 get separated. Agent 3 and Smallfry end up in a place called Alterna, which leads to them meeting the New, New Squidbeak Splatoon comprised of the old Agent 3 (now Captain) and the Squid Sisters.

The New Agent 3 is also aided by a robotic assistant named O.R.C.A., who helps guide them through Alterna.

At the end of Site 1, Future Utopia Island, Deep Cut makes their entrance and makes it clear that all the loot in Alterna belongs to them. Later, each of them guides one of the three 'treasures' in the area and Agent 3 has to defeat them to continue.

After collecting all the treasures, they form a lawn mower-like tool, which the Captain uses to cut off the fur near the rocket at Alterna Space Center so the team can go there and save Cuttlefish, who is located there.

The Captain gets hurt while using the tool, and it also breaks down. Soon after this, Deep Cut appears again trying to take back the treasure, but Marie tells Deep Cut that they don’t need the treasure and that they can have it back. Deep Cut then asks Marie to be their boss, who reluctantly accepts.

On their way to the rocket, the party overhears that Mr. Grizz plans to use Cuttlefish and the Golden Eggs (collected by the unwitting Inklings and Octolings in Inkopolis and Splatsville working in his company) to 'restore the balance of the world'. When asked about the reason of hunting treasures, Shiver and Frye explain that they want to sell the treasure to help those in need in Splatsville, while leaving little to themselves, which makes Callie and Marie respect them.

After completing all the Sites, Agent 3 has to get on the rocket which is covered by Fuzzy Ooze. Once Agent 3 gets to the top, they and the New Squidbeak Splatoon find Cuttlefish all dried up and lifeless, as a result of being dehydrated by Mr. Grizz. Mr. Grizz, now revealed to be a grizzly bear, then appears and escapes on the rocket, which will then spread Fuzzy Ooze all over the Earth.

The Captain drops a tear on Cuttlefish's body, which makes him come to his sense. Deep Cut appears again and helps Agent 3 and Smallfry reach Mr. Grizz's rocket. There, Agent 3 and Mr. Grizz engages in a fight. After having some of his Fuzzballs splatted, Mr. Grizz knocks Agent 3 and Smallfry out from his rocket as he absorbs the Fuzzy Ooze and plans to send it on the Earth himself. Soon, DJ Octavio, now knowing who the true culprit is, appears in his modified Octobot to save the two. DJ Octavio, Squid Sisters and Deep Cut then play Calamari Inkantation 3MIX together, causing Smallfry to evolve into Hugefry, who then fights Mr. Grizz as DJ Octavio and Agent 3 vacuum the Fuzzballs on Mr. Grizz's body, before blasting him back with the ooze, defeating him. After emerging victorious, DJ Octavio, Agent 3 and Smallfry return to the Earth together.

Gameplay

Mechanics

Comparing to the Hero Mode of the previous two games, Return of the Mammalians has a less linear progression similar to Octo Expansion. Upon entering a mission, O.R.C.A. explains the rule of the level with a dialogue and prompts the player to select one of the sets of weapons avaliable. Different sets of weapons may have different Power Eggs rewards. Some missions also cost Power Eggs to play, and/or have special conditions that will cause the player to get splatted if they fail. The areas in this mode are covered in Fuzzy Ooze, which serves as the obstacle blocking the path to other areas, rather than having the missions locked themselves. The player needs to use the Power Eggs they collect from the missions to clear them in order or progress.

Missions

The Crater

Site 1: Future Utopia Island

Site 2: Cozy & Safe Factory

Site 3: Cryogenic Hopetown

Site 4: Landfill Dreamland

Site 5: Eco-Forest Treehills

Site 6: Happiness Research Lab

Alterna Space Center

Quotes

“	SRL historian here with a pro tip. Want to learn about the weird world of Alterna AND brush up your skills with all kinds of weapons and varied terrain? Check out Story Mode! Just follow the strange old man into the Splatsville sewer to get started. Wow, new sentence. Another Story Mode tip: most stages allow you to choose from multiple weapon loadouts. So you can sharpen your skills AND take advantage of a weapon's particular strengths to survive. That said, sometimes you'll have nothing to rely on but your wits... and maybe a Zipcaster.	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

“	It's not all multiplayer mayhem in #Splatoon3, you know? Dozens of single-player stages filled with unique tricks, tests and... hairy Octarians await in Story Mode.	”
— @NintendoEurope on Twitter

Trivia

• This is the only single-player campaign that does not have "Octo" as the first word.
• New Agent 3 has two styles of the Hero Suit. A post on Nintendo's official website hints that they are "each suited to different situations".
• Unlike Octo Valley and Octo Canyon, the player can use a non-hero weapon in this campaign.
• Additionally, this story mode bears multiple similarities to the Octo Expansion:
  • The player is able to choose between different non-Hero weapons.
  • Both modes have a similar interface and heightened freedom as opposed to the previous two Story Modes' linear progression.
  • Both modes have a key NPC that, besides guiding the player throughout the area, will also splat them if they fail certain objectives or missions (such as running out of ink). They are C.Q. Cumber and O.R.C.A. respectively.
  • The final mission (Turf War and the last phase of Mr. Grizz respectively) of both modes have the player stop the antagonist within a time limit, and failing them by either being splatted or running out of time will show an additional cutscene of the world being destroyed before showing the usual 'Continue?' screen.
• In a post from Splatoon's Japanese account, an Octoling can be seen in the Hero Suit, confirming that Octolings will be playable in the single-player campaign of the base game for the first time.
• After beating the Story Mode, the statue of Mr. Grizz at Grizzco is replaced by a fish with a bear in its mouth, modeled after Smallfry (in its Hugefry form) and a smaller Mr. Grizz.

Gallery

Artwork

• 

  Mode icon

• Logo

  Logo

• Key art (vertical)

  Key art (vertical)

• Key art (horizontal, no logo)

  Key art (horizontal, no logo)

• Agent 3 and Smallfry

  Agent 3 and Smallfry

• Agent 3

  Agent 3

• Agent 3

  Agent 3

• Agent 3

  Agent 3

• Smallfry and Power Eggs

  Smallfry and Power Eggs

• 

  Smallfry

• Smallfry

  Smallfry

• New Squidbeak Splatoon (Callie, the Captain and Marie)

  New Squidbeak Splatoon (Callie, the Captain and Marie)

• 

  New Squidbeak Splatoon - Holidays 2021

• New Squidbeak Splatoon

  New Squidbeak Splatoon

• Craig Cuttlefish

  Craig Cuttlefish

• Craig Cuttlefish

  Craig Cuttlefish

• Octotrooper

  Octotrooper

Promotional images

• Agent 3 with the first style of the Hero Suit

  Agent 3 with the first style of the Hero Suit

• Agent 3 with the second style of the Hero Suit

  Agent 3 with the second style of the Hero Suit

• An Octotrooper

  An Octotrooper

• A view of Alterna, as seen in the opening

  A view of Alterna, as seen in the opening

• File:S3 promo screenshot story Alterna stage 00.jpg
• File:S3 promo screenshot story Alterna stage 01.jpg
• File:S3 promo screenshot story Alterna stage 02.jpg
• Agent 3 and Smallfry near some of the Fuzzy Ooze

  Agent 3 and Smallfry near some of the Fuzzy Ooze

• Agent 3, immediately after touching the Fuzzy Ooze

  Agent 3, immediately after touching the Fuzzy Ooze

• 

  Agent 3, fully trapped in Fuzzy Ooze

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  Smallfry eating some Fuzzy Ooze via a Fuzzball

• 

  Callie, Marie, and the (Captain)

• 

  An Octarian and Smallfry

• 

  Cap'n Cuttlefish, as seen in Splatoon 3

• 

  Octostamps and an Amped Octostamp in Return of the Mammalians

• A group of Octohoppers

  A group of Octohoppers

• 

  A group of Octopods with an Oversized Octopod.

• 

  A group of Octarians

• 

  Enemy Octolings

Screenshots

• A image of Agent 3 wielding a Sloshing Machine, with Smallfry in the back.

  A image of Agent 3 wielding a Sloshing Machine, with Smallfry in the back.

• Agent 3 battling an Octarian with the Splatana Stamper.

  Agent 3 battling an Octarian with the Splatana Stamper.

External links

• Splatoon 3 – “Return of the Mammalians” – Nintendo Switch