Palette

A Palette, with color chips

Fuuuuuture!

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Palettes are a new feature introduced in Side Order. They were first shown during the Nintendo Direct on 14 September 2023, specifially during the Side Order trailer.

Appearance

Palettes are large, thin, white Launchpad-like controller panels with 36 color chip inserts in place of where a Launchpad's buttons would be. They additionally resemble eye shadow palettes.

Palettes have a large button alongside two smaller twist-able toggles in their upper left-hand corner; a logo bearing the infinity symbol can be seen on the large button. A thin, long black interface screen is also present; on Pearl's Palette, a small stylized depiction of her can be seen on the screen's far left.

Functionality

A Palette is a form of skill tree which upgrades Agent 8's abilities, similar to Agent 3's Hero Gear in Return of the Mammalians. Palette are adjustable to the player's preferred stats via placing different color chips inside them; at any given Floor, players must choose between three different color chips to apply. Up to 36 color chips can be placed inside a Palette, leaving the player with the decision of how to build and strengthen their character.

The Palette seen in the Side Order trailer is named "Pearl's Palette". There are also other palettes.

Quotes

“	Here (wherever "here" is in Side Order) you can see a color chip being placed into a Palette device to give Agent 8 an edge in combat. Color chips can do all kinds of things for you, like boosting your damage, widening your area of effect, quickening your steps, and more. The SRL Color Guard recommends factoring in which color chip is on offer before selecting a floor layout. It's up to each player to decide the best way to develop your Palette over time. The Color Guard likes green, but you do you.	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

Gallery

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  Pearl's Palette

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  Agent 8 using a Palette, holding a color chip

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  Agent 8 using a palette

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  Pearl's icon highlighted on her Palette

Etymology

Palette likely comes from "color palette", which is a thin board or slab on which a painter lays and mixes colors. It can also mean a range of colors available to an user of a computer or in a make-up kit. Both options reference how the color chips used on a Palette affect the coloration of Agent 8's hair and ink color.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	パレット Paretto	Palette