Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion

is a 2018 downloadable content expansion pack to the single-player mode of Splatoon 2, a 2017 third-person shooter video game for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on June 13, 2018. Set in an underground rapid transit system named the Deepsea Metro, the DLC follows an amnesiac Octoling nicknamed Agent 8. After becoming inadvertently trapped in the Metro alongside former general Cap'n Cuttlefish, Agent 8 journeys through a multitude of testing facilities, at the direction of a talking telephone, with the goal of escaping to the surface.
The development of Octo Expansion began shortly after the release of Splatoon 2. Series producer Hisashi Nogami wanted to allow players to explore previously undeveloped aspects of Splatoon's world—especially those relating to the Octolings—through a story-driven single-player adventure. The DLC's levels were designed to be more varied and challenging than Splatoon 2's regular story campaign. Octo Expansion's visual aesthetics took influence from the popular culture of eras such as the 1980s to elicit a mysterious atmosphere, while its darker, subterranean setting served to set itself apart from the series' colorful world. Its soundtrack was deliberately arranged to be minimalistic and experimental to further deviate Octo Expansion from previous Splatoon titles.
Octo Expansion was met with positive reviews for its difficulty, unique artistic vision, and story that reviewers said expanded upon the narrative foundations of earlier Splatoon games. Numerous critics deemed it superior to Splatoon 2's regular single-player mode.

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Gameplay

Octo Expansion is a downloadable content single-player campaign for Splatoon 2. Like its parent title, Octo Expansion is a third-person shooter, and retains core gameplay elements like the usage of ink as both ammunition and a liquid that players can submerge and swim through. The player controls an Octoling, an evolved humanoid octopus, named Agent 8. Their mission is to reach the surface by collecting four objects called "thangs" scattered across various challenges with differing objectives. There are a total of 80 challenges offered, which include occasional bosses, but clearing them all is not required to progress the main story. Within the interconnecting hub world, the player can instantaneously travel to numerous stations throughout the Deepsea Metro, which are divided between distinct metro lines. Each station houses a particular challenge and has a mandatory entry fee, which must be paid using the limited CQ Points currency. If the trial's objective is successfully completed, the player is awarded additional CQ Points. These objectives range from shooting boxes to imitate a desired object, guiding a giant 8-ball to a marked goal, and shooting a set number of moving targets. Each level features combat encounters with "sanitized" versions of the Octarian enemies from Splatoon 2's single-player.
Before starting a level, players are offered a predetermined selection of weapons normally found in Splatoon 2's multiplayer, including powerful armaments named special weapons that last for an infinite duration. If the player loses all of their lives, they can reattempt the challenge, provided they have sufficient funds. If they fail consistently, they are given the option to skip the level entirely. If the player's CQ Points balance depletes below zero by repeatedly failing objectives, they are loaned back a small amount of points to allow further play. Each level is accessed in the hub world through a virtual subway map, displayed through the in-game CQ-80 device.
Upon finishing levels, players are given "mem cakes", miniature collectibles that visually resemble a particular aspect from Splatoon's world, typically a character. Each mem cake is attached to a haiku-structured poem written from the perspective of Agent 8 that centers on the mem cake's subject. The mem cakes can also be exchanged for cosmetic gear items equippable in Splatoon 2's multiplayer. If the player skips a level, its associated mem cake is withheld until said level is cleared legitimately. Collecting every mem cake by clearing each of the 80 available courses unlocks an optional boss fight. Similarly to the mem cakes, players are also gradually given access to in-universe chat logs written by characters Pearl, Marina, and Cuttlefish that offer background information on various elements of Splatoon's world. Both the mem cake poems and chat logs are also viewable through the CQ-80. Once players complete the expansion's story, they are awarded the option to play as an Octoling alongside Inklings in multiplayer matches.

Plot

The plot of Octo Expansion occurs roughly around the same time as the events of Splatoon 2's base single-player mode.
Under mysterious circumstances, an Octoling becomes confined in an underground subway facility named the Deepsea Metro. They are awoken by General Cap'n Cuttlefish, who found himself trapped while on patrol with Agent 3, the protagonist of the first Splatoon. With the Octoling having no recollection of their identity, Cuttlefish decides to assist them in reaching the surface. While exploring the Metro, the duo meet a talking Telephone, who identifies the Octoling as "Number 10008"; the title's verbosity prompts Cuttlefish to give them the moniker "Agent 8" instead. The Telephone relays that to reach "the promised land", Agent 8 must traverse through the subway to collect four objects known as "thangs" scattered across various testing chambers. Agent 8 is given remote assistance via radio by Pearl and Marina of the pop band Off the Hook. Agent 8 clears the challenges and collects all four thangs, which the Telephone combines into a large blender. The Telephone then attempts to murder Agent 8 and Cuttlefish by tricking them into entering it. However, heeding a distress signal sent by Marina, Agent 3 rescues the duo, incapacitating the Telephone. Agent 8 then climbs through the depths of the facility towards the surface, while Cuttlefish stays behind to keep watch over Agent 3, who was knocked unconcious from their attack. Just as they are about to reach the exit, Agent 8 is confronted by Agent 3, who has been brainwashed by the Telephone with the use of a turquoise-colored, gelatinous ooze. Agent 8 defeats them in battle, freeing them from their mind control.
After reaching the surface, the trio is retrieved by Pearl and Marina. Upon their rescue, however, the facility itself begins to rise from the ocean, revealed to be an enormous statue of a human being. From within the statue, the mangled—but still functional—Telephone formally introduces itself as Commander Tartar, an artificial intelligence constructed by a human scientist prior to mankind's extinction millenia prior. Initially programmed to encode and pass the knowledge of humanity onto the next sentient race, Tartar became personally disgusted with the Inklings and Octolings. Deeming them unworthy of its wisdom, it reveals its new objective: to eradicate all present life and create a new apex species using a genetic ooze made from its past test subjects. As it prepares to discharge an enormous solar-powered cannon from the mouth of the statue to destroy Inkopolis, Marina devises a plan to stop it from charging by covering the statue in ink. The plan is successful, but the statue fires anyway with its reserve energy. As a last resort, Pearl uses her voice-powered Princess Cannon weapon to counter the laser, destroying both the statue and Tartar. With the threat averted, the group returns to Inkopolis Square.

Development and release

Octo Expansion's conceptualization began shortly after the release of Splatoon 2 in 2017. Octolings, which had previously assumed the role of non-player enemies in the series' story campaigns, were considered to be made playable avatars since the start of Splatoon 2, as was requested by fans; however, this was tentatively rejected as developers felt it would be jarring for Octolings to feature in a non-antagonistic role without explanation. Producer Hisashi Nogami wanted to create the expansion in part to allow players to explore deeper into the series' world, and decided that a dedicated single-player experience was the best manner of accomplishing this. The playable Octolings themselves were designed to visually contrast the Inklings by having a rounder appearance and a more serious disposition.
The environment of a subway station was chosen out of a desire to establish a darker setting divergent from the series' otherwise colorful art style. However, as with previous Splatoon games, Nogami also wanted Octo Expansion's setting to feel genuine and dynamic. He explained in an interview that occasionally eliciting darker themes to offset the cheerfulness was done to make Splatoon's world better reflect reality in that "... you don't live every single day with the same attitude. You're not smiling and laughing every day of your life." The Octo Expansion team wanted players to feel out of place in the Deepsea Metro by taking design inspiration from the cultures of "forgotten generation", like those of the 1980s, that some players would be unfamiliar with, serving as an analogy for Agent 8's memory loss.
Toru Minegishi headed development of the expansion's deliberately minimalistic soundtrack. The songs, originally meant to be nebulous background music, were enjoyed by art director Seita Inoue to such a degree that he created a DJ character named Dedf1sh to act as their in-universe creator; he hoped Dedf1sh's inclusion would increase fan interest in the songs.
The level design was intended to vary wildly, and featured cut content from the base Splatoon 2 release. There were concepts for around 150 levels, but only 80 made it into the full game. The expansion's final boss, which stemmed from ideas that director Yusuke Amano had wanted to implement since the first Splatoon, was outlined in a 30-page manga illustrated by Inoue. The developers added the CQ Point system as a way to create tension and give players more agency in how they complete levels. It also served as a check-and-balance system for the expansion's repetetive gameplay. Some of the game's levels were designed by members of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild development team, particularly those that helped create the latter title's shrine puzzles.

Release

Octo Expansion was announced in a Nintendo Direct broadcast on March 8, 2018. The expansion was made available to pre-order shortly after its announcement, with exclusive in-game clothing items available for doing so. The DLC was formally released on June 13, 2018. An official CD release of the soundtrack, titled Octotune, was released on July 18. An Amiibo set featuring the Octoling Girl, Boy, and Octopus was released on December 7. An art book consisting mostly of concept illustrations from Octo Expansion's development, titled Inkopolis Walker, was published exclusively in Japan on December 28. A physical version of Splatoon 2 with the DLC included was made available on October 8, 2021, also solely in Japan. On April 22, 2022, Octo Expansion was added as a benefit for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

Reception and legacy

Octo Expansion received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow aggregator OpenCritic gave the DLC a "strong" rating, being recommended by 82% of critics. It additionally garnered a score of 81.64% on GameRankings. Many critics praised Octo Expansion as being of higher quality than Splatoon 2's base single-player campaign.
The expansion's levels were mostly praised for their mechanical creativity, as well as their heightened difficulty. IGN reviewer Brendan Graeber praised the diversity of Octo Expansion's trials, lauding their inventive use of the Splatoon series' ink-based mechanics. Similarly, Kallie Plagge of GameSpot complimented the expansion's experimentation with restricting the player to choosing a select few weapons per level. While she called the levels suitable practice for Splatoon 2's online modes, she acknowledged they could become exceedingly difficult for those unaccustomed to said weapons. The CQ Points system, which critics described as allowing less-skilled players to skip especially challenging levels, was generally praised, though Tomas Barry of Cubed3 stated it felt needlessly complex at times. Destructoid 's Chris Carter stated that while some levels felt rewarding to clear, others were tedious, personally deeming the difficulty distribution inconsistent. Similarly, Abram Buehner of GamingTrend found certain level types, such as the target-breaking missions, particularly frustrating. He sharply criticized the majority of the bosses for being "merely remixed" versions of fights previously seen in Splatoon 2's base single-player campaign, feeling that said bosses contrasted negatively with the expansion's otherwise creative level design.
Reviewers commended the game's presentation. Alex Olney of Nintendo Life applauded the game's visuals as unique and full of intricate details, additionally lauding the soundtrack. He responded positively to the in-game cutscenes, which he stated heightened the characters' complex personalities. Conversely, Chris Carter critiqued the expansion's level environments as seldom feeling recycled from Splatoon 2's base single-player, but nevertheless praised their occasional quirkiness. Caty McCarthy of VG427 described the Deepsea Metro itself as creepy. Brian Shea of Game Informer compared the subterranean atmosphere to that of the puzzle-platform video game Portal.
Octo Expansion's narrative was warmly received. Reviewers appreciated the expansion's story crumbs, such as the optional chat logs, that add to the overarching story of Splatoon's world, principally in relation to the Octolings. The atmophere of the game's escape climax, including the final boss, was especially acclaimed by critics. Kotaku's Ben Bertoli commented on the DLC's more overtly disturbing plot elements compared to earlier Splatoon titles, characterizing Commander Tartar as "genocidal" and deserving of "a spot near the top of gaming’s most hardcore villains."

Legacy

Splatoon 3, released on September 9, 2022, would mark the first instance in the series where players are given the choice to be an Octoling immediately upon starting the game. The level design and overall aesthetics of Splatoon 3's story campaign, Return of the Mammalians, were noted by reviewers as being reminiscent of Octo Expansion. Additionally, Splatoon 3's own paid single-player expansion, titled Side Order, follows a cast of returning characters who originally starred in Octo Expansion, including Pearl, Marina, Dedf1sh, and Agent 8, the lattermost of whom the player once again assumes control.