My Affinity with Splatoon

Splatoon is a game you can play with friends, and naturally there are Discord communities, LINE groups, Facebook groups, Twitter, and so on. By chance, I also got to know quite a few people who play Splatoon.

I was very happy during that period, although looking back now, I feel like I really played way too much 😂. But there was nothing I could do about it—this game is just that addictive.

For people I met through the game, I consciously kept them separate from real life and tried not to talk too much about private matters. That’s a basic form of protection online, and also a way of respecting the other person’s privacy. Still, playing games is, more or less, a way of making friends; being able to meet across this vast world is itself a kind of fate.

Ironically, back in 2017, when I saw Splatoon 2 in Japan, I thought it looked interesting and bought it right away. At first, we didn’t realize Splatoon 2 was a multiplayer online battle game. After playing a few stages of Hero Mode, we felt dizzy and thought it was pretty monotonous, so we never turned it on again.

It wasn’t until 2020, when a Japanese coworker invited me to play Splatoon, that I suddenly realized the battles were the real essence of the game. That was also when I learned Hero Mode was actually really fun, and in the end I got hooked and bought the DLC.

During the Splatoon 2 days, I almost never played PvP; I mostly played Salmon Run. Around that same time, while chatting with B, a newly promoted manager, I found out that he and his daughter both played Splatoon. Sometimes at night we’d team up for Salmon Run or Turf War. One of the engineers on the same project was also a Splatoon player; he had reached X Rank in Splatoon 2, and occasionally we’d play ranked matches after work. Even as I write this, memories of the times we played together slowly come back to me.

At first I mostly played by myself. Occasionally I’d play Turf War or Salmon Run with coworkers around me, and when the lineup was good we’d even try going for 999. It wasn’t until after Splatoon 3 that I started finding people to play with through various social platforms. After returning to Taiwan, I also met up and had meals with some players who really loved Splatoon.

What was especially interesting was that one Japanese player also joined the group. He couldn’t understand Chinese, but since most of us knew at least a little Japanese, and with the help of a Discord translation bot, communication was still pretty okay. The whole “talking past each other while playing with a Japanese player” atmosphere was really joyful. (Later, he seems to have left the group for some reason.)

Meeting friends through games is a pretty good way to step outside your own bubble, since everyone comes from different professions and life backgrounds. For example, some people can buy a car, buy a house, raise children, work, prepare for exams, write a thesis, and still reach 999 in every map—I truly admire them to the core. As for me, I can only choose between work and games, and I’m mediocre at both.

Although I often complain about Splatoon’s weapon balance, matchmaking, lag, and special abilities being OP, I still really love this game overall. Its worldbuilding, music, art style, and stylish outfit combinations are all excellent.

In the end, no matter what, being able to play games together in this vast world is a rare and valuable kind of fate. For me, it’s also a great opportunity to broaden my horizons and step out of my bubble. I’m writing this down now while I still remember it all.