Splatoon 3 Side Order trailer showcases roguelike objectives, ability upgrades, and more

Nintendo has revealed a new trailer forSplatoon 3’s upcoming downloadable content (DLC), Side Order, which has shown off more of the single-player roguelike action that players can look forward to.

Side Order is the second wave of DLC from Splatoon 3’s Expansion Pass, and it's set to release on February 22. The experience will see players step back into the shoes of Agent 8 - the Octoling protagonist from Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion DLC. Our cephalopodic hero mysteriously wakes up in a dystopian, colorless version of Inkopolis Square in a “world of order.”

As shown in the trailer, the player is tasked with ascending the ominous Spire of Order one floor at a time along with the beloved Inkling character Pearl, who’s inhabiting a drone for some reason. To progress, players must complete objectives, such as defeating enemies or guiding balls into goals, which have varying difficulties and rewards. Starting these challenges will also provide the player with “color chips,” which are temporary ability upgrades that can be equipped to enhance attributes such as your firing speed or damage.

Upon losing a run, you’ll have to start again from the bottom of the spire. You’ll also lose all your color chips, but, in return, you’ll be rewarded with new currency, pearls, which can be spent on permanent ability upgrades to make your next attempts a bit easier. Nintendo has explained that the experience is “designed to be replayed over and over.”

As Splatoon fans have probably already noticed, it seems likely that this “world of order” setting ties into the theme of Splatoon 2’s final Splatfest (in-game voting contest), which had players answer the question, “What kind of world do you want to live in?” The two options were “chaos” or “order." Splatoon 3’s main location, Splatsville, is known as the “city of chaos,” so that base was already covered. It makes sense that this was given the spotlight in Splatoon 3 since Team Chaos won the competition.

For the uninitiated, Splatoon 2’s main story saw the player team up with Marie, the winning Squid Sister of Splatoon’s final Splatfest, so the Splatoon story has been influenced by previous Splatfests in the past, too. However, it remains to be seen how the plot of Side Order will unfold.

Looking for more games to play? Be sure to check out our recommendations for the best Nintendo Switch games for more to play on Nintendo’s console. You can also read our list of upcoming Switch games for a roundup of titles coming soon.