Salmon Run does a lot with a little

So I’ve been playing a ton of Splatoon 2 lately. More specifically, I’ve been very interested in the Salmon Run PvE mode added in for this sequel, and it’s actually a super interesting example of how to stretch out content well.

If you look at if from pure content, Salmon Run is super limited in what it’s got. 3 maps. No ability to customize your gear. Only 8 main enemy types. And this is supposed to be a long lasting mode how?

Well, smart game design is how! To start, you have no control over your weapon loadouts every shift. Whatever the game gives you, you’ve gotta stick with. No min-maxing your loadout here. What this does is create a ton of imposed variety on the player. You can’t ever make one strategy and stick with it. Got an awesome gameplan hinging on the charger player? Too bad, tomorrow's loadout doesn’t have a charger. Better think on your feet! It makes constantly shifting your strategy a must, so you’ll never get tired of the same old.

Salmon Run’s also got things to shake up the general gameplay. The different roundtypes of glowflies, grillers, darkness, and the mothership give injections of something completely new that you have to scramble to deal with. During ordinary rounds too, high tide, low tide, and fog can all put a noticeable spin on how you have to deal with the upcoming wave. Combine that with different loadouts forcing different strategies for each and every new wrinkle, and you can see how the variety starts to take shape.

Let’s also not forget the punishing difficulty level. Seriously, at the highest level, salmon run is absolutely insane, and you’re probably not going to win most of your games in it. That only helps, however! The ever looming threat of failure makes every round tense and engaging. You’re never once going through the motions, because the motions are trying to kill you in a different way every time.

And finally, you’ve got the oft hated limited nature of it. Salmon Run is not always able to be played, and you may only enter it during certain times during the week. This… does undoubtedly lead to stretching the mode’s content out. After all, people will think back on it more fondly if they can’t have it right then, and will be more eager to play it at all because it’s limited. It’s just how our psychology works. On the other hand, this is an awfully artificial and fairly player unfriendly way to “expand” the time people will be interested in it. If your life schedule doesn’t line up with salmon run, too bad, you can’t play it. I’m not a fan of it. Regardless of my distaste, it does show that the devs were thinking of designing around limited content, at least.

Salmon Run does a lot with a little, and I applaud it for that. I of course wish there were more maps and more variety, but what we have now means I’ve never once gotten bored with the mode. And as Nintendo shows that they plan to add more content, I have very few complaints with it.