Articuno Available for a ‘Brief’ Period, Reward Extension in GO

by
The Pokémon Company has released an official, albeit unclear, statement regarding legendaries in Pokémon GO.
 
Up until now, details on how long legendaries Lugia and Articuno would be available have been scarce to none. And although no concrete end date was given, TPCi stated that Articuno “will appear at Gyms for a brief while.” The statement only singled out Articuno as having a short stint in the game, and once again confirmed that Zapdos and Moltres will be coming “soon.” This seems to suggest that Lugia will be available for the long run, and the three original, legendary birds will be switched out so each is available for a small period of time.
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On a related note, Niantic has officially announced via Twitter that the GO Fest global rewards have been extended to end on July 27th, 5:00pm PST – that’s 72 more hours of these bonuses:
  • Double Stardust
  • Double Candy
  • Double XP
  • Increased Pokémon encounters
  • Reduced hatching distance
  • Reduced buddy distance
Have you been lucky enough to catch one of these beauties to add to your collection?

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530 thoughts on “Articuno Available for a ‘Brief’ Period, Reward Extension in GO”

  3. For the first time in since Friday afternoon my tetris effect from Splatoon 2 seems to have calmed down. I no longer see a reticle in my vision so that’s great.

    Reply

  4. Man everyone complains about there being to many dragon type legends.
    Theres been a flying legend in every single Pokemon game.
    Flying is one of the best types confirmed.
    Dragon isn’t the legendary type. It’s flying!

    Reply

  5. Obviously not official, but Articuno could very well leave GO so Zapdos or Moltres can have their turn around August 5th-9th – because of the GO events happening in Japan and across EU.

    Reply

    • Looks like the cancelling is affecting some people and not all. But anyways, it looks like the SNES Mini is going to have the same stock problems as the NES and I hope that’s not the case :/

      Reply

  10. Ahh, hell yeah, So I might just have a chance at getting Lugia and articuno after all! Going to my nearest town tomorrow. So happy these events weren’t just on forr those 2 days of go fest. :’D

    Reply

  12. T_T once again my jackhole store let the reshop department overflow while I was gone AND GUESS WHO HAS TO GO THROUGH IT ALL BY HIMSELF

    I swear it’s just so severely unfair that I bust my ass for a occupation that doesn’t even acknowledge my blights despite being well reviewed

    I just really hope we get some USUM news soon because I can’t live off Splat2 forever and will new a new sensation to look forward towards

    Reply

    • You should find something else that you find fun to do.

      I mean, everybody suggesting that is for something, isn’t it?

      Reply

      • Oh really, do you love having to dig through 8 carts filled to the brim with mismatched products most of them are crushed or opened?
        And having to painstakingly sort through everything to make sure everything is ok and not expired?
        And to have your blank expressioned coworkers just keep dumping more shit into the carts completely oblivious to my organization system?

        Reply

        • Yeah I do that almost every day at my work. Except a lot of the items are disgusting because I work at a grocery store. So I regularly smell rotting fruit, dairy, and meat.

          Reply

  19. For those of you interested in the show a new episode title has been revealed.

    Episode 980: Rockruff and the Guardian Diety of the Ruins of Life

    I guess Rockruff is going to use some of his moves on a certain Tapu. Wink Wink. ; )

    Reply

  20. I remember I had a friend who stopped playing Diamond because he thought his game was broken but it was actually just because a Pokémon was poisoned and it did that glitch looking things

    Reply

  22. Identity crisis going on? I’m still the one and only luigi0301. Evolution of my username: Luigi0301 2013 – Luigi0301 present

    Reply

  26. If your favorite Pokémon (not already in Smash) was in Smash, what would its four specials and final Smash be? (also any notable features such as its grab/tilt/air/taunts/animations/whatever being a reference)

    Reply

    • Chandelure

      Up Special – Fire Spin – Goes up while spinning
      Neutral – Shadow ball – Unlike Mewtwo’s it isn’t chargeable, travels faster, and does less damage
      Foward Special – Flame Charge – Self explanatory
      Down Special – Will-O-Wisp – Fires projectiles that will burn the enemy (it will still do damage for about 2 seconds)

      Final Smash – Same as Pokken with cutscene and everything

      Reply

    • Idk anything about smash but

      Up Special – High Jump Kick where Lopunny jumps high in the air as a recovery
      Regular Special – Charge Up Focus Punch

      Side Special – Return

      Down Special – Stomps the ground getting close opponents stuck in the ground

      Final Smash – Mega Evolution

      Reply

    • Rhyperior
      Standard B: Rock Wrecker, standard charge shot but takes a while to charge but the blast cannot be deflected when full
      Side B Megahorn: his horn glows white and extends as he lunges outward
      Up B: Drill Run, he does a Wario corkscrew mixed in with fox’s directional influence
      Down B: Earthquake, depending on his location, on the ground he preforms a short hop that grants him super-armor and slams the ground that can bury his opponents, but in air its basically the Bowser bomb but with recoil damage and ending lag

      Final Smash: Tectonic Rage, if opponents are caught in his radius he shouts as the Groundium Z insignia flashes, slams the ground opening up a fissure and drags them underneath

      Grabs
      forward he blasts them out with his palms
      back he swats them with his tail
      up he gores them
      down he crushes

      Taunts
      up: he revs his drill
      side: he preforms a mini rock wrecker animation
      down: he scraps the ground (as if he were going to charge)

      Reply

      • When he revs his drill could he swish his tail back and forth? Only it has similarities to an Ankylosaurus tail and I picture it doing that as it displays its’ dominance.

        Reply

    • Infernape

      Up – Flame Wheel, upwards spinning attack
      Neutral – Flamethrower, like Charizard/Bowser
      Forward – Mach Punch, fast rush forward punch.
      Down – Flare Blitz, surrounds itself with Flare Blitz, like a shield at first, can be directed, slightly self-damaging.

      Grab : forward – Fury Swipes then Fire Punch ‘throws’ the opponent down
      backward – grabs and rolls backwards and throws opponent
      up – throws opponent up and hits with Fire Spin
      down – grabs opponent, pulls legs up to their body and Blaze Kicks with both legs using them to jump off and away from them.

      Taunts: down – it grabs balls of fire from ‘behind’ it and throws them in the air.
      side – it grabs a banana and sets fire to it before munching on it.
      up – super saiyain hair fire charge

      Final Smash I see it doing a fast Close Combat before a Giant Fire Blast rains down over most of the stage.

      Reply

    • Flygon

      Taunts: One would have it fluttering its wings which makes the singing sound, another would be flying briefly (kicking up some sand), an the last one would be it growling.

      Up Special: Fly – Flygon rushes up in the air in a similar fashion like Charizard except it goes a decent bit higher but does less damage when it hits foes.

      Neutral: Sandstorm – A chargeable move (but can’t be stored like ZSS and Gren), Flygon then unleashes a blast of sand from its wings that inflicts little bits of damage but the more its charged, the further the opponent gets blown away.

      Side Special: Dragon Rush – Basically like Captian Falcon’s Falcon Kick, Flygon flies above the ground in a draconic-like aura that does a good amount of damage to an opponent.

      Down Special: Boomburst- From its wings, Flygon releases sound waves from both sides that blast at the opponent.

      Final Smash: Tectonic Rage – Like Great Aether, Flygon must be near an opponent to unleash it. It does the same animation as in game, but those who stand near the explosion at the end will be inflicted a great amount of of damage.

      Reply

    • Alolan Raichu

      Up Special: Thunderbolt

      Alolan Raichu sends out electricity in a line, mid distance, before following it up. You can influence where the line goes by pressing a direction as the special is activated. The electricity does most of the damage but little knock back, contact with AloChu in momentum does little damage but higher knock back.

      Neutral Special: Focus Blast

      Two modes: Rapid small ball projectile that goes in a straight line that makes Raichu’s next attack have slightly higher knock back, or a large projectile that moves similarly to Mewtwo’s shadow ball, but faster and weaker.

      Down Special: Grass Knot

      Very weak, very short range, but buries opponent in the ground like Villager’s down Smash

      Side Special: Psyshock

      An very easily avoided, short range attack with pink ‘bubbles’ of psychic energy popping in front of Alochu. Very high knock back and damage, but as stated, easily avoidable.

      Final Smash: Stoked Sparksurfer

      Goes across the screen three times horizontally, getting higher and higher each time. These strikes are low damage, high knockback. Then AloChu will slam down onto the centre of the stage in a large explosion: very very high knockback if they’re caught near impact, fringes of the impact are weak damage + stun

      It has a skin with Kanto Raichu’s colours

      Reply

        • Sit your ass down white boi

          Pikachu’s Skull Bash was a TM
          Jigglypuff’s Rest is a TM
          Charizard’s Fly and Rock Smash are TM moves
          Mewtwo’s Shadow Ball and Teleport are TM moves
          Lucario’s Double Team is a TM move
          The only one that doesn’t have TM moves is Greninja

          Reply

          • u coulda done
            Neutral: Thunderbolt
            Side: Spark, Slides on its tail while discharging electricity
            Up: Psychic Surfer, gleams pinkish white and floats upward
            Down: Thunder Wave sends out a pulse of electricity that can stun them

          • Sounds boring, neutral and side sound like shitty Pikachu and one isn’t even a real Pokémon move lol

            Also the up special sounds as bad as shit

    • Incineroar

      Neutral : Taunt

      Up : Flamethrower (from the belt)

      Down : Dragon Rage

      Side : Darkest Lariat

      Final Smash: MALICIOUS MOONSAULT

      Reply

  27. As of an hour ago I made my first avatar change-a Dusk Ball to a Sunflora that is a little too intimate-since I joined Pokejungle. Is this an appreciable change? Any criticisms, please let me know. I am probably going to change my Avatar name when the first batch of USUM news will come out. I’m thinking UltraSunny.

    Reply

  29. Fellow Americans better get their healthy living in now while they can because in a year or so only the top 1% will be able to pay for health insurance thanks to the Republican party and Führer Trump.

    Reply

      • My point exactly.They don’t need it the way many more others do, but they’re the only ones that are gonna be able to afford it…….

        Reply

          • It’s so disgusting……..It is literally making my stomach hurt a little the more I think about it……..

          • If you’re over 18 then please vote for the midterms. It’s the best we can do to until 2020 :/

            I can’t believe they are just ignoring all these people who will literally die if this plan they have passes.

          • Yup most definitely. Meanwhile Trump is getting ready to fire Bob Mueller so he can try and hide the fact that he’s a treasonous piece of shit.

          • Fucking hell, man…

            And you know if the Republican Party wasn’t full of people who care more about their party and their country then Trump would be charged with treason by now. He’s just a means to an end.

        • The problem with an insurance system is that it needs a lot of riskless people on the system, meaning that for it the be affordable for anyone lots of healthy people need to sign up. Only problem is that the healthy people don’t want to pay. That’s the main crux of the American system.

          Reply

          • Honestly with how many other countries that have health done right (or at least better than we do) it’s getting harder and harder to defend people that call us the greatest country in the world………..I really am just so embarrassed to be an American these days……

          • We have great health care and education, but we pay 50% income tax and 21% VAT (sales tax). You just have to convince that with wanting one thing you have to take the other thing too, which isn’t really easy.

  36. Alright I’ve looked over a lot of Pokemon and if GF is only putting old Pokemon in the Dex than these Pokemon are the ones that could be in USUM (ones with a Star should be guaranteed in. And ones with a ^ are less likely than Stars or none)

    Mantine line*
    Solrock and Lunatone*
    Aipom line*
    Seel line
    Krabby line
    Skrelp and Clauncher
    Horsea line
    Omanyte line*
    Kabuto line*
    Oddish line*
    Hoppip line^
    Qwilfish
    Shuckle^
    Heracross
    Slugma line
    Wurmple line^
    Lotad line
    Numel line
    Corphish line
    Keckleon*
    Tropius*
    Bronzor line^
    Yamna line^
    Purrloin line^
    Drilbur line^
    Tympole line
    Darumaka line
    Tynamo line
    Heatmor and Durant
    Flabébé line

    Cause alot of their origins are Hawaiian and Tropical based

    Reply

      • Oh them too

        But like seriously they didn’t add the fossils of Kanto even though I even looked into it that the animals they are based on are amongst the only fossilized specimens to ever be in Hawaii, while Cranidos and especially Archen have never been recorded in this area

        And some of these are very big animals in Hawaii like Manta’s and they just don’t appear

        Reply

        • Yeah the lack of Mantine really bugs me. Also Tynamo is on island scan already as Eelektross. Lack of Flabebe is likely due to Comfey.

          Reply

          • Yeah, but reasons for some

            Aipom- Has been shown to live in Tropical environments in almost every single card of itself
            Oddish- Bellosom is literally a Luau dancer, how is it not here?!
            Mantine- We all know why
            Keckleon and Tropius- Both are very tropical animals and even look Alolan, yet they don’t appear?
            Darumaka- It is a spirit based Pokemon and this is a spiritual region, woohoo why not?

            Just some explanations for some

            I think I will do a video tomorrow on just going over Pokemon for USUM that should appear

          • Aipom – Game/TCG, actually the two regions we’ve found Aipom in are either normal or cold

            Kecleon & Tropius – Alola has plenty Pokémon that don’t look tropical so not every tropical Pokémon needs to be in Alola. In fact, Kecleon are also found in mild regions (Kalos) and Tropius is found in cold regions (Sinnoh)

            Darumaka – There’s a huge amount of spiritual Pokémon, why should Darumaka be in?

          • Tropius is found in Swamps in Sinnoh though which are similar to Lush Jungle

            And Chameleons are found in Hawaii so it does make sense for an animal that lives in the tropical rainforest biome as to be in a tropical area

          • Swamps and jungles aren’t that closely related tho? Swamps can vary highly in temperature ranges

            Yeah there’s chameleons in Hawaii but there’s been tons of cases where animals found in an area aren’t in that area’s Pokémon region

  38. Random off topic questions cause boreeeeed

    If you could be any of the following, which would you choose?

    Ghost/Werewolf/Vampire/Fairy/Giant/Gnome

    If you could have any of the following as a pet, which would you choose?

    Dragon (Wyrm/Wyvern/European/Chinese/etc)

    Horse (Pegasus/Unicorn/Pegacorn)

    Birds (Phoenix/etc)

    Etc

    Reply

  39. Basic bitch thing but favorite of the four classical elements, and why? Is it due to personal, real life experience? Has it enraptured you in stories? Does it just sound cool? Is it what your main bitch bends in avatar?

    Reply

  40. Ooh, look, fresh blood. It’s been a while since we’ve had a troll here. Maybe it’s a omen of incoming news.

    Moving on to the real point of this comment, I’m writing a Splatoon 2 review, should be done tonight. I know I said this with BotW but never did it (I’m gonna get on that), but this time it’s for real and I have half of a draft to prove it. This is a first for me but I found it difficult to express my feelings about the game so far without sounding overly positive or negative.

    Reply

    • Armadillo
      War Hammer
      Earth Exoskeleton (like cover body in rocks) – Earth Gliding (its like being a ghost but only with solid rock) – Earth Manipulation (like throwing clumps of rocks/soil, fissures, lava generation)

      Reply

      • you could use Water Mimicry which transforms your body into a liquid state, you lose all forms of density and you can morph your limbs into whips and blades

        but be warned water can still freeze and evaporate and you’ll need practice if you want to regain your solid form

        Reply

    • Fire
      Newt
      Bladed fans

      Heat Distortion: Can create audio-visual illusions with heat

      Will-o-Wisp: Can burn the soul if contact is made, a soul can’t be destroyed but can be damaged, split, cleansed

      Fire Generation: Can generate fire

      Reply

    • Air Girffin
      Lighting Cannon
      Voltage Body Manipulation – Can use it to power up my punches or surge adrenaline through my body to increase body movements.
      Aero Flight – Using two powerful gusts of wind on my back, I can use it like a jetpack and fly
      Air manipulation – I can use the gas particles around me and pressurize it to make objects

      Reply

      • hmm the objects gotta be limited to bullets and or blades you can’t make like a grappling hook out of wind

        Reply

        • Yeah, I rushed a little bit at the end so I didn’t fully explain it. It would be used to make various combat weapons if I lacked the cannon or need better hand to hand combat materials rather than my fists.

          Reply

          • You should get dual Sky Scimitars “Skymitars” their swords that look like wings
            ultra light metal that let you fly and glide, and their swipes cause a channel of vacuum which can cut things

  42. I’m just gonna keep spamming convo starters because when I’m bored there is no silence ?

    Favorite mythology? I’ve always been partial to Greek but I want to look more into Scottish stuff too

    Reply

  47. Ive always wondered. I know this is completely irrelevant. But if we all competed in a sort of Total Dama type reality show. I always wondered who would win and who get oted off first. I mean its obvios you will vote off who made you lose the challenhe, but it just be cool who you vote off anyway like based on liking and disliking

    Reply

  49. What are 3 things USUM can do to make you really disappointed?
    For me:
    Direct third version without any major storyline changes
    No Battle Frontier
    No interesting new characters

    Reply

    • -giving pokemon shitty Move Tutor learns
      -a story that is essentially the same
      -a lack of interesting pokemon you find in areas (Like i absolutely adored the idea you could catch a Riolu or Elekid early in BW2)

      Reply

      • Yea that was pretty cool actually. I dont see why they havent made an area specifically for baby pokemon that can be found early. I like finding something other than the basic normal/bird/grass early game

        Reply

        • I’d say SuMo was good for that? You got Pichu first route, Slowpoke, Magnemite, Meowth and Grimer right after, and even Ghost types super early

          Reply

          • Yea rethinking it was pretty good for that. Props on that. SM were good games idc what you guys say

          • Nah fam I loved SuMo too, I think they’re a bit overhated but they’re new so peeps are still raw over them

          • Yea exactly. Especially for New players SM were epic. And maybe I have some bias because SM was the first game I went blind since DP and it was an awesome experience. But SM had a good story, good characters, good graphics, good scenery. Just an amazing game to me. My only gripe is no one battles, but thats not SM’s fault

          • Omg SuMo is amazing for new players, whilst offering a lot of new things for veterans. They suffer a bit for it imo but it’s genius they did that for their anniversary games!

            I’m gonna go blind next Gen, I miss the surprise (I’m obvs not gonna miss things like starter and legend reveal tho)

    • -Only Necrozma or Solgaleo/Lunala get new form changes (if the Tapus got forms like the Forces of Nature that’d be lit)

      -No new Alola Forms (I’m braced tho)

      -Just a retelling of SuMo rather than a ‘What if?’ parallel timeline kinda deal or sequel

      Reply

  50. You’re given a super powerful ultra cool weapon that grants you superpowers

    Would you trade it for USUM news ?

    Reply

  53. Prediction: USUM will have legends, but they’ll be encountered like Ultra Beasts to the frustration of all. Unless there’s walking Pokémon in which case they’ve got over world models anyway.

    Celebi gets a Z-Move like Mew for GS re-release, Kanto and Johto legends can’t be found because virtual console has your back for them. However, if Ho-oh or Lugia is available, they’ll be near or on top of that tower in Maile Garden, and they’ll get Z-Moves/Megas/Primals

    Reply

      • They’re saving it for SuMo ?

        Nah the kinda gaudy cloud decorations on it make me think it’s not functioning and is just decorative

        Reply

    • We should play game. Which past legends (other than Zygarde) will be in USUM.
      My guess will be Xerneas, Yveltal and Beasts of Johto

      Reply

      • Xerneas/Yveltal, to wrap up their Zygarde relations

        Creation Trio, if we don’t get Sinnoh remakes this Gen. Found at areas where dimensional boundaries are weak

        Reply

  54. Personally I don’t like roaming Legendary Pokemon, it just ends up annoying me and I want to try for good natures etc.

    Reply

  55. I finished the review, went to copy it to paste it here, accidentally deleted it, and there’s no undo button where I typed it.

    ._.

    Reply

  56. I just thought of something that could actually happen in USUM. Now I’m pretty sure some people thought about this already, but what if all the previous Alolan Forms available in SM are inaccessible to get because of the whole alternate universe matter (Rather, where all the previous Alolan Forms are gone, there are the new ones exclusive to these games)?

    It would actually be pretty beneficial because you could get a normal version of a Ninetales, or even a normal Persian, in USUM without training up a regular one in the previous generations. And you do the same vice versa where you could get regular forms of the new regional forms in USUM in SM.

    Reply

    • Wela Volcanoes – Heatran/Entei/Groudon/Reshiram/Moltres

      Mount Hokulani –
      Zekrom/Raikou/Zapdos/Cobalion

      Brooklet Hill –
      Suicune/Kyogre

      Seaward Cave –
      Suicune

      Maile Garden –
      Ho-oh/Lugia

      Aether Paradise –
      Mewtwo

      Lush Jungle –
      Virizion

      Resolution Cave –
      Terrakion

      Reply

  58. Splatoon 2 Review

    While Splatoon 2 is a blast, under that fresh coat of ink it’s just Splatoon that rolled a few better abilities.

    Let me begin by saying this: the Squid Research Lab has promised to support the game with new stages, weapons, and splatfests for up to a year. So while I’m reviewing the game in its unfinished state, these are my opinions on the game as it stands.

    When Splatoon 2 was first announced back in January at the Switch Event, skeptical fans expressed concern as to whether or not the game would have enough fresh content to warrant the game being labeled as a sequel. I chose to stay optimistic and firmly believed that Nintendo could make the game feel like a true sequel rather than a Splatoon port with a few new bells and whistles. Six months later, it turns out I may have been wrong. While there’s enough content in the game for an actual release this time around, the improvements and new features over the first game seem sparse. For example, the quality of life improvements were off the mark. One of the most annoying things about the first Splatoon was the opening sequence with Callie and Marie every time you opened the game. Yet while players are given the option to skip through the text of Sheldon, the weapon salesman, there remains no option to skip through the opening sequence. While this is remedied by the quick loading times and sleep feature of the Switch, it’s inconvenient nonetheless. Another issue is that there is still no option to change weapons in the middle of a lobby. This is an even bigger issue when it comes to playing online modes with friends, but I’ll get to that later. Now, onto the issue of fresh content. Nintendo has switched up almost all of the special and sub weapons this time, which changes strategies and keeps things fresh from the original Splatoon. However, outside of the weapons and new stages (which by the way are fantastic), not much feels all that different. As far as the core gameplay goes, it’s pretty much the same. The same four modes from the original Splatoon are still there, and while the rule set has been changed up a bit for some of them, those four are all we’ve got, as Nintendo has confirmed no new ranked modes will be added (source: https://mynintendonews.com/2017/07/23/splatoon-2-developers-discuss-the-game-and-post-release-support/). Sadly, the new characters aren’t all that interesting either, despite the personality the characters had in the original. In fact, many of them are just cookie cutter versions of the originals. For example, in both games clothing is sold by a jellyfish who talks weird, abilities are re-rolled by a sketchy guy with spiky hair, and hats are sold by someone with another creature living on their head. But now I feel I’m being too negative about the game, so I’m going to switch over to talking about the positives instead.

    While it hasn’t changed much, the core gameplay is still as fantastic as it was in the original. The wide variety of weapons, as well as the promise of more, keeps things fresh on the battlefield without being too overwhelming. Most of dnew stages are expertly designed, and the alterations on the returning stages are fresh enough to make me excited to ink their floors once again. Ranked battle is still as fun and frustrating as ever, but this time each mode is given its individual rank. This is great because now I can finally play Tower Control without ruining the gain I made in Splat Zones. The maps are now on a rotation of two hours instead of four, which promotes longer play sessions. Now if there’s a map that I hate (probably The Reef), I don’t need to wait four whole hours to see it gone. The last small bonus I’d like to comment on is the music. While it still consists of the same squeaks and quirky noises as the first, it’s still bursting with personality and a lot more palatable this time.

    Even though I’ve complained they only added one new real mode, Salmon Run is an absolute blast. Even though there aren’t all that many enemy types, the battlefield can get really chaotic and overwhelming quickly, which is a great thing for a horde mode. The fact that you don’t get to choose your weapon in this mode means that players need to carefully think about their strategy with each weapon type. Even though on the surface it may look simple enough, Salmon Run can get very difficult quickly, and the tide of battle can change at any moment (yes, pun very intended). The only downside to this mode is that for whatever reason it’s not playable at all times, only in certain pre-set sessions.

    The story mode suffers from the same condition the much of the rest of the game suffers from. It’s strikingly similar to that of the original Splatoon. However, it makes a few tweaks that make the mode feel just fresh enough until the end. For example, Sheldon will require you to use certain weapons for different levels, meaning you can’t just blow through enemies with the same strategy every time. The octoling battles are also vastly improved over the original game, as they require you to recover eight mini-zapfish rather than simply make it to the goal like last time. Lastly, the story involving everyone’s favorite musical duo (I can say this with confidence, Pearl ruins it for Off the Hook) and the final battle are both anticlimactic. Without spoiling anything, that’s about as much as I can say. It’s shocking (zapfish pun this time) that the ending was the weakest part of the story mode, because the finale was showered with praise in the original.

    Overall, I have very mixed feelings about this game. On one hand, the game provides a memorable experience that’s bursting with personality and just plain fun. And that’s the point, isn’t it? To quote Reggie, “if it’s not fun, why bother?” But on the other hand, it feels like I’m just playing the original Splatoon again. When there’s a noticeable lack of new core gameplay content and many complaints from the first game have yet to be addressed two years later, it makes me question whether I’m truly experiencing Splatoon 2, or if I’m experiencing Splatoon with a few of those weekly updates thrown in there. It’s very difficult for me to score Splatoon 2, and I’ve actually been fluctuating on it for a few days now. I don’t think I’ve ever been this conflicted on game. I want to be able to give it a fair score without feeling like I’m grading it on the achievements original Splatoon. So, grading this as a sequel standing on the shoulders of the giant Splatoon, I score Splatoon 2:

    7/10

    Final thoughts: Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic game (now I feel like I’m rambling), and I’ll play this 7/10 more than higher scored games, but it’s the distinct lack of noticeable improvements that makes the game unworthy of the big pink “2” in the title.

    Reply

    • Shoot I forgot to talk about the communications

      Communication is one of the game’s biggest flaws. I’m not in the group that cares for voice chat, as I have no need for it, but even beyond that fiasco, basic communication features are tiresome. It’s difficult to join friends in Turf War, as when you join friends it’s a complete coin toss as to whether it queues you in their lobby or tells you that the console can’t reach your friend’s. Sometimes it takes me up to four individual turf wars before my brother can connect, and that adds up, since there’s now nothing to do in the lobby. You can’t play Ranked Battle together at all, instead you need to reach B- to unlock League Battle, which is essentially multiplayer Ranked. I can’t comment on this, because, as much as I hate to admit, I haven’t reached B- just yet (I’m close on Splat Zones though). One communication feature the game excels in is wireless. You can play any map, any mode, with any weapon with friends over wireless. You can even play Salmon Run over wireless, but it isn’t optimal as it doesn’t adjust for any less than four players.

      How would I fix this all? Simple: create a communications lobby where friends can join to wait together before choosing what they want to do, instead of trying to catch a friend inbetween battles or attempting to queue in their lobby.

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      • If you’ve never played the original splatoon, it’s probably a 9/10. I’m looking from the perspective of a sequel to a great game rather than a great game itself.

        And no prob! It was fun writing it. 😀

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        • I’ve payed the first one so I’m probably gonna be a bit disappointed, but tbh I’m probs still gonna love it :0

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    • My main problem with the game is playing with friends. I hate that it won’t just keep you on the same team as them every time. It’s unnecessary rivalry when we could just be working together. I also don’t really like the whole “two maps” per hour type thing they have. It gets a bit tiring.

      I do think local co-op would work really well here with the Switch, so it’s a shame that they need a whole other switch to play locally. That’s just my opinion, I’ve always played shooters with my brother.

      My final critique would be that they could do SO much more with the mythology of the world and create a whole interesting universe with unique stories and characters, but it just feels like they’re not interested in doing that. I’m gonna compare it to Halo because that’s a pioneer for FPS both online and off. The story and universe for the halo series (while perhaps being convoluted) are interesting and there are good characters and arcs. I don’t get that feel here. I get it’s a kids game, but pokemon tells good stories too.

      That said, I love that they’re giving free DLC, that’s always a huge plus to me, and I really am enjoying the game, especially because I did not play the first. I just think there’s more here than they realize.

      7.8/10

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  59. A tiny bit salty because I was lucky enough to beat Lugia in this suburban town I live in, but wasn’t able to catch it…honestly the premiere ball system they have going really isn’t very good. I’m 1/3 on catching the raid bosses

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  61. So thanks to GameFAQs (said no one ever) I just learned a dumb, but kinda cool fact

    Each Tapu repeats a different vowel twice in their four letter, Hawaiian inspired name :0

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  63. I have a fun idea for you all. So as USUM is potentially going to have an alternate universe, the characters in SM may totally be different in this version. So as these characters are prob going to be different, you guys can come up with what differences and changes the characters have.

    For example, in USUM, Guzma received loving support from his family that allowed him to become able to beat the island challenge, to which he was able to fulfill his dream of becoming a trial captain. As captain, Guzma seeks to guide trainers on the right path in their journeys just as his family helped him in his direction of life.

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