The recent Nintendo Direct not only covered a
lot of games that are coming out soon on the 3DS and Switch but provided a look at a brand
new mode coming to Splatoon 2, Salmon Run.
While it could be compared to Horde Modes from other games, Splatoon naturally adds
its own twists to make it feel fresh.
But that’s not fresh enough.
There’s definitely tons of secrets and hidden details waiting to be found in Salmon Run.
So we’re breaking out the old Analysis Machine to snatch up all of them.
Let’s see if it can bear the load.
And we mean that quite literally.
The Splatoon section of the Direct began with a strange video that seemed more like an advertisement
out of the 70s or 80s.
While there isn’t much to be gleaned from the video itself, there is something curious
about the company’s name that sponsors Salmon Run, Grizzco Industries.
This is a reference to Grizzly Bears and has a much more obvious connection to bears in
other countries like in Japan where the name translates to Mister Bear & Co.
It’s the first time we’ve seen a land mammal referenced in Splatoon outside of Judd
and Ancient Scrolls that mention humans.
So who’s the one actually running Grizzco?
Could it really be a bear in the same vein Judd and and L’il Judd?
Or is it something else that holds a grudge against the Salmonid since bears commonly
eat Salmon?
There’s bear iconography even in the Grizzco logo where it has bear ears at the top.
Plus, there’s a moment that’s exclusive to the Japanese Direct that shows a mysterious
location.
Everything in this room is reminiscent of the Salmon Run island, down to the grate in
the floor, the scattered cans, and the Salmon-shaped neon sign.
What’s especially odd though is the televisions lined up in the back and the wooden bear carving
with the salmon in its mouth on top of a cooler.
Stranger still is that this isn’t an old carving since the salmon has bulging eyes
like the Salmonid enemies that you fight in Salmon Run.
Could this be where the leader of Grizzco is based?
And could this actually be in Inkopolis Square?
After all, toward the end of the Salmon Run segment, we’re given a glimpse of where
it’s accessed from the Square.
There’s a Golden Egg symbol, which we’ll talk more about later, hanging on an orange
sign above an open gate.
Now while we can’t see the exact room from this single screen, we do see the same kind
of cooler that the bear carving was resting on.
If we had to guess, players enter here to gain access to the mode.
And the desk on the side is where you exchange your earnings for rewards.
If we had to guess, players will never actually see the representative of Grizzco.
He’ll always be just out of sight and perhaps sporting a bear-like shadow that can occasionally
be seen.
We’ll get into what the rewards for Salmon Run could be later, but it seems Splatoon
has built up an intriguing amount of lore around this new mode.
So let’s take a trip to where Salmon Run takes place.
Oh, but before we do, we should mention that we can see exactly where this place is in
Inkopolis Square.
It’s just to the left of the main building in the back corner.
You can see the orange sign and Golden Egg symbol.
So it’s a pretty prominent position and likely shows how Salmon Run is a big new mode
for Splatoon 2.
However, it doesn’t take place in Inkopolis.
Instead, the Inklings are taken to a man-made island that almost looks a prison.
Everything is dark, drab, and likely horribly polluted.
In the background of its first scene though, we can see a boat in the water and windmills
on the land in the distance.
The windmills make it seem like clean energy is a thing so is only this part of the ocean
polluted?
At any rate, the island doesn’t seem to have any special gimmicks to it.
All we can see are ramps to reach the upper areas and grates for the Inklings to pass
through.
The next scene shows that at least a portion of the island leads directly into the water
which has to be polluted considering its dark green appearance and the fact that barrels
are strewn all over the mud-caked beach.
However, behind the island we can see a bridge and what could be an industrial complex.
All we can really see are high walls and what we think are skyscrapers sticking out from
the distance.
Another angle provides a better look at this end of the island, and we can confirm that
those were indeed skyscrapers.
So it seems there’s a city just that way, but is it Inkopolis?
The narration says that this island is across the ocean, but how much distance is there
really?
We don’t think that much especially as we see another boat in the water.
We’ll talk about that soon, but we also wanted to mention the spotlights on the floating
platform.
They’re likely meant to serve as a warning to boats so they don’t crash against the
island but what has us curious is the black and white sign hanging off of it.
It’s a design that we haven’t seen before and not anything related to Grizzco.
Could it be some kind of power company?
We’re really not sure, especially since Inkopolis’s power is supplied by the Great
Zapfish.
So is this something unrelated?
Returning to the boats, we can see that this is where the Inkling team Super Jumps from
to land on the island.
Considering the boat they’re coming from, they likely didn’t cross an entire ocean
which means that the city we pointed out before is most likely Inkopolis.
But we wonder if there will be more to the boat then just a place to Super Jump from.
Maybe this is where the team can potentially talk to each other and decide who’s going
to use which weapon and general strategy.
It’s not a guarantee, but we do think it could happen.
There are other looks at this island though including one that’s closer to ground level
and shows off a salmon sign like we saw in the mysterious room.
We can also see neon strung out on the letters that make up the Inkling language which could
mean that this place lights up at night.
Is it possible that the time of day changes the longer players last in Salmon Run?
Or could this island be affected by a possible new Splatfest-like event?
It’s really up in the air, but we do know that different conditions can happen on the
island.
In one scene, there’s a thick fog that will definitely make it much harder to see where
the Salmonid are approaching from.
We get a better look at where the Salmonid could appear on the island thanks to an aerial
view.
The northern section is where the beach we pointed out before is located making for a
much wider area for the Salmonid to invade.
However, they can still come from the south as we can see ramps leading down into the
water.
But because of this, they’ll be confined to a smaller space, making it easier for the
Inklings to splat them in groups.
We’d suspect there’s a way they can approach from the east as well.
We just don’t have a good look at it yet.
Another angle provides a look at some kind of structure in the distance, away from Inkopolis
and further into the ocean.
This almost looks like a city as well, but it’s not as spread out and seems to be under
construction.
Could it be that there are multiple arenas for Salmon Run?
Or is that location something else entirely?
Finally, before we move on to the Inklings, we wanted to point out some of the decorations
hanging from the wires around the island which include fishing lures with the hooks hanging
off the lines.
The place really is themed around salmon.
But let’s switch over to the Inklings who are sporting brand new gear for Salmon Run.
It appears your Inkling will keep their hairstyle and that’s about it.
Otherwise, they wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, rubber pants, and a hat with the Grizzco
logo that has packets strapped to it.
Fittingly enough, the outfit is pretty much a match for real world salmon fisherman.
The big difference is that the Inklings wear a lifesaver on their back.
This lifesaver serves two purposes.
First, when an Inkling is splatted in Salmon Run, their lifesaver will remain behind.
And judging by the footage, it looks like the player will have limited movement with
it as well so they can try to reach an ally.
Fortunately, any ally just needs to ink the lifesaver to revive their fallen friend and
it seems only a few shots of ink are necessary to make it happen.
So staying close is a good idea to revive each other, but it could also lead to the
entire group getting splatted at once.
The other purpose of the lifesaver is that it keeps track of your total ink.
As you use your ink, the color will drain in a clockwise fashion.
It’s a clever way to change things up visually while still providing the information players
need.
In addition, one scene shows that sub weapons can be used in the mode as an Ink Bomb is
thrown at the Salmonids.
It’s not too surprising, but it’s good to see it’s there.
Nothing else is really shown about the Inklings themselves in Salmon Run though.
We have a few ideas, but we’ll address those after we talk about the Salmonids in greater
depth.
But there is one more thing to mention.
During the amiibo overview, we see the equipment screen and exactly how players can change
the hairstyle and legwear of an Inkling.
There are four different hairstyle options and three legwear options though it may be
possible to expand the possibilities.
We just don’t know.
But the legwear, at least for female Inklings, seems to include shorts, a skirt, and pants
so there are gender specific clothes when it comes to these options.
In addition, the Splat Dualies have seen a change since the Testfire.
During that, they had the Curling Bomb sub weapon and Inkjet Special.
Now, it seems to have Burst Bombs and Tenta Missiles.
And we don’t think this is a Dualie variation as they look the same as before.
So this is probably a case of the developers continuing to balance the loadouts of the
different weapons.
But enough about the Inklings.
There’s a brand new race to talk about that we’ve mentioned in passing a few times already,
the Salmonids.
And like the Octarians, they come in a variety of forms.
The first we see are the Chums.
These Salmon, and really the entire race, almost look mutated with their wild eyes and
crazy teeth.
Plus it doesn’t hurt that they’re surfacing from what appears to be polluted water.
But these fish can walk on land thanks to a special rubber suit that slips over their
lower body.
Not only does this allow them to walk, but it leaves a trail of ink behind them.
The Chum don’t seem particularly strong though as their only weapon is a close-range
frying pan.
Who knew they were a fan of Tangled?
The attack from the pan seems just as devastating as the movie too as we see a Chum attempt
to attack an Inkling.
They miss so we don’t know exactly how many swings are necessary, but we do see that the
pan increases in size as they swing it so you’ll still want to give them a wide berth.
The Salmonid have branding down as well since we can see that the back of the pan also has
the salmon symbol.
Finally, we know that splatting a Chum grants the Inkling who did it two Power Eggs so they’re
definitely in the fodder territory.There is something strange about this though as later
in the video, an Inkling splats a Chum and is given four Power Eggs instead.
Could it be that the values are increased the longer the Inkling team lasts?
But there are many other varieties of Salmonid.
In addition to the Chum, there’s a larger enemy that frankly just looks like a larger
version of it except we can see its eyelids.
So we’re going to call him Big Chum for now.
They’re also equipped the same although their pan is much larger.
So it’s safe to safe to assume that the Big Chum is slow but can take much more damage
before being splatted.
It might hit harder as well, but although we see it use its pan to splat an Inkling,
that Inkling was already partially covered in green ink.
So we don’t know if it can splat in a single swing.
Finally, we counted the amount of Power Eggs granted to the Inklings that attack the Big
Chum.
At least for the Splattershot, a Power Egg is given with each hit.
Eleven come out in total before it’s splatted and three more are provided afterward.
This makes us wonder if a set amount of Power Eggs can be earned from the Big Chum or if
different weapons cause different payouts since a roller hits harder with a single swing
than the Splattershot.
It’s a question we’ll have to answer another time for now.
Of course if we have Big Chum, there has to be little ones as well, and they do pop up.
Again, they pretty much look like smaller versions of the Chum so we’re calling them
Mini Chum.
A frying pan is once again their only weapon, but they move much faster.
Unfortunately, we really don’t see much of them during this video so we don’t even
know how many Power Eggs they’re worth.
If we had to guess though, it’s likely only one.
These little guys neatly fit into the small annoyance that could potentially overwhelm
you category.
The Salmon Run segment only formally introduces us to one more Salmonid, and it’s considered
a boss.
Known as the Steelhead, it’s even larger than the Big Chum and is not equipped with
a frying pan.
At least, not like the others.
Instead, its back is lined with three tires and covered in metal straps along with the
typical rubber suit.
The Steelhead attacks thanks to the bit in its mouth that’s connected to the pan on
top of its head.
By blowing into this bit, it fills a bag that’s resting in the metal pan on its head.
Once it’s filled, the bag is launched at the Inklings though it doesn’t explode right
away.
Instead, players have about two seconds to get away as the bag prepares to explode.
Inklings will need strategy to take down a Steelhead since we assume it can’t be splatted
normally.
During the video, the Inklings focus their attacks on the bag.
Filling it with their ink before launches likely causes it to backfire on the boss Salmonid.
The question we have is whether this only has to be done once or if it follows the rule
of threes from the original Splatoon’s bosses.
We’d assume the latter, but there’s footage of an Ink Charger taking down a Steelhead
in a single shot.
And we can’t find any orange ink on it otherwise to indicate that this has been done before.
So maybe it only has to be done once?
Either way, splatting the Steelhead grants 20 Power Eggs to the one who did it in addition
to leaving behind three of the new Golden Eggs.
The Golden Eggs are actually the end goal of the Salmon Run and they seem to be rather
heavy as each Inkling is only able to carry one at a time.
They then must be returned to the center of the island and placed inside a basket.
And we can see that with each Golden Egg returned, a flag rises higher.
So it’s clear that a round isn’t finished until the flag reaches the top.
This could lead to a lot of fun situations where the boss is defeated, but there’s
still a ton of Salmonid to fight through to finally finish everything.
It’s not a matter of defeating every single enemy.
But this begs the question of what the rewards actually are for collecting the Golden Eggs.
Even the narrator teases this fact with a mystery object that looks like a Power Egg
or even a Golden Egg except there are four holes on top, almost like a bowling ball.
What exactly is this and what could its purpose be in the greater sense of Splatoon 2.
Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way of knowing this yet.
However, we do have an idea of why players would want to collect Power Eggs during Salmon
Run.
And essentially, it’s for the same reason as Hero Mode in the original Splatoon.
There, players couldn’t use the equipment they used for multiplayer, just like it is
now in this new mode.
Instead, Power Eggs were collected in order to power up your weapons in various ways.
And we believe they’ll have the same function here.
The biggest difference is that there are various builds to choose from based around the Splattershot,
Splat Roller, and Splat Charger.
By using these different classes in the mode, the Power Eggs you collect will go to increasing
their power, range, and perhaps unlocking sub weapons like the Ink Bomb we saw earlier.
So the more you play in that class, the better it gets.
We just wonder if there will be classes based around the Splat Dualies, Slosher, and Splatling
as well or if it’ll just remain to those three.
But there are still two more varieties of Salmonid to cover.
The first is one that seems to stay back and in the water, preferring to fire a its weapon
which seems to work like the Sting Ray Special.
A closer look reveals what might be a simple Chum enemy sitting on top of a stack of cans
that makes it resemble a tentacle.
We don’t think this is a boss Salmonid though if only because the Golden Eggs would fall
into the water.
A Splat Charger would definitely be useful against them though.
The last Salmonid type is something we totally believe is a boss.
At first, we only saw some kind of strange red object that emitted green circles to indicate
a blast radius.
It made us think that some Salmonid could have sub weapons of their own.
But that’s case at all.
Later in the footage, we’re provided at clear look at a huge Salmonid that hides beneath
the ink.
It doesn’t walk like the others and instead surfaces with its jaws spread wide up to splat
whatever is above it.
We can see that it’s more pinkish in color compared to the other Salmonid and has a belt
strapped around itself which is where the red indicator as well as what might be paint
cans are attached to.
Considering this warning and its method of attack, we wonder if this might be a subtle
reference to the end of Jaws where the shark also had objects stuck to him to help the
heroes see exactly where he was underwater.
This is Splatoon after all so it would make a lot of sense.
The Jaws Salmonid is quite terrifying and likely worth a few Golden Eggs.
Before we end this analysis, we just wanted to point out that the promotional art for
Salmon Run features both the Jaws and the Sting Ray Salmonid as well.
There aren’t any other variations to see yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised if there
were more revealed in the future with longer ranger weapons.
And with that, we’ve covered everything we could find in the reveal of the Salmon
Run mode in Splatoon 2.
It looks to be a lot of fun and something that everyone can just jump into no matter
the skill level.
But it’ll be especially cool for those who can get a group of four friends together to
coordinate their own runs.
But what other new modes, if any, could Splatoon 2 be hiding?
We won’t have to wait too long to find out now that we know of its July 21st release
date.
Of course, if we missed anything let us know in the comments.
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