Splatfests are posited like massive parties within the Splatoon universe. After players choose a side, for instance in the debate between Spicy, Sweet, or Sour food coming for January 2023’s Splatfest, each event sees the hub area shift to a nighttime palette as neon-soaked player billboards fill every conceivable space. Each game’s idol group performs live throughout the event, and Splatfest-specific Turf War matches are set on special evening stages that offer bonus points to anyone wearing their team’s branded shirt. By contrast, Big Run sets more of an eerie tone that’s compelling in its own right, but may not be the most appealing format to rival Splatfests.

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Where Splatoon 3’s Big Run Fits Into the Wider Picture

Like Splatfests are a twist on Splatoon’s key PvP mode Turf War, Big Run is presented as an event centering the PvE mode Salmon Run. First introduced in Splatoon 2 as a way to promote the Nintendo Switch’s portability and local play, Salmon Run has evolved into a cornerstone of the universe. Not only is Salmon Run available to play 24/7 in the series’ latest installment, it has also been recontextualized through Mr. Grizz’s appearance as an antagonist in the “Return of the Mammalians” story.

The first Big Run event hosted from December 9 to 11 made both its narrative justification and utility clear. In essence, Salmonids begin invading regular multiplayer maps in retaliation for the time players have spent harvesting Golden Eggs in their spawning grounds. Salmonid are coded like zombies in the Call of Duty or Left 4 Dead franchises, so Big Run’s atmospheric changes reflect the idea of zombies invading civilization. The sky runs red, as teased in Splatoon 2, and everything becomes tense as helicopters fly Grizzco employees to invaded territories. Nintendo triumphs at making things feel dire during a Big Run, but this may not have been its best approach.

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Big Run Could Use More Energy

Compared with older Nintendo franchises, Splatoon was conceived to have attitude. Urbanite fashion and bands known for rock, pop, and hip-hop define each game, and the series has peeled back layers on the darker post-apocalypse themes underlying its world. One reason Splatfests arguably work so well - beyond extrinsic incentives like Super Sea Snails - is that everything about their presentation hypes up the player and community at large for a big party.

The basic Salmon Run experience already provides somewhat of a departure from Splatoon’s usual atmosphere, focusing more on raucous, industrial metal befitting cobbled-together maps and abandoned structures that seem dripping with tetanus. Pivoting this energy into something dour by draining all music from Splatoon 3’s Splatsville hub and adding an ambient string piece to Grizzco’s lobby may inspire some to stop the Big Run catastrophe. Yet for others, it’s not the most enticing overhaul to log in for.

Actual Big Run matches are better off, revamping multiplayer maps while a corrupted, high-intensity take on the song “Clickbait” plays. This better captures the idea of two civilizations colliding as Inklings and Octolings are on the brink of losing control, something lost in other aspects of the Big Run package - a seeming funeral dirge indicates the Salmonids have already won. Driving back the Big Run would feel even more satisfying if the event felt like gearing up to tackle an apocalypse rather than picking up the pieces afterward; think something like Sephiroth’s theme rather than downbeat strings. If this were the case, Big Run might also feel like a more fitting replacement for Splatfests every few months.

Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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