Splatoon 2 producer Hisashi Nogami has spoken more about the upcoming Octo Expansion and the X Rank feature, which was recently added to the Nintendo Switch exclusive ink-based shooter in software update version 3.0.0.
What is the inspiration behind the creation of Octo Expansion?
We definitely had some sources of inspiration, but among those one was to create a world with a bit of a different look and feel to it than the worlds of multiplayer, the previously existing single player mode and Salmon Run. And this new Octo Expansion is really shrouded in mystery.
One element that supports that is the fact that the character starts with having lost their memory and not knowing where they are. They just have to figure things out as they go along and the player is in that situation as well.
Can you share any more details on X Rank and Octo Expansion?
So when X Rank is added with the upcoming update, players that are already rank S+10 or higher will be automatically promoted to X Rank. That’s one thing that players can look forward to. And once you are X Rank, you’ll have new additional value that will be attached to your player profile which is your X Power.
Within a given month, players who are X Rank will compete to see who will have the highest X Power value and you can have that go up with the more wins you are able to accomplish.
And Octo Expansion is an additional set of content to be played in a single-player style that comes with over 80 stages that players will be able to make their way through. It’s also going to feature a wider variety of weapons that players will need to use in order to clear those stages, so they might have to use a short range blaster weapon or a more long range one. And they’ll be needing to overcome those challenges that these weapons will present them with. And you might just find a certain weapon that you were kind of nervous about using up until this point, but being forced to use it might help you discover that you like it.
What do you think fans are going to love the most about Octo Expansion?
One thing I can mention is that the character, Agent 8 who will be the player character in the Octo Expansion, will get a lot of help from the girls from Off the Hook. They’ll be guiding the player character from a remote location via wireless communication, and through all that communication, players might learn some interesting things or secret information about the girls from Off the Hook.
We’ll be coming out with the Octo Expansion soon, but have no fear… we’re going to continue our free updates to the main game as well. I hope you’re looking forward to sinking your tentacles to all the upcoming content.
