Chronicling the completion of the backlog, one game at a time.

This is Coffee from Games with Coffee, and welcome to Backlog Busting! As the tagline above says, I’m writing about the games in my backlog that I’ve completed. I’ll share what I enjoyed, what I didn’t, and whether or not it was worth my time and investment. At the end, I’ll share a Busting Grade – an aggregate rating made up of four categories: Length, Difficulty, Replay Value and Fun Factor. Scoring explanations will be found at the end of the post for reference.

The twelfth game I’m covering is Splatoon 2 for the Nintendo Switch. I finished this game around late July 2024. Let’s dig into the report.

Get Inked!

I adore Splatoon 2. I didn’t think I would, truth to be told, but I did. And it wasn’t one of those slow burn situations either; I got into it the moment I downloaded and booted it up! The multiplayer aspect of the game was incredibly addicting. If I didn’t have so many other games on my backlog, I would’ve been playing this one non-stop. My go-to weapons were the Dualies – their dodge-roll action ability saved my bacon more times than I could count.

The single-player content, on the other hand, didn’t feel as fun. As the newly-minted Agent 4, players have to traverse through a series of levels to recover stolen Zapfishes from the evil Octolings who reside in Octo Canyon. As it took place two years after the original Splatoon, I felt that there was some missing context from the first game that could have helped explain things a bit better. Still, the single-player stuff had been pretty fun, until I got bored of it and moved on to other games.

Fast-forward about four years to 2024 and my quest to finally knock out the backlog. Splatoon 2 was definitely top of the list for me to finish off, especially since I now had access to the Octo Expansion (more on that in the next post). I had stopped midway through the game when I got bored. Picking it up again and continuing from where I left off, I still felt a bit bored, but the rest of the levels were fairly interesting. The story was pretty off the hook (heh), though: One of the Squid Sisters got brainwashed by the enemy Octolings, we save her, the Squid Sisters put on a heck of a version of the Calamari Inkantation, we beat the ink out of DJ Octavio and then we recover the Great Zapfish, ending the energy crisis.

What I appreciated from the single player campaign was that it showcased the many applications of all the different weapon types that exist within the game. Normally, I settle for Dualies, but I gained an appreciation for the Longshot and Roller weapons and have toyed around with their loadouts in multiplayer battles.

You all should know by now that I’m a sucker for good lore and Splatoon 2 delivers some interesting tidbits about the world’s history and its characters through the Sunken Scrolls. I’ll admit that a few entries flew over my head as they referenced events and characters from the first game, but it was still very interesting to read how the Splatoon universe came to be. It makes one think about what will happen thousands of years from now, when our evolutionary successors dig up fossils from our time? Heady, right?

While Splatoon 2 has been a riot to play, I doubt that I’ll return to the single player content. The Octo Expansion stuff, on the other hand… well, you’ll have to check my next entry for my thoughts on that one.

Busting Report

Pros:

Lots of loadout variety – there’s something for everyone to use
Multiplayer matches are so much fun! There’s a lot of variety in multiplayer, from Turf Wars to some of the specialty match types and even Salmon Run. I love Salmon Run!
Single player campaign has some fun level designs. The weapons are fun and easy to use too
Lots of interesting lore to find and they’re not too hard to find either
Pearl and Marina are my favourite characters in this game, and they play a more prominent role in the Octo Expansion

Cons:

Single player campaign drags on for a bit
Unless you played the first game or did some research, some of the lore and story may go over your head. It’s still very easy to follow, so it’s a minor issue overall

Backlog Busting Grade

Length: 2/5

Difficulty: 4/5

Replay Value: 3/5

Fun Factor: 5/5

Busting Grade: B

The Backlog Busting Grade is an aggregate letter grade made up of four categories: Length, Difficulty, Replay Value and Fun Factor. A high grade means that the game in review is an excellent addition to the backlog. On the other hand, a low grade means that you can choose to pass up on this title if you wish. Honestly though, the grades aren’t meant to be taken seriously – this is just me having fun with clearing my backlog. Your mileage may vary depending on preferences, time commitments, etc.

Each category is given a score out of five. Length measures how long a game took for me to complete. 5 being extremely short (30 minutes – 1 hour) and 1 being extremely long (40+ hours). Difficulty is self-explanatory – 5 for being very easy and 1 for being very hard. Replay Value scores how likely I’ll return to play again. 5 for most likely and 1 for never touching it again. And Fun Factor measures how much fun I had with the title. 5 for lots of fun and 1 for no fun at all.