History YMMV / Splatoon2

** The Octarians already had sympathetic viewpoints in the first game, but [[http://nintendoeverything.com/splatoon-staff-talk-about-the-inkling-design-more-on-the-squid-sisters-and-other-topics/ an interview]] about the first game stating that their stage music was meant to feel like they were being mind-controlled (to be fair, this could very well be a figure of speech), as well as canonical evidence of brainwashing in [[spoiler:Callie's hypno-shades]] (which was necessarily, because she'd never willingly side by the Octarians), led people to see them as victims and the Inklings, Cuttlefish in particular, as callous. Cuttlefish knowing Octavio from the war, as seen in the first game's Sunken Scroll, doesn't help. It can be argued, however, that the Inklings simply don't know about the brainwashing, if the Octarians ''are actually being brainwashed''.

** There's been one developing over how this game doesn't seem to have the 'playfulness' of ''Splatoon 1''. Comparing the music (the techno-flavored theme of the first game's final boss versus the sequel's orchestral numbers, for example), aesthetics, and promotional material, as well as generally lacking the sort of tongue-in-cheek TotallyRadical dialogue and set-pieces that the first game was full of, ''Splatoon 2'' seems to be attempting a more serious demeanor than ''1''. Not all are happy with this, as many feel that going full on 90s {{retraux}} is what made ''Splatoon 1'' so successful, and attempting a more 'serious' look and feel negates that charm. Others point out how the game still has its '90s aesthetics; just that it's a '90s '{{Grunge}}' aesthetic instead of a '90s '[[Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} Nick]]' aesthetic and feel like it fits better with the story being more serious than ''Splatoon 1'''s story, which was amplified when ''Octo Expansion'' entered the mix.

* CaptainObviousReveal: Despite the fact that practically ''everyone'' noted that Marina was an Octoling upon the Off the Hook reveal trailer thanks to several obvious visual cues, for a while the devs went out of their way to avoid confirming it. When asked directly about it in an interview, one dev member attempted to change the topic altogether by saying she has 'really pretty hair'. Come the ''Octo Expansion'', it turns out this is the case in-universe, with Inklings having had so little contact with Octolings, they actually think Marina just has cool tentacles.

** The Octarians already had sympathetic viewpoints in the first game, but [[http://nintendoeverything.com/splatoon-staff-talk-about-the-inkling-design-more-on-the-squid-sisters-and-other-topics/ an interview]] about the first game stating that their stage music was meant to feel like they were being mind-controlled, as well as canonical evidence of brainwashing in [[spoiler:Callie's hypno-shades]], led people to see them as victims and the Inklings, Cuttlefish in particular, as callous. Cuttlefish knowing Octavio from the war, as seen in the first game's Sunken Scroll, doesn't help. It can be argued, however, that the Inklings simply don't know about the brainwashing.

** Marina's personality differences between the Japanese and English version. In Japan she is a soft-spoken ShrinkingViolet who respects Pearl. In the English translation, she started off as very snarky before an early update made her less sassy and more playful. Which personality is best is a point of argument amongst the fandom. Some consider her Japanese personality too demure and prefer her to have more bite, while others think she comes off as too much of a jerk in the translations (especially prior to 1.2) and think she's a Marie clone. Her updated personality is usually seen as a nice middle-ground, but even then a minority dislike it.

** ''[[{{Pun}} Splatwon]]'' (or variations such as ''[=Spla2n=]'' and ''[=Spla2oon=]'') spread like wildfire among the English-speaking community from the moment the original game became a hit, to the point where some fans were disappointed that the pun-loving Creator/{{Nintendo}} didn't utilize this title. ([=Spla2n=] could be clever, but Splatwon could just as easily be read as Splat-Twon. [[LostInTranslation Plus, the pun would only work in English anyway.]])

** During the Chicken vs. Egg Splatfest, Marina makes a rather bleak, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall fourth wall-adjacent joke]] about 'We're all living in a simulation and free will is a lie'. It was an unusually heavy meta-joke at the time. Come ''Octo Expansion'', [[spoiler:we get the sense that this may have been the reality all Octolings in the Octarian Military faced. At the very least, Agent 8 seemed to be in the same boat as Marina pre-Calamari Inkantation.]]
** [[spoiler:''Octo Expansion's'' BigBad, Commander Tartar, planned to wipe out all life on Earth using a WaveMotionGun to get rid of Inklings as a whole.]] Six months later, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' [[spoiler:had its BigBad, Galeem, '''successfully''' attempt a larger-scale version of Tartar's plan that ended up ''killing everyone (except for Franchise/{{Kirby}})''. Worse yet, Agent 8, who foiled Tartar's plot, is among Galeem's extensive kill count (as seen by their Spirit, although it's labeled as "Octoling Girl and Octoling Boy"), while [[KarmaHoudini Tartar itself]] is ''not''.]]
** Salmon Run has always been depicted as a shady business run by the unseen [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Grizz]] to steal Golden Eggs from the Salmonids for an unknown purpose, but these unsavory implications are PlayedForLaughs and players would be more focused on getting special rewards or just enjoying the adrenaline rush of facing down these monstrous salmon hordes. Fast-forward to ''Videogame/Splatoon3'' and it's revealed [[spoiler:that the Golden Eggs players have been harvesting are used to create Fuzzy Ooze, an ink substance that forcibly turns marine life into mammals, and Mr. Grizz intends to use the ooze to transform all lifeforms into mammals, which would lead to an apocalypse not too dissimilar to Commander Tartar's genocidal plan, except on a global scale. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero That's right, you the player have been unwittingly fueling another extinction level event since 2017.]]]]
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: In-Universe: Even though Pearl's singing abilities are ridiculed by Marina on-air, [[spoiler:a Sunken Scroll showed her breaking a large amount of speakers with her cacophonous voice as a child, and the climax of the Octo Expansion campaign involves weaponizing her shrill voice to ''destroy a superweapon'']], one of the more well-liked songs of the game's soundtrack is "[[https://youtu.be/ggaAg_SXHCk Acid Hues]]", a Splatfest-exclusive track that has vocals mostly led by Pearl. In fact, Pearl has singing roles in most of the Splatfest tracks. The Marina interview included with the game's soundtrack release also has the Octoling admit that she doesn't think there's anything wrong with Pearl's singing voice. In the [[DubInducedPlotHole original Japanese]] it is made very clear that Pearl's singing isn't bad, but her voice is just inhumanly (insquidly?) loud and powerful to the point that it downright qualifies as a mutant power. The [[AllThereInTheManual artbook]] actually makes mention of the fact that Marina specifically developed a special auto-tune filter that they use during shows and recordings to prevent Pearl's voice from breaking equipment when she hits the higher notes. The reason Marina often tries to stop Pearl from randomly breaking into song during their dialogue isn't, as the translation suggests, that she's making fun of Pearl's voice; it's that without the special filter, Pearl is bound to cause property damage, no matter how well she sings.

** During the Chicken vs. Egg Splatfest, Marina makes a rather bleak, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall fourth wall-adjacent joke]] about 'We're all living in a simulation and free will is a lie'. It was an unusually heavy meta-joke at the time. [[spoiler:Come ''Octo Expansion'', we get the sense that this may have been the reality all Octolings in the Octarian Military faced. At the very least, Agent 8 seemed to be in the same boat as Marina pre-Calamari Inkantation.]]

*** The 8-Ball tests, where the goal is to guide a giant 8-Ball to the goal. The problem is, if it falls off the stage, an Ink Sac on the back of Agent 8 detonates, causing an instant Splat. Add in platforms that are often narrow or lack guard rails, the fact that enemy fire can also affect the ball, and the fact that you have to pay to attempt each level (including continues), and you have a recipe for frustration. Nintendo was well aware, with Octo Expansion having a MercyMode in the form of letting you skip levels after enough deaths[[note]]with the usual EasyModeMockery of the game not counting these levels as actually being beaten, with the player receiving fake Mem Cakes if you do this[[/note]].

** The practice/custom of using the "Booyah!" command ("Nice!" in the Japanese version) at the start of the match and the booing of players who don't Booyah back (particularly in plaza posts) has gotten a bit of friction. Many see a Booyah as the ''Splatoon'' equivalent of a "hello", and it's what [[SignatureLine "Woomy!" and "Veemo!"]] translate to, and find it rude when it's not reciprocated, while others think the shaming is unnecessary and just want to be able to enjoy the game regardless of whether they push down on the D-pad in the first 5 seconds of the match.

!!!YMMV with their own pages:
* [[Fanon/{{Splatoon}} Fanon]] (shared with the franchise page)
* [[HighTierScrappy/{{Splatoon}} High-Tier Scrappy]] (shared with the franchise page)
* [[Memes/{{Splatoon}} Memetic Mutation]] (shared with the franchise page)
* [[ScrappyMechanic/{{Splatoon}} Scrappy Mechanic]] (shared with the franchise page)
* [[ThatOneLevel/SplatoonSalmonRun That One Level - Salmon Run]] (shared with ''Splatoon 3'')

* LowTierLetdown:
** The Goo Tuber is a charger designed to be able to store its charge longer in ink than other chargers and can even store an incomplete charge, on top of having good mobility and being able to instantly splat an opponent at a 70% charge, making it a versatile weapon. Unfortunately it suffers from CripplingOverspecialization, as the weapon has short range, slow charging time and poor sub/special kits. Its case isn't helped by the Squiffer having similar attributes but with the ability to charge in mid-air on top of having better kits, outclassing the Goo Tuber in every way.
** The Undercover Brella struggles to do anything meaningful and is widely considered the absolute worst weapon in the game. Its poor 40 damage direct hit shots give it the lowest DPS in the game, having a splat time on par with the ''Dynamo Roller'' but without the range, its unique Brella shield is so fragile that any direct hit by a bomb will instantly break it, and the kit it is paired with does it no favors; Ink Mines do very little to help it perform, and the Splashdown is a bad aggressive special on a weapon that functions poorly at being aggressive. Ironically, a variant of it ''did'' see competitive play when the Kensa Undercover Brella was released, as Torpedos were one of the best subweapons in the game when they were new, but since Torpedos were nerfed the Kensa has dropped to being a serviceable, but otherwise outclassed support weapon.
** Among the specials, Splashdown has become a punchline in high-level play. It does have a sizable blast radius, but with practice it's possible to react to it and stuff it out before it comes down, thus it's rendered ineffectual since good players will rarely give it the chance to finish. Nintendo ''did'' try to address this by reducing the special loss when it gets stuffed, but consensus remains that it's the worst special for top-level teams.

** The Sting Ray special weapon combines all the negative traits of the Chargers and the Killer Wail from the previous game. It's slow and clunky to aim (the only way to aim it in a different direction is to stop firing, but by the time it fires again, any targets may have moved out of the way already), it takes multiple hits to splat someone from full health, the blast radius is nowhere near as high, it slows your movement immensely when in use, and it doesn't even have a targeting reticule; the ability to see targets through walls without Thermal Ink (which is inactive while firing the weapon) doesn't compensate nearly enough. It's much better in Salmon Run, as it carves through Chum and Smallfry by the dozen, especially in high tide, and it can damage all Boss Salmonids regardless of where or when the player hits them (minus the Steel Eel's body and Stinger's head), even when they're in an invulnerable state or can only be damaged by their weak spot. Version 1.3.0 buffed it by increasing its radius after firing it for about 1.5 seconds, making it easier to hit people.

** An example that only counts if you compare it to its older incarnation: Are you an old Carbon Roller main from the first game? Want to use that quick, accurate playstyle that made it so feared, or perhaps the unorthodox subweapons that people hardly expect from a Deco? Tough luck. Aside from pre-existing nerfs (which would at least be adjustable to), the kit sucks for that playstyle. The Ink Storm is okay enough, but the Autobomb almost kills it given it's just about the slowest, least accurate bomb sub-weapon on a weapon that requires a fast, accurate playstyle. This, in turn, is probably what contributes to so many roller mains using the default Splat Roller, as it not only doesn't need to worry so much about nerfs, is a lot more adjustable, and has much better sub and special weapons. This is generally averted in Salmon Run by proxy of having the regular Splat Bomb as a sub-weapon--while it's no Burst Bomb, this at least makes the kit ''usable'', even if you're at the Profreshional level of difficulty. And on Griller/Glowfly waves, ''nobody'' is more admired than a competent squid with a Carbon Roller. The Carbon Roller Deco also averts this by not only bringing back Burst Bombs as its sub-weapon, but by having an Autobomb Launcher (the first weapon introduced to have this special), taking better advantage of the bombs' harassment potential by deploying them in greater numbers without consuming ink. The vanilla Carbon Roller was saved in Update 3.2.0 not only reducing the amount of ink consumed by all Rollers' rolling attack, but also from the Autobomb's ink-consumption reduction.

*** The penultimate boss fight, [[spoiler:a BrainwashedAndCrazy Agent 3]], is a MirrorBoss with scarily good AI, a very small arena, multiple phases, and [[SNKBoss the ability to cheat by changing and spamming specials]] (most notably, using Splashdown ''four times in a row'' at one point). It is not uncommon for players to just take the [[MercyMode skip offer]] due to losing five times, and is regarded as harder than the FinalBoss (which just has you finding and destroying a bunch of stationary and defenseless targets). And this is the ''easier'' version of the fight against this character; a much, ''much'' more difficult version awaits for those trying to get HundredPercentCompletion. The amped-up version of the fight in particular has gained notoriety as possibly one of the ''hardest bosses in recent Nintendo history.''

*** D08/J03: Girl Power Station. Your mission? Protect an orb in the center of the stage from waves of Octolings for 90 seconds. Your tools? One of three bomb types chosen when selecting the mission, and any weapon you think you'll do the best with before Octo-jumping down to the field. This apparent advantage disappears once you realize that these Octolings have some of the most challenging AI in the game [[spoiler:next to Agent 3]] and are capable of charging their own specials (you're forced to run around the stage for canned ones, if you're willing to risk the time). Expect to see yourself and/or the orb explode over and over again by way of Inkjet, Sting Ray, Ink Storm, Splashdown, or just a plain old Blaster shot.