Parents' Guide to Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion

This single-player expansion of the popular multiplayer game provides a mode that was sorely lacking in the original 2017 release. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion manages to produce a challenging yet accessible adventure that will test a player's paint and platforming skills. When Nintendo first introduced gamers to the world of Squidlings and their ink battles in Splatoon, it was a surprise hit. For Splatoon 2, Nintendo put a heavy focus on the multiplayer, creating a perpetual online environment that was just itching to be shared with others. There was some single-player content tossed in, but it felt like more of an afterthought than anything else. But that all changes with Octo Expansion, the game's first paid expansion pack, which is the single-player, story-based campaign that the main game was sorely missing before.

Taking up the challenge of the Octo Expansion can be a real test of your paint gun and platforming skills, and sometimes your patience as well. The difficulty level can sometimes feel particularly steep, but still never quite reaches the level of impossible. Plus, if you're stuck and have to replay a single stage a couple of times, the Off the Hook hostesses Marina and Pearl (the in-game TV show of Splatoon 2) will come along and offer to hack the system, allowing players to skip that particular level to keep moving through the story. It's a good way to keep the game from getting too frustrating, while still encouraging players to do their best. Of course, completists will want to make a return run in order to unlock the exclusive gear for use in the main game. Overall, the single-player content of Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion throws a fresh coat of paint on an already excellent game.