With all the hype surrounding Splatoon 2’s release this weekend (Nintendo Switch), I decided I should finally play Splatoon on the Wii U. I bought a Wii U around the time Mario Maker was taking the world by storm (most of my interest came from watching Patrick Klepek’s Mario Maker Mornings videos). I enjoyed the console at first, but it quickly fell off my radar and began collecting dust. I’d fire it up every now and then, but as someone who doesn’t necessarily enjoy platformers I didn’t get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Even though I had heard nothing but good things about Splatoon, it just didn’t seem like something I’d want to play and I never gave it a second thought as the fact that I owned a Wii U started to fade from memory.

Last night I decided I should give my Wii U one last hurrah, and see if Splatoon would hook me. I’ve only played about thirty minutes of it so far (maybe four or five matches) and while I dig the style and some of the concepts, I’m not certain it’s going to hold my attention very long. I like the idea of trying to stake out territory and push the enemy team back by strategically painting the ground, but with no communication it seems like everyone just runs around and does their own thing. Because of this, every game I’ve played thus far has been a landslide in one direction or the other. It’s never felt evenly matched. Either my team is basically painted into our spawn with no way of advancing, or its the other way around.

It’s not fun to be painted into a corner this badly

Splatoon’s controls are also getting in the way of me trying to have fun with the game. The motion control aiming feels a little sloppy so far, yet the analog stick aiming isn’t any better. I’m not sure whether it’s just me not being used to the Wii U GamePad or if I need to tinker with the sensitivity, but it hasn’t felt great at all. I’ve found it difficult to place paint exactly where I intend, and even harder to try to take down enemies around me.

One more thing that’s got in the way of me having a good time has been the wait time between matches. After a few matches I got tired of waiting and just ended up turning the Wii U off.

Despite the problems I’ve had with the game so far, I can say it has a strikingly vibrant visual style. I love the way the colors contrast, and the UI is also well done. I especially like the mini-map on the GamePad that shows you all the paint.

I don’t mean to sound overly negative about Splatoon, it just hasn’t grabbed my attention so far. I’m going to give it some more time throughout the weekend to see if it grows on me before I put it down for good. If you have any tips or suggestions that could possibly improve my enjoyment of the game feel free to leave a comment. I don’t have any intention of getting a Switch anytime in the near future, so while it’s possible that Splatoon 2 is more refined and easier to enjoy, I’m not quite sold on the series yet.