I really do like this game. I genuinelly have a lot of fun playing it and it's a very well made shooter. It's just, pun intended, this game feels heavily sanitized compared to 1&2. In other words... there's really nothing special about this game imo. Everything 3 does has either already been done or done better by previous games, and the game really doesn't hide it either. It's clear from the moment you boot up the game; Deep Cut, another idol group, doesn't have that witty banter like SS or OTH did, nor do they really have depth to their charafters besides being Robinhoods. But even extending beyond that, the stage variety is severly lacking; a lot of them have the exact same general layout, returning stages have been neutured, and idk it feels a lot more cramped than previous games, the verticality in particular got hit hard; why are they all so flat? Climbing the walls is supposed to be a major theme here. I also feel the cramped maps also kills a lot of playstyles, snipers got hit hard imo because now there's no verticality to perch and players can close the distance extremely fast. The support/setup playstyle got hit hard too, cause now Beakons have much less utility, and locator weapons aren't needed because there's a lot less places to hide. You gotta be agressive now, and as one who plays more of a support role in shooters, it's not a change I enjoy.
Beyond the general gameplay, soundtrack took a hit too, not a memorable song from 3 imo. Story mode is the same old help the Squid Sisters story but Octo Expansion, the DLC was disappointing (the first one was just a cosmetic change, like be serious). I also feel they could've done more with the new weapons, Splatana's especially.
I remember saying something a while back that companies need to stop prioritizing e-sports before the casual scene, and I feel like that's what Nintendo did with 3 (and I know, Nintendo and E-Sports don't mix). But idk I just get that vibe playing Splatoon 3.