I'd like to make a correction to this video, as several people have pointed out to me. There is quite a bit of Splatoon's soundtrack that is diegetic: it exists in the game world and the characters can hear it. For example, the music in Inkopolis Square is coming from speakers around the actual location, which is why you can hear different bits of it depending on where you are, like a real shopping center. Often, the exact source of the music is not readily visible, but I was hasty to say the soundtrack was non-diegetic. Apologies, and thank you for pointing that out!
Also, at the beginning of every battle a weird sounds plays which is a proctor speaking over the speakers across the map saying the turf war is about to begin, and the music plays from those same speakers.
as early even as e3 they were saying this in response to why some of them are wearing headphones, like the equivalent of popular pop songs or something are playing as they're playing turf war only instead of pop songs it's this splatoon soundtrack hence the bands that compose them are also in-universe too. there were also visible pulsing speakers in the first game's plaza too.
@@Ed-1749 I agree, Nintendo hasnt even confirmed production or even if they're gonna do splatoon 3, I highly doubt there will be splatoon 3 on switch or at least anytime soon
@@libertyadams5961 let's be honest, the station is just strapping an ink bomb on a terrorist's backpack to stop a telephone machine from making calamari now that i say that out loud...
Honestly I swear when playing turf war when 'Now or Never' starts playing I get this huge sense of urgency(its even scary sometimes LOL) the punkish tension that's yelling at you to put everything you've got into this last sliver of time because whether you win or not depends on not getting splatted and inking as much as you can, going all out, putting your skills to the test and pushing yourself to the limits, and then when the song ends and evrything just stops, the quick paced beat of you and your teammates breath is all you can hear. Splatoon music really is something.
Personally every time without fail I would throw myself behind enemy lines and unleash devastation, usually partaking in more than my fair share of spawncamping from the flank using inkzooka and seekers and making sure that this sixth of the map was mine and only mine, I miss splatoon one honestly, havent been able to play in months and I'm not sure if it's still online. I got the console right before the release of the nintendo switch and the game right before the release of splatoon 2
I'm really hoping he'll post another video like this once the game has been out for a few weeks, this is one of my favourite videos hes ever made and I'd be so stoked to get another!
@@ari638 i agree! i don't know if Scruffy would be stoked about having to get the exact instrument samples right after hefty amounts of research, but i think it's worth it because of the lasting impact and knowledge this video has had on a lot of people, and Splatoon's overall instrumentation shining in an even more appreciative light!
The last part about Splatoon's soundtrack being a character, evolving with the world and being a part of the canon, is exactly why Splatoon is the only game soundtrack I casually listen to. It just has so much personality in it!
@@keinvornamekeinnachname i have a theory... The music, as already described, is awesomely powerful yet not overwhelming. The gameplay, however, is this game's other strength. Here's something to chew on: TIME IS ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD in the Splatoon series. Unlike many other Nintendo games, you either step-up to the "advancing" (song reference) game's timeline, or get swept behind. Even the sunken scrolls add to this, not to mention the scroll about a fossilized human! ALL of these factors and more obviously contributed to Splatoon's success, despite the relative "failure" of the Wii U
I would personally describe Splatoon’s soundtrack’s genre as “Speculative Top 40”-an attempt to capture the popular hit music of of a fictional culture in a fictional world with clear worldbuilding and continuity. I call it “speculative” because “speculative fiction” is a commonly proposed name for the Metagenre that encompasses SciFi, Fantasy, alternate history, cosmic horror, and other genres where self-consistent worldbuilding is prized-fictional settings which are put forward as plausible within their own logic and in which we can speculate what would be different and what would be the same.
That was fantastic!! I definitely wouldn’t mind if you looked at more of Splatoon 1/2’s sound design- a look at Octo Expansion (or one of the single-player campaigns) specifically would be soooo good. These types of videos are my favorite!!
@@Boney9551 You're hardcore mis-remembering. The music for the stations are original pieces (save for the boss theme) and, there's new Off the Hook songs. (Excluding the Ebb and Flow remix used in the Final boss battle.) Also, there's a remix of Splattack, and a _slightly_ different version of Calamari Inkantation for the sanitized Agent 3 fights.
Literally EVERY song in the franchise is diagetic, actually, not just some of it. Even in the singleplayer, the characters are physically hearing it, especially during the boss battles. The boss into music comes FROM the Octopodes in the background of each arena, and the battle platform is where the battle music is coming from.
I think it would have been cool if Nintendo had done this: I like how it’s so close to resolving when the timer ends, that’s cool. But what if, after the ink amounts had been shown, when your team won, there was a bombastic resolving chord? (A major for Splatoon 1, C major for Splatoon 2) I find it a bit weird that it just plays a completely different victory theme in both games...
Oh hey that's a really cool idea!!! You would need to re-do how the victory screen, but that miiiight be a good Splatoon 3 idea. If you lose though, the band messes up and you get weird dissonance
How It feels to chew fifty gum: *Getting sniped by a "splatsniper" and hearing "It's now or never" start at the exact same time* The true feeling of raw anger.
The talk about the canonicity of Now or Never reminded me of the track that plays in the tutorial of the first game, the absolute first track you ever hear: "Splattack (Jam Session)", one of my favourite tracks in the game. The parallel between the band Squid Squad warming up to perform (maybe for the first time ever) their most popular song and you, the player, warming up to the actual beginning of the game (and the beginning of the Splatoon franchise) is amazing! (I hope my thought was clear enough)
It is. AND I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAY. Surprisingly, ALL of the game's various music serves various purposes - from keeping hype, generating hype, and slowing hype to mysteriousness and/or evil, villainous, the game would be ... Pretty boring, without music! (And the final boss ambience from Splatoon 1, after you defeat him ... So eerie...)
*_they are too advanced, they have snippets of our sound, how did they find it?! This isn’t good.. we must come back to earth for questioning in the future when we go to the moon for life._*
I think I understand at the end of Now or Never, the tension remains the same. They still have to find out who won, and there's that tension. But once they find out who won the tension finally rests. It's honestly really ingenious.
Great video as always! I never thought of Wet Floor covering "Now or Never" as a way to show their respect for Squid Squad after their disbandment. I love what you do!
I'm like, genuinely giddy right now at how happy I am that you did this. Splatoon's world-driven and world-inspired music is probably one of the absolute coolest touches of the effort that went into making that game cohesive, and the fact that you're able to analyze and look into it so heavily and draw a real, genuine conclusion is incredible. I couldn't be happier.
as someone with celtic heritage, i didn’t even know celtic punk existed. they always seemed either rly chill or rly tough, but never “punk”. interesting, to say the least
10:24 actually many people speculate that it’s diegetic! pearl & marina perform their music live for turf wars during the splatfest, so some (including myself) think that the music we hear as we play normal turf wars is also heard by the inklings (albeit not live, just a recording being played through speakers)
I can't be the only one who thinks Salmon Run's music is the total bomb? Like, both the in game battle music and the music played when the Salmonoids are restless gets my adrenaline high and makes me feel like I'm running a marathon. It's crazy fun man
You had my attention at “Splatoon” Edit: Now or Never is probably one of my favorite songs from Splatoon and I’m happy you went into detail about the song
The genre is *F R E S H* Edit: I think the increased tension at the end of Now or Never (Squid Squad) is justified: You still don't know who won! (unless the match was one-sided or had a dc or something like that.)
10:30 It's funny to think of a "song cheering you on" bc one of my favorite Splat 2 tracks is "Endolphin Rush" and I always love this song for the chorus, which starts off IMMEDIATELY in the beginning. So even if I'm on my worst losing streak, as soon as the match begins and I hear the chorus playing, my mood instantly goes "aw hell yeah, my tune is on" and I have WAY MORE FUN playing. Like I'm not struggling to just get one more percent, but playing cus it's one of the only shooters that feel simple and laid back. Even tho I started playing when I was 17 and I ended up missing out on practically every Splatfest, it still managed to capture my heart and turn me into an immediate fan lol
10:35 sounds an awful lot like “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fightin”, and has a cute jellyfish man dancing along to it, this has brought me to the conclusion of: Jelton John. Thank you all for coming to my TED Talk.
I love your use of visuals and animations, more than I have any other video like this. Things like showing the Xs to represent punk ideologies throughout the video, the bouncing power chords text to help the listener pick them out from the score, and vibration to represent tension really helped me get the points you were making. Even if I were completely clueless in music notation and theory, I feel like I wouldn't be lost. The animations are also really entertaining, and having them on screen helps the 11 minute video fly by. 7:38's representation of the guitar's "crunch" with that little splatter was what stood out to me, for whatever reason. I think the Xs are better overall, but something about that splatter just made me want to tell you how good this is. This kind of attention to detail and polish is what makes something high-quality, rewatchable, and memorable. You're cool.
As someone who IS rather clueless on musical notation, can confirm, the presentation really helps understand the theory. And of course the Inkling going "oh SHIT" and redoubling their efforts when the second movement comes in was amusing.
WELCOME TO EDUCATION. If you try and plan carefully enough, AND you have the mental ability (pretty common), you CAN LEARN *ANYTHING.* And I mean that. (He most likely has taken music theory)
Ooh man you're gonna have a blast going over the Splatoon 3 music and the new popular band among youth: C-Side! Notice how the hard rock influence is directly tied to Team Chaos having won the final splatfest from 2 and that the only ink/octolings who would be in turf wars in the splatlands would be those hardcore enough to abandon society in the first place!
10:24 the music IS actually diagetic! There are speakers playing music seen on maps, and especially in the lobby, city, and grizzco lobby!! There’s even a jukebox you can pay to play tunes in the lobby! It’s so cool to me and makes music even more an integral part of splat culture :]
Ugh, this is what I LOVE about Splatoon! It's so cool how much depth they put into a world that didn't need it at all. Nintendo rarely goes this far to create such a realistic world, but it's so cool to see them put in the effort!
I know I'm just under a year late, but just in case, I figured I'd go over the story since no one else has Humanity has gone extinct, wiped out by flooding induced by the melting of the ice caps via nuclear weapons, as well as rising the sea level to the point where there's a limited amount of remaining landmass. Sea life evolve to becoming dominant species and live on the abandoned landmass, eventually forming their own society. Some time later, as the sea levels continued to rise, war broke out between the most dominant species, the Inklings, the descendants of squids, and the Octarians/Octolings, the descendants of octopi. The Inklings won and got to keep the remaining land, while the Octarians were forced underground. A hundred years later, the ruler of the Octarians, King DJ Octavio, would steal the Great Zapfish, a giant catfish imbued with electricity that acts as the power source for Inkopolis, the largest city on the remaining land, as well as a bunch of smaller Zapfish, all in an effort to power their deteriorating homes and eventually leaving the underground to take over the surface using that power. In response, Captain Craig Cuttlefish, a hero of the GTW and former member of a special unit known as the Squidbeak Splatoon, would remake the Spaltoon and recruit us as Agent 3 - the first 2 agents being the Squid Sisters, AKA Callie and Marie, who are also the captain's granddaughters (as well as being cousins instead of sisters) - to get the Zapfishes back. After going through numerous base camps and destroying the Great Octoweapons, war machines from the GTW, we eventually defeat and informally arrest Octavio and return the Zapfish to Inkopolis, keeping Octavio trapped until a few years later. A couple years after the events of Splatoon 1, Splatoon 2 kicks off the same way, but a tad different. The Great Zapfish has been stolen again by Octavio, who managed to escape, but Callie has also been kidnapped, having been vulnerable after her and Marie stopped really performing together and taking solo careers. With Marie's help, we, Agent 4, foil Octavio's plans again, rescuing the Zapfish and Callie and destroying the Great Octoarmanents, Callie having mind controlled by Octavio moments before he's detained again. Splatoon 2's other story event is the Octo Expansion DLC, which introduced playable Octolings, including the story of one attempting to escape the underground through a metro station known as the Deep Sea Metro, with Captain Cuttlefish, who had gone to the area alongside Agent 3 on a trip abroad, helping out the Octoling, named Agent 8 by the captain, also referred to by the Metro's conductor, C. Q. Cumber, and a strange sentient telephone, as Subject 10,008. The new top idols of Inkopolis, Pearl and Marina, AKA Off The Hook, are also communicating with 8 to help them reach the surface. After going through grueling testing facilities within the Metro, during which we (Agent 8) fight the Sanitized, a synthetic Octarian army made from the DNA of the thousands of other subjects that had attempted to escape, and are led by the sentient telephone, who were tasked with finding the four parts of a blender, later used to harvest their DNA by completing the different testing facilities around the Metro, we also nearly get blended alongside Captain Cuttlefish, but Agent 3, who had been absent from everything leading up to this point, saves 8 and the captain, at the cost of their consciousness. Pearl and Marina help 8 make their way to the surface by escaping through another section of the metro dedicated to the Sanitization process, ultimately reaching the elevator to the surface, with Captain Cuttlefish being tied up and Agent 3 mind-controlled by the Sanitized ink. After defeating 3, we make it up to the surface, where Pearl and Marina have come to take us to Inkopolis via helicopter. However, the story doesn't end there. The telephone, who calls himself Commander Tartar, reveals he's an AI made shortly before humanity's extinction to aid the next sentient races, but has gone mad, having gotten tired of the squabbling between Inklings and Octarians over the years, instead having created the Sanitized as "perfect life forms" worthy of succeeding humanity, and aims a superweapon at Inkopolis, capable of destroying the city and everyone within. Tartar's plans are thwarted, the superweapon is destroyed, and the whole gang make their way to Inkopolis. That's everything up to now, now we just wait for Splatoon 3 to continue the main story of this series once it comes out next year
I used to not really care too much about the Splatoon 1 and 2 soundtracks, this video changed my perspective. The style and editing of the video is also amazing. Great work!
This video was amazing to watch, being a musician once in a band, I loved the analysis and depth of theory you went into that wasn't too deep. Also the editing and art style of this video was *AMAZING*. This is now one of my favorite videos on youtube. Congrats on this phenomenal work of art and a new subscriber.
Honesty, I always pictured the music playing in universe as well, not as non-diegetic. A lot of the stages have speakers set up, which could be playing the music, and we know that they understand that now or never plays during the last minute of a turf war, meaning they must hear it play. (also 5:35 not to nitpick but actually that's Pearl singing)
So to add to this, with the release of Splatoon 3, its version of “now or never” gives a vibe of a garage band, like a group of teenagers performing punk rock in their parents’ basement, which I feel fits the chaotic, don’t-give-a-crap vibe of Splatoon 3’s version of its world.
9:28 Also, another detail of canon value of why squid squad now or never is simpler In some canon material, is shown that the members didn't have much music theory knowledge
I love this so much! I listen to Splatoon 1 and 2's soundtracks a lot, as it is very inspirational and motivating, so seeing it analyzed and defined like this is a real treat!
When Splatoon 3 is released, I want to see a video about "splattack" and how it ties into the lore and settings of the games. I think that would make a great video
Scruffy you’ve really done it again hah, I’m so glad you’re back to making these analysis videos because you really have a talent for animating them and putting important informative info. Thanks!!
Yooooo, what a quality video youtube has recommended me. I love your style, and the little instrument pieces you use with the words. It mixes so well. It adds character. Cool!!!
i wish you’d make more of these with splatoon! music has a very heavy influence in splatoon (one of the reason why i love this game) and it’ll be interesting to see your analysis on the octoling expansion ost or something
this is one of the reason why splatoon is one of my most favourite games. any game that manage to incorporate music into a vital part of its creation has my biggest respect.
I love Splatoon and I love music theory analysis for games I love the music for, and this video was a great meal for that taste. However, it leaves me wanting more... I know this is basically just begging Scruffy to do something I specifically want with his own time, but I wish we had more music analyses on music from the Kirby series, especially the more modern games in the series. Even more specifically, the music in the lategame portions of the games Kirby: Planet Robobot and Kirby: Triple Deluxe. In the case of Triple Deluxe, the atmosphere the music as well as the other things like background and character design is honestly one of the most effective atmospheres I've seen. Moonlight Capital, Sullied Grace, Moonstruck Blossom, they all convey mood and character so well I'm basically bursting wanting to know why as well as just see other people recognize it. Sadly, not a lot of people seem to make content on the 3DS Kirby games... I assume it's because of how hard it is to record a 3DS (although there's many solutions to that these days) or just some weird thing I noticed where people who aren't specifically Kirby fans usually only play the console releases. Shame, the 3DS games are my top #1 and #2 in the series. Great games from a game development, game design, musical, or even just plain gamer standpoint. This concludes my essay. Blame the lack of content for making me bottle up my appreciation for these games and the eagerness to write paragraphs at it when I have the chance. The combined appreciation for certain songs and interest in music analyses has already started to give me a desire to learn music theory and I don't know what to do!
Kirby also does a larger-than-usual amount of re-use of old tunes, beyond just references embedded in larger pieces, and often without a significant change in context - it's not *nothing* to analyze, at but it's *different* and possibly *less*, when it's the fourth Butter Building (or whatever else) remix played in broadly similar situations.
@@qwertystop With the exception of stuff like specific character motifs like Dedede and Meta Knight's themes, most of the time when a song comes back it's only for bonus stages in a world. Most modern kirby music is composed fresh. I would have relented with regards to Star Allies, because instead of establishing the central musical motif for the game in its first stage it just reprises green greens, but then the climax of the game and the final stages of the final boss actually recontexualise THAT and turn it into foreshadowing for literally the game's biggest plot twist, so.
I remember playing splatoon 1 on my wii u and literally tensing up during the last minute in some rough matches and anticipating/waiting for that little bit of relief in the music :D
This video is one of my favourite essays I've ever watched!! I love the editing and how instantly eye catching each visual/clip felt as it progressed. I have autism and a really big special intrest of mine is Music and music theory, so seeing a splatoon music video is SO COOL i love how you spent time researching into each band/gener they play, I would love to hear what you think about the new side order DLC; Alot of it is based off music theory/writing songs since it is heavily related to Marinas character :D
I'd like to make a note that what falls on the beat that would be the resolution note of now or never is the "time" whistle of the referee calling the match! a shrill high note, more like percussion, but still a "resolution" of tension in the game, which is held in anticipation for the results of the match, where we get a scale that builds up to the resolution
I know this video is three years old, but I just noticed that the first note of the victory theme completes the unfinished scale in Now or Never, basically relieving the tension from Now or Never
I'd like to make a correction to this video, as several people have pointed out to me. There is quite a bit of Splatoon's soundtrack that is diegetic: it exists in the game world and the characters can hear it. For example, the music in Inkopolis Square is coming from speakers around the actual location, which is why you can hear different bits of it depending on where you are, like a real shopping center. Often, the exact source of the music is not readily visible, but I was hasty to say the soundtrack was non-diegetic. Apologies, and thank you for pointing that out!
OmFGGG COOL!
Also, at the beginning of every battle a weird sounds plays which is a proctor speaking over the speakers across the map saying the turf war is about to begin, and the music plays from those same speakers.
Calamari Inkantation in Splatoon 1 was also heard by any nearby Octarians :)
as early even as e3 they were saying this in response to why some of them are wearing headphones, like the equivalent of popular pop songs or something are playing as they're playing turf war only instead of pop songs it's this splatoon soundtrack hence the bands that compose them are also in-universe too.
there were also visible pulsing speakers in the first game's plaza too.
11
I wish every time I said *booyah* a sick guitar riff would immediately follow
If only
Matches would just be a bunch of guitar riffs then
kinda like bill and ted excellent adventure
booyah
I'll follow you around with a guitar for 10 Vbucks.
Splatension is my favourite game
Same
Yup same
one of my faves too
oh hi vian, didn’t expect to see you here
@@miloross1472 same
"Hey, what do you listen to?"
"...It's complicated."
"Aw, c'mon, how complicated could it-"
*Scruffy has entered the room*
USER HAS JOINED YOUR CHANNEL.
Scruffy: I will analyze this for you
I'm finally glad I can express myself now with this video-
Although I'm a few months late
Hi u have 70 subs with no vids
🄰 🄿🄴🅁🅂🄾🄽 🄷🄰🅂 🄹🄾🄸🄽🄴🄳 🅃 🄷 🄴 🄲 🄷 🄰 🄽🄽🄴🄻
ill just have him in a suitcase cuz they ask me that a lot.
“What genre is Splatoons music?”
*Yes*
Splatoon is a genre
Yes
night47_ the genres are endless
I'm sorry is Marie holding a gun
@@mekumcream8279 why wouldn’t she? She’s Marie
Nintendo: Final fest!
also Nintendo: SCREW THAT LETS FIGHT OVER CONDIMENTS AGAIN
@@Ed-1749 I agree, Nintendo hasnt even confirmed production or even if they're gonna do splatoon 3, I highly doubt there will be splatoon 3 on switch or at least anytime soon
why did i find your comment on this video tabby lmao
@@Octa well I made it and then u found it
“WHICH CAME FIRST THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?”
SCREW THAT LETS THROW IN AN EG
The fact that splatoon's music is played by in universe bands is one of my favorite details.
secretagentlucario Same here
Makes the world feel more alive
D i a g e t i c m u s i c
Helps me maintain my adamant belief that the world of Splatoon is real and I just need to pass my CQ test to get there
@@libertyadams5961 let's be honest, the station is just strapping an ink bomb on a terrorist's backpack to stop a telephone machine from making calamari
now that i say that out loud...
Splatoon music is the kind that you easily memorize without noticing or trying
Mike-Daddy EXACTLY
Yep
123rd Like
Also, @Megan_King, I feel l’ve seen you in- Wait, I _have_ seen you in other videos!
Artist 128 Drop a sub, you’re gonna be seeing me a lot more in the near future
Right? I know all of the turf war songs and I could hum them to anyone, and I don’t even know half of their names.
You had me at "Splatoon Music".
Same
Sameeee. That spla-tune had me.
He had me at S
He had me at “Splatoon”.
LegendOfMario I understood it all lol
2:56 used to be my ringtone. I changed it after the amount of times the drums scared the bojeebles out of me.
Can’t imagine how fast you’d wake up
*It's Now or Never*
Randomnessios 😂
I should play that when I'm getting ready for school, I'll be ready faster 🤣
@@pintobeani5361 hows that going for ya
Honestly I swear when playing turf war when 'Now or Never' starts playing I get this huge sense of urgency(its even scary sometimes LOL) the punkish tension that's yelling at you to put everything you've got into this last sliver of time because whether you win or not depends on not getting splatted and inking as much as you can, going all out, putting your skills to the test and pushing yourself to the limits, and then when the song ends and evrything just stops, the quick paced beat of you and your teammates breath is all you can hear. Splatoon music really is something.
Same
Its my fav song just makes me better
Okay now put that 110% power into the whole thing!
Personally every time without fail I would throw myself behind enemy lines and unleash devastation, usually partaking in more than my fair share of spawncamping from the flank using inkzooka and seekers and making sure that this sixth of the map was mine and only mine, I miss splatoon one honestly, havent been able to play in months and I'm not sure if it's still online. I got the console right before the release of the nintendo switch and the game right before the release of splatoon 2
Loving your writing over here
Celtic punk was something I needed in life
In mine too
Celtic Punk is good af today
Listen to ferocious dog
fins and fiddles is still the best song in splatoon 2... Maybe fly octo fly is better but fins and fiddles is best in ranked.
Flocking Molly, Dropkick murphys
I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the doodles
Same
I feel like we're watching blues clues it's amazing.
Same
This guy has taught me more about music theory then my band teacher has in 4 years.
What's your profile pic
@@space_bacon1953 I'm wondering the same thing.
Yum yum
Subscribed to Shad I see
Oof
i’d pay for you to dissect the current splatfest theme “Anarchy Rainbow”, your structure and explanation is absolutely amazing
Anarchy rainbow. Also, now we have both now on never. So id contribute.
@@Maxler5795 LMAO ima fix this
I'm really hoping he'll post another video like this once the game has been out for a few weeks, this is one of my favourite videos hes ever made and I'd be so stoked to get another!
@@ari638 i agree! i don't know if Scruffy would be stoked about having to get the exact instrument samples right after hefty amounts of research, but i think it's worth it because of the lasting impact and knowledge this video has had on a lot of people, and Splatoon's overall instrumentation shining in an even more appreciative light!
I mean he does have a Patreon
"what genre of music is splatoons?"
easy
its squidstep
squidpunk
It’s Splazz
@@thegreatkingofevilganondor1500 it's a mixture of jazz, and funk, called junk
Omega Otaku Ya like junk?
Squidcore
The last part about Splatoon's soundtrack being a character, evolving with the world and being a part of the canon, is exactly why Splatoon is the only game soundtrack I casually listen to. It just has so much personality in it!
Music with *Personality you say?*
**Laughs in mother 3**
@@Boney9551 😏
It's the only music I listen to. I really don't care for music but Splatoons soundtrack is something else.
@@keinvornamekeinnachname i have a theory...
The music, as already described, is awesomely powerful yet not overwhelming. The gameplay, however, is this game's other strength.
Here's something to chew on: TIME IS ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD in the Splatoon series. Unlike many other Nintendo games, you either step-up to the "advancing" (song reference) game's timeline, or get swept behind. Even the sunken scrolls add to this, not to mention the scroll about a fossilized human!
ALL of these factors and more obviously contributed to Splatoon's success, despite the relative "failure" of the Wii U
Play The World Ends with You
Remember,
Be a snack
Booyah back.
Don't be a hack;
Booyah back!
(Guitar tune plays)
Don't slack,
Booyah back
Don’t be wack
Booyah back
"booyah
booyah
booyah
booyah
BOOYAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOOOOOOOOOYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
As usual the sound designers at Nintendo got Splatoon's audio utterly perfect.
say what you will about nintendo but you can't deny they have the best video game soundtracks in the industry
Luxmi N Exactly, they never fail to make memorable soundtracks, even with ARMS!
@@luxmin6115 i agree, but valve is a close contender for me
I would personally describe Splatoon’s soundtrack’s genre as “Speculative Top 40”-an attempt to capture the popular hit music of of a fictional culture in a fictional world with clear worldbuilding and continuity. I call it “speculative” because “speculative fiction” is a commonly proposed name for the Metagenre that encompasses SciFi, Fantasy, alternate history, cosmic horror, and other genres where self-consistent worldbuilding is prized-fictional settings which are put forward as plausible within their own logic and in which we can speculate what would be different and what would be the same.
8:54 The Squid Squad and Wet Floor have more backstory than any characters in a Netflix romance movie
3:30 "...And never landing on that upper C note that concludes the scale..."
*anxiety intensifies, heart races*
oh god OH GOD DID WE WIN *D I D W E W I N*
That was fantastic!! I definitely wouldn’t mind if you looked at more of Splatoon 1/2’s sound design- a look at Octo Expansion (or one of the single-player campaigns) specifically would be soooo good. These types of videos are my favorite!!
Octo Expansion's music was mostly remixed songs correct? i might be misremembering
@@Boney9551 it was entirely original songs, minus the two appearances of Ebb and Flow as well as the Splattack! remix.
@@Boney9551 You're hardcore mis-remembering. The music for the stations are original pieces (save for the boss theme) and, there's new Off the Hook songs. (Excluding the Ebb and Flow remix used in the Final boss battle.) Also, there's a remix of Splattack, and a _slightly_ different version of Calamari Inkantation for the sanitized Agent 3 fights.
I never would have expected to see you here!!!
@@peepdahorror yes
To conclude:
Splatoon is hella good and the music is hella better
Life is Strange
you speak the truth, Wannabe!
Fo sho.
Literally EVERY song in the franchise is diagetic, actually, not just some of it. Even in the singleplayer, the characters are physically hearing it, especially during the boss battles. The boss into music comes FROM the Octopodes in the background of each arena, and the battle platform is where the battle music is coming from.
check the pinned comment
The Genre of Splatoon music is "Help me I'm drowning but i'm also singing."
"We recorded the intern drowning and autotuned it"
@@ink3487 woOOOOO
LMAOOO
Also squid squad broke up and the bassist (the purple inkling) formed a new band with an octoling.
KyanKyan71 yeah Diss-pair (which strangely sound like despair, uhhh...)
@@bluflash10 or This pair
@@bluflash10 and both of their songs are sicknesses, Seasick and Kinetosis (which is motion sickness).
EvanSandBacon whoa
(I’m also a bassist:)
Definitely do more Splatoon sound stuff, that whole games soundtrack is iconic
Splatoon and Persona 5? I see you are a man of culture.
I’d love to hear an analysis of the octo expansion music
It’s definitely a great soundtrack, but I wouldn’t exactly say iconic lol.
@@otakupower1048 The Octo Expansion music is so weird. My personal favorite song is easily the Splatattack remix.
I think it would have been cool if Nintendo had done this:
I like how it’s so close to resolving when the timer ends, that’s cool. But what if, after the ink amounts had been shown, when your team won, there was a bombastic resolving chord? (A major for Splatoon 1, C major for Splatoon 2)
I find it a bit weird that it just plays a completely different victory theme in both games...
Oh hey that's a really cool idea!!! You would need to re-do how the victory screen, but that miiiight be a good Splatoon 3 idea.
If you lose though, the band messes up and you get weird dissonance
Sho Humphries Exactly!
OOOH Genius!
Welp,
seems like in the new Now or Never the song doesn't end immediately after the game ends lol
How It feels to chew fifty gum:
*Getting sniped by a "splatsniper" and hearing "It's now or never" start at the exact same time*
The true feeling of raw anger.
More like, sniped with 10 seconds left, where you have time to respawn, and suoerjump, but once you finish the jump the battles over
@@fyra_cat2119 hey don’t ruin the moment
Me holding my little splatterscope, confident i just got carried by my team cuz im not good at sniping yet
The talk about the canonicity of Now or Never reminded me of the track that plays in the tutorial of the first game, the absolute first track you ever hear: "Splattack (Jam Session)", one of my favourite tracks in the game.
The parallel between the band Squid Squad warming up to perform (maybe for the first time ever) their most popular song and you, the player, warming up to the actual beginning of the game (and the beginning of the Splatoon franchise) is amazing!
(I hope my thought was clear enough)
It is. AND I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAY. Surprisingly, ALL of the game's various music serves various purposes - from keeping hype, generating hype, and slowing hype to mysteriousness and/or evil, villainous, the game would be ... Pretty boring, without music!
(And the final boss ambience from Splatoon 1, after you defeat him ... So eerie...)
Same with splatoon 2, with inkoming!
Intro lyrics:
*DUH BUH DUN DUH*
_Hello, I’m Scruffy._
Thank you XD
*_they are too advanced, they have snippets of our sound, how did they find it?! This isn’t good.. we must come back to earth for questioning in the future when we go to the moon for life._*
Pikmin and Splatoon??? My two favourite games??? You are a blessing Scruffy.
King Jared I love Pikmin but I hate splatoon
I don’t hate it it just makes me frustrated
King Jared *Y E S* . I'm glad to find someone with my same favorite games
Nintendo 64th like
@@pikiuia vice versa here
Paul Smith what’s vice versa
4:40 That half a beat hesitations has to be the best part of any OST I've ever heard
I think I understand at the end of Now or Never, the tension remains the same. They still have to find out who won, and there's that tension. But once they find out who won the tension finally rests. It's honestly really ingenious.
DAMN YOU FOR ENDING THE VIDEO 1 NOTE BEFORE RESOLUTION
lolk
lolk
lolk
Nolk
⛏
Great video as always! I never thought of Wet Floor covering "Now or Never" as a way to show their respect for Squid Squad after their disbandment. I love what you do!
Splatoon 2 also has Electro Swing in the Octo Expansion ^^
Seymen 2206 really?? thats amazing
*car wash level vietnam flash back*
*c a r w a s h*
I
I found a reason to buy the dlc
8:47 I like how when he made the word "Splatune" bigger it looked like the squid looked unamused at the pun
tfw you're tryna focus and listen to what he's saying, but every time the music comes on you start jammin' to it instead
I'm like, genuinely giddy right now at how happy I am that you did this. Splatoon's world-driven and world-inspired music is probably one of the absolute coolest touches of the effort that went into making that game cohesive, and the fact that you're able to analyze and look into it so heavily and draw a real, genuine conclusion is incredible. I couldn't be happier.
as someone with celtic heritage, i didn’t even know celtic punk existed. they always seemed either rly chill or rly tough, but never “punk”. interesting, to say the least
I just like splatoon 1 now or never better cause i love how it sounds. I like that it sounds like some band going crazy in their garage.
You made me imagine that; crazy as hecc
@@silverschmid4591 absolutely
Singing in my online chorus classes: nah
Singing to all memorized Nintendo songs: yup
10:24 actually many people speculate that it’s diegetic! pearl & marina perform their music live for turf wars during the splatfest, so some (including myself) think that the music we hear as we play normal turf wars is also heard by the inklings (albeit not live, just a recording being played through speakers)
I can't be the only one who thinks Salmon Run's music is the total bomb? Like, both the in game battle music and the music played when the Salmonoids are restless gets my adrenaline high and makes me feel like I'm running a marathon. It's crazy fun man
You had my attention at “Splatoon”
Edit: Now or Never is probably one of my favorite songs from Splatoon and I’m happy you went into detail about the song
Same!
The genre is *F R E S H*
Edit: I think the increased tension at the end of Now or Never (Squid Squad) is justified: You still don't know who won! (unless the match was one-sided or had a dc or something like that.)
Fractured YT
Close matches where it goes down to the .2-.3 percent are my favorites!
totally agree with that, it's a justified buildup without a conclusion.
I once won a ranked battle in the first game when there was a disconnect on MY TEAM!!!
10:30 It's funny to think of a "song cheering you on" bc one of my favorite Splat 2 tracks is "Endolphin Rush" and I always love this song for the chorus, which starts off IMMEDIATELY in the beginning. So even if I'm on my worst losing streak, as soon as the match begins and I hear the chorus playing, my mood instantly goes "aw hell yeah, my tune is on" and I have WAY MORE FUN playing. Like I'm not struggling to just get one more percent, but playing cus it's one of the only shooters that feel simple and laid back. Even tho I started playing when I was 17 and I ended up missing out on practically every Splatfest, it still managed to capture my heart and turn me into an immediate fan lol
I think the 2 version hits the tension at the very end better, because it really gives that "aaaaaaaaaaannnnnddddddddd.... STOP!" feeling
10:35 sounds an awful lot like “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fightin”, and has a cute jellyfish man dancing along to it, this has brought me to the conclusion of: Jelton John. Thank you all for coming to my TED Talk.
Agreed!
Instead of Friday night funknin now it's Saturday night fighting
I can't wait for him to make another one for Splatoon 3.
I love your use of visuals and animations, more than I have any other video like this.
Things like showing the Xs to represent punk ideologies throughout the video, the bouncing power chords text to help the listener pick them out from the score, and vibration to represent tension really helped me get the points you were making.
Even if I were completely clueless in music notation and theory, I feel like I wouldn't be lost. The animations are also really entertaining, and having them on screen helps the 11 minute video fly by.
7:38's representation of the guitar's "crunch" with that little splatter was what stood out to me, for whatever reason. I think the Xs are better overall, but something about that splatter just made me want to tell you how good this is.
This kind of attention to detail and polish is what makes something high-quality, rewatchable, and memorable. You're cool.
As someone who IS rather clueless on musical notation, can confirm, the presentation really helps understand the theory.
And of course the Inkling going "oh SHIT" and redoubling their efforts when the second movement comes in was amusing.
5:00 I really appreciate that the game also makes its victory theme seem like it completes the song.
4:30 this man running with an aerospray, my man got class
Yeah um... That's a *woman* you are referring to.
Marina:* singing contently *
Pearl:* pokes keyboard *
(It's at 5:36 btw)
Pearl : hehe *ping* look at me *ping ping*
Marina:Pearl, since when do you play keyboard? *And aren't you supposed to be rapping?!?!*
Splatoon is one of, if not my favorite game series and im glad you're doing a video about its amazing music
Yes
You seem to make any topic related to music interesting. I don't know how...
WELCOME TO EDUCATION. If you try and plan carefully enough, AND you have the mental ability (pretty common), you CAN LEARN *ANYTHING.* And I mean that. (He most likely has taken music theory)
YOU DONT THINK SPLOON MOOZIC IS INTERESTING????????
Ooh man you're gonna have a blast going over the Splatoon 3 music and the new popular band among youth: C-Side! Notice how the hard rock influence is directly tied to Team Chaos having won the final splatfest from 2 and that the only ink/octolings who would be in turf wars in the splatlands would be those hardcore enough to abandon society in the first place!
Hell yeah, I would love a video going over the new songs in platoon 3!
10:24 the music IS actually diagetic! There are speakers playing music seen on maps, and especially in the lobby, city, and grizzco lobby!! There’s even a jukebox you can pay to play tunes in the lobby! It’s so cool to me and makes music even more an integral part of splat culture :]
Are we NOT gonna talk about how at 1:10 he GUESSES the splatoon 3 colors even though it hadn't even been announced???
4:21
"Now it's time to build for the climax."
*inkling girl looks at camera in shock*
holdup.
Arturo Solis it's technically legal in japan
H o l ' U p-
I’d love to be of assistance ;)
Edit: It’s alright, I’m 16
@@justsaying6341
-_-
i adore splatoons culture. all the brands and bands and every aspect of it
Ugh, this is what I LOVE about Splatoon! It's so cool how much depth they put into a world that didn't need it at all. Nintendo rarely goes this far to create such a realistic world, but it's so cool to see them put in the effort!
this makes me want to buy the game, totally into the style of the characters and colors and music. Not sure what the story is though.
Andy Perry there’s a demo of the game from 4/29 - 5/6 if you wanna try it out :) and if you decide to buy it then you’ll get a discount
The plot is about spy stuff
I know I'm just under a year late, but just in case, I figured I'd go over the story since no one else has
Humanity has gone extinct, wiped out by flooding induced by the melting of the ice caps via nuclear weapons, as well as rising the sea level to the point where there's a limited amount of remaining landmass. Sea life evolve to becoming dominant species and live on the abandoned landmass, eventually forming their own society. Some time later, as the sea levels continued to rise, war broke out between the most dominant species, the Inklings, the descendants of squids, and the Octarians/Octolings, the descendants of octopi. The Inklings won and got to keep the remaining land, while the Octarians were forced underground.
A hundred years later, the ruler of the Octarians, King DJ Octavio, would steal the Great Zapfish, a giant catfish imbued with electricity that acts as the power source for Inkopolis, the largest city on the remaining land, as well as a bunch of smaller Zapfish, all in an effort to power their deteriorating homes and eventually leaving the underground to take over the surface using that power. In response, Captain Craig Cuttlefish, a hero of the GTW and former member of a special unit known as the Squidbeak Splatoon, would remake the Spaltoon and recruit us as Agent 3 - the first 2 agents being the Squid Sisters, AKA Callie and Marie, who are also the captain's granddaughters (as well as being cousins instead of sisters) - to get the Zapfishes back. After going through numerous base camps and destroying the Great Octoweapons, war machines from the GTW, we eventually defeat and informally arrest Octavio and return the Zapfish to Inkopolis, keeping Octavio trapped until a few years later.
A couple years after the events of Splatoon 1, Splatoon 2 kicks off the same way, but a tad different. The Great Zapfish has been stolen again by Octavio, who managed to escape, but Callie has also been kidnapped, having been vulnerable after her and Marie stopped really performing together and taking solo careers. With Marie's help, we, Agent 4, foil Octavio's plans again, rescuing the Zapfish and Callie and destroying the Great Octoarmanents, Callie having mind controlled by Octavio moments before he's detained again.
Splatoon 2's other story event is the Octo Expansion DLC, which introduced playable Octolings, including the story of one attempting to escape the underground through a metro station known as the Deep Sea Metro, with Captain Cuttlefish, who had gone to the area alongside Agent 3 on a trip abroad, helping out the Octoling, named Agent 8 by the captain, also referred to by the Metro's conductor, C. Q. Cumber, and a strange sentient telephone, as Subject 10,008. The new top idols of Inkopolis, Pearl and Marina, AKA Off The Hook, are also communicating with 8 to help them reach the surface.
After going through grueling testing facilities within the Metro, during which we (Agent 8) fight the Sanitized, a synthetic Octarian army made from the DNA of the thousands of other subjects that had attempted to escape, and are led by the sentient telephone, who were tasked with finding the four parts of a blender, later used to harvest their DNA by completing the different testing facilities around the Metro, we also nearly get blended alongside Captain Cuttlefish, but Agent 3, who had been absent from everything leading up to this point, saves 8 and the captain, at the cost of their consciousness. Pearl and Marina help 8 make their way to the surface by escaping through another section of the metro dedicated to the Sanitization process, ultimately reaching the elevator to the surface, with Captain Cuttlefish being tied up and Agent 3 mind-controlled by the Sanitized ink.
After defeating 3, we make it up to the surface, where Pearl and Marina have come to take us to Inkopolis via helicopter. However, the story doesn't end there. The telephone, who calls himself Commander Tartar, reveals he's an AI made shortly before humanity's extinction to aid the next sentient races, but has gone mad, having gotten tired of the squabbling between Inklings and Octarians over the years, instead having created the Sanitized as "perfect life forms" worthy of succeeding humanity, and aims a superweapon at Inkopolis, capable of destroying the city and everyone within. Tartar's plans are thwarted, the superweapon is destroyed, and the whole gang make their way to Inkopolis.
That's everything up to now, now we just wait for Splatoon 3 to continue the main story of this series once it comes out next year
@@rootbeerguy690 Jesus christ 😳
@@cinnqminx ?
The quality of your videos is unbelievable. I cannot wait to see you hit a million subscribers.
Im really bad at music, but this was still super interesting!! Amazing video, dude
Splatoon 2 has one of the most eclectic game soundtracks I've ever heard, I'd love for you to make this a series!
This mans voice is so nice. And the over all style that he has for his videos are so cool. (Given, the style changes between videos.)
I used to not really care too much about the Splatoon 1 and 2 soundtracks, this video changed my perspective. The style and editing of the video is also amazing. Great work!
One of my favourite TH-camrs making a video of one of my favourite games. I already know this is gonna be good.
This video was amazing to watch, being a musician once in a band, I loved the analysis and depth of theory you went into that wasn't too deep. Also the editing and art style of this video was *AMAZING*. This is now one of my favorite videos on youtube. Congrats on this phenomenal work of art and a new subscriber.
Honesty, I always pictured the music playing in universe as well, not as non-diegetic. A lot of the stages have speakers set up, which could be playing the music, and we know that they understand that now or never plays during the last minute of a turf war, meaning they must hear it play.
(also 5:35 not to nitpick but actually that's Pearl singing)
So to add to this, with the release of Splatoon 3, its version of “now or never” gives a vibe of a garage band, like a group of teenagers performing punk rock in their parents’ basement, which I feel fits the chaotic, don’t-give-a-crap vibe of Splatoon 3’s version of its world.
9:28 Also, another detail of canon value of why squid squad now or never is simpler
In some canon material, is shown that the members didn't have much music theory knowledge
WHAT IN THE WORLD, I WAS JUST PLAYING SPLATOON WHEN THIS POPPED UP
Twig the Blue Pikmin saaaame
google is always watching
I was as well attacked by coincidence
I love this so much! I listen to Splatoon 1 and 2's soundtracks a lot, as it is very inspirational and motivating, so seeing it analyzed and defined like this is a real treat!
Splatoon music is so good! It always give me motivation. Thank you for this.
ryderkun is your pfp goggles hentai
KyanKyan71 Hey don’t expose me.
When Splatoon 3 is released, I want to see a video about "splattack" and how it ties into the lore and settings of the games. I think that would make a great video
i’m sure nintendo just wanted flex their musical department’s talents with splatoon.
Scruffy you’ve really done it again hah, I’m so glad you’re back to making these analysis videos because you really have a talent for animating them and putting important informative info. Thanks!!
Yooooo, what a quality video youtube has recommended me. I love your style, and the little instrument pieces you use with the words. It mixes so well. It adds character. Cool!!!
Amazing as always, Scruffy! Keep up the good work.
i wish you’d make more of these with splatoon! music has a very heavy influence in splatoon (one of the reason why i love this game) and it’ll be interesting to see your analysis on the octoling expansion ost or something
"Last splatfest"
About that...
Link Legend
I'm team ketchup. You?
@@milkis9175 I'm team doesn't have NSO 😭
Link Legend
*pats your Tentacles*
Shhhhh. It's okay. Download the free demo you get NSO for free for 7 days
@@milkis9175 i would have just bought it on my own, but I have no income due to the whole pandemic thing ruining my job hunting plans.
Team Ketchup
this is one of the reason why splatoon is one of my most favourite games. any game that manage to incorporate music into a vital part of its creation has my biggest respect.
I love Splatoon and I love music theory analysis for games I love the music for, and this video was a great meal for that taste. However, it leaves me wanting more...
I know this is basically just begging Scruffy to do something I specifically want with his own time, but I wish we had more music analyses on music from the Kirby series, especially the more modern games in the series. Even more specifically, the music in the lategame portions of the games Kirby: Planet Robobot and Kirby: Triple Deluxe.
In the case of Triple Deluxe, the atmosphere the music as well as the other things like background and character design is honestly one of the most effective atmospheres I've seen. Moonlight Capital, Sullied Grace, Moonstruck Blossom, they all convey mood and character so well I'm basically bursting wanting to know why as well as just see other people recognize it.
Sadly, not a lot of people seem to make content on the 3DS Kirby games... I assume it's because of how hard it is to record a 3DS (although there's many solutions to that these days) or just some weird thing I noticed where people who aren't specifically Kirby fans usually only play the console releases. Shame, the 3DS games are my top #1 and #2 in the series. Great games from a game development, game design, musical, or even just plain gamer standpoint.
This concludes my essay. Blame the lack of content for making me bottle up my appreciation for these games and the eagerness to write paragraphs at it when I have the chance. The combined appreciation for certain songs and interest in music analyses has already started to give me a desire to learn music theory and I don't know what to do!
Kirby also does a larger-than-usual amount of re-use of old tunes, beyond just references embedded in larger pieces, and often without a significant change in context - it's not *nothing* to analyze, at but it's *different* and possibly *less*, when it's the fourth Butter Building (or whatever else) remix played in broadly similar situations.
I don't mean to be rude but did we listen to the same soundtracks? Can you give examples of what you mean?
@@qwertystop With the exception of stuff like specific character motifs like Dedede and Meta Knight's themes, most of the time when a song comes back it's only for bonus stages in a world. Most modern kirby music is composed fresh. I would have relented with regards to Star Allies, because instead of establishing the central musical motif for the game in its first stage it just reprises green greens, but then the climax of the game and the final stages of the final boss actually recontexualise THAT and turn it into foreshadowing for literally the game's biggest plot twist, so.
I already love your channel but uploading something about one of my favorite games?? That’s so cool!
Deep Cut's version of now or never is so different compared to the other's. It blows me away how much Nintendo involves music into their games.
i usually dont listen to those music genres but splatoon makes me love them
even octo expansion musics
0:30 I just notice "Woom Box"
Love it, where can I get one?
1:40
Ah, yes, the best type of music: *booyah*
*awesome guitar riff*
@@coreforce9872 *booyah*
I remember playing splatoon 1 on my wii u and literally tensing up during the last minute in some rough matches and anticipating/waiting for that little bit of relief in the music :D
This video is one of my favourite essays I've ever watched!! I love the editing and how instantly eye catching each visual/clip felt as it progressed. I have autism and a really big special intrest of mine is Music and music theory, so seeing a splatoon music video is SO COOL i love how you spent time researching into each band/gener they play, I would love to hear what you think about the new side order DLC; Alot of it is based off music theory/writing songs since it is heavily related to Marinas character :D
I'd like to make a note that what falls on the beat that would be the resolution note of now or never is the "time" whistle of the referee calling the match! a shrill high note, more like percussion, but still a "resolution" of tension in the game, which is held in anticipation for the results of the match, where we get a scale that builds up to the resolution
Thanks for the upload, Scruffy! Love seeing you post.
Cannot wait for a detailed analysis of Anarchy Rainbow
I loved the Splatoon soundtrack before, but this gives me a whole new appreciation for it! Amazing video! Love the presentation as well!
I know this video is three years old, but I just noticed that the first note of the victory theme completes the unfinished scale in Now or Never, basically relieving the tension from Now or Never
I love that after hundreds of hours that the music never gets old, it's so good!!