sagee★!!

- The idea that these Salmonids were going crazy from Fish-Cerberus-Satan over here makes me feel awful for them, because it throws into question their entire behaviour as we know them on the Islands.

We seem to know that the closer a Salmonid is to this maddening Golden Egg, the more powerful and irritable it becomes, so evidently something has been occurring.

What confuses me personally is the question of the Salmonids OUTSIDE of the Islands. Are they as irritable? Are they under that kind of control? Technically we eliminate a negative source, but what comes after?

- Deep Cut intentionally telling themselves that they haven’t done anything wrong feels… accurate. They constantly justify themselves as to what they’re doing.

“They attacked first!”

“These Spiralhite salmonids destroyed Splatsville!”

“If we weren’t here nobody could stop it!”

“This would’ve happened with or without us!”

The reality is that we CANNOT be sure, but we do know at the very least they pull their asses back in gear to prevent the world’s destruction. You can argue that the Big Runs happening more frequently was an indicator of it, but again, uncertain.

- DO NOT LIKE HOW THEY REFER TO THE SALMONIDS.

Frye asking if they’re “dumb on purpose”, SPECIFICALLY after learning they had very ADVANCED technology?

Also constantly saying they’re beasts of sorts, wanting to sell their artefacts on the market! That feels incredibly weird. When you KNOW that the Octarian tech is within the Islands too (see the bounce pads, the propellers, parts of the weapons they use…) that backs up the Octo-Salmon trade deals mentioned in previous lore!

So what do I think?

There definitely should have been more care taken to show that Salmonids are people, but there is an attempt to preserve a level of nuance, although it might only be obvious to the player and not to the actual characters.

Deep Cut (and in turn, the Mechanic) truly do not seem to comprehend the weight of their actions aside from the benefits they reap. The Salmonids are technically the primary aggressor, both with Big Runs and with how they behave in the islands, but nothing they’ve done ever actually validates the Grizzco stuff, and stealing their cultural artefacts still feels really weird to do from a moral standpoint.

So far the game looks incredibly fun from a gameplay perspective alone, and the visuals are totally gorgeous. I will be going in with the knowledge that neither side is truly considered a “good” side in this matter (as stated by game devs themselves).