Wash me outside, how ‘bout dat.
Funnily enough, both sentiments are only kinda true.
Oh, and the game only sort of resembles Splatoon in both fun and unflattering ways.
Also unlike Splatoon, foam can be layered.
Spraying enough of the stuff will build small candy-coloured mountains and crevices and speed bumps and walls.
Cutting across the foam clouds, hopping over enemy foam, and retaining momentum is genuinely tons of fun.
There’s an easygoing rhythm to Foamstars that sits comfortably with its casual party-based goals.
Bubbles jump up when you do a quick drift.
Projectiles deliver anoomphwhen they land.
It tickles a special, childlike part of my brain.
(Also the ideal area for phallic foam art, for what it’s worth.)
Splatoon is a game about paint, so it makes sense that your ammo sticks on stuff.
Foamstars is a game about foam that acts like paintandsolid gunk, without properly capitalising on a fun concept.
Shouldn’t the foam walls break open when you bash through them?
Nothing much really separates our eight heroes, though.
That main loop is, again, fun but doesn’t change depending on who you’re playing as.
Foamstars sadly fumbles that bag as well, since samey abilities mean thoughtful party composition is a non-factor.
Ranked modes haven’t been released just yet, so who knows!?
Maybe Square Enix is hiding an unexpectedly moreish progression system to keep me submerged.
I should also mention the aggressively weird gacha progression.
All of which makes me concerned about future pay-to-win possibilities.
Putting out a paint-the-map-in-coloured-goo alternative that’s not relegated to Nintendo systems is actually a great idea.
One I was excited about.
- but she’s also convinced that she’s a penguin despite definitely being a human.
Like with the rest of the game, the PvE mode doesn’t leave me wanting more.
A key to Foamstars’ first season was provided for review by Square Enix.
