When Splatoon 3 launched late last year, it brought back some fan-favorite maps from previous games with a few updates and changes from their original versions. It is on one of these maps that a Splatoon 3 player spotted a wholesome reference to something that was first seen in the first Splatoon game in 2015.Splatoon 3 launched with a total of 12 multiplayer stages, more than half of which were taken from the previous two games in the series. Two more maps would be brought in with the Splatoon 3 Chill Season update that launched in December, one original map and another brought back from the first Splatoon. As one might expect, returning stages come with small differences and quirks that make them distinct from their original forms. A prime example of this is the Hammerhead Bridge stage which was under construction in the first game but is now mostly complete in Splatoon 3.Another one of the returning Splatoon stages was Mahi-Mahi Resort which takes place in the swimming pool of a hotel. In the original game, players could spot a wedding ceremony between two jellyfish, one of the series' other species apart from Inklings and Octolings. With a few exceptions, jellyfish typically only exist as background characters that can't be interacted with, so an event like this made them stand out. When a Splatoon 3 player looked toward the same location in the current version of the map, they saw what looks like a family of jellyfish having a birthday party. This player theorized that this is the family of the same couple who got married in the first game.
This observation was first made by a Twitter user known as VolteMatte whose tweet was then reposted onto the Splatoon subreddit. Some players pointed out that in the lore of Splatoon, it is suggested that the jellyfish act as a hive mind and only enter relationships as a form of imitation. Regardless, the adorable example of continuity was met positively by fans, many being happy to see that the happy couple returned.
Unlike other multiplayer games, Splatoon 3 is in a position in which the inclusion of older content can actually be more beneficial. The original Splatoon was only available to Wii U owners, a console that the Switch has outsold by a huge margin. This means that newer fans who might not have owned a Wii U have no easy way to see those old stages. Bringing them back in Splatoon 3 gives them the opportunity to see what they missed out on. With only one major Splatoon 3 update being released thus far, there is still plenty of time to see whether fans will see more returning legacy Splatoon content in the future.
Splatoon 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Reddit
