Splatoon fans blast Square Enix’s Foamstars as “shameless” rip-off

Splatoon fans have labeled Foamstars as nothing more than a “shameless” clone, following the game’s announcement at the PlayStation Showcase.

Foamstars was one of the many games shown off at this year’s PlayStation Showcase, but unlike Final Fantasy 16, Square Enix’s colorful 4v4 shooter didn’t spark a positive reaction from gamers. In fact, a lot of Nintendo fans have voiced their anger over how similar Foamstars looks to Splatoon.

While the developers only gave us a brief glimpse of what Foamstars will entail, the Splatoon community has already torn the game to shreds. This is largely down to the gameplay and weapons, which many stalwart Splatoon fans believe lack the originality that makes the Nintendo shooter stand out from the crowd.

Splatoon fans blast Foamstars

While Foamstars switches ink for foam and features human characters, the Splatoon community was keen to highlight just how similar the two games are, especially when it comes to the game’s special weapons.

“Yeah, there was also the Baller, Trizooka, and an Inkstrike. Unmistakably a rip-off,” said one commenter.

The overall readability of the game was also a point of contention, with many highlighting just how unclear it is when compared to Nintendo’s colorful shooter.

“Splatoon is helped with strong color contrast and chunky characters, but the thinner more detailed humans and the light pastel colors on both sides, contrasted by the pitch black surroundings make it difficult to tell what’s happening in Foamstars.”

Another commenter also noted that they were disappointed by the art direction, which they say is lacking, despite being released on more powerful hardware.

“The art direction looks so bad compared to Splatoon. Keep in mind, this game is releasing on the PS5 and Splatoon is on a console with a similar power level to an Xbox 360, a system from two generations ago. That’s a complete joke.”

Whether Foamstars will be able to convert Splatoon fans when it releases later this year remains to be seen, but for now, it looks as though Square Enix has a tough fight ahead of them.