“Cauldron.hex Is Processing... Processing...processing...”

1: Already Canon, no further comment

2: Probably Canon, the entire species are effectively stated to have the motivation of a lazy teenager.

3: It was probably only semi-intentional, but see point 2.

Level 1: The setting of Splatoon is already post-apocalyptic, and Splatoon 3 just happens to take place in a part of the world where the consequences of that are more visible.

Level 2: The Inklings moved to the middle of a desert in order to inhabit a landscape that coordinates better with their post-apoc outfits, because they’re exactly the sort of fashion-obsessed weenies who’d think that makes sense.

Level 3: The Inklings deliberately caused a regional apocalypse so that their post-apoc fashion would be situationally appropriate.

Game which initially appears to be a conventional RPG with an unusually extensive tutorial chapter, complete with a helpful tutorial fairy who provides encouragement and explanatory tips and resets you to the nearest checkpoint each time you die. However, the things that kill you become progressively more unfair and unlikely with each reset, and the fairy's explanations increasingly flimsy, until it's revealed that the fairy has been teaching you the game's mechanics incorrectly on purpose in order to trick you into killing yourself. The game then transitions into a time-loop horror scenario where your objective is to figure out how the game's mechanics really work and complete the tutorial properly, thereby passing beyond the tutorial fairy's grasp.

Knightly!

Inktober 9: Last of the Fallen