Oh I'm no Splatoon expert, you want Lonely Dolphin for that. ;)

I thought it was a strong 8/10 game; the core gameplay feels fantastic and it oozes style, though there were a few annoying design choices that hold it back from being quite as great as it could have been.

Fair enough. I think I thought you were a bigger Splatoon fan than you were I thought I remember you talking about it a lot on Wii U threads.

I would love to genuinely love Splatoon but it is very hard to get into. I do think it's one of those games where you can easily make a case for it's greatness or it's mediocrity. Just haven't seen anyone cover the latter. Now with the update I feel very compelled to replay it.

Uh, the two games are basically the same, might be you're just bored of the game? or are you still playing Splatoon 1? Can you at least give a reason why you're not having fun with the technically better version of the game? (sorry if you already answered, I did not read through all the posts).

I've not played Splatoon, but I do love me some Salmon Run.

I only played 1, and i agree, it's the best game on the Wii U. Probably my favorite nintendo game period.

Splatoon 2 however, doesn't look that interesting to me. Content and gameplay might be better, but i just can't stand the new announcer girls, and the new music isn't that appealing to me either.

Both me and my daughter leveled up to 50 in the original game and played hundreds of hours online. We got Splatoon 2 at launch and don't even play it anymore. At first, I couldn't figure out why but then I realized that the reason we didn't like it was because they removed the defensive and offensive abilities from the game and nerfed some guns we like. It's too easy to die now and as a result, it feels more twitch orientated. It's more COD and less Halo now and that sucks imo. It totally, 100% changes the way the game plays. 

splatoon 2 has salmon run splatoon 1 doesn't and so I do not agree with OP

Splatoon 2 is better than one in almost every way. Also shame on those saying it is a "lazy port" as if they feature all of the same maps and single player. By that logic, Uncharted 3 was just a lazy port of Uncharted 2. Same gameplay and visuals, different story and setting. I mean come on guys, is that the best you can do?

Now OP, what I think may be happening is that since Splatoon 1 was a fresh new IP at the time, you were probably blown away by how different the game was. Splatoon 2 however probably just felt like much of the same because you were looking for that fresh experience that Splatoon 1 gave you. The problem with that logic is that had they changed it much more than they did, it would no longer be a Splatoon game. People would say they changed too much and criticize it for that instead.

Never go into a sequel of a game expecting drastic changes, it most likely won't have them. What they will have is maybe a few new modes, new multiplayer maps, and SP story mode. This is nothing new.

they're literally the same game but with even more modes and features in splatoon 2 lol

I think Splatoon 2 is definetely better than the first one, but the "wow" factor of a new, surprising IP of course does not apply. The first Splatoon was a HUGE surprise for everyone. As for the second, it kinds of brought what we expected: new maps, new gear, a few new characters etc.