Impressions:
Alas, fair Gyro, I knew thee well.
The difference between playing with the Gamepad Gyro and JoyCon Grip Gyro (I don't know about the Pro Controller because Nintendo is stupid) is immense, and honestly ruins Gyro aiming. The Gamepad was this hulking thing, so twisting it to aim left and right made no sense, but you also weren't likely to do that, anyway. The JoyCon Gyro just feels hyper sensitive and schizophrenic, I only got used to steadily aiming three or four matches in, but it still didn't feel right. I might have to give traditional aiming a try, but I did make some precision shots that were assisted by Gyro. If there's some sensitivity options, I might find some sort of compromise.
The new button layout is terrible. It doesn't feel natural, and the map is just so bad (and it moves with Gyro input, who thought THAT was a good idea?). Resetting the camera, a frequent aspect of playing with Gyro, is clumsy and awkward. I got used to using B to jump, eventually.
I get the impression that the main focus of Splatootie was to make the game faster- specials seem to charge up much more quickly, and I found myself able to spam mines and bombs more reliably. As for specials, they're pretty... mediocre? I mean, the Tenta Missile is just the worst thing ever for the two stages they showcased, and I ended up getting caught on all sorts of obstacles and weird things with the jetpack. However, the Tenta Missiles just suck as an offensive weapon because they rarely actually hit anything and their ink spread is terrible. Another reason I feel the objective was to speed the game up is the vulnerability of both of those specials. I was able to kill people reliably when they used the jetpack, and was consistently killed when using Tenta Missiles. The strategy they offered for its use- find high ground so you can target everything- is not viable, especially on the two stages from the Testfire, and that also requires a player backtracking and potentially losing ground. The only special that seemed remotely dangerous and effective was the Splash Down. Great offensive move, and an amazing defensive option for super jumps (and likely the only reason to pull up the map or super jump anymore). I got killed by a number of them, which seemed to be the only way rollers could successfully nab a kill on me.
I played with the Splattershot and the Splat Dualies, because Rollers suck (and still do), and I don't like the Charger play style, even though they now seem pretty broken. I liked the Splat Dualies and would definitely like some extended practice using the dash move, as it adds to the previously mentioned speed and momentum of the matches. Ultimately, I think that, if they want to make Splatootie still about covering turf, they need to add some vertical design to the stages, because without a reliable and safe way to look at the map, you need to be able to tell what areas need attention more often. I don't have a problem with them trying to make the game faster, I just hope some of the other specials are better than those on display, and that they actually help with momentum and ebb and flow. All in all, a flawed experience, but maybe I need some time to adjust to the changes in order to "git gud"