Review – Splatoon Raiders

Watching Splatoon grow from merely the best thing the Wii U gave the world to a modern Nintendo icon has been a treat. Three entries in and the series is finally comfortable enough in its metamorphic skin to do what all Nintendo successes eventually do — spin off! 

Any seasoned squid kid will feel right at home in Splatoon Raiders, with skills and sensibilities transferring over seamlessly. That goes double for frequent Salmon Run employees, though if you think this one’s a direct single-player adaptation of that mode you’d be mistaken. Instead, we have a surprisingly deep looter shooter. It doesn’t hit the creative highs or variety of past solo modes, but more than makes up for it with plenty of frantic challenges and a rewarding gameplay loop at its omega-3 coated core.

Unlike past Splatoon campaigns, you’re not an Inkling (or Octoling) getting recruited into an unseen conflict or exploring some urban anomaly. Instead, you’re a mechanic roped into a scheme by the trio of thieves/Splatland idols Deep Cut, crash landing along with them in the uncharted Spirhalite Islands in search of treasure. 

It’s nice to see the series step out of its comfort zone in terms of aesthetic without losing its spirit. Even though mixing and matching outfits is gone and there’s no competitive ink slinging to be found, the shipwreck theme leans into some of the punkier, chaotic elements of the franchise while also letting it tiptoe into broader worldbuilding. Perhaps the best get though is getting more time with Deep Cut, who despite hosting Splatoon 3, didn’t get the same kind of focus in its single-player content the way the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook have. 

 

 

Shiver, Frye, and Big Man aren’t just helping you out from the Waterworld-esque atoll you call a hub in Raiders. Shortly after you start exploring the islands you come across a drill-equipped Exploration Bot that lets one of the three accompany you as you set out in search of loot. Good thing too, as they’ll be your only assistance as you stare down hoards upon hoards of Salmonids slopping things up. 

The standard Splatoon skillset of shooting and swimming will get a lot of mileage across Raiders’ story. They can be broadly broken up into a few varieties, but the name of the game is always clearing out Salmonids to gather up Power Eggs and then using that gathered energy to mine Spirhalite. In some cases that’s you exploring a linear map, in others its amassing enough energy to drill down deeper into a dungeon, but your experience is fairly standardized. 

What variety is present in level designs comes from smaller stages dedicated to Raiders’ biggest addition — gadgets. Rather than sub-weapons, your character will have access to reusable tools that are locked into one of three available playstyles determined by your chosen ink tank (Power, Speed, or Tactical). 

 

 

I got the most mileage out of the Power gadgets, like the highly advertised Splatchet or the equally well-named Splatellites. The former rewards an aggressive approach, letting you dash in and carve through armored Salmonids while the latter has ink orbit around you — helpful to ensure you’ve got a foothold after that axe-dash and keep approaching baddies at bay. 

One of my favorite things about Raiders was that it made exploring new builds feel pretty organic. As you gather Power Eggs for meta progression, you’ll eventually get to a point where you won’t be able to max out your tank of choice without putting some time into another one. If it weren’t for that I might not have gotten a fondness for the mobility enhancing Speed gadgets or more varied, supportive Tactical gadgets. With each tank having five gadgets to unlock, there’s tons of variety in how you can play. 

That depth gets even more impressive when you factor in gadget parts. These are gathered as random drops during raids and allow you to modify your gadgets. Think giving your Splatchet a wider slash, or even a vertical one. You’re also eventually able to buy parts from Shiver, which is when things get staggering in the best of ways. For this and more reasons, Splatoon Raiders is a completionist’s dream without ever getting so granular so as to drown you in nuance. 

 

 

Parts aren’t the only randomized element here. Weapons are dropped by splatted Salmonids, with different rarity levels and potential passive abilities. My greatest advice to anyone playing is to not get hung up about optimization until the post-game when you have access to every tool and higher difficulty raids with greater drops. 

Which isn’t to spoil anything — despite having a storyline Raiders is a grindy kind of game meant to be played again and again and again in search of rare drops and greater challenges as you become the bane of every silver-scaled freak calling the archipelago home. I’ve heard comparisons to the likes of Monster Hunter, Diablo, and Borderlands thrown around and there’s some credence to that. The way Splatoon has adopted this gameplay loop is the centerpiece of player satisfaction here, but there’s another piece of the puzzle that’s worth highlighting. 

For anyone who’s never played Salmon Run on the highest intensities, you’ll be able to hang and get through the story no problem (and if not, the game will let you embrace your Tourist status with its now meme-y difficulty levels). But in the post game, playing Super-Spicy difficulty stages and taking on some specific challenges? You’re in for some of the most frantic, enemy-filled encounters you can find on Switch 2 all running fantastically.

That goes for multiplayer as well. Even though the game is designed as a solo experience, you’re able to link up with others to play this new take on Splatoon. It works well and gives birth to amped up chaos in the kind of frenzied fish fry only this series can deliver. 

 

 

Those aspects give the game its longest legs, because the story can be cleared in about ten hours, give or take a few depending on how much you dive into fine tuning your build of choice. That’s fairly consistent with past Splatoon single-player modes and post-launch DLC, though the majority of the maps don’t bring the same kind of creativity and variety as those. I did have some bouts of salmon fatigue from that holdfast consistency, though the gadget-based stages and playing arcade minigames back at Deep Cut’s base made for nice breaks.

Speaking of Deep Cut, the game really is their time to shine. When a member is raiding with you you’ll have access to a super attack courtesy of a member of the trio, and I never didn’t enjoy firing a giant shark at a swarm of Salmonids courtesy of Shiver. Raiders gives each member a chance to be your main partner, giving them a dedicated cutscene to perform a solo. In grand Splatoon fashion, they also get to participate in the story’s over the top finale, but I won’t “bore” you with the details.

Splatoon Raiders manages to do everything it needs to right, bringing the gameplay and spirit of the series back in a new way. As far as spinoffs go, it’s a great package and perfect for anyone curious about these games but uninterested in or unable to play with others. Even after clearing its story and starting up its post-game, things are staying fresh and I don’t see myself putting it down for a while — even if what I really want is the inevitable Splatoon 4.    

 

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