Splatoon Raiders, the new single-player spin-off for Nintendo's ink-splattering franchise, redefines the series' appeal by embracing a "delightful mess" of action RPG mechanics. This adventure reimagines the familiar turf-war concept into a loot-driven experience, offering a cathartic escape that leans into chaotic fun. The game manages to synthesize various elements from the series' history into a cohesive and engaging standalone title.
The narrative positions players as The Mechanic, an Inkling stranded on the Spirhalite Islands alongside the pop group Deep Cut after a mysterious storm. These islands are populated by the Salmonids, familiar foes from Splatoon 3's Salmon Run. Instead of seeking immediate escape, The Mechanic establishes a base to hunt for treasure, with the game's lore hinting at an economic crisis in Splatsville.
Gameplay blends familiar Splatoon elements with new ARPG systems. Players navigate compact levels, engaging in shooting combat and light platforming while accompanied by a bot buddy. Some stages adopt the arena-based Salmon Run structure, tasking players with defeating waves of enemies and collecting Power Eggs, while others resemble challenges from Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion, featuring specific loadouts and enemy types. The core shooting mechanics remain intact, with players still using inky weapons and utilizing the terrain for movement and ammo refills. However, certain weapon classes, like Rollers and Chargers, can feel ill-suited for solo combat against dense enemy packs, and the restriction to one equipped weapon at a time feels like a holdover from the main series.
Splatoon Raiders positions itself as a looter shooter, drawing parallels to titles like Borderlands and Diablo. The progression system focuses on acquiring weapons with increasing stats and perks, alongside character stat boosts, turning a weaker Inkling into a formidable force. Early hours may feel straightforward as players engage in simple challenges, but the chaos and difficulty steadily escalate over the game's approximately 15-hour story and into its endgame.
The game's character build system is central to its ARPG identity, allowing players to equip one of three ink tanks, each granting access to a variety of secondary weapons on cooldowns. The Tactical Tank offers gadgets like turrets and wind turbines, while the Power Tank provides abilities such as a ground-pounding fist. Experimentation with these gadgets and their complementary perks forms the early game's enjoyment, allowing players to tailor their loadouts to their preferred playstyle.
As players delve deeper, the complexity of builds grows exponentially. Each gadget can be augmented with perks that enhance their effectiveness, with the ability to upgrade these perks and strategically fit them into limited slots. This allows for intricate min-maxing, where players aim to maximize the impact of each gadget. When combined with high-value weapons that also possess unique perks, the resulting builds contribute to the game's signature "glorious mess."
By the post-game, encounters become intensely challenging with dense waves of Salmonids, shifting the focus to damage-per-second output from gadgets. One late-game build described features dual turrets with explosive shots, a wind turbine for crowd control, and a long-range ink-laser shooter, all while supporting a powerful ultimate attack. This cacophony of abilities mirrors the satisfying visual spectacle of ARPGs, fulfilling a desire for overwhelming, chaotic destruction.
The game excels at creating a sense of escalating chaos, with levels becoming more crowded and gadgets spitting out more ink as players progress. This loop is further driven by a desire to tweak builds for just enough of an edge to overcome tough missions. The deep endgame gear systems incentivize replaying missions to grind for materials and perfect builds. Co-op play and the ability to assist other players also provide opportunities to showcase these elaborate creations.
Despite its depth, the perpetual power creep can eventually lead to repetition, particularly when replaying missions on higher difficulties. The absence of a highly replayable PvE endgame activity comparable to Salmon Run is noted, though the potential for post-launch updates or the integration of these ideas into future Splatoon titles is acknowledged. Nevertheless, with over 30 hours of gameplay already explored, Splatoon Raiders offers substantial content for those seeking to perfect their "Jackson Pollock build" and revel in its unique brand of juvenile, messy fun. The game positions itself as an accessible yet deep experience, making it a "kid-friendly rage room."
Splatoon Raiders is scheduled for release on July 23 for the Nintendo Switch 2. The review was conducted using a prerelease download code provided by Nintendo.