The game Splatoon Raiders , which brings a colorful and humorous third-person shooter to the world of single-player games, represents a major step for Nintendo.
The goal is to test whether it has the strength to establish itself among an audience that doesn’t invest in the competitive scene, given its gameplay and core mechanics.
In this regard, the new Switch 2 title hits the mark by presenting a story full of charisma and adventure. If its quality was questionable, playing it completely dispels that doubt.
The adventure in Splatoon Raiders is one of its greatest strengths, with references to online multiplayer, but very focused on telling a story that will stay in the hearts of fans.
Pros
- Extremely fun gameplay
- Difficulty suits the franchise well.
- Diverse maps and scenarios are a highlight.
- Hundreds of things to do
- He understood the Switch 2’s design like few others.
Cons
- Personalization leaves something to be desired.
- Some sections emphasize multiplayer.
The experience is in Splatoon Raiders.
All the mechanics and elements you know from the series are in the new game from Nintendo, which doesn’t try to distance itself too much from the source that earned it a trilogy and a solid fan base.
In Splatoon Raiders, you’ll use weapons to shoot ink; the more you hit enemies and paint them, the better. If you’re hit by ink of the opposite color, you’ll take damage and have to return to base.
Furthermore, it’s possible to dive into the ground to navigate more quickly and apply your strategy using these elements. In practice, it doesn’t stray from the basics and does the “bread and butter” job well .
Even without major innovations, translating this into a narrative made all the difference. You explore the environments more, find different ways to face enemies, and evolve your character.
The levels are much more extensive, full of opponents to paint and secrets to find. It’s a lot of fun to explore, using all the abilities you have and elements of the map itself, which leads to curious combinations that appeal to creativity.
Facing the threats is also excellent, with a huge variety of monsters and creatures that you can take down with your ink. The cool thing is that each battle in Splatoon Raiders requires a distinct skill and strategy from the players.
This issue is very much tied to the difficulty of the franchise, which has always catered to multiplayer. Previously, you had to face multiple players—a task that was anything but simple, let’s be honest.
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Now they are NPCs, but they don’t give up as easily as you might expect. There are many of them, in many different forms, attacking in hordes, and it’s up to you to take them all down in the best way possible.
That being said, good luck spotting multiple versions of them hiding behind one wielding a shield, or walking among metallic serpents that spew ink (and remove yours).
I believe this was a very clever solution applied in Splatoon Raiders, which couldn’t make the game “too easy” compared to other experiences in the franchise.
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Furthermore, if you still feel there aren’t enough challenges, after progressing through the story you unlock ” Raid on Spicy “—which are the same levels, but even more challenging. After completing it, you unlock an even more insane difficulty level that can provide ample entertainment.
What is being hidden?
In the story, you are a mechanic working directly for the Deep Cut : along with Frye, Shiver, and Big-Man. While searching for treasure, they encounter a place that destroys their vehicle and leaves them stranded on a distant island.
There, you’ll find the Bot Buddy robot — which helps you dig and fight the creatures. With it in hand, it’s decided that they’ll stay there to find the “golden glow” that brought them down. After all, that might be the great reward.
For this, you’ll be the one exploring the Spirhalite Islands with him, hunting for everything that glitters. Besides enemies and chests, you’ll find compasses pointing to unknown locations, maps, and various collectible items.
All of this is powered by unique maps: tropical islands, volcanic islands, enormous caves, frozen areas, and much more. Every new region that opens up is a spectacle in itself and creates an atmosphere that showcases an epic journey.
You can grind certain items to build things, try to find compasses to get other skill points (which have to be earned), destroy a certain number of opponents, and various other activities. There’s no shortage of things to do.
The problem lies with some of the optional missions, which are clearly designed to be completed in cooperative mode. It would be possible if the Bot Buddy were a bit more “intelligent,” but the solo effort can be frustrating .
It’s not impossible to win solo, but you know when you’re sure you have the right weapon, the right level, and understand what to do—and yet you still struggle? These are things that two people could easily resolve, but there was no need to “force the issue.”
If you don’t have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription , you’ll have to wait for friends who also have the console to beat these challenges locally. Some might even manage to beat them without it, but most will be frustrated.
Personalization is the Achilles’ heel.
One of the highlights that Nintendo brought to Splatoon Raiders is its customization, which ranges from your appearance, clothing, weapons, and even your base of operations. However, it lacked options that reinforced this approach .
The location that serves as your hub, for example, can receive upgrades that add really cool things for players. However, visually this doesn’t translate to an attractive design and becomes “more of the same”.
The same applies to the main character, whose appearance offers very few options for characterization. Clothing might help define their style better, but without it, it would be more difficult to differentiate the characters.
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Regarding the weapons, the main story doesn’t offer much new compared to what’s already been seen in the rest of the franchise. With a 4-year gap since Splatoon 3 , they could have added more to this new adventure.
The only truly impactful aspect was the tanks, which can equip different gadgets, and these gadgets can also have power-ups attached to give a unique look to the matches. They were a very good addition and it’s worth testing each build.
The ultimate Splatoon game
One of the most striking features is that it understands the Switch 2’s hybrid form factor like few others. It boasts excellent graphics and high performance , perfectly suited to this type of hardware. Similarly, it offers fast-paced gameplay.
Remember when handheld games were “faster ,” giving you time to play them while on a car trip or in a waiting room? That’s what this game offers; no round lasts more than 10 minutes, many are resolved in 5 minutes or less.
This doesn’t mean there’s a lack of content; it has plenty of that—it took me 15 hours just to finish the main campaign. However, it’s about understanding that the audience might want to play Splatoon Raiders between periods and helping them with that.
That said, the title is a solid and soulful adventure. It stumbles in some aspects, but I believe none of them detract from the brilliance provided by the experience (especially for fans of the franchise).
It’s worth giving it a try, even if you’re one of those who get frustrated by never winning online multiplayer matches. Here you’re only competing for space with NPCs, who can be tricky, but the progression will guide you fairly.
Of course, the colorful adventure of Splatoon Raiders would benefit more if everything were localized in Brazilian Portuguese — as seen in recent releases, but that’s not the case. However, it’s still possible to have fun without major setbacks during the journey.
