Splatoon Raiders preview: Nintendo's new single-player spin-off is a roguelite

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a multiplayer game in possession of a passionate fanbase must be in want of a single-player game. So it is, and so it was, and so, I think, it ever will be. Enter Splatoon Raiders, a single-player (well, mostly…we’ll get there) joint from Nintendo because the ever-dedicated Splatoon fans are insatiable. But here’s the good news, squid kids: it seems to be shaping up real nice, at least from the couple hours I spent with it.

My demo started off with a cutscene to set things up. My character was a helicopter pilot (but my friends call me Mechanic) flying treasure hunters Frye, Big Man, and Shiver to the Spirhalite Islands when they all saw a big ol’ light coming out of what looked like a hurricane. Things went sideways real fast, and our copter went down. One month later, we’ve built a floating fortress with just about everything you could want except a way home and we’re hunting for treasure. When in Rome, right?

Soon enough, I was setting off to hunt for treasure. If you’ve ever played Splatoon before, you’ll feel right at home in Raiders. I started with the gyro controls, and while that normally isn’t my bag, it’s Splatoon and they feel great here. Pretty soon I was doing Splatoon things: inking up the environment, swimming around in it, and collecting Mysterious Shards; I’m not being cheeky. This is what they’re called. Movement in Splatoon is a joy, and that’s no different in Raiders. Even something as simple as using a wooden plank to surf across the waves is awesome. As I moved forward, I came across my enemy: the Salmonids. They start small, these deranged fishy critters. But the solution, no matter their size, is to ink ‘em up and paint over the ugly goo they leave on the ground. Theirs? Hideous, yellow. Likely stinky. Mine? Beautiful. Green. Probably smells like lavender. They just can’t handle that squid kid firepower, but you’re doing the environment a favor, too. When they go down, they drop eggs that’ll come in handy later, but I don’t fall in love with the goofy goobers until I see one that looks like a fat version of that one hyena from The Lion King with the droopy tongue. He’s called Salty Tongue, and I love him. He gets the ink, too, and drops a fancy weapon (more on that later).

Big Man is a bot that's helpful in combat, but it can also boost me up in the air so I can glide to new places and leap to where I tell it, splattering the ground with ink.

After that, I stumble upon a cute little robot that the crew hauls back to the hideout and the Mechanic manages to fix up. From there, it’s time to take that bad boy out on a mission and kick the tires. My mission plays out a lot like the first level. Run around, explore the environment, fight Salmonids, ink things up. The difference this time is that I’ve got my handy-dandy bot piloted by Big Man. The bot is helpful in combat, but it can also boost me up in the air so I can glide to new places and leap to where I tell it, splattering the ground with ink. Lovely.

The bot’s real trick, however, is that it can drill into big crystals and get us more of those sweet, sweet Mysterious Shards and other goodies. The crystals themselves shoot these big ol’ beams of light into the sky, so you know where they are. The trick is using your tools (like the bot jump, or flowers that blast you up into the air, or your ability to swim through ink) to get where you’re going, murking Salmonids along the way. If things get hairy, the bot and your buddy inside of it give you access to Showstoppers if you get enough of them Salmonid eggs. With Big Man, that means he hops out of your mech and you ride that bad boy like he’s a horse while he’s blasting away, John Woo-style. It’s great. Salmonids don’t like it much, though.

At the end of the level, I find a huge crystal protected by Salmonids who are popping out of a nearby grate to defend it. Between me and my bot, it wasn’t a big thing. They got the ink, but it was a lot of fun anyway just because Raiders always feels good as you play it. My reward for Salmonid slaughter? A big treasure chest full of new ink tanks: Speed, Power, and Tactical. The neat part about these tanks is they each come with different gadgets that provide cool and new abilities in combat. The Speed tank, for instance, gives me Blast Boot, which allows me to yeet myself through the air and land with a big splat that damages everything around me, while the Tactical Tank offers the a-turret-by-any-other-name-still-shoots-just-as-good Shot Pot. Neat. Of course, there are cooldowns attached to all of these abilities because video games are only allowed to be fun sometimes, but still, I dig it.

After another mission, where I grab some more weapons and other goodies, and discover the joy of floating, I head back to base to sort through my wonderful tools. In addition to my tanks and the gadgets that go with them, I’ve also got gadget parts, which do things like juice the explosions on your gadget abilities or make them bigger, shorten cooldowns, add explosions to your charge abilities, and the like – provided you have enough slots to equip that gadget part. You also gain levels as you play, which can be spent to upgrade your health, weapon damage, and gadget part slots, and even craft new gadgets. I was particularly fond of the Power Tank’s Spatellites, which orbit you and spray ink everywhere, and the Bombloons, which are bomb balloons you can connect and do absolutely massive damage when you blow them up. Then, of course, there are various weapons to collect, like the Oil Blaster and Roller, all of which can be upgraded at your base. Finally, you’ve got Salmonid Relics, which grant bonuses like a double jump or reduce weapon ink consumption. It’s a lot of customization, but it means you get to build a character you like, and you can get truly overpowered if y ou play it right. You can also just hang out and vibe at your base and read lore about the Salmonids and the world, too . No pressure.

Then you head out on a mission and do it all again. Turns out, Splatoon Raiders is kind of a roguelite with persistent progression. Who knew? But it does give you an opportunity to try out all of your wonderful toys and things like Shiver’s Show =stopper, which summons a giant rocket-powered shark (yes, really) that blasts through anything unlucky enough to get in your way. And, based on what I played, Raiders seems to be trying to do enough that while your core action – blast through Salmonids and get stuff, rinse and repeat – is the same, things always feel different enough that it stays interesting.

All of Splatoon Raders’ craziness comes to a head in raids that take us underground, where I’m trapped in a small space and have to collect a certain number of Salmonid eggs in a limited time to make it to the next level. I won’t lie to you, friends, I thought I was kinda nice at Splatoon Raiders until this point. I was cruisin’. So when I tell you I got smoked multiple times in a row doing this, I’m not kidding. But man, I dug it. It forced me to refine my build, pick my spots, use all my tools, and learn how to play fast. Even when I was getting whalloped, I was having a good time. Finally making it to that last level and beating the boss just as our time for that portion of the demo expired? My friends, I exhaled .

And then we got to play four player co-op, and it was rad. Nothing really changes in co-op. It’s just more of the same, but with friends. I named my squid kid John Ink, and we got to work. I don’t have much to say about the multiplayer – we only got about ten minutes with it – except that you can go real fast if you want to and it’s an absolute blast to play with all those gadgets and guns and Showstoppers popping off at once. I had a great time, and this would definitely be my preferred way to play in the full game. John Ink shall ride again.

I didn’t know what to expect with Splatoon Raiders, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a good time. It can be breezy, it can be challenging, it can be everything in-between. I’m kind of shocked that it’s basically a roguelite, but it works real good. Turns out all a squid kid needs for a good time on the Spirhalite Islands is a treasure to hunt, and a robot to hunt it with. Not bad, considering it starts with a helicopter crash. But bring some friends if you can. It’s better when you’re all spilling some ink together. Maybe the real treasure is the friends we made along the way?

Will Borger is an IGN freelancer. You can find him on Bluesky @edgarallanbro.