I did not expect a new Splatoon game to be announced today!!! More fascinating is that it's an intentional spin off title. I'm very intrigued.
The single player gameplay of the Splatoon games has always been fantastic. So seeing a dedicated game that may lean towards that is exciting as all heck. Is it some open-world style thing? Perhaps not but it doesn't appear that we'll be just on little pockets of stage like we have been. What will we be doing? What is in store? I'm so excited to find out. I already know it's a Day One purchase. It's just gotta be.
Announced in the wee hours of the morning on June 10th, 2025, via the Nintendo Today! app, and later their own YouTube channel... It's Splatoon Raiders!
A friend of mine asked me if I had heard the news about Splatoon, and I said no. Then they said the Nintendo app. I should have known to just check there by default. I'll know better next time. I'm glad they put it on YouTube afterwards cuz then it was easier for me to share with my wife and also listen with sound on while at work, but I do love the idea that fun big surprises can come from that app.
I wonder how well a story spinoff would do seeing as online multiplayer is the hardcarry of the Splatoon series. Then again, I've only ever played (and still do) Splatoon 1 so I don't know how much the story modes have advanced.
Since I suck at Splatoon (and no amount of trying or git gud is helping after many years) I am thrilled to see this, because it looks like it means I can enjoy the Splatoon world without having to be even moderately decent at playing! Woo! The single player in the regular games was fun, but it never felt like the meat of the series to me (which it isn't, since it is multiplayer-first). So this will be terrific!
I cannot wait for this. It looks amazing and just what I'd like to play. Pretty sure this will be one of those very rare "preorder it now and download it the moment it releases."
I'm curious if it'll be more on the grindy side as @PogueSquadron fears or more on the roguelike side. It looks arcadey and fun! I'll probably have to check it out.
I like these cheaper-than-usual games lately! Maybe Nintendo's pulling back on the high prices a little this year? Or at the very least, going back to some slightly smaller games (like the kind we'd get on the 3DS) and pricing them more reasonably.
This looks pretty good but I still have barely played Splatoon 3, so unless it's a markedly different experience it's a lower-priority for me.
Yeah, having some games at different price points is marvelous. Also now that I've switched to only buying things I plan to keep forever (and so switching mostly to Digital) having it be cheaper is terrific! Definitely a selling point for me.
AND I'm more interested in shorter, fun experiences now, so if this isn't some sprawling game that takes 70 hours, I will be happy to enjoy a solid campaign and then move on to other things, ha ha.
From what I've read, it is online (or two Switches) only, which is too bad for couch-co-op, but like you said it is great we're finally getting it! It is hard for me not to just preorder it right now, ha ha. Going to be a long wait for this one.
The kids are saying this is a "looter shooter," like Borderlands.
Hmm, the idea of a game being balanced around grinding rather than interesting level design is a turn-off, but gameplay footage looks really cool:
It seems like the customization is less about Making Numbers Go Up and more about experimenting with wacky builds and optimizing your preferred playstyle. I'm very curious about this!
I played the demo at Best Buy today and while it was effectively the tutorial, it still is super solid in flow and gameplay thus far.
Between this and the Direct, I'm so stoked. I hope I can finish up The Adventures of Elliot so I can fully focus on this bad-boy when it comes through this month.
So, who is... playing this? I've been playing a ton, it's not like the greatest game ever but it is great and it is addictive. And damn does it make you feel powerful as you build up your levels and gear.
I played through it and had a good time. It's very good at the Just One More temptation, frequently giving you different gear to tweak your loadout and try new things for the next raid. And early on it does a good job of giving you challenges that might be a struggle with one weapon/tool, nudging you into figuring out what could be more suitable.
The post-credits content is mostly just a repetitive grind, but I still enjoyed it enough to reach the secret final boss.
The post-post-credits content is even more of a repetitive grind, and that's where I'm stopping for good.
Got this in at the library and am loving it! It feels just the right level of challenge for me since I am terrible at Splatoon in general. I would always get destroyed in multiplayer on the main games, so this is just what I was looking for as a part of the series as a whole. Hope we get more!
