Nintendo’s solo-focused spinoff earns enthusiastic reviews for its gear experiments and cooperative play, with familiarity as its main qualification.
About this review roundup: GAME MODE has not playtested this game. This is original analysis of the credited reviews and official information below, researched September 5, 2026. The displayed 9.5/10 is the equally weighted average of these two critics’ scores, converted to ten and rounded to one decimal. It is not a GAME MODE playtest score or a comprehensive review aggregate.
Released: July 23, 2026. Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2.
A different reason to pick up the ink tank
Splatoon Raiders shifts attention toward an adventure with Deep Cut on the Spirhalite Islands. Nintendo lists it as a Switch 2 release, launching July 23. For anyone intrigued by Splatoon’s personality but less attracted to competitive matches, a solo-focused spinoff offers a particularly interesting entry point. The central question is whether preparing for the next raid stays as enjoyable as the raid itself.
What the critics like
Holly Alice’s Pocket Tactics review awards 10/10. Her enthusiasm centers on choosing weapons, gadgets, and ink tanks, then using rewards to develop those choices. She appreciates being able to play alone and seek online help when desired. Equipment-restricted challenge stages are less to her personal taste, and she is uncertain about replaying the story even while praising the range of possible builds.
Alex Olney at Nintendo Life gives it 9/10. He finds substantial customization, demanding options for experienced players, and cooperative progression that accommodates differing difficulty preferences. His main qualification is familiarity: this remains recognizably Splatoon. The same article’s second opinion, by Jim Norman, also raises limited visual variation between the main biomes. Neither criticism erases the enthusiasm, but both help explain what the spinoff prioritizes.
Why the loop matters
Our reading is that Raiders is best judged as a game about experimentation. If the reward for a successful run suggests a new approach to the next one, preparation becomes part of the entertainment. That is a different motivation from wanting fresh scenery or plot developments every time you play. The published praise points strongly toward the former kind of enjoyment.
The high scores are also a small sample, not evidence that every player will love it. Someone who dislikes revisiting activities for better equipment may find the same structure less compelling. Conversely, a player who spends ages deciding which abilities belong together could get more out of a familiar setting than out of a campaign that constantly replaces its mechanics.
The buying call
Put Raiders high on your Switch 2 shortlist if you want a solo adventure with room for cooperative sessions and enjoy refining a loadout. If competitive Turf War is your main reason to play Splatoon, recognize that this spinoff is pursuing a different experience. The cited reviews make their strongest argument through the quality and flexibility of the raid loop. Buy for that loop, and treat the enthusiasm as encouragement to investigate your preferred playstyle rather than as a promise of universal appeal.
Cited scores and sources
- Nintendo Life: 9/10 (Switch 2).
- Pocket Tactics: 10/10 (Switch 2).
Calculation: (9.0 + 10.0) ÷ 2 = 9.5/10, rounded. These are selected reviews, not every published score.
Official game information and artwork source. Artwork: Nintendo.
The Verdict: Strong reception
Average of the cited critic scores, normalized to 10. See the methodology and individual scores above.
