Splatoon Raiders early reviews arrive for Nintendo's solo spin-off

gamingJul 21, 2026872,856

Splatoon Raiders' early reviews have landed, and the moment is a burst of solo‑campaign excitement and pointed critiques. Critics praise its addictive action RPG loop, deep customization and satisfying challenge while noting rough edges and some tonal hedging, and outlets aggregate an 80 Metacritic score. The conversation zeroes in on the Spirhalite Islands and new Salmonid evolutions, the surprise inclusion of Callie and Marie, and the new promo kid Akira, while developer interviews highlighting young talent and a set of Deep Cut amiibo arriving July 23 add human details to the launch narrative.

Splatoon North America

@splatoonnamirror.bsky.social

Only 3 days until the #SplatoonRaiders adventure begins! The Spirhalite Islands are flush with ferocious Salmonids, including some with strange new evolutions. Are you ready to tackle them?

36821h ago

Caleb Simmons (inkboy24)1

Don’t have a Switch 2, unfortunately.

Nintendo of America [Twitter/X Mirror]

@nintendousa.bsky.social

Three new amiibo figures featuring the members of Deep Cut arrive July 23! With breezy island looks for their #SplatoonRaiders adventures, these Shiver, Frye, and Big Man amiibo can easily be displayed together with their interconnecting bases.

38322h ago

Kelly J. Klar, Pharm.D2

I don't know but, to me, it doesn't really look like their bases are "interconnecting", but rather they can get really close to each other without anything blocking anything. 🫤

Ash

@santanaelchan.bsky.social

I like this portion from the Ask the Developers interview with the Splatoon Raiders staff Believe in the children! Nintendo is famous for having devs that have been around for decades, but they're also very open to hiring young blood and fostering new talent. That's important!

2186h ago

kitt/kitty

@kitt-me-not.bsky.social

oh my gosh guys The Squid Sisters are In Splatoon Raiders (real!!!) Callie & Marie have never looked fresher! #Splatoon #SplatoonRaiders

209Yesterday

tubbie4

OUUAUU these outfits are so cutee

Natron031

There’s no way they’re in Raiders

Quoting this

Agent Pearlie (Splatoon Marie’s Wife) ⚢19

Rugged semi-butch Marie OUGH 💛

SunsetAura🌄4

STILL SUPER FANTASTIC AAAA I LOVE THEMMM

IGN

@ign.com

Splatoon Raiders is one of the top games on Switch 2. Our review: https://bit.ly/3RqdkBp

1266h ago

Quoting this

SHZ22

Hard to contain my excitement for Raiders, especially with reviews like this coming out. It’s as Destiny-esque as I could ever hope the series to be; basically a looter-shooter with build-crafting and endless replayability. Multiplayer, stat-maxxing, loot-hoarding…can’t wait for Thursday!!

Splatoon North America

@splatoonusna.bsky.social

Three days until you can take on the Salmonids of the Spirhalite Islands... #SplatoonRaiders

98Yesterday

Giovanni Colantonio

@marioprime.bsky.social

In 2015, Splatoon asked “what would a Nintendo shooter look like?” In 2026, Splatoon Raiders updates the question to “what would a Nintendo looter shooter look like?” A surprisingly deep action RPG about the joy of mess making. Can’t stop playing this one. My review. www.polygon.com/splatoon-rai...

867h ago

Abram Buehner2

Great review! I was particularly excited to see you make the Vampire Survivors comparison, as I was curious if any of that spirit might animate the game. Can't wait to get my copy

Mundane Pixels ☕1

I'm unreasonably excited for this one

Ashley Schofield is looking for work! 🐉1

excited to dig into the lore. i hope the bear shows up

Quoting this

Giovanni Colantonio41

Really looking forward to this game going live so I can spend launch weekend fielding Help beacons from players and arriving in their game as a literal God. Just doing shit they can’t yet perceive of. I yearn to flex.

Tomas Franzese5

It amazes me how much Nintendo has killed it this summer with lower tier IP (Splatoon, Yoshi, Star Fox, Rhythm Heaven) while PlayStation and Xbox continue to play a "who can be worse" challenge while not releasing anything. Nintendo is still flawed, but this shows how much more competent they are.

Nic McConnell4

As a Splatoon Enjoyer (and dad of a younger Splatoon Enjoyer), this makes me very happy to hear.

Darcy Dee3

Ugh I'm so excited for this.

Logan Plant

@loganjplant.bsky.social

Splatoon Raiders is an amazing action RPG. It has fantastic new powers with crazy upgrades, tough battles that force you care about your build, and a huge variety of fun level types. This is the best Splatoon campaign and one of the top Switch 2 games. My review is up now, on @ign.com!

767h ago

Chris Schilling

@schillingc.bsky.social

Splatoon Raiders: more thoughts in print in a few weeks' time, but it might just be my favourite Switch 2 exclusive to date. A thrillingly chaotic, endearingly thrifty adventure with some of the best homebrew videogame weapons in years. Up there with Octo Expansion as peak singleplayer Splatoon.

677h ago

Ste Pickford4

Thanks Chris, you’ve just cost me £45.

Psi/Ben2

Chris I was already excited but you have turned that up to 11 my man. Bloody love Splatters!

新膣エヴァンゲリオン1

ooooooh now that's a sentence that'll sell me

Joshua Rivera

@jmrivera.bsky.social

I was not as into Splatoon Raiders as others seem to be. It just feels like a lesser version of Splatoon www.theguardian.com/games/2026/j...

597h ago

Joshua Rivera22

some people are shocked by the score and I get it because no one uses the whole scale but what score are you supposed to give a game that bores you

Joshua Rivera7

This does not feel like a single player game either. It’s clearly a co-op shooter advertised that way to not scare people away. Playing it solo feels like the worst way to play it!

XanaGear2

As someone who has booted up Splatoon 3 over the last couple years exclusively to play Salmon Run I think I'm going to enjoy this one quite a bit. Competitive multiplayer and the campaign never really hooked (heh) me. Salmon Run is the best horde mode ever made, great game.

퓨̸크̸ Games 'n Junk - Puke2

Godspeed, on this here Internet For Parasocial Relationships 🫡

Marc Normandin1

Looking forward to playing this and reading what is apparently dissent. Sorry about the score critics

Abram Buehner1

I really enjoyed this. I think I'll be coming to the game with a different appraisal of Splatoon than you, I find Splatoon (after game 1) to be the Nintendo series most iterative and conscious of what other devs are up to. I suppose I always expected Raiders to hew close to how ARPGs play elsewhere

Shinobi602

@shinobi602.bsky.social

Splatoon Raiders | Reviews 9 - IGN 9 - Gfinity 9 - TheSixthAxis 9 - Nintendo Life 8.5 - CGM 8.5 - Press Start 8.5 - Destructoid 8 - VGC 8 - Gamespot 8 - Eurogamer 8 - Screen Rant 8 - GamesRadar 7 - Gameliner 7 - Giant Bomb 7 - GameReactor 6 - Metro 6 - Digitec 4 - Guardian MC: 80 OC: 79

677h ago

ODU Monarch '031

I could perhaps justify in my mind the two outlets that gave a 6, but a 4 from the Guardian...? Give me a break.

Quoting this

Chloe "in ✈️ Brighton" Adams19

The UK papers hate it so I'm guessing it has a trans character in

Game Informer

@gameinformer.com

Though Splatoon’s single-player content has always been underappreciated, Splatoon Raiders makes it difficult to ignore, shining a bright light on the series’ oft-slept-on side. Our review: gameinformer.com/review/splat...

577h ago

Brian Shea

@brianpshea.bsky.social

I’ve reviewed every Splatoon game for Game Informer, and Splatoon Raiders now has the highest score out of all of them. I really enjoyed my time with it!

556h ago

Nintendeal

@nintendeal.com

Here's what the Splatoon Raiders inside box art and game card look like

561h ago

Chris Scullion

@scully1888.bsky.social

I didn't get along with the Splatoon games because I have no interest in multiplayer, but I'm a wee bit obsessed with Splatoon Raiders. As I say in my review, it may be a one trick-pony, but it's a thoroughbred. Here's 1,500 words on the fella:

507h ago

DealbreakerJ1

“it may be a one trick-pony, but it's a thoroughbred.” Terrific stuff 👏

3 sources

theguardian.comSplatoon Raiders review – Nintendo’s inky shooter fades to grey vgc.newsSplatoon Raiders review: A challenging, all-out action game that’s well worth 50 squid | VGC thesixthaxis.comSplatoon Raiders Review – A treasure trove of splatting and looting | TheSixthAxis

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Splatoon Raiders early reviews arrive for Nintendo's solo spin-off

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