Alright, time to post my thoughts too then. This is going to sound like fanboyish garbage but I don't care because that's what I really think about the game.
Splatoon Raiders optional ending done, about 45 hours of gameplay, now on to the post-post game.
What can I say except this is the most fun I've had with a videogame probably in decades. I've always been convinced Splatoon's core gameplay, the fundamental concept at the heart of the series is pure game design genius, the very best Nintendo has to offer mechanically.
The constant lightning fast risk/reward interaction between squid and kid forms, the way it manages to encompass most of the common mechanics of a modern shooter (reloading, health regen, map control, buffs and debuffs, sprinting, wall climbing/running, stealth, cover) into a superficially simplistic, immediately understandable two buttons loop (shoot ink to cover the map with your team's color, turn into a squid to swim through it), its movement depth, uniquely satisfying feedback and the versatility of its ink mechanic used for countless different gameplay scenarios that evoke the best 3D platformers, its popularization of gyro aiming, from my perspective the most significant advancement in controller inputs since the analog stick and so on so forth. I don't know how many hundreds of games I've played in my life but none has impressed me gameplay-wise more than Splatoon.
Raiders takes this flawless foundation and builds upon it and the result is the best playing game I've ever experienced. In a lot of ways Splatoon was kind of kneecapped by its nature as a multiplayer online shooter. The need to balance weapons, gear and movesets meant that devs could never go all out and let the full potential of the squids express itself. The solo campaigns were conceived as tutorials for the multiplayer, which further limited level design and gameplay scenarios (with the notable exception of the Octo Expansion DLC, another phenomenal game). And of course Nintendo's famously dogshit online (lag, disconnections, possibly the worst matchmaking system I've ever seen) didn't help.
All of this got thrown out and just like one of the game's many systems Splatoon finally released its limiter. The Mechanic, Raiders protagonist, quickly becomes absurdly overpowered. The new gadgets that aren't tied to your ink level but instead work on cooldown are at the center of this expanded gameplay and they're one of Raiders greatest concepts. The movement gadgets especially, tied to the speed tank, turn the Mechanic into a mobility monster. I've said last year when I churned out another one of these long winded posts about Bananza that DK in this game made Mario from Odyssey look geriatric. The Mechanic makes Bananza DK look like his DK64 incarnation.
The Mechanic does become overpowered but only in comparison to your average shooter protagonist because in reality the amazing wealth of offensive, defensive and movement options at his disposal is required to deal with the challenges that await him. It's also one of Raiders many successes: this is the hardest Nintendo game since the NES era. You're quickly faced with hordes of salmonids that can very easily overwhelm you, plenty of challenges are timed, forcing you to optimize your strategy, the postgame which is longer than the basic campaign (main story should take about 10 to 15 hours depending if you rush or not) forces you into the hardest difficulty option and the best loot is gated behind overtuned raids where you'll routinely be 30 levels below the enemies.
Despite that, the difficulty is perfectly balanced and the game is never frustrating. This is in part because your character can become broken, because the game is never punishing, always giving you something of value like loot or XP even if you fail and maybe more importantly because the salmonids always feel like fair opponents. This deserves a section in itself because I could have mentioned the salmonids in my previous explanation of what makes Splatoon's gameplay so outstanding but I wanted to elaborate on them specifically.
Simply put I think the salmonids are the best designed enemies in any game I've ever played period. Their one standout quality is that despite the fact this is one of the most chaotic games ever made, with dozens and dozens of large monsters crammed into small spaces, ink splattering everywhere, fish eggs spawning en masse and a bevy of projectiles covering the maps from lasers to missiles, poison clouds and shockwaves, the action ALWAYS stays perfectly readable. There's never a moment when you can't identify where a salmonid you want to take out in priority is located, and that's thanks to their instantly recognizable shapes (which can also be said for their flawlessly signposted attacks) and their consistent placement on the battlefield. On top of that they have multifaceted functions where their offensive abilities can be used by the player to his advantage, either by manipulating them to kill their ilk or by flipping some of their attacks on their head which then act as even more movement options for the player. The new bosses are also fantastic, being an evolution of Nintendo's classic puzzle bosses but far more threatening and dynamic.
Salmonids alone would be enough to make Raiders great but it obviously doesn't stop here. I'd have so much more to mention like the flawless performance (I never saw the framerate dip below 60 even during the biggest clusterfucks), the phenomenal final boss that looks straight out of Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101 or other Platinum Games titles, the ridiculous amount of content for a budget price, the impeccable pacing, the variety of stage styles and gameplay scenarios (some of the more linear challenges are top notch obstacle course 3D platformer levels), the fact the 8 bit arcade minigames you unlock are better than every AAA game releasing today (I kid I kid... or do I?) but you get the point.
This game definitely convinced me Splatoon is one of the greatest game series ever created but also one of the most critically underrapreciated. I know that game journalists have been discredited for ever but I couldn't believe what I saw when I skimmed through some reviews, even positive ones. There's a complete lack of understanding of what makes this game and this franchise so good, no attempt to dive deeper, just a bunch of stupid, shallow, mindlessly copypasted clichés. Did you know Splatoon's defining characteristic is that even if you have the motor skills of a 2 year old toddler you can contribute by shooting the ground??? Even a 7 for this game is nonsense, I honestly struggle to find genuine flaws. Yes the OST is kind of wack, yes the game looks clean but otherwise visually unremarkable with a lot of assets recycled from Splatoon 3 and yes the postgame can get a bit grindy but nothing too bad as it's mitigated by the Switch 2 portability. Thankfully word of mouth seems to be exceptional, but my contempt for the videogame press grows stronger every day, even in my old age.
Best game on Switch 2 BY FAR, one of the very best Nintendo games ever, one of the best videogames period.
