After a decade of tweaking its familiar multiplayer formula, Nintendo’s Splatoon series just got its biggest shake-up yet. Splatoon Raiders takes the fundamentals of the PvP shooter and applies it to a single-player spin-off that’s more indebted to Borderlands. The action RPG twist works surprisingly well in a more chaotic version of Splatoon that cranks the chaos up to 11.
The reinvention is so successful, in fact, that I’m already pining for some of Splatoon Raiders’ best ideas to rub off on the inevitable Splatoon 4. Considering how little the multiplayer series has changed over three games, Raiders serves as a great proving ground for new ideas that could freshen up a familiar format. Even if Splatoon 4 doesn’t go full-on hero shooter, these systems could be a welcome change for the series.
1
The tank system
The biggest difference between Splatoon 3 and Splatoon Raiders is the latter’s tank system. Your character can equip one of three ink tanks, each of which has its own set of gadgets and unlockable passive perks. That’s very different from the multiplayer series, which ties subweapon and special attacks to your primary weapon. These fixed kits mean that you won’t always be able to use your preferred tools on one go-to weapon, pushing you to experiment with custom-made combos.
While that approach makes for a more controlled multiplayer environment with balanced loadouts, it will be hard to go back to that system after tinkering with tanks. There’s much more freedom in building your own loadout and trying to find gadget combos that complement one another. For example, I love pairing auto-firing Shot Pots with the Hi-Fiver to create a build that can peck away at enemies’ health from a distance. That loadout system feels like a natural fit for Splatoon, so long as Nintendo can figure out the right equation to avoid making overpowered gadget combos.
2
Moddable gadgets
Balance is also a hurdle for my favorite Splatoon Raiders feature: gadget mods. The looter shooter’s biggest customization hook is that you can tinker with gadgets to completely change their behavior. The turbine-like Torqscrew can be tweaked to enhance its suction power, inflict a weakening status effect on Salmonids, or add an explosive finale. I’ve had a blast experimenting with synergistic builds that complement my weapons. For instance, my Splatellites can pop enemies up into the air, allowing me to hit them dead on with my blaster.
Implementing that exact system in Splatoon 4 would be near impossible. Raiders wants you to create busted gadgets that simply would not fly in a multiplayer game. Still, there’s room for a stripped-down version of that idea to carry forward into the series. After all, character-altering perks have always been baked into clothing; why not extend the idea to subweapons and specials by giving each a few mod slots? A small handful of controlled mods that alter weapons just a bit could add a little more versatility to the meta and reward players for smart loadout-crafting.
3
Streamlined perk swapping
As someone who has spent over 100 hours perfecting my loadout in Splatoon 3, I even hate dealing with that game’s gear perk system. Every piece of clothing you buy comes with multiple ability slots. You’d think that you just need to pick a piece of gear and set the perks you want on it, but the system is much more complicated than that. You need to level gear up, spend Ability Chunks and Super Sea Snails, and take a chance with rerolling to get what you want. It’s a system designed to endure over a long period of time, but it means that you need to invest a lot of time just to lock down a build you like.
Splatoon Raiders streamlines that process significantly, though in part because gear works very differently. Outfits don’t have perks at all; instead, you get five ability slots that are disconnected from your gear entirely. All you have to do is pick the buffs you want and swap them out at will. Weapons have perks too, which can be upgraded and changed on the fly. While those ideas might not fit into Splatoon’s formula, the ease of customization is a good North Star to follow. You still have to put some time in to get the perks you want, but you’re not left juggling currencies and praying for favorable rerolls.
There’s a version of Splatoon 4 that’s friendlier to casual players all-around, giving them access to some high-level customization without making it an entirely effortless operation. Splatoon Raiders models how that can work in convincing fashion. With a little inspiration, Splatoon 4 could be the most expressive shooter out today.