Not content with multiple trailers and two Treehouse appearances, Nintendo showcased even more of the upcoming Splatoon spin-off, Splatoon Raiders, in a Direct presentation of its own.
This 15-minute Direct ran through a bunch of the game’s features, and we have listed them all below so you can make sure you’re up to date before the all-important 23rd July launch.
We’ve listed things in chronological order so you can follow along with the Direct’s structure, and we’ve included a poll at the end for you to let us know what you made of the show.
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Splatoon Raiders Nintendo Direct – The Full Presentation
Before we dive into the individual announcements, here’s the full Direct, so you can watch it through from start to finish.
Splatoon Raiders Nintendo Direct – Round Up
Now then, let’s take a look at those features. After an explanation of the series’ Inklings and controls, things kicked off with a spot of treasure hunting…
Treasure Hunting
The aim of the game is Treasure Hunting, which you’ll find across the Spirhalite Islands. This section showcased a bunch of different regions to explore — hello, ice and lava levels! — and tee-d up some of the baddies you’ll be facing along the way.
Speaking of which…
Salmonids
As you’ll know from the footage we’ve seen already, there are a lot of different Salmonid types in Raiders. Here are a bunch of the ones we met in this Direct:
Lesser Salmonids
- Small Fry
- Chum
- Tong Chum
- Spring Chum
- Sparky
Boss Salmonids
- Scrapper
- Salty Tongue
- Salivator
- Smoker
Seasoned Salmonids
- Minced Scrapper
- Thick-Cut Salty Tongue
- Big-Stack Stinger
Lesser Salmonids will drop one Power Egg upon defeat — used to power up your Exploration Bot — while Boss Salmonids will drop a Mega Power Egg, which equals 100 individual ones.
Weapons
There are over 100 weapons in the game, some of which will be dropped by Salmonids as you play. This time around, the weapons have levels, and there are even some rare ones which come with special powers of their own.
Gadgets
Sub-weapons are out and have been replaced by Gadgets. These tools attach to your tank and can aid you in battle.
There are three different tank types (Speed, Power and Tactical), each of which comes with its own Gadget options. Here are a few of the ones we saw in the Direct:
Speed Tank
- Blast Boot
- Dash Bomb
- Booyarang
Power Tank
- Splatchet
- Splatellites
- Spinwheel
Tactical Tank
- Shot Pot
- Bombloons
- Tether Wail
Gadgets can all be customised, tweaking their power, area of impact, cooldown time etc. These all come from Gadget Parts, which you’ll find in the field.
Stages
Stages come with a variety of different objectives. Some will have you looking for treasure in a large, open area, while ‘Dens’ will task you with clearing out Salmonids to progress. There are also Gadget-specific facilities that look similar to your standard mainline Splatoon single-player campaigns, and wave-focused Raid levels.
In short, it looks like there’s a nice bit of variety!
Getting Stronger
Any EXP you pick up in a run (even if you lose) can be used to upgrade your character’s skills and add new facilities to the Hideout Ship.
In The Mechanic’s Shack, you can change your stats and tweak your tank. The Gadget Workshop lets you make new Gadgets, and the Weapon’s Stash can be used to upgrade your weapons or scrap them for materials.
Outfits
It wouldn’t be a Splatoon game without outfits, and you can pick up new ones by exploring the Spirhalite Islands to customise your Mechanic.
Tapping Splatoon amiibo unlocks outfits from the series so far, and using any of the three new Raiders amiibo unlocks new Shiver, Frye and Big Man outfits.
Difficulty Options
There are three different difficulty options (Tourist, Raider and Survivalist), which affect enemy strength only. This way, you can drop the challenge and still pull in the same rewards as everyone else.
Multiplayer
Four players can play together via local wireless or online play, and team up on treasure hunts. For those who are really stuck, you can choose the ‘Call for Help’ option and try to pull in a random ally online — this works both ways, so if you want to lend a hand, hop online and see if anyone’s calling for aid.
Salmonid Relics
Salmonid Relics are treasures found across the Spirhalite Islands that unlock unique abilities for your character — a bit like the traits you can add to your outfit in the mainline games, it seems.
Splatoon Raiders Treehouse: Live #2
As if all that wasn’t enough, Nintendo followed up the Direct with another Treehouse: Live show focused on Splatoon Raiders gameplay. You’ll find all the footage from that below.
Poll – How Would You Rate It?
It’s all looking rather good, we’d say! But what did you think? You can let us know what you made of the Splatoon Raiders Direct in the poll below.
