Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "SPLATOON RAIDERS TOPS JAPANESE CHARTS"

Episode Date: August 9, 2026

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠ In this segment of Notorious Mass Effect, Analytic Dreamz delivers a comprehensive breakdown of Splatoon Raiders, the 2026 Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive single-player action RPG third-person shooter and first spin-off in the Splatoon series. Explore development insights inspired by Salmon Run, the shift to Spirhalite Islands with Deep Cut, core gameplay loops of exploration, crystal collection, Salmonid battles, and equipment upgrades across mission types like Treasure Hunts and Buried Ruins. Analytic Dreamz covers tank types, 100+ weapons, co-op multiplayer, difficulty modes, HowLongToBeat playtimes from 14 hours main story to 30-46+ completionist, Japan launch sales of 474,684 physical copies ranking #1, UK chart-topping debut, Metacritic 81-82 with 9.3 user score as highest Nintendo-published game, critical praise for customization and combat, plus industry impact validating Splatoon’s PvE expansion.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shepard, promise me you'll tell them to subscribe for ad free content. Now yet another Nintendo Switch to Exclusive, that just may end up being a contender for Game of the Year. Shepard, just look at the state of gaming. You know what I'm saying? What is going on? Because when you look at Spiltoon Raiders, you come to realize there's no PVP. So how in the world, objectively speaking, could it ever reach number one

as far as the best-selling game on Nintendo Switch 2 for the week of July 20th through July 26. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly what it accomplished. As Splatoon Raiders PVP, no, a PVE version, has, objectively speaking, just debuted with 474,000 out the gate, making it the number one most play game on Nintendo currently. Now, if you don't know, when you look at the Femitsu charts, which is the charts in Japan, it's currently number one because it sold 474,684 physical copies during launch week. And of course, a very strong launch when you look at the aspect of them completely changing the perspective of Splatoon Raiders players, which the reason why I say that is because usually,

RATers is used to going up against other people in Splatoon Raiders as far as a PVP aspect. And now you have Splatoon Raiders, which is specifically a single player experience. But you can play with friends, but it's exclusively a PVE aspect. Meaning if you do play with other people, you would be fighting the computer. There's no PVP aspect in Splatoon Raiders compared to previous Splatoon Raider installment. So the reason why I say that is to get you ready. get you ready for this next analytical perspective because you know over here in notorious mass effect getting into the gaming and music IPs that notoriously affect the

mass is safe to say when we're talking about splatun Raiders as far as the sales and review roundup I think it's important to point out the fact that Splatoon Raiders is definitely one of the more notorious IPs that Nintendo possesses but to be fair this specific Splatoon Raiders did underperform when you look at past Splatoon Raiders. As Splatoon 3, which is the latest, the one before this one, it basically sold $3.4 million in the first three days. Now, to be fair, that Splatoon Raiders,

I mean, Splatoon 3, my fault. Splatoon 3 was specifically a competitive multi-player aspect as far as PVP. So, Splatoon Raiders being a single player, it kind of makes sense that it's not as high as far as 3.4 million. Because if you don't know, most people nowadays want more, multi-player aspects in that game when they can go up against other players versus playing the computer. Why is it like that? I have no idea. You know, people would rather bang their head against the keyboard against other players instead of enjoying the environment playing the

computer. But, you know, I never understood that. But you know, as you can tell, I'm a huge single-player experience type of gamer. So with that being said, obviously when you look at Splatoon Raiders debut in at number one, that's a significant accomplishment, especially when you look at the other games that have came out under the exclusive umbrella because this is a big accomplishment because it's only available on nintendo swiss two there's no announced ports meaning that it's probably going to be a nintendo switch two exclusive for some for quite some time so looking at the other nintendo ips as far as pokemon as far as mario as far as zeta you already know that we have to bring up pomeo copopoea as that objectively speaking is probably the best game

that Nintendo has currently under their exclusivity. But then you look at games like Mario Tennis that I believe Splatoon Raider beats out. You look at Star Fox, which, you know, hey, I'm not going to lie to you, man. You guys. See, that's the problem. Y'all Star Fox fans out there are not really showcasing that you want more Star Fox games.

I'm just saying, you know, I looked at the numbers. I was like, hold up now. Ain't this the remaster for a classic one? the world that came out and basically it's at a total of 64 000 copies now of course you know for the star fox fans out there you guys see that's the problem there's nothing wrong with that because you know maybe it's just a cold classic but don't expect you know don't expect an expedited process for the next saw fox game so anyways with that being said we have mario tennon's fever which is the one of the notorious exclusives for nintendo switch two pokemao pia which was which is also a

other notorious exclusive for Nintendo Switch 2. Then you have Star Fox, which is, we just talked about that. And then of course, Splatoon Raiders came out the gate swinging because of course compared to Fire Emblem, compared to Star Fox, compared to the Nintendo Switch sports installment, the Dust Bloods, which is, I don't even think that came out yet. So I think when you look at Pocopio, Mario Tennis, and Splatoon Raiders, that is the are for people looking at should I get a Nintendo Switch 2. I think if you're posing the question, should I go out to the store or to the digital

store and online order or physically purchase a Nintendo Switch 2? I think right now you have Mario Tennis, Pokemon Pocopio, and you have Splatoon Raiders. As far as objectively speaking, one of the notorious mass effectors in the gaming industry. that is exclusively only playable on the Switch 2. And the reason why I say that is because exclusives sell consoles. That is why you look at Mario Tennis World. I said Tennis. My fault.

Mario Kart World and how it came out at the beginning of the Switch 2 cycle. It's because they wanted to sell the consoles expeditiously. They tried to get them off the shelves as fast as they could. So they attach Mario Kart World to it. So exclusivity is the best way to sell your console. And as of right now, I don't think in the year of 2026, aside from Pokemon Pocapea, there's really any reason to have a Switch 2. But then that is why we're getting into the game that we're getting into for this specific segment, which is Splatoon Raiders. As as of right now, Slatoon Raiders is raising the interest in me getting a Switch 2 because exclusivity for products like Splatoon Raiders and Pokemon, Pokopoeia is way,

more enticing than just Pokemon Pocopoeia and Mario Tennis. Say what you want about Mario Tennis. You may enjoy it, but to me, I prefer an actual single player Mario game, not Mario Car World, not Mario Kart Tennis. So it's hard for me to justify even getting a Nintendo Switch 2 because I'm thinking to myself, when am I going to play on it? So with that out the way, that is probably the biggest question that needs to be answered as far as Nintendo connoisseurs out there on what actually is the benefits for owning or trying to go purchase a Nintendo Switch 2. Now anyways, getting back into Splatoon Raiders, if you don't know what this specific Splatoon Raiders installment is, is a single player focus action RPG, third-person shooter,

and their first spinoff as far as the fourth overall game in Nintendo Splatoon franchise. Now, of course, as far as Lifetime units, it's not really competing with the Giants in the Nintendo IPs such as a Mario with 800 million lifetime units, a Pokemon with 500 million plus lifetime units, a Zelda with 150 million plus lifetime units. And then, of course, you go down a little bit, you go down a little further. And then there's Splatoon Raiders with a nice, respectable, 30 million. So comparing it to the top Nintendo IPs as the Splatoon Raiders or just as a Splatoon fan. You may be a little humbled, but objectively speaking, it's outperforming a lot of Nintendo exclusive IPs. It's just not up there with the big dogs as far as Pokemon, Mario, etc.

So, anyways, the reason why I say that is because this is inspired by Splatoon 3's Salmon Run, which salmon run. This is salmon or salmon? I know as far as the food, it's salmon, but I don't know if they want us to include the L. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm really, all right, y'all get the point. So, Splatoon 3's Salmon run designed as a more approachable PVEE experience.

Earlier versions were tower defense games where players place traps against Salmon Samenoid Samanoid, Samanoid, Samanin? But what in the actual is that? What is that?

What in the... You guys. See, that's the problem. Hold on. I need Siri to read this off to me because I have no idea with this. Like, What type of... Traps against Samanid waves. Saman...

No. No, that can't be real. That can't be real, bro. We learn in real time, man. Shout out to Kasten that, man. Traps against Samanid wave. Samanid. Samanid.

Okay, whatever. So traps against Samanid waves, but Nintendo abandoned the idea because it lacks Splatoon's fast movement and in combat. So, of course, once again, this is a review roundup, a review in sales roundup.

So, of course, I started off with the sales. I'm just letting you know what the game is about. So with this particular game, the main selling point is that it's PVE. They're not doing the original Splatoon Raiders PVP aspect, which a lot of people grew accustomed to looking forward to. But now, with the PVE, you come to realize that the gameplay loop is you controlling a customizable mechanic stranded on Sparhalite islands alongside Deep Cut, as far. shiver, fry, and big man. And the main gameplay loop is exploring islands, collecting spirit-like crystals,

treasure and loop, defeating salmon noise, summonoise, still don't know I pronounce that, returning to base to upgrade equipment and repeating increasingly difficult raids. So now you come to realize that this game is definitely going to be a lot of repeating

what you've done before, but of course if the gameplay loop is immaculate, then nobody would put that as a big negative on the game because guess what? Caller Duty has the same gameplay loop. Marvel Rivals has the same gameplay loop. You don't see people complaining about that. So I think, of course, with this being the single player aspect,

you being able to play with other friends as far as the P... still being PVE, but you being able to play with other friends, I think that consistent gameplay loop is justifiable if it's entertaining. And speaking on it being entertaining, We have a lot of different types in this game, such as the speed type, the power type, and the tactical type, and you can equip two gadgets per tank, including blast boot, dash bomb, booerang, we're in the cyborg, shot pot, turret, and split tell ice. And then there's a hundred plus weapon variations, including rare, special weapons,

and a lot of the other things is more nerd talk if you actually play the game. So, of course, me keeping it in generality, because I want the people who are. thinking about paying for the game or getting into the game to know more about the overall info about the game than the you know the nerdy details that you'll only get if you played it so um but that means it let's switch to the multiplayer so multiplayer supports up to four player online or local co-op once again there's no pv but you can play with other people and you will be having a pve aspect and it focuses entirely on cooperative treasure raise now there's the difficulty settings where you have tourists for easy raider for normal survival lists for hard and harder postgame

spicy modes that unlocks after completion now as far as the spicy no uh modes i've never been the spicy person myself so you know as far as food you know all right my fault can't bring a food in the game and review one in the world so what that being said um splatoon raiders has a stable 60 fps on switch two strong optimization and when you look at the nine to five workers experience and their perspective, they're probably thinking to themselves. How long will this game take me to beat? You know what I'm saying? Just look at the state of gaming.

Like, what is going on? As far as the state of gaming for all my 9 to 5 workers out there, let's just say, they are definitely respecting your time. You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? As Splatoon Raiders, Pragmata, 007, you come to realize.

Look, all these developers are out here respecting certain non-to-five workers' time that want to play a phenomenal single-player experience that is not 60 plus hours. I'm looking directly at you, Assassin Creed Shadows. I still ain't forgot about that. Here I am thinking I'm about to beat the game with 60, 80 plus hours in. I barely scratched the surface. I said to myself, you know what? I don't care about the game that much. So for my 9 to 5 workers out there, let's just say there's multiple titles in the year of 2026 that definitely respects your time and gives you a phenomenal single player experience.

So anyways, going back at the Spatoon Raiders. The main story should take you about 14 hours to beat. And when you look at the story plus side content, it should take you about 15 to 20 plus hours to beat. And then of course, when you look at the completion that runs, it should take you about 30 to 40 to 50 plus hours. be because of course as far as completion is let's just say there's certain things you can get stuck on if you're trying to collect each and everything in the game so aside from the sales aside from this game being a respectable entry into this split two uh spletoon franchise once again it's not the biggest because of course the spletoon game that came out before this one so 3.4 million in three days

but then you look at splatoon raiders out the gate selling 474 000 But still, it was the number one most play game as far as the week of July 20 through July 26. But of course, when you look at Splaton Raiders in the previous, in the Splatoon Raider predecessors, I think the developers may look at this and say, this is a respectable single player installment of the IP. But if we want to make the big bucks, which you know, all these corporations are money hungry nowadays. Don't forget who started the no physical wave. I'm looking directly at you, Nintendo. Shepard.

You know what I'm saying? Just look at the state of gaming. Yep. Like, what is going on? Definitely Nintendo that started the whole no physical copy wave. And we don't even have to get into Mario Car World. You know what I'm saying? The amount that Mario Car World came out at, you know, the price point at the start, at the launch point, it just made no sense.

And it just went downhill from there. So anyways, with that being said, we have a lot to blame. We have a lot of blame that we can put on Nintendo. But, hey, you know, we are giving kudos to split. Raiders so when you look at uh splatoon Raiders as far as the exclusivity side of things i believe this is a great aspect a great marketing factor as far as getting people to buy a nintendo switch two because spletoon Raiders does not come into any other console so when you look at the nintendo switch two version and no other console getting this game not even pc i think that's a

strong selling point in my opinion so with that being said let's train into all of the reviews for Splatoon Raiders. Now, of course, we're not going to get into all of them, but I did want to read off some of the reviews, because once again, this is the sales and review roundup for our Splatoon Raiders. So starting off with Tech Radar Gaming, it gave it a strong 5 out of 5. Tech Radar said, quote,

Splatoon Raiders offers an incredibly compelling single-player take on the series trademark ink spewing action. It's all underpinned by the same excellent shooting mechanics that make online matches of Splatoon 3 such a blast. Now smartly re-contextualized in a wholly player versus environment, PVE format, and enhanced with a plethora of satisfying progression systems that allow you to experiment with countless impactful character bills. IGM gave Splatoon Raiders a 9 out of 10,

saying, quote, Splatoon Raiders is an amazing action RPG with an expert, with the expertly executed loop. Expertly executed, executed. Now, what type of word is that? Y'all let me know. You know what I'm saying? You would think I was a professional podcast going on six years. What in the world? Anyways, my fault. So let's get back to this. I'm not cutting that out. I'm not cutting that out either. You know, one take drink over here. So that means it with an expertly executed loop. It has a fantastic new powers with crazy upgrades that are worth chasing. Tough battles that force you to put care into your build in order to overcome them and a huge variety of fun level types to jump between.

The pacing, balance, and difficulty curve are very impressive. I always had to work to get better, but none of the campaign ever felt like grinding or needless padding. Raiders stay fresh by constantly introducing deeper ways to customize my abilities that spark new ideas for creative combinations. This is the best Splatoon campaign yet and one of the top games on the Switch 2. Now I would read off Nintendo Life's review but they may be a little biased. So all I'm going to say is they gave it in a 9 out of 10. I'm not going to read off the review though because they probably glazing but you No, it's just me.

So last but definitely not least, let's get into pocket tactics, which gave Splatoon Raiders a 10 out of 10. What in the world? Pocket tactics gave Splatoon Raiders a 10 out of 10 saying, quote, Splatoon Raiders of Fish Ally earns are seal of approval as a fantastic game in the franchise. Whether you go it alone or get help from other players, searching for loot and mining

or has never been so fun thanks to the amount of weapons and gadgets you can equip to blast enemies out of existence plus you get to hang out with deep cut which is always a fun time

such you can tell a lot of people are very much enjoying the game now of course when it comes to the price point I believe this game is um I have no idea hold on let me see uh I think if I click on here it should bring it up let's see um right after doing some mickey research safe to say

splatoon raiders is about 60 dollars now on a nintendo shop is 50 and with that being said um so yeah the regular price is 1599 is um is 49 99 so yeah that's not i mean i guess it's not bad for a 15 hour campaign because of course you can keep playing it to the point where you can get 40 to 50 hours of it but you know it just depends on how much you enjoy the gameplay loop and having the pvE aspect with all your friends so um i think that was basically i'm trying to see once again this is a nintendo switch two exclusive if you're looking to get a nintendo switch two um nintendo has just made it even more enticing as far as the package of exclusivities they have once again this year alone they have um um

Splatoon Raiders, of course, Mario Tennis Fever that came out in February, Pokemon Pocopoeia that came out in March, Star Fox that came out in June, Fire and Bloom, Fortune's Weave that came out of September, just giving you the whole rundown of exclusive Switch games that you can look forward to if you end up getting a Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort that came out in October, and don't forget Dust Bluds, which is made by From Software, the same development, the same developing studio that, of course, made Eldon Ring. they also made

the Dust Bluzz and what else Oh yeah and then the Yoshi title So if you still have the question should I get a Nintendo Switch 2 But those are the titles you can look forward to If you end up purchasing that console So with that being said click my link to you in my bio To follow me on my social medias and of course

Make sure if you're on Spotify Make sure to let me know What do you like most about Splatoon Raiders If you've given the game a try Bye.