I spent a lot of this weekend playing Splatoon Raiders. I’ve got a review coming later this week, once I’ve finished the whole campaign, but generally I think it’s safe to say I’m really enjoying it. But there’s one sticking point I had to get out of my system now, so I don’t waste several paragraphs on it in the review: the fashion in this game stinks.
Splatoon Raiders has nearly 40 different collectible outfits, a couple of which are locked behind amiibo, but the rest of which are obtainable through normal gameplay. You’ll unlock them for all sorts of things: upgrading weapons, completing story milestones, clearing dungeons, and so forth. It’s not a chore at all to collect several and start expanding your wardrobe right away.
Splatoon is a series known for having incredible fashion. The three main multiplayer games have allowed players to select from dozens of hats, tops, and shoes to create sick custom looks, with the most recent entry, Splatoon 3, having over 300 different clothing items to choose from. As a result, and combined with weapon choices, it was rare to find two players dressed exactly the same who weren’t doing it on purpose, and it was a fantastic way for players to express themselves. It helped, too, that so many of the clothing items looked cool as hell. There was something for everyone. Cute dresses, cool jackets, big headphones, silly hats–I could go on.
I knew Splatoon Raiders was going to be a bit different. But I wasn’t expecting the fashion to be this…limited. All the outfits are just one piece, so there’s no mixing and matching. As mentioned, there are just under 40 total, which is far fewer options than we had before. And a lot of these outfits look veeeeeery similar. There are a bunch of overalls and crop tops. A lot of the same colors and patterns repeat with slight variations. There’s a lot of camo involved.
Story-wise, it makes sense that the three main Splatoons have sick fashion, as the Inklings and Octolings live in a bustling metropolis where they can buy whatever neat clothes they can afford. Splatoon Raiders, on the other hand, is set on a remote chain of islands, so probably not a lot of clothing stores to choose from. But come on. It’s a looter shooter! Who cares? The point is to collect sick loot!
You find all kinds of rare ink guns in random boxes, despite the fact that none of the Salmonids seem to be using the same guns we are. Heck, part of the plot involves the main cast finding a bunch of their families’ old, missing heirlooms on these islands! If somehow all of this very, very specific stuff ended up here, why not some cool T-shirts or something? I would love to open a chest and find a rare hat!
And this is also exacerbated by the limited variety of hairstyles. There are 14 total hairstyles in game: six for Inklings and six for Octolings to begin with, then a seventh for each that unlocks when you complete the main story. You can change your appearance between the hairstyles and between Inkling/Octoling any time you want, which is great. But Splatoon 3 had 24 total styles! Agh!
I very much understand why the developers may not have wanted to go all out on fashion for Splatoon Raiders. There are fewer opportunities to show off your fits (there’s no big hub like in Splatoon where you can see other people’s outfits), and developing dozens of cool shoe styles is a lot of work. But there is still a cooperative multiplayer component where I’d like to show off a bit, and presumably the team wouldn’t have to design this stuff from scratch, given what already exists in the last three Splatoon games. It’s weird that more of it didn’t make a comeback, and weird that what’s available is so restrictive. I’m surprised that the Splatoon devs didn’t clock that fashion and customization were important to the community, and that they were natural fits for a looter shooter like this.
I did find a cute pair of floral overalls I liked, so I guess I’ll be rockin’ those for the rest of the game.
