Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate – Review

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate” emerges as a vibrant and engaging addition to the TMNT gaming legacy, masterfully blending the beloved franchise’s essence with the addictive mechanics of the roguelite genre. This game doesn’t merely rely on nostalgia; it forges a compelling experience that stands on its own, offering both seasoned Turtles fans and newcomers a thrilling ride.

A Roguelite Shell-Shock:

At its core, “Splintered Fate” embraces the roguelite formula, where each playthrough, or “run,” presents a unique and procedurally generated challenge. This design choice injects immense replayability, ensuring that no two adventures through the Foot Clan-infested streets of New York are identical. The constant pursuit of powerful upgrades and the thrill of overcoming increasingly difficult encounters create a captivating loop that keeps players coming back for more.

• Varied Runs:
  • The procedural generation of levels, enemy placements, and upgrade options ensures that each run feels fresh. This variability encourages experimentation with different builds and playstyles, maximizing the game’s longevity.
  • The game also implements different “Portals of Power” that change the gameplay drastically after the initial story completion, adding a large amount of extra play time.
• Upgrade Systems:
  • “Splintered Fate” features a deep and satisfying upgrade system, allowing players to customize their Turtles with a wide array of abilities and enhancements.
  • The Dragon Coins and Dreamer Coins system allows for permanent upgrades, giving a great sense of progression, even when runs fail.
  • The random upgrade drops during runs, allow for many different builds, and play styles to be explored.

Turtle Power Unleashed:

One of the game’s greatest strengths lies in its faithful portrayal of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Each brother – Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo – feels distinct and authentic, with unique combat styles and personalities that shine through in their animations and dialogue.

• Character Differentiation:
  • Leonardo’s balanced swordsmanship, Raphael’s aggressive brawling, Donatello’s strategic staff attacks, and Michelangelo’s unpredictable nunchaku skills offer diverse gameplay experiences.
  • The developers did a great job of making each turtles combat style feel different, and all of them feel like they are very useful.
• Authentic Presentation:
  • The game’s art style beautifully captures the spirit of the TMNT universe, drawing inspiration from the IDW comic series.
  • The voice acting is exceptional, with each Turtle’s personality coming through vividly. Especially the voice acting of Michelangelo, performed by Yuri Lowenthal, is very well done.
  • The overall audio and visual presentation of the game is very high quality.

Cooperative Chaos:

“Splintered Fate” truly excels in its cooperative gameplay. Teaming up with friends to battle the Foot Clan and save Splinter is an absolute blast. The game’s design encourages teamwork and coordination, with each player’s unique abilities complementing the others.

• Seamless Co-op:
  • The ability to play with up to four players, both locally and online, enhances the game’s social aspect.
  • The game balance allows for skilled players to carry less skilled players, and for all players to have a good time.
• Team Synergy:
  • Combining the Turtles’ different combat styles creates dynamic and engaging combat scenarios.
  • Working together to overcome challenging encounters is incredibly rewarding.

Roguelite Refinement:

While “Splintered Fate” draws inspiration from established roguelite titles, it carves out its own identity with its unique TMNT flavor. The game strikes a good balance between challenging gameplay and rewarding progression, ensuring that players always feel motivated to dive back in.

• Accessible Depth:
  • The game’s mechanics are easy to grasp, making it accessible to casual players, while still offering enough depth to satisfy hardcore roguelite enthusiasts.
  • The learning curve of the game is very well balanced.
• Progression and Rewards:
  • The permanent upgrade system provides a sense of consistent progress, even when individual runs don’t go as planned.
  • The rewards gained from each run contribute to long-term character growth, fostering a sense of accomplishment.

Areas of Improvement:

While “Splintered Fate” is a stellar game, there are a few areas where it could be further enhanced.

• Enemy Variety:
  • While the game features a good selection of enemies, adding more variety would further enhance the gameplay experience.
• Online Matchmaking:
  • The online coop play is great, but the lack of a random online matchmaking system limits the amount of players that can enjoy the online coop.
• More Content:
  • While the game has great replayability, more levels, enemies, and playable characters would greatly increase the games longevity.

Conclusion:

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate” is a triumphant blend of nostalgic charm and innovative gameplay. It successfully captures the essence of the TMNT franchise while delivering a compelling roguelite experience. With its engaging combat, diverse character options, and thrilling cooperative play, “Splintered Fate” is a must-play for fans of the Turtles and roguelite games alike. This game provides hours of fun, and is a great addition to the TMNT gaming library.