From the outside, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate looks a lot like Hades. The room-based gameplay, upgrade and power-up systems, narrative approach, and hack-and-slash combat won’t be unfamiliar to those who have played the god-rated roguelike. But that’s not a bad thing. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Splitered Fate throws it out like a shuriken in this run-out-based romp the world of crime sewage.
However, comparisons to Supergiant’s critical darling are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the fragmented Fate IS Hades, and anyone who enjoyed avoiding the wrath of the Lord of the Underworld will find much to enjoy here; on the other hand, this Its not Hades and the inevitable comparisons he draws to combat, performance and visuals may be his biggest knock.
Shattered Fate arrived fresh-faced and bushy-tailed (or the turtle equivalent of that) to Apple Arcade in May 2023. Launching on the mobile gaming service with very little fanfare, the Super Evil Megacorp rogue didn’t make a splash that we we were used to seeing heroes in a half shell, and the platform franchise kept it that way for the next 12 months.
Now on Switch, it looks like the game has finally found its home. This is the same execution-based cheat you’ll find on mobile, but with some added bells and whistles, such as updated visuals, new controls, and a much-requested four-player co-op mode that make the Switch port of it feels a little more appealing. These new features are all welcome additions, but they all build on the strength of the base game. Fortunately, Splintered Fate is actually pretty good.
Master Splinter has been kidnapped (shock, horror!) and it’s up to Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey to get him back. To do so, the brothers must fight their way out of the sewers and onto the rooftops, taking out rooms of evil foot soldiers and malevolent MIUSES while picking up ability-altering currents along the way. After losing, you are transported back to the underground lair where you can cash in your collectibles to level up before heading out to try again.
As both a TMNT story and a roguelike, there’s nothing terribly original here, but it works all the same. Each turtle has a unique set of abilities, and you’re encouraged to try each one out if you want to unlock some higher-level upgrades. These power-ups can make or break a run with a good variety of effects, benefiting those open to changing their combat techniques. And, most importantly, it’s a much more accessible mode for similar cheaters than many of its contemporaries, with an ‘Easy Mode’ selectable available in the pause menu to toggle on or off at any time during execution.
Both online and local co-op options help Splintered Fate stand out from the rogue crowd as much as it isn’t THOROUGHLY a copy and paste compilation of the best of the genre. Roguelikes can often be a tough nut to crack, with a dense upgrade system and intimidating difficulty curve, and while Splintered Fate absolutely delivers on its upgrades and level of challenge, the option to let a friend lend a hand help is welcome, especially in the future. , encounters filled with the enemy.
And boy, do those dates get packed. The visual style gets the job done (it’s a bit mobile, but let’s not forget its origins here), but sometimes it becomes difficult to keep an eye on your turtle. Often, waves of mutants and ninjas will flood the screen and take over with unique attack animations; a few quick dashes help break up the crowd, but at certain points, the number of enemies serves as a quick reminder that co-op is the way to go.
In solo, things are difficult. First off, you’re underleveled and the game wants you to know it. You’ll die a lot, but the lively voice acting (including Yuri Lowenthal as Michelangelo) and an original story from TMNT legend Tom Waltz kept us coming back for more — even if some of the dialogue encounters took a little longer. much more than us. would have liked. Again, the difficulty modifiers are there to make things a little easier/harder, but the base game already offers a healthy level of challenge.
After our successful first run, the additional challenges helped spice up the game, so even with a good number of character upgrades under our belt, things still felt relatively fresh. The dialogue and story systems aren’t as reactive as those found in Hades, and we found ourselves faltering long before characters had a chance to say them, but random encounters with mini-bosses, changing patterns of attack and fluctuating enemy density means runs can still feel unique even if you opt for a similar build each time.
We were still having fun during our repeated playthroughs and were happy to see things gradually open up, but once we got to grips with everything, some of Splintered Fates’ flaws started to creep up to the surface. Combat is fairly fluid, but the Turtles’ arsenal of Attack, Special and Tool means that most encounters become bland in a way that the best hackers tend to avoid. Enemy attacks are predicted by a visible ‘damage zone’ as they power up, so defeating them becomes a case of getting out of the way and posting ‘Y’ until a better option is available.
This isn’t helped by the game’s shaky performance on Switch. Shattered Fate is quite stable during busy screens, but the framerate drops regularly when there are multiple enemies on screen or in sequences with large, detailed backgrounds. We also experienced a handful of severe crashes while performing simple tasks like visiting the in-game store. Fortunately, an auto-save feature meant we could restart and go back to our course without a hitch, but it hardly helps with room-to-room flow. There is a “Cinematic Mode” setting which limits the frame rate to 30 fps to “enhance image quality”, although we found the visual improvements to be negligible and actually preferred the higher but inconsistent frame rate.
These issues don’t detract from what is a thoroughly enjoyable and accessible roguelike, but they do show how this formula has been better in the past. The Debt to Hades is too strong to ignore, and while the performance slips and repetitive dialogue scripts are frustrating in isolation, they’re made even more so by a constant reminder that this radical roguelike is no award-winning odyssey . imitates
CONCLUSION
With a gameplay loop that effortlessly integrates the heroes in a half-shell into the world of rogues, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a fun and accessible Hades that’s best played with friends. However, despite the strength of the IP and the addition of co-op, it doesn’t pack enough of a punch to avoid unfavorable comparisons to the Supergiant classic, and it constantly feels like it’s on the back burner because of it. There’s fun to be had here, but those who’ve spent time in Underworld will have a hard time shaking the feeling that this central loop is done much better elsewhere.