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The Ninja Turtles' gaming resurgence continues | Full Review - TMNT Splintered Fate

1K View2023-05-10

TMNT Splintered Fate

7.7

ActionRoguelikeMultiplayer

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TMNT Splintered Fate is a brand new Ninja Turtles game with a rogue-lite spin on the gameplay, heavily inspired by Hades with its hack-and-slash mechanics, single special ability, and room after room upgrades.

🟩Pros

+Randomized runs; layout, upgrades, and mini-bosses

+Combat is incredibly fluid

+Four widely different characters to choose from

+Coop multiplayer

🟥Cons

-No cons

TMNT Splintered Fate is a rogue-lite hack and slash action RPG game featuring kinetic action-packed gameplay, fluid combat system, and an addictive dungeon crawling element.

It seems that the Ninja Turtles franchise is experiencing a resurgence lately, with frequent video game releases such as last year's Shredder's Revenge and The Cowabunga Collection, and now, the exclusive-to-Apple Arcade title TMNT Splintered Fate.

In TMNT Splintered Fate, players will take on the role of any of the four Ninja Turtles; Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo. All four are playable and have different weapons, fighting styles, and starting abilities that players can freely choose and switch between them at the hideout, depending on their preferred playstyle.

Michelangelo deals area damage with his nunchucks and prioritizes multiple low damage hits. Leonardo deals high damage with his dual swords and focuses on high mobility. Raphael has the shortest range of all with his twin sai, but deals heavy critical damage. While Donatello has the longest range with his bo staff and is focused on utility and durability.

TMNT Splintered Fate features a story that involves Master Splinter being kidnapped by Shredder, as well as mysterious portals appearing everywhere across New York. The story feels like something we’ve already seen with the countless Ninja Turtles stories, and it is mostly just a fitting excuse to set up the rogue-lite action, which is the main highlight of the game. These rogue-lite runs are totally part of the game’s continuity and the various runs made by the player will reflect in the game’s evolving narrative.

The game starts off the runs with the players’ chosen character, clearing room after room of waves of enemies. Every after level, a new Turtle Power or an upgrade must be chosen from a randomized list. All four characters start with a base ability called “tool”, but it can be upgraded, or even replaced entirely during runs.

This upgrade and randomized skill progression only persists during the run, and will be reset once the player fails. This in addition to the randomized room layouts and mini-bosses. This ensures that no run is the same, giving players a fresh experience every time they play.

Every once in a while, players will encounter a portal to the in-game shop, where you can trade “scrap” you’ve accumulated in that specific run in exchange for various temporary improvements, such as restoring health points, upgrades, or even new skills.

As part of being rogue-lite, progression persistence in this game comes in the form of Dragon and Dreamer Upgrades. Dragon and Dreamer Coins can be obtained by playing the game, and can be spent in between runs to improve the players’ stats, skills, and chances; such as increasing the number of dashes, free revives, health points, damage, luck, or currency obtained. Making sure that players can still make some progress despite resetting the run back to the start upon failure.

TMNT Splintered Fate also features randomized mini-boss encounters that provide a decent amount of challenge, and can serve as warm ups for the more major boss fights featuring familiar characters such as Leatherhead and Oroku Karai. These major boss fights will also drop a unique item every time they are beaten, which is essential in furthering the persistent upgrade options presented to the player. This gives boss fights much more meaning and purpose. As well as incentivizes players to keep on doing runs and keep on defeating the bosses to get a better chance at upgrades.

The combat in this game is incredibly fluid and satisfying, especially considering that it is primarily controlled using touch screen inputs, which are usually considered an inferior control method for hack-and-slash games. The flashy yet fluid animations, subtle pauses during hits, visual and sound effects, and even the slow-motion effect when clearing a room all contribute to the game's amazing combat feel.

As for the graphics, the game features standard graphics that you'd typically find in a mobile game. It's not AAA level of quality, and just packs enough detail to make easy on the eyes, while keeping the focus on the fast-paced action and fluid gameplay.

For those who are highly familiar with the game mechanics of Hades, TMNT Splintered Fate is undoubtedly inspired by it and closely follows in its footsteps by featuring extremely similar game mechanics and formula. There is no shame in that as TMNT Splintered Fate is incredibly fun to play and can even rival Hades in terms of content and quality of gameplay.

As part of the Apple Arcade experience, the game also offers proper support for Bluetooth controllers, including Xbox and Playstation controllers, as well as offering a cooperative multiplayer option up to four players.

Conclusion:

TMNT Splintered Fate is a highly enjoyable hack and slash rogue-lite that has the potential to be another exclusive hit in the Apple Arcade roster. Its Hades influences are clearly felt, and it is for the better. It is definitely a must play for any Apple Arcade subscriber, especially for fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Hades.

Mentioned games

TMNT Splintered Fate

7.7

ActionRoguelikeMultiplayer

Get

Ninja Turtles gets the Hades rogue-lite treatment | First Impressions - TMNT Splintered Fate

TMNT Splintered Fate is a rogue-lite hack and slash action RPG game featuring kinetic action-packed gameplay, fluid combat system, and an addictive dungeon crawling element. In TMNT Splintered Fate, players will take on the role of any of the four Ninja Turtles; Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo. All four are playable and have different weapons, fighting styles, and starting abilities that players can freely choose and switch between them at the hideout, depending on their preferred playstyle.

lyndonguitar2K2023-05-10