There are two questions you ought to be asking your self earlier than enjoying this recreation:
Do I just like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Did I play and luxuriate in SuperGiant Video games’ Hades from a pair years in the past?
If the reply to each questions is “sure,” you need to completely play this recreation. If solely one among your solutions is “sure,” it’s nonetheless a enjoyable time, as a result of the gameplay is strong and simple to get the hold of. However I’ll simply get this out of the way in which to start with: Splintered Destiny is kind of a reskinned model of Hades. And that’s okay! In case you’re going to make use of any current roguelite as a mannequin in your personal, Hades is completely the fitting name.
One factor that units Splintered Destiny aside from different TMNT video games is that it takes place within the IDW comics universe, one thing solely Platinum Video games has finished (form of) with their now-delisted Mutants in Manhattan brawler. I actually love the IDW comics and the character designs, which have been retained right here. The voice actors are additionally nice and provides every of the Turtles a really completely different really feel.
As the sport begins, a letter from Shredder has Splinter kidnapped, however the Turtles are relieved to get a go to from their father’s spirit, telling them that he can use Dragon Cash to extend their talents. Dragon Cash are Hades’ Purple Orbs, and you’ll spend them each time you’re despatched again dwelling. You then select one of many Turtles, every of which has a special assault cadence, particular assault, and “Software,” which is a tertiary assault with a particular impact: Leonardo throws three throwing stars in a cone, Raphael pulls a number of foes in direction of him with a sequence, Michelangelo stuns & goads close by enemies to his place, and Donatello briefly boosts his protection. In Hades, we’d name these completely different weapons. Then it’s off to the battlefield!
As in Hades, clearing rooms will internet you new talents or pickups. For instance, you may need the choice to realize an assault bonus to sprint assaults, swap out your “Software,” or achieve a batch of Dragon Cash. There are an enormous variety of choices right here, particularly while you begin together with elemental and stacked injury bonuses.
You’ll face one or two mini-bosses per space, that are normally joined by underlings. Precise boss fights could be fairly robust. Leatherhead, Karai, Bebop & Rocksteady, and naturally Shredder are the massive bads right here. I had loads of hassle tackling the warthog & rhino collectively (assume Theseus & Astrius). These bosses even have variations which randomly present up, like a model of Leatherhead that closely favors space assaults, or a downright merciless model of Karai who creates unsafe terrain everywhere and is subsequently laborious to really assault.
Defeating Shredder’s granddaughter is the sport’s first “benchmark,” as she gives a further type of forex used to purchase bonuses on the Lair. In reality, you’ll quickly study that there are fairly a couple of currencies within the recreation that have to be used alongside Dragon Cash and (earlier than lengthy) Dreamer Cash. I discovered forex monitoring to be type of annoying, particularly since Dragon and Dreamer Cash solely get you to this point.
On the whole, Dragon Cash improve issues like well being and injury whereas Dreamer Cash improve the chances that you just’ll obtain sure drops. One other variable is Artifacts (Keepsakes in Hades), which you’ll be able to carry one among at a time. You’ll choose one within the lair, however you may swap them out at retailers. These have a tendency to ensure you a sure sort of potential, elevated Scrap from Mousers, improve your sprint possibilities, and many others. Unlocking these have sure necessities (which aren’t laborious to attain) they usually can be upgraded.
Splintered Destiny has co-op and on-line multiplayer choices, for as much as all 4 Turtles. I wasn’t truly in a position to get any of my buddies over to try sofa co-op (it was a busy week, apparently), however Neal Ronaghan and I attempted out on-line multiplayer with simply the 2 of us and it labored flawlessly–you arrange a recreation after which inform your mates what the room code is. Apparently, new gamers can be a part of at any time. Once I joined Neal’s recreation, he was already midway by means of the 2nd degree!
Nonetheless, our recreation was reduce brief by Splintered Destiny’s greatest downfall: weirdly frequent crashes. Throughout my time with the sport, it was not unusual for it to crash unexpectedly, kicking me out to the Swap dashboard. Fortunately, Splintered Destiny auto-saves steadily, at the least as soon as per room, and also you’ll be capable to get proper again to the motion upon restarting. I’ll additionally say that the sport’s issue blasts into the stratosphere after beating Shredder for the primary time, since you begin discovering Shimmering Portals–alternate rooms–with modified challenges, like Foot Clan enemies doing extra injury, or a few of your personal talents disabled. However then regular boss fights get more durable and problem boss fights are even worse–think about combating a souped-up Leatherhead who summons a nonstop throng of Punk Frogs–arguably the hardest regular enemies within the recreation.
Sadly, if you wish to maintain upgrading your Dragon and Dreamer talents, you’ll should undergo by means of and win many of those problem rooms–there’s no manner round it.
Splintered Destiny seems to be nice, if somewhat unambitious. That is most likely a consequence of its cell roots, however character fashions are clear and the whole lot is straightforward to see and discern. I truthfully would have appreciated extra enemy varieties, although. Hades is well-known for having a menagerie of bizarre issues to combat, from skeletons to rock monsters to demonic chariots. Right here, you’re restricted to rats, Mousers, Foot ninjas, and Punk Frogs. Positive, there are some variants right here, like…bigger Mousers, yellow Foot ninjas, and large/probably cybernetic troopers, but it surely’s fairly restricted. You additionally don’t get many possibilities to speak to your NPC allies–I believed they’d wind up within the lair so you could possibly discuss to them now and again, as in Hades, however that’s not the case. Casey Jones will pop in, say hello, after which he’s gone. The music is simple however fairly good–I steadily bought the tunes caught in my head for hours after enjoying a couple of rounds.
I actually preferred Splintered Destiny regardless of these complaints principally as a result of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are my favourite superheroes, but additionally as a result of Hades is the perfect roguelite developed since The Binding of Isaac. Very similar to the Darksiders video games, Splintered Destiny could also be borrowing components from different video games, but it surely has its personal identification. It’s completely price a shot, particularly you probably have the flexibility to play multiplayer recurrently. It’s good to see the Turtles in a recreation that’s not ostensibly a brawler, and I used to be stunned by how nicely they took to the roguelite style.
