Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate Reviews
Personality, creativity, and co-op multiplayer elevate this Hades-like beyond its rough edges.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate doesn't quite reach the heights of its obvious inspirations, but it's a good time anyway.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate might not manage to reach the same heights as the game it so clearly takes inspiration from, but ‘being as good as Hades’ is perhaps an unrealistic goal for any game and it's a wonder that it comes even close. It still provides a satisfying roguelite experience with one of the best interpretations of the TMNT universe I’ve seen in some time. It won’t be replacing Shredder’s Revenge as the franchise’s best modern game, but it’s sitting nicely in second place.
With a gameplay loop that effortlessly integrates the heroes in a half-shell into the world of roguelikes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a fun and approachable 'Hades-like' that's best played with pals. However, despite the power of the IP and a co-op addition, it doesn't pack enough of a punch to avoid unfavourable comparisons to Supergiant's classic and constantly feels like it's on the back foot because of it. There is fun to be had here, but those who have spent time in the Underworld will find it hard to shake the feeling that this central loop has been done much better elsewhere.
Essentially this is a less-polished Hades but with the Turtles – not a bad thing at all – and certainly a fun and worthwhile use of a tremendous license
TMNT: Splintered Fate is a great action roguelike with cooperative elements, especially remarkable in terms of gameplay, although its technical aspect is not at the same level.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It may be easy, at a glance, to look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate and dismiss it as “we have Hades at home.” There’s a nugget of truth there, as we are looking at an action roguelike clearly inspired by Hades, with a smaller scale in many ways. But does Hades have co-op, or the TMNT? Nah, dudes. Splintered Fate has a specific goal, and it definitely delivers on that goal. It’s a fun time, with a lot of structural solidity and the fun co-op gaming vibes you should expect from a TMNT game. It doesn’t feel cheap or sloppy at all, and even singleplayer can keep your attention for several runs over dozens of hours. I’m still working on it despite winning several loops already, and spinning around like a maniac with my boy Mikey still doesn’t feel old yet.
TMNT: Splinted Fate is a fun roguelike and utilises the four Turtles well, with each one having unique abilities. The gameplay is fast paced and does introduce some variety early on, such as Gauntlet challenges. However, the story comes across as stretched out to arbitrarily lengthen a game that consists of four stage and four bosses.
Switch seems like an ideal console for a game of this type, with a very simple dynamic in its essence, but that gives us constant surprises. It's not very spectacular, but it's effective.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
All in all, TMNT: Splintered Fate stands as one of the better games seen in the franchise, delivering a busy and accessible action roguelite supported by a tone-perfect narrative. All we need now is for Super Evil Megacorp to make good on that roadmap and beef up the content, but any Turtles fans and roguelite aficionados should find enough here already to spur their next grind session.
An Hades-style roguelike action game with the immortal Ninja Turtles... what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, in fact Super Evil Megacorp's take on the genre is definitely fun and accessible, with with an unmissable 4-players couch-coop mode. Splinter Fate reiterates (almost) all the right formulas already seen in similar titles, without daring anything new and proposing a tech compartment that could have been decidedly more 'pushed'.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I’ve played a lot of Ninja Turtles games recently. Though I’ve got a strong nostalgic connection to the franchise, the games don’t usually hook me. This one was a little different. The mechanics, along with the smooth challenge build-up and robust progression systems, snagged me immediately. I bounced off the story pretty hard, but I kept coming back anyway. You just want one more run, until it’s something like one in the morning. Between that and the multiplayer, TMNT: Splintered Fate is a worthy addition to an exclusive list of roguelike gems.
Super Evil Mega Corp may have struck gold with their take on the TMNT franchise, but with an empty story, a myriad of audio problems, and the same difficulty as an actual turtle flipped over, a game that wants you to play it over and over makes it impossible to play it over and over. I guess everything that turtles, ain't gold. Splintered fate, indeed.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Splintered Fate is a pleasant surprise on Nintendo Switch. Some might say that it's simply a copy of Hades, only not as good as usual, but Super Evil Corp has done a good job. It's a nice new entry in the ninja turtles universe, but marry by performance issues and graphics that don't do justice to a console.
Review in French | Read full review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a pretty decent and fun roguelite, but it lacks personality and it's visual presentation is far away from what we were expecting.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It works as a Hades clone with an IP that might make it more enticing for some, but an unfinished story and technical issues might make a disciplined spirit take pause.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate brings a new way of playing to fans of the green, teen heroes. The story, visuals, and gameplay are all great, though a few bugs hamper the experience. The simple roguelike elements won’t be too jarring for fans of the typical side-scrolling style of gameplay.
Splintered Fate transparently aims to munch your time. All of its combat and replayability ideas give the appearance of a sturdy shell, yet the cracks in its execution undermine what is otherwise a lovingly crafted representation of the TMNT.