The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles starred in a number of iconic video video games all through the franchise’s 40-year historical past, however none are extra beloved than the beat ’em up entries just like the 1989 arcade sport and Turtles in Time. Nevertheless, that style typically lacks the depth trendy avid gamers need. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Destiny takes numerous cues from latest in style video games – particularly Supergiant’s smash hit, Hades – en path to modernizing the action-packed hack-and-slash gameplay the Turtles have been identified for since their earliest days within the medium. The result’s a enjoyable roguelike filled with significant development and interesting motion that does not soar fairly as excessive because the video games that impressed it.
After a mysterious captor abducts Grasp Splinter, you management one of many 4 iconic turtle brothers on a quest to get him again. Every playable character possesses totally different primary combos, particular assaults, and instruments, permitting you to select a basis to construct upon as you progress by way of every run. Leonardo’s common vary is complemented properly by his means to toss shurikens and achieve an additional cost on his particular, whereas Donatello’s lengthy vary is offset by being a tad stiffer, however his device additionally recharges 80 p.c quicker (in any case, he does do machines). I cherished Michelangelo’s sweeping nunchucks and the possibility to land a number of hits on a single strike, however Raphael’s grappling hook that pulls enemies nearer and better crucial harm rapidly made him my important. You will have loads of time to experiment to seek out your proper match, as every time you die, you begin again within the Turtles’ lair to start out the run anew.
Every run performs out in comparable trend: You begin by selecting a talent like further sprint costs, a greater probability to dodge, or an enhancement to your chosen turtle’s particular means. You then battle by way of room after room of enemies starting from rats and Mousers to Foot Clan ninjas and fellow mutants. Every faction brings totally different assaults, requiring barely totally different approaches, however the motion sometimes consists of dashing across the enviornment to keep away from incoming assaults whereas working in direction of clearing the room. Fight feels nice, with every assault in your arsenal feeling like an impactful a part of a profitable and enjoyable technique. That is significantly true when Elite enemies drop in, like an enormous StockGen robotic or particular elemental Foot assassins.
Rooms sometimes do not take lengthy to clear. When the repetition begins to set in from successive runs, I typically discover enjoyment in attempting out new combos or just getting by way of the earliest rooms as rapidly as potential. Testing out new builds or setting your individual challenges are enjoyable, however it does not change that you simply’re nonetheless finishing the identical rooms and going through the identical bosses on repeat. Splintered Destiny makes an attempt to treatment this by introducing new variants of the handful of bosses within the sport, however no matter whether or not the primary boss all of the sudden summons extra minions or the second boss now makes use of flame assaults, I nonetheless dreaded going through them for the twentieth time. Even the gauntlet challenges, unlocked after finishing your first run, do little to diversify the expertise. Splintered Destiny’s co-op, which may be performed regionally or on-line, shakes issues up by letting you mix the Turtles’ instruments and talents, however the construction stays the identical.
Clearly, a vital aspect of the roguelike components is the upward trajectory of each your expertise as a participant and your character’s strengths by way of everlasting upgrades. TMNT: Splintered Destiny handles this admirably; I at all times felt I used to be enhancing run over run, aided by the everlasting upgrades unlocked by way of numerous currencies. This satisfying loop is, sadly, hindered by the sheer variety of currencies you should preserve monitor of.
Along with Scrap, the in-run forex used for short-term upgrades, you obtain two distinct everlasting currencies to improve totally different components of the expertise; one permits you to improve the economic system, together with the quantity of Scrap dropped by enemies and extra highly effective upgrades supplied after beating rooms, whereas the opposite completely improves your character’s attributes like assault harm and well being. Nevertheless, some upgrades additionally require particular gadgets dropped by bosses, of which there are a number of, along side the everlasting currencies. If it sounds complicated, that is as a result of it’s. I do not thoughts having extra stringent necessities to unlock higher-level upgrades, however when a sport requires me to continuously reference a assist display to know what every of its more-than-nine currencies does and easy methods to get hold of them, it ought to function a warning to the builders that the system has gone too far.
Regardless of the overt repetition, each by design and thru over-design, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Destiny successfully channels the spirit of essentially the most well-liked video games which have come earlier than it within the franchise. Although I typically succumbed to frustration after falling brief throughout a promising run, the expertise solely galvanized me to excitedly take what I realized from my failures into the subsequent run.
