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 players need. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Destiny takes varied cues from current 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 fascinating 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 fundamental combos, particular assaults, and instruments, permitting you to choose a basis to construct upon as you progress by means of every run. Leonardo’s common vary is complemented properly by his potential 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 instrument additionally recharges 80 p.c quicker (in spite of everything, he does do machines). I cherished Michelangelo’s sweeping nunchucks and the prospect 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 most important. You may 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 begin the run anew.
Every run performs out in comparable trend: You begin by selecting a talent like extra sprint prices, a greater probability to dodge, or an enhancement to your chosen turtle’s particular potential. You then combat by means 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 usually consists of dashing across the area 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 a large StockGen robotic or particular elemental Foot assassins.
Rooms usually do not take lengthy to clear. When the repetition begins to set in from successive runs, I typically discover enjoyment in making an attempt out new combos or just getting by means of the earliest rooms as rapidly as doable. 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 might be performed domestically or on-line, shakes issues up by letting you mix the Turtles’ instruments and talents, however the construction stays the identical.
Clearly, an important aspect of the roguelike method is the upward trajectory of each your abilities as a participant and your character’s strengths by means of everlasting upgrades. TMNT: Splintered Destiny handles this admirably; I all the time felt I used to be enhancing run over run, aided by the everlasting upgrades unlocked by means of varied currencies. This satisfying loop is, sadly, hindered by the sheer variety of currencies you want to preserve observe of.
Along with Scrap, the in-run foreign money used for non permanent upgrades, you obtain two distinct everlasting currencies to improve totally different components of the expertise; one allows 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, together with 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 continually reference a assist display to know what every of its more-than-nine currencies does and learn how 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 generally succumbed to frustration after falling brief throughout a promising run, the expertise solely galvanized me to excitedly take what I discovered from my failures into the subsequent run.
