Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shattered Fate Review

Heroes in a Half Shell try on the roguelite genre for size in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shattered Fate. Super Evil Megacorp’s new port features enough clever ideas and fun combat to go head-to-head TMNTof the best games, even if its permanent, unimaginative updates and coin-grinding ending could have used a post-mobile revamp. PC gamers have been isolated from TMNT: Shattered Fate so far, but the game is worth waiting for, especially for a long time Turtles fans.

Originally released as an Apple Arcade exclusive (and eventually appearing on Nintendo Switch earlier this year), action roguelite TMNT: Shattered Fate finds the quartet fighting their way through the periodic table of street-fighting environments – sewers, docks, streets, rooftops – to rescue Splinter from a mysterious supernatural threat. Some excellent comic art, dialogue, and recognizable voices help bring the game’s characters to life, delivering a genuine feeling TMNT experience that never comes out as a simple gain.

Super Evil Megacorp has been developing isometric action titles for years, such as the acclaimed MOBA Vainglory and the next Rebel Moon game adaptation. The studio has particularly thrived in the mobile space, which may be a response to some of the bugs I discovered resolving TMNT: Shattered Fatecampaign on PC. I remain hopeful that a few patches will tie up these loose ends, especially when we consider the announced roadmap of what’s to come post-launch, including new levels and playable characters.

4-Player Hades-Inspired Roguelite Action

Splintered Fate’s core gameplay is simple but satisfying

Supergiant Hades is the most common reference point for TMNT: Shattered Fateas both games feature proc-gen, permadeath, a variety of different currencies, upgrades and unlockables, all with that familiar fixed isometric perspective. Each also integrates a looping narrative concept to match the repetitions inherent to the genre.

Up to four players select a turtle and fight across four biomes filled with random enemies, elites, bosses, and bonuses (and pizza), until a final fight that will return you to square one with some collectibles in tow. The races are always structurally the same, but the game uniquely integrates its ascension system, presented as optional “sparkling portals” that make a given race much more difficult.

At first, though, the game is considerably smooth, with rooms full of rapidly descending cartoon cannon fodder. As for the many jokes and cheesy phrases, the gang is all here and looks great: Raphael’s grumpy, Michelangelo’s surfer, Leonardo’s noble rock, and Donatello makes machines. The Turtles have some unique abilities to go along with their standard weaponry, and Swapping characters at the start of each run during a single-player marathon session makes the standard loop feel a little more dynamic and interesting.

All the turtle powers you need, right off the bat

Giving players full access to the turtle’s powers and upgrades enriches the early game

TMNT: Shattered Fatecombat is immediately clean and readablefollowing the basic dodge/attack principles of the genre, reliable but direct. Each turtle is equipped with a rechargeable skill attack and a side weapon tool, with the latter being swappable and the former fixed to the character. There are elemental shuriken, fireballs, magical dashes, explosive canisters of goo, and more, all filling the screen with various colors and effects.

Survive a room of respawning enemies and receive the perk of your choice, which could be money, a maximum health boost, a new tool or skill upgrade, a temporary buff, or a Turtle Power. These many options are surprisingly complex and often synergize; for example, elemental properties can be added to attacks and tools, and turtle powers can affect how they are triggered or add a percentage increase to damage. The elements don’t interact, which is a shame, so don’t expect to add bonus damage with lightning shuriken to an enemy drenched in water damage. You can also exchange scrap from a mysterious merchant for even more rewards.

Surprisingly, all of the turtle’s powers and tools are unlocked from the start. This front loading TMNT: Shattered FateThe game’s diverse synergies and tools and the countless upgrade opportunities found in each run provide a strong hook for the game’s first few hours.

Dragon coins rule everything around me

Coin grinding could drag down some of Splintered Fate’s late game

It is regrettable, then, that TMNT: Shattered FateThe unlockables are essentially uninspired. Each run begins in the Turtles’ sewer hideout, where three different stations fuel nearly every function in the game, taking advantage of a slow flow of trophies and coins. Virtually all of these upgrades are not attractive at all, with bonuses like a 2% increase in dodge chance or a 5% increase in critical rate. In truth, there are two entire pages of expensive upgrades purely dedicated to increasing currency rewardsa strangely recursive perspective, useful as it is.

This puts into perspective what it means to have all skills and tools unlocked by default. While there are still vital buffs and artifacts that increase DPS and survivability, the lack of any other weapons, tools, or abilities to unlock a dozen hours of depth drains some of the game’s initial luster..

Shattered Fate it soon becomes a game about accumulating mountains of money and taking bigger risks in each level just to boost DPS and make the spongier bosses actually sustainable in the next round. Speaking of which, the DPS balance would benefit from some additional tweaks, and fighting Leatherhead at the end of the first level with limited upgrades can be a hassle to kill momentum.

Cooperative conflicts and some serious bugs

We hope these bugs are resolved quickly

There are mousers, Foot clan ninjas, roguish punk frogs, and a few other surprise faces appearing throughout. TMNT: Shattered Fate to help or hinder the Turtles. The game’s bestiary is a decent mix of TMNT enemies, even if most of them are ninjas swapped pallets. Some of your more difficult encounters fill the screen with callouts and colorful AOE projectiles, which become even more dangerous and fun with a few players by your side.

Unfortunately, some tricky UI issues and other bugs interfered with my few multiplayer attempts.. Menus sometimes randomly lose focus, you can’t always inspect your build when choosing a new upgrade, and strange glitches cause other teammates to temporarily lose control of their characters. While this only lasts a few seconds, it’s long enough to get killed by a deadlier enemy, which casts an uncertain shadow over future co-op sessions.

Some visual interference from the game can also harm the experience. The camera also never zooms out, so keep an eye out for any players running off-screen. Damage and effect markers appear to be in a font best described as “placeholder,” though character models feature a good level of detail that still maintains a cartoony feel.

Final Thoughts and Review Score

10/08: It’s worth playing, despite some flaws

I hope these simpler bugs are squashed quickly and note that I was still able to gently defeat Shredder a few times without hindrance. Even with the hodgepodge of low-cost permanent upgrades, it was still nice to run over robots faster and then ramp up the difficulty through glowing portals when you’re ready. TMNT: Shattered FateThe fundamentals of are simple but compelling in actionand the relatively short duration of a successful roll causes that sweet just one more to feel.

It’s also a much more robust and suitable turtle roguelite than last year’s well received Dimensional Shellshock DLC for TMNT: Destroyer’s Revenge. The combination of upgrades and tools on offer adds enough variety that four individual players will rarely use the same build in the same run.

However, TMNT: Shattered Fate stands out as one of the best games seen in the franchisedelivering a fast-paced and accessible action roguelite supported by a tone-perfect narrative. All we need now is for Super Evil Megacorp to stick to that roadmap and beef up the content, but all Turtles fans and roguelite aficionados should already find enough here to fuel their next grind session.