Summary
Ever since TMNT Arcade and Turtles in Time, theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtleshave had a surprisingly strong Foothold (pun intended) in the world of gaming. While there have been many great releases over the past few decades such as Tournament Fighters, Battle Nexus, and the 2007 movie tie-in, there’s never been a more diverse spread of TMNT games than there is now.
Shredder’s Revenge set the bar for the brothers’ side-scrolling outings(and for beat ‘em ups in general), whileMutants Unleashed recently told one of the best TMNT stories in a game. For my money, though,one of the most interesting is Splintered Fate, which successfully introduced the team to the roguelite genre. But as a mobile-exclusive, it went completely under the radar until it was finally rescued fromApple Arcadeearlier this year.
PC Means No Half-Measures For Half-Shell Heroes
“It was really humbling,” director of product management at Super Evil Megacorp Tom Westall tells me. “The Apple Arcade version came out in May 2023, so it was a full year and two months between Apple Arcade and the Switch version. And we were really proud of what we did on Apple Arcade, but the platform itself is pretty limited. And so, it was a little bit, not necessarily disappointing, but we would have loved to have seen more press and attention.”
And that’s exactly what Westall and the developers at Super Evil Megacorp got when Splintered Fate launched on Switch, with fans and critics (read: me and me)praising the game’s unique IDW-esque take on the team and in-depth roguelite mechanicsthat were compared to critical darling and GOTY-contender Hades.
To see it come out, to hear all the feedback coming from players, and to start getting a really active Discord community building up - it was a really great moment for Super Evil and definitely a highlight of 2024. - Tom Westall
While Super Evil Megacorp was more than happy for Splintered Fate to get into the hands of Nintendo players, that isn’t where the story ends for one of the most interesting TMNT games in recent memory. Splintered Fate is being further expanded with DLC, updates, and, as confirmed by Westall in our interview, more ports to other home consoles. Before those grander and more mysterious plans, though, is the incoming PC port launching on November 6, which will let the game reach even more people than ever before.
“It means a lot to me,” lead game designer Daniel Stansens says. “I’ve been in the game industry a long time and I’ve spent almost my entire time in the PC gaming world, and what’s really exciting is that it’s almost like doing what we did again for the Switch. It’ll be its own completely new, separate experience.
“Fans on PC are both more passionate and more discerning in many ways, which is great because if you’re able to get that feedback more directly and more quickly, it’s easier to communicate and send messages back. It can be difficult to reach out to the Switch fan base, who are probably pretty happy just playing it on their own.”
Westall also confirmed to me that Splintered Fate will be getting ported to more consoles in the future. He couldn’t give specifics right now, but said “I think you can imagine what that means”.
Teasing Splintered Fate’s “Surprising” 2025 DLC
Alongside working on the PC port for Splintered Fate (and presumably early work for further console releases), Super Evil has also been working on the first major expansion, which is planned for release at some point in 2025.Beyond its brief roadmap reveal, we know next to nothing about the DLC, a fact that Westall and Stansens are keen to keep the case.
I wasn’t able to get much out of the pair, but they did confirm that the expansion will feature a brand-new playable character that fans are guaranteed to have heard of and be happy with. The mysterious new character will have their own set of Inspirations (abilities that can be picked up during a run) that can be combined with what the Turtles already have, which should open up the combat in interesting ways.
The DLC goes beyond a playable character, though, as Westall told me that it’s going to take place in a brand-new chapter that opens up as an alternative path during runs. That new section of the game will feature all-new environments, bosses, and mini-bosses, which makes it sound much more substantial than a lot of players were expecting.
I wasn’t able to get the new character’s identity out of Westall and Stansens, but I did put down Casey Jones as an excellent first choice. Fingers crossed.
“There’s a lot of Turtles passion here on the team, and it’s definitely reflected in what we’ve built,” Stansens tells me. “The roguelite world has been eating very well in terms of DLC releases, so the impetus was on us to maintain or exceed that standard what we’re getting in all kinds of games these days, from Vampire Survivors in the bullet hell genre to Dead Cells and all of its huge releases.”
Setting Up A New IDW Inspired World
As desperate as I am to find out who the new playable character is, the addition of pretty muchanyonefrom the TV shows, movies, or IDW comics is an exciting prospect because of how well Super Evil adapted the Turtles and their friends and foes in the base game.
Rather than telling yet another origin story for the family, Splintered Fate has an experienced and more adult crime-fighting group that is already cemented in New York City, which drew comparisons to the IDW comics. That isn’t the case at all, though, as Splintered Fate is considered its own world, and the start of one at that.
“We are inspired by the IDW universe, but we’re not set in it at all,” Stansens says. “We’re actually in a great position where we’re in our own branch and our own world where we’re inspired by that. We’re not going as family-friendly and as light, as some of the Turtles origin stories do and we’re not going as dark as the IDW comics do.”
While Splintered Fate isn’t set in the comics world, beloved Last Ronin writer Tom Waltz did work with Super Evil a lot on its interpretation of the characters and world.
“We really wanted to do something a little bit more mature with the IP,” Westall adds. “We didn’t want to make a children’s game. We felt that that area is already covered in the market and so we wanted to make sure that we were aiming at a different target audience that has previously seen this kind of Turtle game and the IDW type of narrative.”
Heroes In A Hades Shell
With the game about to hit a whole new audience next week and one that’s even more closely aligned with Supergiant’s masterpiece, I was curious to see what they think of the glowing comparisons toHades.
We are planning to keep working on this game for a while yet, we are committed to DLC and we are committed to expanding to new platforms. I certainly wouldn’t rule out anything at this stage. More DLC, sequels or spin-offs - who knows? - Tom Westall
While Stansens is grateful to hear about Super Evi’s heroes in a half-shell being put up against Zagreus and Melinoe, he also points out that Splintered Fate innovates in the genre in numerous ways and does its own thing that goes beyond Hades. One example of this is how it lets you progress the branching narrative as any of the brothers, while also letting you do it all in cooperative play.
“I’m flattered to hear something I’ve worked on being called a Diablo-like or a Hades-like. It’s great to know that a game evokes fond memories of other games that you’ve loved in your past. I love that there’s that immediate, automatic comparison. And I think that’s a way for players to build their own contrast of what actually makes us different. I think you’ll find with the PC release, you’ll hear more things like ‘What is Splintered Fate doing that Hades does not?’”
I couldn’t chat with Westall and Stansens without asking them who their favourite Turtle was. Stansens calls out the correct answer as Donatello, while Westall has a more unique pick in Metalhead.
