Key Takeaways
- TMNT: Splintered Fate has had a long and strange journey from its Apple Arcade beginnings.
- The latest port finally brings it to Steam, which removes most of the technical hiccups and makes it play better than ever.
- I’m still waiting on my beloved PS5 release, but the PC version is unarguably the best way to play until then.
To my absolute delight as an admitted TMNT adult, 2024 has been packed with great games starring the Booyakasha brothers. As great as the final bit of DLC for Shredder’s Revenge was, and for how lovingly Mutants Unleashed captured the movie’s vibe, the one that sticks out in my mind the most is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate.
TMNT’s Hades-like has had a bit of a strange journey, originally releasing to little fanfare on Apple Arcade last year, a platform so niche that even I hadn’t heard of it despite owning an iPhone for years. That finally changed a few months ago thanks to a Switch port that opened my eyes to one of the most interesting TMNT games yet.
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Splintered Fate had a strong hold on me for a good portion of the summer this year thanks to its gripping roguelite gameplay that feels shellshockingly similar to the excellent Hades, while also being a unique take on a more mature and experienced group of Turtles that’s already familiar with New York City and its various rogues that need their butts kicking.
Splintered Fate’s take on Raph and Mikey are still some of my favourites in all of TMNT history.
Splintered Fate, But Without The Technical Hiccups
While I have a lot of love for Splintered Fate, there were a few things holding it back, such as the endgame getting a little grindy and runs becoming repetitive with repeated maps and encounters. One of my biggest bugbears, though, is how the Switch struggled to run the game during its more intense moments. It was surprising, considering it’s a port of a mobile release.
I rarely use my Switch outside of first-party games, so I’ve been eagerly waiting for Splintered Fate to hit any other console since long before it launched. It took nearly a whole year, but that wish has been granted with a Steam release that fixes some of the issues I had back in July and even shines a light on what makes the game stand out from its clear inspiration.
The most noticeable difference with the PC release of Splintered Fate is how it looks and runs. On Switch and Apple Arcade, the game had a charming art style that captured the characters perfectly, but it also looked a little low-res and had its fair share of framerate issues during more intense scenes.
As you’d expect, even a modest gaming PC offers a much smoother experience. Not only does it look sharper than ever, but I’ve also only had a handful of framerate issues, with even the most busy boss battles and enemy arenas running smooth as butter. I’m a total baby when it comes to PC gaming and haven’t changed my settings around much, which tells even a noob like me that it must be pretty well optimised.
The Steam release also comes with achievements, which can be a bit of a marmite feature but are something I’ve unashamedly loved since the Xbox 360 days, so bonus points there.
Shining A Brighter Spotlight On Multiplayer
Outside of the much-needed technical improvements, the PC port makes it easier to get into one of Splintered Fate’s unique strengths over Hades: cooperative play. While the Switch version did have online and couch co-op, Nintendo’s multiplayer services are such a pain to navigate that I never bothered. Being able to fix that with online services that don’t make me want to retreat to the sewers is tubular and makes Splintered Fate stand out in the genre.
Thanks to Steam, co-op runs are much easier to access and feel like a natural way to play over the more solo-focused Switch port. Rather than the faff that is sifting through Nintendo’s online services, you just click online play in the menu and find a game to join by either making your own or hitting up a public match. I didn’t get too much time with it during the review period but what I’ve seen and tried out since then has me wanting to dive in a lot more with the bigger community PC allows. It also has the potential to fix the issue with a lack of variety that I felt bogged down the Switch release.
More than anything, though, my time with the Steam port just served to remind me how much I enjoy Splintered Fate. Once I’d gotten over the fact that my uber-powerful endgame Turtles were gone and I had to start from the very beginning, I was sucked right back into the roguelite rhythm and once again found myself struggling to put it down, something I can expect to happen all over again with the mysterious expansion that’s planned for 2025.
The only thing the Switch version has over the Steam release is its portable pick-up-and-play vibe, but even that can be fixed with a Steam Deck.
Splintered Fate’s Steam release is pretty much what you’d expect from a PC port. But those expected changes also result in it being both a massive improvement on the Switch version, and undeniably the best way to play the game. I’m still holding out hope for the inevitable port to PS5 that’ll be where I sink another 30 hours, but for now, I’m very happy to be back on the roguelite Turtles grind for the second time in a year.
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