Nintendo Life: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have starred in many games over the years, but never a cheater. Why did you decide to move Turtles into this genre?
Tom Westall, Super Evil Megacorp: Our mission at Super Evil Megacorp is to build the best shared gaming moments in the world. We were playing other successful roguelike titles and thinking to ourselves how great they would be if we could play together in co-op. We locked in on the idea of a four-player co-op, like a top-down roguelike, pretty quickly, and then started tossing around new concepts. Once someone mentioned TMNT, we knew it was the game we wanted to make. We’ve grown to love the TMNT with games like Turtles in Time and, more recently, Shredder’s Revenge, but they mostly have a similar flow and focus to the Brawler genre. The thought of bringing the Turtles into a new genre really excited and energized the entire team as an opportunity to see something new with the IP.
As we explored the systems and design ideas, it became clear to us how well suited TMNT was for a roguelike game. It really allowed us to bring out the unique personalities of each turtle through the narrative, and their fighting styles in the game brought a lot of variety to the gameplay.
We can see a lot of Hades inspiration in Splitered Fate. Was this a specific touchstone during development, and are there any other cheats you’ve seen in the process?
Any comparison to such an incredible game as Hades is a great compliment, thank you! Hades in particular further opened our eyes to how con artists can tell epic stories that evolve over time and are considered masterpieces by many for that reason. In particular, we felt we could bring our background in social gaming to see how we could innovate in this space.
prepare to be surprised with every run and make sure you play like all the Turtles
There are a lot of great cheaters in the company and we were definitely inspired by playing with them. Games like Dead Cells and Slay the Spire changed the way many of us think about how many years and hours a roguelike can remain attractive.
Another title that really inspired us was Morta’s Children. This was a game all about family, something the TMNT franchise has always prioritized above all else. We think Splintered Fate is a great addition to the genre, with plenty of familiar systems, but also innovations in the co-op space that fans will really enjoy.
The roguelike genre has grown so much on the Switch, how does Splintered Fate stand out from the crowd?
Cooperation! And of course the IP and being able to play the first TMNT roguelike. This game is very fun when played with others. It became very clear to us when we announced this game for Switch that players wanted one thing above all else – to play together. There’s definitely something incredible about playing games together, our studio’s goal is to build the best shared gaming moments, so our mission was clear to ensure that Splintered Fate was a great co-op experience. The team worked incredibly hard to deliver an experience we’re really proud of (with a surprise yet to be announced)! After testing it out with some of our friends and family, we’re really excited to share the collaboration experience with the world.
A running based game like this naturally requires a lot of repetition. How did you make sure the gameplay loop didn’t get boring?
Lots of content, random encounters and some surprises! It really helped that the TMNT universe is an amazing resource filled with lots of material that allows us to add lots of little surprises throughout the game.
We made over 100 Turtle Powers and players will only be able to collect a few each run as they create their builds. It was important to us that we created several ways to combine these powers into interesting builds for players to discover, and we’re sure they’ll find ones we haven’t even thought of.
We also have a progression system that encourages you to play every turtle but benefits all characters. This prompts players to play all four brothers to unlock everything and become the ultimate ninja turtle.
Each turtle brings a different style and gear to battle
However, it is not just progress, where there is a lot of choice and variety. We also built in multiple variations of each boss fight and plenty of mini-boss encounters so you really never know what you’re going to be up against each run. As you progress through the game, we also added the option for players to take on difficult versions of boss and mini-boss fights called “Gauntlet Challenges” and receive special portals that increase your rewards but add a new challenge to running, for example. halving all heals you receive!
If that’s not enough, we have tons of narrative lines that tell the story or just add fun and flavor while you play. In short, prepare to be surprised with every run and make sure you play like all the Turtles!
How did you approach the game’s difficulty curve?
We played a lot! We wanted to create a challenging experience for players to enjoy while supporting a deep progression system. If you find a particular challenge too difficult, leveling up some of your skills will help you get through it. Likewise, if you find the game a bit easy, there are plenty of ways to increase the difficulty as you progress. Only one person on the team has completed the game on the hardest setting that I know of.
We knew that some players love challenges, while others love to enjoy the narrative. With this in mind, we also built a ‘Story Mode’. In this mode, the difficulty is significantly reduced to allow you to enjoy the game at a more leisurely pace. Everyone has different skill levels and time available, so giving players this choice feels like the best solution.
Many of the more popular TMNT games have given each turtle a different playstyle. How important was it to you to make each character feel unique?
Essential. The Turtles have very different personalities and fighting styles, which is part of what makes the franchise beloved by many. We leaned into this to create a mix of gameplay styles, both for variety and to be faithful to the source material.
For example, Raph is a powerful brawler. He can hit a group of enemies to draw them close and then unleash his fury to hit them with a barrage of critical hits. Mikey, meanwhile, is the opposite. With his relaxed personality, his focus is on hitting multiple enemies in a wide area.
Each turtle brings a different style and gear to battle, as well as its own affinities with Turtle Powers, changing the odds of which type of power you’ll see each run.
Can you talk a little bit about Splitered Fate’s character model? What TMNT media were you watching when designing the character models and environments?
It’s TMNT’s 40th anniversary this year, so there was plenty of source material available. Many of us had grown up watching various iterations of the cartoon, from the 1987 original to the recent runs. As you play through the game, you’re sure to see little easter eggs that reference some of our favorite moments. We also pulled a lot from the comics and enjoyed reading the latest issues, including those written by Tom Waltz, who co-wrote the Shattered Fate storyline. TMNT Splintered Fate is definitely Super Evil Megacorp’s take on the franchise and we hope our passion comes through in character design.
What was it like working with Tom Waltz on an original Turtles story?
The best collaborations are always the ones where you get excited about each other’s ideas and build on them. That’s exactly what it’s been like with Tom. He’s a legend, and we’ve been privileged to work with him throughout our Splitered Fate journey, both in game and in the comics. Tom has such a deep knowledge of TMNT and has helped us create an original story that is authentic to the IP while also providing a new adventure for fans. We’ve also worked closely with Tom to ensure that TMNT is full of great Easter eggs and secrets that we hope fans will have a lot of fun finding.
Were there any challenges you found with bringing the game to Switch?
I am very close to all four brothers now and I love each of them as individuals
We have our own proprietary game engine (Evil Engine) at SEMC. This allows us to create truly unique experiences for all devices. One of our most exciting challenges for Splintered Fate on Switch was making sure we played to the console’s strengths. We didn’t originally plan on building a specific feature for launch, but as soon as we saw the request, we knew we had to (stay tuned for more information coming soon!). This brought a whole load of challenges, both technical and design..
Making this game shine was also important to us, so we did a complete lighting and audio overhaul and reworked the UI to make it sing on Switch. We’re very proud of the result and believe Switch fans will love the experience.
Finally, the biggest question of all: Who is your favorite Turtle and did it change while working on Splintered Fate?
A few years ago I would have said Donnie, but now that’s like asking me to choose between my children! I am very attached to all four brothers now and I love each of them as individuals, but, of course, together they are always in their power. If I really had to choose, I think Mikey’s innocence and ability to find joy when all hope seems lost probably draws me to him the most. That being said, Raph is my most played.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Thanks to Tom at Super Evil Megacorp for taking the time to answer our questions and Barzeli and Monique at Forty Seventeen for helping set it up. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate launches on the Switch eShop on July 17th.