Splintered is a really neat game in the style of Dragon Quest 1 where you play a single hero trying to save the world from an upcoming threat by exploring the world, fighting bosses, becoming stronger and using items and spells to vanquish your foes. Once that is done, the ‘real’ game opens up, with a built-in randomizer, different kind of challenges, and more! I’ve went through the game one time and that was quite enough for me, but I can see how it would appeal to people who really enjoy randomizers.
After creating a character by picking two stats you will be proficient in, the first minutes ooze Dragon Quest charm; You need to use a key to open doors, you can use healing items by mistake and the visuals/music just do this kind of game justice. You’ll also be able to walk slightly in the wrong direction on the world map and immediately get destroyed by an enemy a bit too difficult for you just yet. The game still has some modern trappings, with a fun skill system tied to the equipment you have, allowing for some cool combos that you can build around, and a talent system where defeating monsters of specific types grants you passive bonuses you can mix and match. An item you get really early on will tell you where to go next when you use it and the game progresses fairly linearly.
Combat is pretty fun, with the classic “Attack / Spell / Item / Run” dichotomy. Because you are a party of one, managing healing and enemies that can lock you down is kind of a problem, so I had to grind a bit. I had some issues against one of the first bosses I fought, the Item Lord, which seemed to grow stronger based on the number of key items I had. Other bosses were easier, with a necromancer you can pre-emptively weaken by defeating monsters in their dungeons, or dragons that are made easier with protection against fire. I didn’t have too much problems, but I still had to grind a fair bit to get myself to a point where I could defeat the game’s toughest enemies.
Once you complete the game - which took me about four hours - the world ‘breaks’ and you’re thrown into a semi-randomized version of things. You’ll need to collect a few key items, but they are hidden behind different bosses or in different chests than the first time around, you’ll learn spells at different levels, the map is now completely jumbled and the content of shops will also be different. This is not, for me, motivating enough to replay a game, even tho I’m still wondering what happens after that. Learning the Sleep spell at level 3 instead of the Heal spell does not compel me to go through the whole thing again.
And that’s fine! I had an okay enough time with my first go through the world of Splintered. They did a good job making that kind of game, and the neat ideas around the core is engaging enough to make this not entirely feel like a clone. Check this one out if you enjoy old school turn based RPGs and have a passing interest in randomizers!
