Splintered

About

Splintered is a single player tactical role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by dotMake Studios and was released on October 23, 2025. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

A unique RPG where the villain randomizes the world with each defeat. Start with a classic RPG experience! The enemy has attacked, your king is dead, and the sacred artifact of your kingdom has been stolen. It's up to you, the descendant of a legendary knight, to avenge your king and restore your kingdom's artifact to its rightful place. But victory is only the beginning! Upon completin…

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95%Audience ScoreBased on 175 reviews

story16 positive mentions

grinding16 negative mentions

Excellent homage to Dragon Quest 1 with added modern quality-of-life improvements such as equipment leveling and talents.
Built-in randomizer integrated into the campaign enhances replayability and offers various gameplay twists and challenges.
Simple, clean UI with charming retro 8-bit graphics and smooth, quick-paced combat that makes grinding engaging rather than tedious.

The randomization can occasionally create frustrating unbalanced situations, such as overpowered enemies near the start or poor item trait distributions.
Content is somewhat limited especially in early access state; dungeons and NPC layouts remain static, and story and dialogue can feel repetitive.
Music and enemy artwork sometimes feel monotonous or less polished compared to the original inspirations and lack variety over multiple runs.

story
102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
80%
4%
The story is a faithful homage to the classic Dragon Quest 1, featuring a straightforward narrative about a shattered and remade world with randomized elements that enhance replayability. While it is light on plot depth and character development, it effectively introduces the game's mechanics and randomizer twist, appealing strongly to fans of 80s/90s JRPGs. Overall, it balances nostalgia with modern gameplay elements, offering a short but engaging RPG experience.
- “The plot is direct, the randomizations diegetic, and the gameplay has enough simplicity to be grasped but enough variation and nuance that the multiple iterations are very much worth it.”
- “It's literally Dragon Warrior/Quest 1 with the Dragon Warrior randomizer hack built-in and imagined as an integrated part of the story.”
- “The main quest was great and a huge love letter to the original Dragon Quest.”
- “The game has a story of sorts, but at its core this is essentially a 'non-union dragon quest randomizer equivalent'.”
- “The story only really exists long enough to introduce the concept of the world randomizing before unlocking the randomizer as an option.”
- “Each chapter is more or less the same, albeit with adjusted mechanics and additional story beats.”
gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
68%
11%
The gameplay offers a balanced blend of simplicity and depth, combining classic RPG mechanics inspired by Dragon Quest with modern features like character builds, equipment-based abilities, and randomizer elements that add significant replay value. Each chapter is concise but varied, featuring challenging trials and meaningful gear customization that enrich core mechanics without overwhelming players. Overall, it delivers smooth, enjoyable, and strategically engaging gameplay with nostalgic touches and clever innovations.
- “The plot is direct, the randomizations diegetic, and the gameplay has enough simplicity to be grasped but enough variation and nuance that the multiple iterations are very much worth it.”
- “The way its main story chapters progress introduce you to the game's core mechanics and then its randomizer mechanics well.”
- “All equipped items, be they weapons, shields, armor, or trinkets, possess attributes that alter gameplay.”
- “Each chapter is more or less the same, albeit with adjusted mechanics and additional story beats.”
- “The compass was hands-down the most confusing mechanic at first.”
- “Don't expect any cutscenes, any character growth or story arcs, the setting is window dressing to facilitate the gameplay (which I've already described).”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is generally well-executed and not overly tedious, offering a classic RPG feel reminiscent of Dragon Quest 1. While some players find the randomized elements can cause occasional frustrating setbacks, the overall grind is manageable and often enhanced by gear leveling and item abilities. Early game farming is expected but less time-consuming than traditional RPGs, making the grind feel more engaging than a chore.
- “The randomized elements can put you in a sub-optimal position that is tedious to climb out of.”
- “So you instead have to fall back on pure attack/defense values and grinding to clear the game.”
- “Your chances of victory are decided by your grinding and gear level, with tactical insight having a very weak role.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
62%
19%
The music is generally seen as fitting the NES-style JRPG vibe but tends to become monotonous quickly due to limited variation and repetitive tracks, especially between locations. While some appreciate its dramatic, retro feel reminiscent of early Squaresoft soundtracks, many users feel the soundtrack could benefit from more diversity and refinement to better complement the gameplay.
- “Overall the soundtrack is more dramatic than Dragon Quest and at times feels like an 8-bit Squaresoft OST.”
- “The NES-style graphics and music without the NES-jank combined with a unique premise and interesting equipment makes me excited to see how the rest of the game turns out!”
- “Music is fun and combat is fast and fluid.”
- “The music can't compare to Dragon Warrior on NES.”
- “This game hearkens back to NES era JRPGs and has a lot of potential, but the music got monotonous quickly right inside the first castle.”
- “I generally love these types of games but the soundfont for the music does not do this game justice unfortunately.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
43%
21%
The graphics are praised for their nostalgic, retro 8-bit style reminiscent of classic Dragon Quest games, with smooth UI and charming, pixelated visuals that appeal especially to fans of old-school JRPGs. While some find the enemy artwork a bit "indie" and occasionally abstract or unpolished, overall the visuals are delightful, stable, and enhance the game's unique, randomized experience.
- “Old school Dragon Quest visuals with an exciting and new twist. If you like old school JRPGs with modern sensibilities, this is what you are looking for.”
- “The retro graphics are absolutely glorious, and the random-ass nature of the game makes every session feel different.”
- “The 8-bit graphics are absolutely gorgeous and the gameplay is smooth and enjoyable.”
- “The visuals are fine enough overall, but I don't really like the style of the enemy artwork; while this is highly subjective, it feels a bit too "indie" and unpolished to me. While the somewhat cutesy duck enemy thing is sort of on brand for a Dragon Quest inspired game, a lot of the other enemy designs go pretty far into abstract and weird territory.”
- “The visuals are fine enough overall, but I don't really like the style of the enemy artwork; while this is highly subjective, it feels a bit too "indie" and unpolished to me. While the somewhat cutesy duck enemy thing is sort of on brand for a Dragon Quest inspired game, a lot of the other enemy designs go pretty far into abstract and weird territory.”
- “So you definitely get your money's worth, especially if you're a fan of the pixelated 80s JRPG aesthetic.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
Replayability is a standout feature of the game, driven primarily by a randomizer mode, varied builds, and a mix of turn-based combat and RPG elements. The randomizer, unlocked after the first chapter, adds significant depth and near-endless replay value, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. While there are some areas for improvement, the game's structure and content provide strong motivation for multiple playthroughs.
- “Splintered is a top-down RPG with player and gear leveling, turn-based combat, spellcasting, boss fights, a 5 chapter story, side content, and lots of replay value.”
- “The randomizer mode will give this game near-endless replayability.”
- “Fantastic classic RPG with a roguelike mode that extends replayability pretty much infinitely.”
- “My sincere hope is as the developer works on the game and adds more to it, this entire system is expanded, which would also help fuel the random replayability nature of the game.”
- “Overall, replayability wins out and gets a recommended from me in the game's current state, but there are definitely some things I'd still like to see addressed, many of which are the same rough spots that I've observed since day one.”
- “Rather than the randomized maps, shops, and enemy zones, it's trying out new builds that truly drives the replay value.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a heartfelt and nostalgic emotional experience, serving as a meaningful tribute to the beloved Dragon Warrior series.
- “It is a heartfelt tribute to the Dragon Warrior series of years past.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game runs smoothly with excellent stability, and the integration of PS5 controller support is seamless.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the game's clever optimizations and speedrun tricks that enhance performance and efficiency, offering smart strategies that may not be immediately obvious.
- “So far I've also found a number of speedrun tricks; just clever little optimizations that make sense, but you might not think about.”