Labolas
Member
Look I know the game is based on the 87 cartoon and this is a love letter to the 87 cartoon, no problem with that, but fyi I honestly couldn't care less about the purity of the '87 cartoon as it was one of the weaker iterations of the Turtles, hell it was the weakest interpretation of the Shredder done on tv. Loved it as a kid but I would be the first one to admit it isn't something I'll ever revisited as an adult or think of it as great. It's the epitome of liking something out of solely nostalgia. There are better TMNT material out there than the 87 cartoon.As I said I don't want weird "SoR4 retro characters" in this, I will also say I've appreciated how "pure" to the 87 cartoon this game has been so far and absolutely would not want this derailed with "multiverse" characters in the base game. (For DLC? Okay, but we're not wasting a slot on a character who's already got a 1987 incarnation represented in the game.)
And as the purity of the respect to the 87 cartoon is the point, having Shredder be allied with the Turtles, while not theoretically impossible (There's been some one-off "unlikely team-up" moments, after all) would clearly require a massive plot re-write so that Shredder would, you know, basically not have to appear in the base game as the primary villain. And you'd have to re-do so many of the team-based mechanics beause Shredder sure as heck isn't gonna give Splinter a high-five. Really, this would not fit from what we already know about the game.
Furthermore, I stubbornly insist that making him a playable character diminishes his potential as a boss. Shredder's a notable boss in both the arcade TMNT and SNES Turtles in Time because he does NOT move like someone who could be played with a joystick and two buttons. How would you implement, say, his shadow clones? His insta-kill beams (Oh jeez, I guess it has to literally kill in this version because April sure as heck can't de-mutate)? His ability to teleport around an arena Akuma-style? The potential OTHER ninja magic he could use in this game to show he is clearly a step above the Turtles in raw ninja ability? All of these would be utterly gimped by having to make him "balanced" the way player characters are. You may remember in SoR4 they sort of had this issue with the boss characters that doubled as player characters, but the effect was a bit diminished since none of those bosses were meant to be, well, the ultimate villain of the game.
If we'd want an antagonist character who could/would, in theory, team up with the TMNT, going by in order by who'd be the most likely:
1) Metalhead was reprogrammed to be an ally to the TMNT in the 87 toon canon, and previously appeared in other games like Turtles in Time. He'd theoretically also be the easiest to make art for as he's basically a robot version of the Turtles.
2) Leatherhead did not make a heel-face-turn in the 87 cartoons, but other incarnations show a capacity for it. He's also someone fans recognize from Turtles in Time, The Manhattan Project and The Hyperstone Heist.
3) Lotus Blossom, the Karai expy, did a heel-face-turn in the cartoon. (But significantly less likely the actual Karai, if she'd be in this for any reason, as long as Shredder is the ultimate villain.)
4) The Rat King has also shown some signs of being more than just a villain in some other incarnations, though he's already confirmed a boss in this game.
5) Stretching things all else, Krang has been known to backstab his allies for his personal agenda, especially shown in Season 1 when Shredder prioritized his own plans over getting Krang a new body. That said, his body seems to be important for the enemies in the plot, so he's most likely a boss.
Outside of that, the player character roster is pretty fine as it is, outside the fact that 7 player characters in a 6-player game is a bit weird-feeling.
Plus, it's a fucking videogame. It doesn't break immersion with me as it's tonally consistent or doesn't disrespects the Turtles' lore. So no it doesn't diminishes him as a boss. Final bosses being playable isn't new. Again you can have a toned down version of Shredder and called him Cyber Shredder. If it's DLC that's fine, no problems throw in Karai as well.