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Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto review

March 15, 2017

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Naruto Shippuden

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto includes a whole new generation of ninjas

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto is the definitive version of Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, the critically acclaimed fighting game from Bandai Namco on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The Road to Boruto edition follows the story of 2015’s Boruto: Naruto the Movie and allows you to play as title character Boruto, along with Sarada, Hokage Naruto, and Sasuke.

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto includes 3 DLC packs from the Season Pass (Gaara’s Tale extra scenario pack, Shikamaru’s Tale extra scenario pack, and the Sound Four extra playable character’s pack), and all the exclusive worldwide pre-order bonus content. Naruto fans wont want to miss Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto.

Game Details

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Developer: CyberConnect2
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Genre: Fighting, Action
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

The conclusion of the Ultimate Ninja Storm series

The plot of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto begins where the last game left off. The Fourth Great Ninja War has begun, and five countries have joined together to fight against Madara. With plans to send the entire world into a dream state, Madara must be stopped. Despite being one of the most powerful ninjas ever known, Naruto is unable to do it on his own. He will need the help of all of his friends, including Sasuke.

CyberConnect2 has included a brief summary from the previous game, which helps you quickly get up to speed. It’s important, as it highlights key events of the past that are very relevant throughout this game’s plot. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto’s plot plays out in a series of linear segments, which branch off into separate stories. I really liked this, as it allows you to go back and replay certain events in later stages of the game.

Naruto Shippuden

In depth gameplay that is easy to pickup and play

First and foremost, I must point out for those of you who are new to the series—this is not a hardcore fighting game such as Street Fighter V or Mortal Kombat X. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto is specifically designed to be as accessible as possible.

Furthermore, the controls are easy to grasp, and veterans of the series will discover characters that require a certain amount of skill to master. There is no need to worry though, new players will be able to pull off some of the game’s flashiest of moves with ease. Melee attacks and ranged attacks are limited to one button each, while the other two buttons are used for your movement and the use of chakra.

Naruto Shippuden

A change to combat

Quiet possibly one of the biggest changes to combat is the ability to change between characters during a fight. In previous games, you were able to choose your character and two to support. You were then able to use one of their attacks during battle. The ability to switch between characters on the fly during battle opens up new strategic possibilities. You can switch to a character with longer range if your opponent is trying to stay out of reach. Or, you can continue your attack on your enemy mid-combo.

The characters are no longer categorized into Ultimate Jutsu, Awakening and Drive categories. Now, they highly resemble the original design from before 2014’s Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. Additionally, every character has a Secret Technique that they can use—the new name of Ultimate Jutsus. Moreover, most characters can now Awaken after dropping to low health.

Brought over from Revolution are the Combination Jutsus, these are available after filling the Support Gauge to its maximum. The Combination Jutsus work much in the same way as before, they allow certain team compositions to use special attacks that don’t deal additional damage but reflect the relationships the characters involved share.

Naruto Shippuden

Anime-quality graphics

Graphically, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto is a Naruto fan’s dream come true. From the intro, a superb use of cel-shading and textures, to the in-game engine that offers a silky smooth 60fps—it’s quite impressive. Between fights, what used to be static, in-engine rendered scenes with text boxes have been replaced with adapted stills of the anime and spoken dialogue. The fully animated scenes look amazing!

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto’s soundtrack contains a variety of melodies, some that are familiar. Both English and Japanese voices are included, and are done particularly well.

Naruto Shippuden

Online battles

One of the great improvements over previous games in the series is online Combat Mode. Now, connecting every day has a prize, these items range from chakra potions to smoke bombs and so on. Additionally, there are special missions to complete from the Bingo Book. Updated daily, this book is made up of a list of the most sought after ninjas to catch. You’ll get juicy rewards if you are able to catch these ninjas. Let me tell you, they sure are juicy!

However, online fighting has not changed much from previous games. The online network infrastructure is solid and its easy to get into a match. I did encounter some instances when I was playing and I got disconnected or was unable to get into a match. However, that was far and few between.

Naruto Shippuden

Final Thoughts

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto brings together the story arcs, the heart, and the characters that made the original anime so captivating. It’s nice to see a casual fighter that puts fun before difficulty, and tries to be approachable rather than technical.

Naruto fans, look no further. Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 – Road to Boruto is the ultimate Naruto game that you will not want to miss.

+ Easy for all types of gamers to play
+ Lots of content
+ Story and visuals are impressive

– Occasional online connection issues