Game Review | Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

It’s been a long wait for the 3rd official update of the Naruto storm series(many don’t consider generation to be a full update). the questions on everyone’s minds though is, is it worth an purchase. So I’ll break down my experience with the game and you can use that information to decide for yourself.

First of lets just to get this out of the way. The game looks just as good as it always did on the Xbox 360, I am assuming the PS3 version is of the same visual quality, but that is an assumption due to me only having it on Xbox360.  Many time when sequel for a release like this one hits the market some gamers or developers claim there are a bit of graphical updates in some way or the other, however to the naked eye i don’t see much of a difference with storm 3.

the engine on the other hand seems tighter and more natural. combos flow fluidly as you smash the face buttons (BS Pun) on your controller to get your desired jutsu. the combo system has been given an update with the addition of a new form of awakenings for some of the characters. These new awakening do not require your favorite character to be beaten to a pulp to be able to go all awesome on the opponent ass, and no being able to activate an awaking at the beginning of a match doesn’t break the game. It allows for more options in playing styles and adds more dept to the game.  So how does it do this? well this new awakening radically drains your maximum chakra bar and so by using it, it prevents the players from using jutsu or any moves that require a chakra bar that exceeds the amount of max chakra you loose by activating it. For those who may be wondering no it does not cripple you character either, because the max bar slowly builds back up after the awakening is over.
Quick time events also return. Adding those epic over the top moments that only a Naruto CyberConnect 2  game can give you.

the audio is sharp with the sound of bombs blowing up and kunai clashing i’t all sounds great,well…… until you hear the english dub that is.  I sighed when i started to listen to the inconsistency of voice acting between characters  Kakashi for one sound like a mellow hippy who could care less what the hell he is saying he cares about, while others like Sasuke captures the character perfectly. this can be off setting and pull you out of the experience if  you are playing for the story. My personal recommendation is to go to the settings as soon as you boot up the game by pressing  “y” the Xbox controller when on the main menu. this will bring up the setting menu so that you can change the voices to japanese and switch on subtitles if  they are of. Just  to add a little to this; the english name for Kisami’ sword sucks #js (“shark skin”, really…..really?).

So far it seems like i’m telling the readers to stay away from this game, but that is not the case. I highly recommend this game to any Naruto fan, or fan of fighting games.  You are able to skip cut scenes to go from fight to fight arcade style, no need to watch long story cut scenes if your just a fan of fighting games and not naruto. also all the characters are unlocked by playing the story mode so just power through like i did(yes i’m a fan, i just don’t want to see something over again). I like to think the story is just there for those who want it, but just, just.  It’s does not involve much exploring so the map seems to serve no purpose. i was able to jump from fightt to fight by pressing skip, so you get how that works. plus the static maps that you Kinda walk on are not my style as they make controlling your character a bit clunky, but again it’s there for those who want it.

All in all this is a fine game and the best in the series so far, the new features are a bit to get used too, but are welcomed all the same. the addition of dlc is also a plus and can go a long way to keep this game reliant via story updates and new characters as the manga and anime progress.