By Matthew Murphy
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is the seventh and final entry in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series based off of the tremendously popular manga and anime Naruto. Published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and developed by CyberConnect2, UNS4 serves as a conclusion to the storyline of Naruto Uzumaki and his quest for becoming the Hokage, or leader, of his home town: the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
The story takes place at the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War in which Madara Uchiha and his partner Obito Uchiha are attempting to put the world in an infinite sleep in order to bring peace to the world. It is up to Naruto and his fellow ninjas to stop this evil from destroying the world that they worked so hard to change for the better.
After around eight hours of playing the story mode, UNS4 gives an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the Naruto series that has gone on for over a decade. What made going through the story even better was the suburb voice acting done in both English and Japanese. The anime has not even ended in Japan yet, so to hear this storyline in English for the first time was pretty awesome.
It being the first Naruto game for the PS4 and Xbox One, CC2 did an impressive job of using its new fight engine to create a game that is full of vibrant colors and outrageous over-the-top sequences. Seeing each character’s own unique moves and special jutsu is just something that can never get old to look at.
Arguably the most important part of any fighting game is its gameplay, and UNS4 could not have made it any better. The battle system is something that has been part of this series ever since the first game, but has been refined for every new edition. This complex fighting system has been perfected for newcomers and experts alike. With having over 100 playable characters and a system that uses three characters per fight, there is a nigh-endless amount of combinations you can bring into battle. This three character swap system brings a complex dynamic to the game, and makes it something that is worth trying to perfect the more that you play the game.
There is a staggering amount of extra content in the game. In addition to the story mode, there is also an adventure mode that takes place after the events of the story mode. Adventure Mode allows you to free roam around the ninja world travelling to different villages and areas while completing quests given to you as you travel. Eventually you can play the in depth online battle mode, beating opponents and gaining ranks in order to advance on the leaderboard. While doing all of these activities you are earning materials and “Ryo,” which is the currency in the game used to buy items in the story such as costumes, titles, and pictures that can be added to your online profile.
Even though this game has so many positives, there are still some minor things holding it back from being absolutely perfect. One of which is the over use of quick time events throughout the story mode. Whenever there is a big time sequence going on, mashing buttons over and over again kind of gets old and distracts you from everything happening on the screen. There are connection issues that occur in the middle of a battle, and that is something that the developers have mentioned they are trying to fix.
CC2 have made an incredible game that keeps you coming back for more.
