Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Review

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is the fourth installment in the Storm series. On paper, Storm 3 looks like it’s supposed to be an amazing game for Naruto fans. It has over 80 characters, a story mode that lasts more than 10 hours and has solid graphics. But the end result is the worst Ultimate Ninja Storm game yet. The game is flawed in several areas, mainly in its game-play and story. Whether you are a fighting game fan or just a Naruto lover, you might want to stay away from this one.

First off, the game is not welcoming at all to newcomers wanting to jump into the Naruto Universe. If you never played previous Naruto games, watched the anime, or read the manga you will be absolutely lost throughout the entire story mode. This game is no doubt targeting simply Naruto fans, and that would be fine if it delivered a proper Naruto experience; but it doesn’t. The story mode is filled with lengthy and dull cut-scenes that doesn’t project the story of the Fourth Great Ninja War in an entertaining way. This is sad because some scenes are done very well, so well that it even out did the anime and/or manga. Chapter 4 of the story actually did something only games like Heavy Rain, The Walking Dead and Journey have done to me before: it made me shed tears. Chapter 4 was done so well that if the game ended there, I would’ve been more satisfied with the overall game. Most cut-scenes after that chapter however are done so horribly it’s just ridiculous. The story itself is OK, but the way it is presented just kills the entire experience.

Another thing about the story that is just weird is the fact it has major plot holes. I’m a big Naruto fan (both the manga and anime) so I know how the story is SUPPOSED to go. But for some strange reason, Storm 3 doesn’t directly follow canon story of the manga nor anime. A few things happen throughout that do not correspond with the true story-line. It just feels like a slap in the face every time something is changed unnecessarily for no good reason. And the biggest slap comes at the end of the game when you see an ending that doesn’t take place in the correct story.

+ Chapter 4 is definitely a diamond in the rough

– Not welcoming to people who want to jump into the Naruto story or its faithful fans

-Boring lengthy cut scenes that don’t do Naruto’s story justice

-Changes to the story are completely unnecessary and hurt the story even further

Story/Presentation: 6.5/10

Here is an image from Storm 1…

If you’ve played any of the Storm games you will be extremely familiar with the combat, the graphics and its roster of characters… which isn’t necessarily a good thing in this case. Storm 3 looks exactly like the first Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm game which came out in 2008. The graphics look fine, but Cyber Connect 2 (the developers of the Storm series) could have upgraded the graphics a little in five years don’t you think? All around it just seems like a big update for Storm 2 and Storm: Generations. The graphics looked amazing back in 2008 but now it is just more of the same. Also the frame rate tends to drop during the more crazy battle sequences, which never happened in the previous games.

Now here is an image from Storm Generations… You need the Byakugan to spot the graphical difference

The game has been advertised to have over 80 playable characters. This is so much bull shit it is not even funny. The game has EXACTLY 80 characters, but what makes it so irritating is the fact that they have multiple variations of one character to make it seem like 80.

Here is a list of repeated characters:

Naruto                                       x4

Sasuke                                     x4

Tobi                                          x4

Gaara                                        x3

Sakura                                      x2

Neji                                           x2

Lee                                           x2

Hinata                                       x2

Choji                                         x2

Kakashi                                    x2

Kabuto                                     x2

Itachi                                        x2

Killer bee                                 x2

And these aren’t costume changes; they count as a different character and take up a character slot. Do the math to see how many unique characters are playable in this game (the answer is 60). The different versions of the characters aren’t even that different so it doesn’t warrant the extra character slot. They put two versions of Neji and Hinata into the game but “forgot” to give them lines in the story mode? No love for the Hyuga clan? Both of them play an important part in the war but you can’t tell from playing this game. The Hyuga clan wasn’t the only ones to suffer from Cyber Connect 2’s blatant laziness. Temari, who happens to be one of my favorite underused characters, also has no lines in story mode. This is frustrating because in the scenes that she is in, she just stands there. As a big fan of the anime I know when and where she is supposed to have lines, but she doesn’t. This game was made for Naruto fans correct? So why doesn’t Cyber Connect 2 try to please the fans? This may seem like a small thing, but after seeing so many small problems in several places; it starts to add up into one giant problem. The Storm series has lived and sold well because of its rosters. Why would Cyber Connect 2 shorten the lifespan of the game by not adding characters who more that deserve the spotlight?

Two Chojis but, these guys can’t get to be playable??

The gameplay of the Storm series has never been its selling point. Hardcore fighting game fans know that a game like Street fighter is like a fast paced chess match. Combat in this game can be compared to throwing rocks at the wall. No type of strategy is necessary to play this game. Honestly; rock, paper scissors requires more strategy than this title. Fighting consists mainly of mashing the attack button until your opponent is dead. I’ve been able to look past the lackluster combat before but I can’t give them a pass this time around. Especially since the characters haven’t had an update to their moves that much (some not at all) since the previous games. The First Hokage has had the same lame moves since Storm 2. The “God of all Shinobi” has been using the same moves since 2010. Let that sink in for a second… Done sinking? Good, let’s continue. You’ll experience the same combo attacks, same non useful ninja tools, same specials and the same finishers. I thought this was supposed to be a new game and not a rehash of the last one. A few changes are made to the combat to try to keep the game-play fresh but it isn’t enough from keeping the game from going stale, fast.

A new system called “Mob battles” has been added to the story mode to mix things up a bit. During a mob battle, you have to  fight several enemies at once. The concept is good, and at first it’s appealing but it just falls into the same repetitiveness the rest of the game is victim to. You’ll be hit from multiple directions whether you see an attack coming or not thanks to the bad camera. Boss battles from Storm 2 are back in full force in Storm 3. But as with everything else in this game, you’ve seen it before. The key to winning a boss battle is as follows: press the attack button until a quick time event pops up and hope you don’t die beforehand. Free roaming also makes a return from Storm 2, but it is as dry as the Hidden Sand Village. What’s the point of walking around the world if the world is empty? You don’t get side missions until you beat the main story, but even they are not even worth the effort.

The Mob battles are as bad as a filler episode of Naruto

After you beat the main story you can do free roam missions, which are also kind of like filler episodes of Naruto. They have little meaning and difficult to sit through. Online mode and free battle mode is also available for you to do after you beat the game. But what is the point if the combat has no meaning behind it? You’ll only get any lasting value if you actually enjoy pressing the same button a million times.

+Kids will enjoy the simplistic combat

=The copied and pasted graphics from Storm 1 look fine

-Missing characters, no significant updates to previously existing characters

-Gameplay hasn’t changed enough to warrant any credit

-Copy and paste has grown strong within the Storm series

Visuals: 7/10

Gameplay: 6/10

Lasting appeal: 5.5/10

You can play the game using English voices or Japanese voices with subtitles. Unless you don’t want to torture your ear drums, you’ll want to use the Japanese option. The English voice acting is just awful and makes the characters less likable, look like assholes, and sound like idiots. Anyone that isn’t tone deaf will find themselves switching to the Japanese voice over option. The soundtrack isn’t as atrocious as those English voice actors but it won’t give you any spectacular tunes either. And lastly about the sound design, landing punches, kicks and special moves never sound convincing. When getting hit, characters will give out a half assed grunt or scream that is just plain weak. Whether you hit someone with an explosive or drop a meteor the size of a planet on their head you’ll get the same “ahhrgg” every time.

+Japanese voices are the way to go

-English voice actors should quit their job

Sound: 6.75/10

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is a casual fighting game for the hardcore Naruto fans at best. Storm 2 was the series highest point and since then, the series has been in decline. If a fifth installment is made by Cyber Connect 2, I highly doubt it will be any different/ better than Storm 2. It is a shame too, because the series has so much potential. Too bad it is suffering from lazy developers who insist on copy and paste tactics. This title is seriously not worth the $60 price tag, especially since you can buy Storm 2 (a better game) for $20.

Overall: 6/10

Try this game if you liked:

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

…That’s about it

I recommend watching the anime or reading the manga instead of playing this game.

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