Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations Review

Get those jumpsuits readies fellow ninjas

I have written a bit about this game a bit leading up to its release. This ranged from my opinion on it and the series as a whole. I was not really sure what to expect with the latest iteration in a long running series that I really enjoy, since the demo seemed to change some parts the gameplay and story mode.



This game is priced very nicely for all the content that you are getting for $60. The second Storm game was highly regarded for it very long and highly detailed story mode retelling the most recent story in the Naruto series up to the point in the Japanese anime. Generations takes a bit of an interesting take on this formula and gives a split amount of content between story and game modes. Instead of leaning on one side and lacking on the other instead of the other games in the series.

Bring the flashbacks! This fight is gonna need some...

The story technically covers from the begging of the series with Part 1 Naruto becoming a genin and ends with Part 2 Naruto and Saskue have a rematch at The Final Valley. Now I say technically because the story is covered by showing the point of view and story from many characters. These can be played through in any order you want and no matter if you are a hard core fan of the series or a newcomer to the story you will learn the characters story and feel the great bond the story is all about between all the different characters. Another nice touch they added to the story mode was newly animated cut scenes animated by the same studio that animates the show. These are all beautifully done scenes and whats even better about them is they are all remade scenes and not what was show before, that includes new voice acting. I have to say though as nice as the animated scenes are when you are in story mode the rest of it is told through screen shots of the anime's past episodes you are playing though. These are narrated by a character telling the story. I would've enjoyed having all animated story moments or use the in game models to reenact the story like what was done for Storm 1 and 2.

This seemed a bit lazy to me almost as if they are cutting corners to make the games deadline. Another thing I was a bit bugged by on the Story mode was the fact that there were no huge boss fight or quick time event (QTE) battles in the last two games. I had gotten use to these and was very disappointed to see them removed in the latest game in a series made by a studio that is know for gorgeous graphics and big boss fights. I fear the lack of these may have to do with Cyber Connect 2 having been working on Asura's Wrath at the same time. If you did not already know Asura's Wrath is all about QTE's and big boss battles, so the team that normally works on those might have not had any time to add those to this game which is truly a sad thing as a fan of them.

Bring enough guest did we?

The gameplay of Generations is very simple, but has the possibility of being very deep if you take the time to get into it. For example you have only got to press O or B to attack. This does make looking at combo list for each character kind of funny. There have been some subtle changes worth mentioning about the combat though. You can now only use substitution jutsus a set number of time on a refilling meter set to a new button. As well as now you can do new things with dashes, such as canceling moves, going backwards, and extending combos. While these are nice additions it is still no Street Fighter still if you wanna have a couple of buddies over to play you can have hours of fun easily.

This may be surprising to most, but Generations makes a great party game inviting over tons of people over and since you only need 2 controllers. There are also 2 new modes that add tons of play for single and multiplayer. These are Survival and Tournament mode, Survival gives you many challenges to tackle giving you a ton to do after story mode or during to mix things up. Now Tournament mode give a lot of options as well with single player challenges to go up against and you can make your own pitting you, your friends, or even the computer you want in any order. The only way Tournament could have been better is if it was online.

New school meets old school...then I think
they meet the people before them...oh god

 This brings me to online mode where things are kind of a mixed bag. You get the standard ranked and player matches. It would be nice to see a lobby system so more than 2 player can fight and watch together. You at least have the ability to record and upload replays online now which is actually pretty cool since most fight are pretty flashy and full of great moments you can show your friends. It would have been nice if the netcode on the online play would have been improved since the last game, still it is not unplayable as long as both players have a decent connection.

All in all with all the collectibles, characters, story mode, survival, tournament, and versus mode make this a very complete, but flawed package. I ended up spending about 20 hours playing this game and play to spend even more and maybe even platinum. With such a huge roster of 70+ playable characters and a slew of different assist this one will keep most fans and gamers entertained for a while if they keep with it.

8/10
...believe it