This review is based off the Xbox One version of the game.
Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is a mockery of everything Naruto games used to stand for: a rich and inquisitive take on the Naruto brand with fun characters and a deeper understanding of fresh mechanics. The final chapter in the Ninja storm series is nothing more than a cheap cash-in on a beloved franchise. If I said there was a redeeming quality to this game, I would be lying to you, and I don’t want to do that.
The ninja story
The story of Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 picks up right at the end of Storm 3 and the pivotal climax of the Great Ninja War in the series. If you don’t understand anything I’m saying, you won’t understand what’s going on in the game. This game expects you to not only have played every previous game in the series, but also follow the Naruto brand almost religiously to understand where each of the characters have been and their relations to each other.
When you are thrown into the story, it’s a 5-chapter farce that is unremarkable in every way. They try to create a duality of the story, by introducing branching storylines, but it has zero impact since you have to do both branches to progress in the story. Your actions have no consequence and, ultimately, it simply lets you play some missions before others. Even defeat in the story mode doesn’t make you reset.
A magical spirit sage will bring you back to full health as many times as you need to overcome any challenge, even the final boss fight. This game cares more about showing off how cool it is, than actually having a weight behind anything.
Ninja Storm has always been known for its amazing cell shaded graphics and its engaging boss fights. Storm 4 feels no guilt in throwing both of these out the window. The majority of the story is told in everyone’s favorite media medium, motion comics! And when you do get a full 3D scene the lip sync in Japanese and English is so atrocious that you only want to put the controller down and cry.
If you do manage to get to a boss fight, there are more rail shooter portions and mob fights than actual combat and it feels like they’re simply playing with new mechanics that never really work right.
The story also feels like it needs to take unnecessary freedoms with the story of the series. Whether you’re fighting a giant black egg or a flying aqua marine space rabbit with fire lasers, these feel more like a mockery of people that cared about the series. This slaps people that cared about this series across the face and reminds them that the game just doesn’t care about you.
Should you decide to play Adventure, most of your time will be taken up with memory shard battles that take time to let you remember the times when this game series used to be good.
The characters and competition
With over a hundred different characters to choose from you’d think there’d be a ton of variety to choose from, but with over 7 Narutos and 8 Sasukes and at least 3 copies of every other major character, the number just feels like an inflated mess that serves no purpose. While there is some diversity in playstyles between characters, it’s so minute that they can be divided into either being a long range or close range with no hope of being in between.
In online play, you are punished for being different. If you want to play as someone you enjoy, get ready to lose. There has been little to no balancing between games, so the top tier is still the top, so expect a lot of Narutos swarming the online stage. This is not a game that the online multiplayer saves or even helps. Should you want to change characters or what mode you’re playing, expect a mind numbing amount of load screens, as well. This game is a true test of patience and there’s nothing you can do about it.
This game is also chock full of glitches both in the story and in the vs. mode. Everything from a short delay, to levels not entirely loading for no good reason.
TL;DR
Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is a mockery of the Storm series that can barely be called a game, let alone fun. With an overinflated roster of look alike characters and a boring story full of more cutscenes than action, this would be the best game for any reading enthusiast.
-Unforgiving to new players
-Long and drawn out story mode
-Boss fights are more rail shooter than anything else
-Graphics are lack luster
-Glitches in every mode of the game
-A bloated roster of over 100 characters
Images from: Forbes, Forbes, Dualshockers, God is a Geek
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