Maybe a little odd to start off a First Play thread with what a game isn't but I feel there has been a little confusion prior to this game's release as to what genre it will fit in. This is not an adventure game in the vein of Ubisoft's 360 Naruto games (Rise of a Ninja and The Broken Bond) but is principally a one-on-one fighting game. Perhaps obviously in hindsight, it is simply a next gen extension of the PS2 Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Series (Naruto: Narutimate Hero in Japan).
With that in mind, this isn't the most in depth fighting game. Virtua Fighter it ain't.
Circle is you basic attack button and pressing repeatedly chains attacks together. The only variation in these attacks can occur by holding the left stick in different directions at specific points of the combo. You can also hold the Attack button for a few seconds for an Ultimate Impact attack which knocks back your opponent and they drop Chakra Spheres to restore your chakra (more on that later). Stringing together combos fills up your Storm Gauge (seperate to Chakra) which can be filled to 3 levels. When it is completely filled you gain benefits such as Chakra Regeneration.
Square is your ranged attack button (shuriken in most cases), X is Jump and L2/R2 Guard. Holding Guard will deflect the majority of attacks but eventually, will result in a Guard Break. To combat this, you can time pressing Guard with the moment an attack is due to land (ala Parrying/Just Defend) to perform a Substitute Jutsu leaving your opponent attacking an inanimate object vulnerable to counter attack.
The really impact attacks come from accumulating chakra, which is essentially your super bar. Holding Triangle allows you to Charge Chakra although you are vulnerable to attack as you do this. With Chakra accumulated you can tap Traingle followed by another button to use the Chakra to perform new moves. Triangle > Square is a Chakra Projectile, a powered up ranged attack (varies from character to character. Naruto launches multiple shuriken whereas Sakura launches a single shuriken with an explosive tag). Triangle > X is Chakra Dash closing distance between you and opponent almost instantly. Finally you can use Triangle > Circle to perform your selected Ninjutsu (selected prior to battle). When you start the game each character only has a single Ninjutsu but more are unlockable. However, you are restricted to a single Ninjutsu attack per fight which is a little limiting.
The real spectacle comes from the Ultimate Jutsu attacks. Requiring massive amounts of chakra to appear landing these successfully can inflict major damage. If successful a cutscene battle occurs where both players input commands to determine how successful the Ultimate Jutsu is. These are not fight winning attacks (your opponent can nullify their effects by inputting the commands during the cutscene quicker than the aggressor)but when successful look fantastic in motion with some incredibly spectacular on screen results. Ultimate Jutsu attacks are also improved dependent on your current Storm Gauge level when the attack is landed.
L1/R1 calls in your support characters (selected prior to battle) Presumably an attempt to replicate the teams of 3 formations from the source material, you can call your support characters into battle a limited number of times in battle either to perform a Ninjutsu attack or a Combo. Any combos you perform that result in launching your opponent can also be finished by calling in a support character to land a finishing blow.
The final twist in battle comes with Awakening Mode. Only available when your energy drops below a certain level, these are essentially desperation moves. Awakening is activated by continuing to hold Trianglefor a few seconds after your Chakra bar is completely filled and results differ from character to character (dependent on their depiction in the manga). Certain characters Awakening results in Transformation changing the attacks and attributes of a character (including their Ultimate jutsu attack). Examples of these are Sasuke (Cursed Mark Second State) and Rock Lee (Eight Gates). Fans of the naruto manga/anime will recognise these forms of the characters but will wonder what about characters that haven't had examples of new forms depicted. Awakening for these characters simply results in new attributes and abilities with no change in appearance.
Despite the apparent simplicity of the fighting system, the resulting battles can be incredibly fun to watch for Naruto fans and it is not hard to make fights look good. Battles take place over one round but characters have multiple life bars allowing the battles to last a decent length of time, and the different cut aways showing the results of different attacks do a great job of replicating some of the best fight scenes from the anime. Lots of fan service in battles too with plenty of moves replicating those from the anime/manga. The use of the Ultimate Jutsu and Awakening moves can also swing battle back in your favour, again allowing a great representation of how the advantage in battle can swing for one protagonist to the other that is an anime mainstay.
This is all helped by some of the slickest presentation shown this generation. This is probably the greatest representation of anime characters yet seen in a game. The representations are near flawless and easily eclipse those of the 2 360 games (which were actually quite good graphically but looked a little off when compared to their anime counterparts) but it's the animation which really showcases the talents of the artists involved and everything moves smoothly with no framerate drops or screen tearing (that I have noticed) to impact on the game's visual finesse.
Also, both the English and Japanese voice actors are available for selection.
It's not a game recommended to non-Naruto fans. It simply isn't deep enough as a fighting game to attract people who haven't watched the anime or read the manga, but fans will find a lot to like.
The real disappoint is the lack of online play which is simply not acceptable for a fighting game this day and age. Fortunately, the game does have the single player Ultimate Mission Mode to increase longevity which I will detail a little later...
With that in mind, this isn't the most in depth fighting game. Virtua Fighter it ain't.
Circle is you basic attack button and pressing repeatedly chains attacks together. The only variation in these attacks can occur by holding the left stick in different directions at specific points of the combo. You can also hold the Attack button for a few seconds for an Ultimate Impact attack which knocks back your opponent and they drop Chakra Spheres to restore your chakra (more on that later). Stringing together combos fills up your Storm Gauge (seperate to Chakra) which can be filled to 3 levels. When it is completely filled you gain benefits such as Chakra Regeneration.
Square is your ranged attack button (shuriken in most cases), X is Jump and L2/R2 Guard. Holding Guard will deflect the majority of attacks but eventually, will result in a Guard Break. To combat this, you can time pressing Guard with the moment an attack is due to land (ala Parrying/Just Defend) to perform a Substitute Jutsu leaving your opponent attacking an inanimate object vulnerable to counter attack.
The really impact attacks come from accumulating chakra, which is essentially your super bar. Holding Triangle allows you to Charge Chakra although you are vulnerable to attack as you do this. With Chakra accumulated you can tap Traingle followed by another button to use the Chakra to perform new moves. Triangle > Square is a Chakra Projectile, a powered up ranged attack (varies from character to character. Naruto launches multiple shuriken whereas Sakura launches a single shuriken with an explosive tag). Triangle > X is Chakra Dash closing distance between you and opponent almost instantly. Finally you can use Triangle > Circle to perform your selected Ninjutsu (selected prior to battle). When you start the game each character only has a single Ninjutsu but more are unlockable. However, you are restricted to a single Ninjutsu attack per fight which is a little limiting.
The real spectacle comes from the Ultimate Jutsu attacks. Requiring massive amounts of chakra to appear landing these successfully can inflict major damage. If successful a cutscene battle occurs where both players input commands to determine how successful the Ultimate Jutsu is. These are not fight winning attacks (your opponent can nullify their effects by inputting the commands during the cutscene quicker than the aggressor)but when successful look fantastic in motion with some incredibly spectacular on screen results. Ultimate Jutsu attacks are also improved dependent on your current Storm Gauge level when the attack is landed.
L1/R1 calls in your support characters (selected prior to battle) Presumably an attempt to replicate the teams of 3 formations from the source material, you can call your support characters into battle a limited number of times in battle either to perform a Ninjutsu attack or a Combo. Any combos you perform that result in launching your opponent can also be finished by calling in a support character to land a finishing blow.
The final twist in battle comes with Awakening Mode. Only available when your energy drops below a certain level, these are essentially desperation moves. Awakening is activated by continuing to hold Trianglefor a few seconds after your Chakra bar is completely filled and results differ from character to character (dependent on their depiction in the manga). Certain characters Awakening results in Transformation changing the attacks and attributes of a character (including their Ultimate jutsu attack). Examples of these are Sasuke (Cursed Mark Second State) and Rock Lee (Eight Gates). Fans of the naruto manga/anime will recognise these forms of the characters but will wonder what about characters that haven't had examples of new forms depicted. Awakening for these characters simply results in new attributes and abilities with no change in appearance.
Despite the apparent simplicity of the fighting system, the resulting battles can be incredibly fun to watch for Naruto fans and it is not hard to make fights look good. Battles take place over one round but characters have multiple life bars allowing the battles to last a decent length of time, and the different cut aways showing the results of different attacks do a great job of replicating some of the best fight scenes from the anime. Lots of fan service in battles too with plenty of moves replicating those from the anime/manga. The use of the Ultimate Jutsu and Awakening moves can also swing battle back in your favour, again allowing a great representation of how the advantage in battle can swing for one protagonist to the other that is an anime mainstay.
This is all helped by some of the slickest presentation shown this generation. This is probably the greatest representation of anime characters yet seen in a game. The representations are near flawless and easily eclipse those of the 2 360 games (which were actually quite good graphically but looked a little off when compared to their anime counterparts) but it's the animation which really showcases the talents of the artists involved and everything moves smoothly with no framerate drops or screen tearing (that I have noticed) to impact on the game's visual finesse.
Also, both the English and Japanese voice actors are available for selection.
It's not a game recommended to non-Naruto fans. It simply isn't deep enough as a fighting game to attract people who haven't watched the anime or read the manga, but fans will find a lot to like.
The real disappoint is the lack of online play which is simply not acceptable for a fighting game this day and age. Fortunately, the game does have the single player Ultimate Mission Mode to increase longevity which I will detail a little later...
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