→
March 20, 2013 Naruto
Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 throws you into one of Naruto lore's
most titanic battles right from the start. Without any preamble you
find yourself clashing with the 20-story-tall Nine-Tailed Demon Fox as
he ravages Naruto's home village. Except it isn't Naruto's home
village, because he hasn't been born yet. Because this is, at last, the
series' cataclysmic battle from the past that's been teased for years,
but never fully shown before. It's a great first impression, and it
sets the pace for the best Ultimate Ninja Storm to date.
...And you're flung straight into it. First as Naruto's father, who
must face off against the masked mastermind controlling the gigantic
beast, and then as the Third Hokage in a breathtaking, intense battle
that's fought leaping from rooftop to rooftop, circling around this
monstrously large terror, coordinating with fellow ninja to hold the
creature at bay. This series has pushed its visual spectacle to new
heights with every installment, but it’s in moments like this that UNS3
proves to be the most epic and most fanservice-packed.
When you’ve finally managed to take down the Demon Fox,
there’s no chance to catch your breath – because you’re then flung
right back to Naruto's dad, still in the middle of his own fight. UNS3
bounces around like this dynamically. You can be halfway through a
major clash, then the focus will shift to another battlefield or point
in time and have you fight a second, simultaneous fight before circling
you back around to your starting point. It's a brilliant break from
tradition that constantly keeps your attention focused and your energy
up. It could've gone wrong and been distracting, but since each
instance is interwoven with the storyline and serves a plot-advancing
purpose, I never felt like I was bounced around for no reason.
For the most part, this is the same Ninja Storm combat as before –
just a bit faster. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3's feels as if the controls
have gotten tighter
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 will feature the most
extensive character roster of any game so far in the series, letting
fans engage with a huge number of their favorite personalities from the
series, be they friend or foe.
and more responsive, which was appreciated as I ran, dodged, and
teleported my way around each 3D battleground trying to gain a
positional advantage over my opponent. Some mechanics introduced in
earlier installments have been tweaked, too, like the fact that you can
now enter your character's "Awakened" state without waiting until their
health bar has been depleted to the edge of death.
Things are a bit easier, too. UNS3's difficulty settings seem muted,
as few fights will offer a true challenge to anyone who's bested any of
the earlier games. The most elite players will have to seek out
high-level opponents online, because the AI won't keep up with you.
At some points during the story, UNS3 offers some confusing
decisions about which of two paths you want to follow. They're
presented as a choice between the "Legend" path or the "Hero" path, but
aren't both of those good things? I suppose being a "Legend" is more
epic than just being a plain old "Hero," but it's odd phrasing – and
it's made even more perplexing because you earn either Legend Points or
Hero Points for picking one over the other, and the distinction between
those is never adequately explained.
Experimenting with picking different story paths does open up unique
cutscenes and fights not previously seen on the cartoon, though, so the
confusion is worth enduring. In the opening clash against the
Nine-Tailed Fox, for instance, you get to witness Choza Akimichi grow
to Godzilla-like proportions and bodyslam the 20-story beast. So it's
worth experimenting with, at least.
Naruto pays homage to Goku with this new Dragon Ball Z-themed costume.
Other than that, as with the earlier Ultimate Ninja Storm games,
this one sticks pretty close to retelling the cartoon's plots point for
point. Those decision moments are your opportunity to deviate a bit,
which keeps things from being a total retread. You’re ultimately
funneled back to the core timeline after having witnessed the extra,
side content, so the decisions are never too earth-shattering – you
can’t end up picking a path where Naruto dies or anything like that.
Some fans will no doubt take issue with the story's ending
in this installment, as it's non-canonical and probably not a
reflection of what will be seen in the show. Alternate story paths
diverging from the events of older episodes are fun "what if?"
scenarios worth taking a look at. But when UNS3 starts projecting out
past the scope of currently aired TV episodes and currently published
manga to invent its own vision of Naruto's future, the waters get a
little choppy.
One area that disappointed was the limited exploration in story mode
– we're teased with free-roaming areas every once in awhile, but they
never amount to much and you're quickly shuffling back into watching
the next sequence of cutscenes. Also: do we really need all Fuu the
Insect Girl as a playable character? We have over 80 now – it's
probably safe to stop scraping the bottom of that barrel.
