Look
I was in a nostalgic mood and I figured that playing the games' versions of the story would be better than watching the show or rereading the manga because it takes less time, it's literally a cliffnotes version. Also the show gets really shit.
It's fine, the combat is flawed in structure thanks to how substitutions work but the fundamentals capture the entire Naruto idea, the aesthetics are faithful if a bit low budget a lot of the time, it gets a lot of emotional moments right on the money and also kind of oversimplifies some other moments. It also helps that Storm 2 covers the best arc from the show and has a lot of the narrative core that worked still, even if it's cut down for time.
They iron out the kinks in the later games but what's here is a decent satisfactory fanservice package. I'm part of a small audience that's going to enjoy this game and recommending it to those not in this group would be silly.
I was in a nostalgic mood and I figured that playing the games' versions of the story would be better than watching the show or rereading the manga because it takes less time, it's literally a cliffnotes version. Also the show gets really shit.
It's fine, the combat is flawed in structure thanks to how substitutions work but the fundamentals capture the entire Naruto idea, the aesthetics are faithful if a bit low budget a lot of the time, it gets a lot of emotional moments right on the money and also kind of oversimplifies some other moments. It also helps that Storm 2 covers the best arc from the show and has a lot of the narrative core that worked still, even if it's cut down for time.
They iron out the kinks in the later games but what's here is a decent satisfactory fanservice package. I'm part of a small audience that's going to enjoy this game and recommending it to those not in this group would be silly.
Probably the best story mode of the 4 games, definitely covers the best arcs. The gameplay is better than 1, and the boss fights are excellent. My favourite thing about the boss fights is that they expanded on the anime fights rather than copy them exactly, and it was always better for it.
Not a huge fan of the overworld here, it's mostly busywork.
Not a huge fan of the overworld here, it's mostly busywork.
This game made me have a Naruto phase in my fucking 20s. I never cared for Naruto as a teen, thought it was crap, saw this game for a quid in cex and thought itd be haha banter. I live tweeted me playing it, accidently genuinely enjoyed the story and characters (GOD the nuns games are better at telling the story of naruto than the show) and ended up drawing my weight in Naruto fanart, dragging my housemates and friends with me, convincing a friend who liked Naruto as a kid to DM a Naruto d&d canpaign which I am in, and for said campaign we all made Naruto OCs with Boruto era kids. I'm in Naruto hell and it's all because this game (and the next 2) is so much better than the anime it is based off of.
Game also sucks, but a bit less than Storm 1. It has some absolutely beautiful angles and shots for its story mode for both flashy, relevant moments and mundane chit-chat alike. Outside of presentation this game still has the same combat issues as the first, and thus presentation's what gives it half a star more than 1.
It stresses me out a lot that while this is a huge improvement on the first game, it's also a step backwards. YES, it's amazing how in this game the story mode adapts much better to the anime, and there is also a beautiful graphic evolution and an improved combat but it was so cool to beat the ninjutsus, climb walls and have the ability to give ultimate jutsu in awakening mode... Really it's sorely missed, not to mention the adventure mode that has become a pain in the ass with a fixed camera.