Preview: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go to Bandai Namco’s offices in London to try out the latest in the Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm series, Revolution. I was a little dubious about it at first due to the run in I had with Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 back in January, but from what little I did see I was pleasantly surprised.

Continuing on from Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and following the current anime that fans should be familiar with, Revolution also contains brand new stories created exclusively for the game by written by Masashi Kishimoto that focus on the Atatsuki clan; as well as exclusive animations created by the Naruto anime developer Studio Pierrot.

There were three modes on show; Free Battle, Ninja Escapades, and Ninja World Tournament. I was pressed for time, so I decided to try out tournament mode, seeing as it’s the newest addition to the series, and certainly the mode I was most curious about.

Taking place on Festival Island, Ninja World Tournament mode pits well over a hundred characters from all across the Naruto timeline, including the brand new and exclusive Mecha-Naruto character designed by Masashi Kishimoto.

Tournaments are ranked from D to S, with the player starting at rank D and working their way up. Once a character has been registered for the tournament, it is possible to change characters by registering someone else, but the newly registered character will have to start from the bottom and work their way up again. After all, this is a tournament.

In Ninja World Tournament mode, battles are fought under the ‘4-person’ rule, which sees the player fighting three AI controlled opponents at once. Unlike other more traditional fighting games, battles in tournament mode aren’t won purely by depleting your opponent’s health, but rather through the collection of battle orbs. It’s crazy, it’s hectic, and by the tailed beasts it is fun.

Essentially acting as hit points, each combatant begins the round with one thousand battle orbs. Orbs are dropped whenever a character receives damage, and can then be collected by the other fighters on the field. Each orb collected adds to that fighter’s maximum orbs; increasing their total. This tug-of-war style of play is very reminiscent of the Bravery Point system from Dissidia: Final Fantasy, and adds an element of strategy missing from the regular battles.

Battle orbs come in various sizes, with the biggest orbs containing the most within them. If a fighters orb count drops to zero, they will fall unconscious, and will then be removed from the match if they are attacked in this state. The more damage done to an opponent, the more orbs can be collected, so it really pays to land combos and use jutsu’s effectively.

Combat itself is standard Ninja Storm fair for the most part; the circle is the main attack, and the left analogue stick being pushed at various points in the circle spamming to mix up the combos somewhat, chakra charge is triangle, and block and dodge are R2 and L2 respectively. There is, however, a new, and may I saw welcome addition to the combat in the form of the lock-on.

Pressing down on the right analogue stick switches lock-on on or off, and a target can be changed with a flick of the same stick. The lock-on is a game changer, especially in the 4-person battles. Target changing is seriously fluid, and the mechanic as a whole helps give focus to a battle type that could otherwise become chaotic and confusing.

Battles are team based, with the registered character going into battle with a partner, and the two team mates fighting one round each. Team members need to be recruited, which is done between matches by talking to other characters on the island and convincing them to join by clearing events.

During the demo I managed to recruit Konohamaru and Iruka by answering questions asked by Iruka, to show Konohamaru the importance of exercising the brain as well as the body. The difficulty of the tournament changes with who joins your team, so I can imagine it would pay to recruit the strongest characters, rather than battle against them later on.

During this down time, it’s also possible to explore Festival Island, visit the shops in preparation for the next match, and take part in other recruitment events. As the island is explored, more events become available, and with them more opportunities to recruit strong fighters to your team, so it really pays to be adventuress.

There were only around five or so missions on show during the preview, but this is certainly a mode with some potential. I have mixed feelings about the last game in the series, but this one looks to be taking a step in the right direction, and it definitely has my attention.

As with the rest of the series, it’s shaping up to be another must have for the fans, but with enough non-canon content to allow new gamers curious to the series easy access. I look forward to exploring Festival Island further, as well as trying out the other modes when Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution is released.