You got it. Another Naruto game, though for the PS3 this time. Apparently, slated for a release sometime this year.

Source: Wikipedia

Not entirely sure what to make of all of that (particularly the "transforming" bit), but by the sound of it, it'll be like your typical Ultimate Ninja game, but with some elements seen in Uzumaki Chronicles, such as the free-roaming environment and the three-person teams. Sounds good to me so far.

Trailer: SD | HD

never been a huge fan of the anime or the games but DANG this looks great

Wow. The graphics and animation is top notch. Might turn out to be a really good Naruto fighting game.

Mm, definitely sounds and looks great.

Source: PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm
Naruto vs. Kakashi Demo Gameplay: Standard Definition | High Definition

Definitely glad to see the free-roaming environment of Uzumaki Chronicles making it into the Ultimate Ninja series. Not so glad to hear that the controls are still Circle-dependent, though. =\ But, since I rented UN2 a while ago, I'm used to it enough to be satisfied. Moving on, although I'm disappointed that the teams are simply your playable character + backup (or so it seems, based on that video footage), the methods of using that backup seem pretty neat. Glad to see that the chakra attacks are less cinematic (only the level-3 attacks are, from what I understand), since it was a bit annoying having every damn attack with its own cutscene before.

The few problems that PS3 Fanboy points out sound a bit annoying, though as they say, hopefully those problems will be fixed before the final release. The fluidity of the animation and overall speed of combat are looking pretty good (though I'd have no qualms at all with increasing that speed even more, of course). Looking forward to mooching off a friend's PS3 trying it out eventually.

Edit: Oh, yes, and of course it's great to see that they're providing the option to choose English or the original Japanese voices. Excellence.

Small chances that I'll play this since it's on PS3, but it's really looks better then Rise of a Ninja one from 360.

The graphics look good, naturally, and the stage gives a fair room to fight. Although some stuff really doesn't appeal to me. The chakra charging is something from a DBZ look-alike and I don't like that. Yeah it appeared through other Naruto games but I would have it a bit realistically, they would fight with limited amount of chakra. Having a charge option like this they can keep using jutsus until the end of time. Forming a strategy and carefully using your justus would have been far better.

The team involvement is something ridiculous to me too. Naruto falling and Sasuke coming to catch him and then he backs off. I would rather preferred if there is a off button for that.

The gameplay looks fun but I'm more interested in how the ultimate moves will be displayed.

looking like a pretty fun game, might have to give this a rent

You want realism in a Anime fighting game? Anyways, only having a certain amount of Chakra wouldn't work because it would get really boring if both characters used up all their Chakra and can only use normal attacks. I don't mind the team based mechanic. It is sort of like the Assist Trophies in SSBM except you can only use them at certain times.

There is a difference between full realism and partial realism. In this case all I want is that it's closer to original fights in Naruto. And I wouldn't find the game boring if they limited the chakra. The guy who will run away, avoiding the battle, charging up so he can do jutsu and repeating the process again WILL be boring to me. But then again, to each his own.

You do know the support is a totally optional thing, right? It's controlled manually. (Hence the "Press R1/L1" messages.) There's no need for an 'off' option. Also, if this game will be anything like previous ones, you can probably unlock other characters to have for support as well.
Though I would prefer switchable characters, like in Uzumaki Chronicles, personally. Oh well.


Um, keep in mind the whole game revolves around a single button for attacking. =\ I don't see how anyone wouldn't get bored from having only that (and their inventory) available as a method of attacking, just because they already used up their 1-3 chakra attacks. But whatever you say, man.

Anyway, running away from battle is only a cheap way to charge your chakra. The quickest and most reliable way is simply keeping on the offensive, giving you varying amounts of chakra per attack. (Knockbacks/knockdowns provide additional chakra.) And, of course, there's the occasional restoration item. Other than that, charging your chakra is exactly where the strategy lies, since you have to find good opportunities to do so, such as when an opponent is knocked down or something. (And even those don't last very long.) Unless you're the cheap type who does run away constantly in order to charge your chakra, then you really are pretty limited on chakra. I don't see the problem.

Of course I know that, it's just that I don't like other people's involvement unless you can completely change the character during battle. Yes I understand that calling them in a right time is essential for strategy but I just don't like small intrusions just for them to kick your opponent or something.

I would like to correct you on the choice of the game. Perhaps the second game of Uzumaki Chronicles would have been better pick because in the first one, there was a limit of how much your character can be on the field.



All I'm saying that when you have a charge option a lot of people will use a a charge-hit-run tactics. I don't like that, and personally I don't do that, but not everyone will agree with you that you should play fair and use random strategy.

Try to understand that I'm not saying that this is terrible, it is only my personal choice. The game looks really good and I'm anxious to see other videos and trailers.

Alright, yeah, I figured that was all you meant. It was why I brought up the character swap, 'cause I agree that would be a much better idea. It's really a waste to have the others there just as that kind of backup, though the effect is still nice to have. I think it would be nice if you could use them as timed support, and have the option to swap them with your current character. Certainly wouldn't be an unusual idea for a fighting game, and it works well, I think.

And thanks for the UC correction. I've actually only played the second one, so that's the one I mean. I just assumed the first did the same thing, from what little I've seen of it.


Oh, no, I understand you just fine. It's just that you make it sound like it's a bad feature simply because some people choose to be cheap with it, y'know? Find fairer people to play with, lol. Anyway, looking back at what was said about chakra control, it actually sounds a little different from what I remember in the previous games. Not mentioning items, the only mentioned methods of recharging are through "knocking [it] out of [your] opponents" or by standing still. That said, sounds like you really do have to mostly stay on the offensive in order to recharge a significant amount. I can't imagine standing still charges much (if it does, then that definitely needs to be fixed), and assuming you're not playing against a low-level AI, you generally don't have the opportunity to stand still for long, even if you do run away. Sounds like a reasonable challenge to me. If anything, I just hope chakra orbs restore a lower amount than previously, if we're going to talk about fairness here.

Yeah I guess you're right about me thinking it's a bad feature only because people go cheap with it. My friends list isn't that high up in a first place but most of those who I played with were like that. That is why I'm playing more solo now. To tell you the truth, not much Naruto fans here at my side anyway.

Although I could be wrong in all chakra replenish because I liked Naruto Ultimate Ninja series and Narutimate Accel too where the action was kinda fast that you barely had time to think about charging up, and it's a ninja game where you have to use all the necessary items and your soundings to beat the opponent. Maybe I remembered the DBZ game series where you would charge most of the time.

And yes if nothing else I too would like if the chakra orbs restore a lower amount.

I played the demo I have to say I really really like this game. I didn't think I'd like the game so much after playing the demo. The animations and visuals are great not much I need to say about that. The combat is simple, but has some depth to it when it comes to using your teammates and your equipment. You can use your teammates to help you string a longer combo, use them to distract your opponent so you can charge your chakra, or use them to distract them so you can charge your jutsu/ultimate jutsu. The teammates system just adds another layer of depth.

Also, Crimson Cloud to address your concern about the whole Chakra charge both players have unlimited number of shurikens so you can easily disrupt someone trying to Chakra charge and they can do the same to you. You have to find an opening to be able to Chakra charge or you'll just get hit by exploding shuriken or even by a jutsu.

Thanks for the info, and about the chakra charge, that pretty much sounds fair enough. If you don't mind me asking, how are jutsus/ultimate jutsus performed? Do you get in a power struggle if ,for example, Rasengan VS Chidori happens? How much jutsus one character has?

mmm, I might buy this, even though I only care to see Naruto once a month and refuse to bother with the manga.

Believe it.

Jutsu's are performed by pressing triangle(Chakra) and then circle (attack) and you can hold it to charge to do move further when thrusting the Chidori, but your left vulnerable to attack by Shurikens which fill disrupt your Jutsu charge so it is better to charge your Jutsu by using your teammates as distractions. Also, if you and your opponent do a Jutsu at the same time you have mash circle. So it is basically like a power struggle like what happens in Dragonball Z when two beams collide.

Ultimate Jutsu's are basically the same thing, but you press triangle, triangle, circle. You also have to have enough Chakra to use a Ultimate Jutsu and I think you can only use it a certain amount of time. There is a little of a lag time after activating a Ultimate Jutsu so it should be used accordingly. Once it is activated you have to press a series of buttons that show up for your Ultimate Jutsu to hit your opponent and your opponent also has a series of buttons to press and if he/she enters more buttons then they escape the Ultimate Jutsu.

There are only two characters in the demo Kakashi and Naruto. Both of them have one Jutsu and one Ultimate Jutsu. Also, both have a transformation like Kakashi will go into Sharingan mode and Naruto into Nine tailed fox mode. There is a limited time you can be in these transformations, they aren't permanent. Naruto's nine tailed fox mode gives him new attacks and new Jutsu like the nine tailed fox Rasengan and Utimate Jutsu is different as well. Kakashi's Sharingan mode lets him dodge most attacks, but after time runs out Kakashi seems to be weaker like he would in the Anime where he becomes exhausted after using the Sharingan.

Found a character list, for those interested.

• Naruto Uzumaki (Demon Fox Unleashed) (One-Tailed Naruto)
• Sakura Haruno (Inner Sakura)
• Sasuke Uchiha (Sharingan) (Curse Seal lvl 1 and 2)
• Kakashi Hatake (Sharingan)
• Rock Lee (Eight Gates) (Drunken Fist)
• Neji Hyuga (Byakugan)
• Tenten
• Might Guy (Eight Gates)
• Shikamaru Nara
• Choji Akimichi (Butterfly Choji)
• Ino Yamanaka
• Kiba Inuzuka
• Shino Aburame
• Hinata Hyuga (Byakugan)
• Gaara (Half Shukaku)
• Temari
• Orochimaru
• Jiraiya
• Kisame Hoshigaki
• Third Hokage

These seem to be the twenty confirmed so far, out of the 25 suggested on the official site (not including characters' transformations). Not much out of the ordinary here, but I figure it's nice to know anyway.

Source: Wikipedia, Official Ultimate Ninja Storm Website

Anyways just a update a new trailer was just released showcasing some new characters and and Adventure mode.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/38879.html

Good stuff. Really loving how the pace of gameplay seems to have improved. (Emphasis on "seems." Won't be able to tell for sure until I try it out, but it definitely looks faster in the trailers.) Some of that adventure mode stuff looks pretty fun, too. Bunshin-chuting throughout Konoha and whatnot. XD I'm still curious to see just how much of the anime's story is covered in the game, though, 'cause from what I remember reading, it sounds like almost all of the first series' main story. o.o

I heard the game goes all the way up to the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. We won't be seeing any Shippuden covered in any of the Naruto games released in North America since the the Anime series hasn't even reached that point yet. I think they are still stuck on the filler episodes after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

Yeah, the anime series in the US still has another 2-3 months or so of filler left.

And yeah, that was what I heard as well, but I was surprised hearing it spanned from the beginning(?) all the way up to that point. Most of the previous games just took place around the Chuunin Exam/Sasuke Retrieval/filler arcs. If it really does span from the beginning all the way up to that point, then I am very excited for that. Sounds like a nice, lengthy story mode.

the adventure mode really looks like it will add to the game and may sway me towards actually purchasing the game instead of renting

The game looks really impressive.
Another source for the trailer above: Click
Official site: http://www.ultimateninjastorm.com/

I was looking for a way to contact them regarding the voice overs. I hope there's an option for Japanese voices. If not I might skip the game, or get the Japanese version. But it's tedious since it has an adventure mode and requires a lot of reading.

To that, I re-quote:

^{Source: PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm}

I would assume the option should be available in the full game as well. It was one of the things I was glad to hear about when I first read it, 'cause even putting Naruto himself aside, the English cast is mostly less-than-desirable.

Awesome. I know this has become more common in fighting games lately, but some times they leave it out so you never know. Too bad that the game doesn't extend to Part 2, but it still looks pretty gorgeous so I will definitely give it a try.

A little bit of info I got from the official site:

Playable characters: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi have all been posted as both playable and support characters. No other characters are posted on the site at the moment, but alternate modes have been confirmed for all four: Naruto's Nine-Tailed Fox mode, Sasuke's "Curse Marked Second State" (weird way to word it) mode, Sakura's "Maiden's Anger" mode, and Kakashi's Sharingan mode.

Developer Q&A: The main highlights I wanna point out from it are just these two...
- Story Progression: Up to episode 135.
- Shippuuden?: No Shippuuden characters.

Oh, and more news.

Source: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm gets Limited Edition - PS3 Fanboy

Sounds like a pretty decent limited edition pack to me. $70 is still rather pricey for a game, for me, but oh well. (Not like I'll own a copy anytime soon, anyway.) It's always nice to get a soundtrack with a game (as long as it's not just a bunch of 0:30-1:00 tracks, ugh), and some extras like an art cell are cool as well.

The days of me buying a Limited Edition of any video games is over after I finally woke up and realized that I buy a video game for the game and not for some trading cards or whatever it is. A Limited Edition of whatever game better have some serious extras for me to shell out an extra 10 dollars for it when video games are already so expensive.

I loved the demo so I'm definitely getting the regular version when it comes out. It is mind boggling how many great games that are going to come out in the next few months.

The game does look really gorgeous. The only problem is that the story doesn't extend very far, meaning there aren't all that many characters in it compared to the other Naruto games. So maybe it would be better to wait for Ninja Storm 2. Then again, it might be a while before it comes out.

The story covers up to episode 135 (end of the Sasuke Retrieval arc). Isn't that pretty far for these games? I mean... that's kinda the entire first series, up to the fillers, isn't it? Or does it not really cover everything from 1-135? I know they've been pointing out that the story reaches that point, but I haven't heard when it starts at. I know some of the past games started around the Chuunin Exam or so, and stretched to some point after that...

As far as I know, there'll be all of the main trios (12 so far), plus Kakashi and Guy (14), Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru (17), I think Kabuto (18), the Sand ninja trio (21)... They said a total of 25, right? So that right there would leave room for four more, which could be filled by a handful of characters. Itachi and Kisame will be in there, I'm sure. Asuma/Kurenai? The previous Hokages? The Sound Four? Anko, Shizune, Zabuza, Haku... Anyone else major I'm forgetting...? (Taking out four of those, to fill in the empties in my list, that leaves a 2:1 ratio of available characters to unavailable. At least based on all I can remember to mention here.)
In any case, I'm pretty sure the game will cover most of the highlight characters. A lot of the characters in the previous first-series titles were just extra forms of characters and some side characters. The character selection doesn't really significantly expand until the Shippuuden series.

Anyways here is a new trailer from the Tokyo Game Show: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/41043.html