Naruto is a name that most people will of heard, it’s possibly one of the most popular Anime/Manga series in the west at the moment, and one that sells extremely well in its home country in Japan each month. So it’s hardly surprising then to see it has a series of popular video game adaptations, ranging from RPG’s to action games, that are a pretty solid bet on selling well, very similar to dragon ball games in this respect. In this case the popular series is Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate ninja storm 3 full burst, a massive mouth full and will be referenced as just ninja storm 3, this is, if not obvious the third instalment in this series.
Naruto is a popular series, but that doesn’t mean you need to be massively invested in the series to enjoy this game, the short run is the series centres around the main character, unsurprisingly named Naruto, a trainee ninja in the hidden leaf village. Ninja storm 3 however, focuses quite a bit further along in the story, as such Naruto is now much older and has picked up many different strengths and powers, oh and he also has a legendary 9 tailed fox demon sealed inside him as well. So Naruto goes around saving people with his other ninja friends, dramatic story plots happen and the whole series is still going on after over 10 years.
The games are surprising well designed around how the series seems to achieve their fights, the gameplay is pretty fantastic, having a 3rd party over the shoulder arena type fighting system really allows the characters moves to work well. Each character has their own set of combos they deal a decent amount of damage and most early on fights will be easily dealt with if you wanted with just these combos. Then you have the ability to throw shurikens, these can change depending on the character with some throwing larger than others, you can also use items to set traps or heal yourself. Then comes the more fun parts, you have 3 gauges, first is the dodge gauge, this allows you to turn into a log and teleport behind your opponent, next is your team gauge which is for your two support characters allowing them to come in and, well support you during your fight.
Your final is your chakra gauge this one changes what special attacks your character can use, and when, it also lets your character use their Ultimate Jutsu (read Special move) you can charge it up mid fight, or hit your opponent hard enough for them to drop their own Chakra orbs. If you have the right conditions, which is yours Chakra and team gauge full, you can do a super Ultimate attack, which is an even more powerful attack if its name didn’t give it away for you.
Story wise, it follows after the events of the second games ending, all three games follow the manga’s story line pretty well, if you’re a fan of the series you won’t see much you haven’t already seen before, fan of the anime and all the voice actors are here to be recognised. The general gist of each game though is, village or villages are under attack, Naruto and his band of ninjas must work together to make all right again.
Graphically I love how these games look, they have a fantastic art style that is similar to those found in Dragon ball z games that give the game that anime styled look, sure it’s nothing compared to Ni No Kuni for example, but it gives it its own feel. All of the characters are easily recognisable as are all the areas, , it really is one of those games where everything feels like it’s part of the world, and it was actually thought of.
As mentioned the voice actors are all here for the English version of the anime, I would assume they are also there for the Japanese’s too, all the music used is all nice and licensed which really makes the game world feel like that of the series. Attacks also all have the same effects, it really is more of something that fans of the series will notice and appreciate.
As this is the full burst version there is extra content that has been added to this game, first being that the graphics have had a big revamp, adding extra effects during cut scenes which do look great if you have played the original version. There are also all costumes that were original DLC for many of the characters, but it doesn’t seem to include goku’s costume that came with certain versions of the none complete version. There is a new story chapter, but the biggest addition is the challenge mode, whilst its nothing extraordinary new, it is a nice addition for those who like to compete, it adds 100 missions which consist of different objectives, these allow you to unlock in game items and illustrations.
This isn’t the biggest addition to what was previously a great game, but if you never picked up the previous one, this game means you have no real excuse any more, it’s a fantastic package at a lower price and will get you ready for the undoubtable 4th version. This game gets 4/5, if you’re a fan of the series you probably already have it, but if you want to get into the series without going through hundreds of chapters or episodes, these games give you a good understanding as well.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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