r/NarutoNinjaStorm

These are the Storm games that I only played, so Generation and Revolution aren't included here. But let's start with Storm 1; I really like how they executed the open-world mechanics here and not just running around like what they did in the following Storm series. It's good for what it is, but eventually it gets boring. Story mode is ass; you need certain points to unlock the next story. It's very lacking in the story department. I mean, where is the Zabuza arc, which I think is one of the best arcs in OG Naruto, and it's not even featured in this game? I also hate the side missions, especially the ones where you have to fight Gamabunta, Shukaku, and Manda; it's almost impossible to finish the button sequence in just a few seconds. After finishing a mission, you have to collect some scrolls, which really sucks because they're all over the place; sometimes you even have to throw shuriken just to get those. And it doesn't stop there; you have to exchange it with Iruka. The combat system is really good, though; it's really close to the anime, and I like the mechanics where you have to press certain buttons to hit your UJs; otherwise, you won't do damage. Wall fighting and jutsu clashes should be brought back!

Storm 2: The story mode is a huge upgrade here; I really like how they delivered it, and it's fully 3D. Boss fights have some unique gameplay too, like where Gaara chases Deidara. Open-world mechanics are nerfed; picking random BS on the map is really tiring and repetitive. Like, come on, I just want to play the story. It's still better than Storm 1, though, where I have to collect scrolls. The combat system is nerfed; they remove wall battles and jutsu clashes. Like, wtf? It's so good, and they removed it!? It's still good though; at least the story mode is way, way better than the previous one.

Storm 3: They carried on with this one; the story mode is on par, if not better than Storm 2. I don't know; I like them both. I guess it's a tie on that part. Nothing new on the combat system; I guess they don't have a plan to bring back the Storm 1 combat system. I like the character selection menu; it's really neat. You can easily look for the characters that you want to pick.

Storm 4: Now, this one is weird. Why the hell do they make the story mode in a slideshow like a PowerPoint presentation? It's like half of it is a screenshot of the anime and half of it is in 3D. Why not make it fully 3D? The 4th Great Ninja War arc is one of my favorite arcs, and they did that—such a downgrade. They introduced a new combat system here where you can switch leaders. Ultimate team jutsu is also a really cool feature; most of it doesn't happen in the anime, but you know it's really possible. Boss battles are a little bit easier compared to the past Storm series. I also like the Adventure Mode; some don't like it, but it's my tier list, so I like it. Road to Boruto is also good; it's faithful to the anime movie. I also love the upgraded graphics and lighting; it's very neat, and the bloom effects are reduced; it's not washed or blown out anymore. That's all; it could've been at S tier if they didn't make half of the story mode a slideshow.

Storm Connections: It's not the worst Storm game, but it's not a good one either. I'm not saying it's bad; it's just not up there with Storm 2 & 3. I get it; this game is basically just a summary of Naruto's life. It's all a PowerPoint presentation; that's why fans don't like this game, and a lot of characters are still missing here where they could've already added them to this game. This game has a lot of potential, but the devs wasted it. Most of the battles in History mode are the important ones; they could've made it in 3D because it's basically a summary and not a full story. The devs became lazier in storytelling here compared to Storm 4. They are creative on Team Ultimate Jutsu, though, and the last DLC with Borushiki and Kawashiki is decent. I hate how expensive the costumes here are, like how am I supposed to collect hundreds of thousands or millions just to buy every costume and color? Unlike on previous Storm games, you have a story mode to farm Ryu, side missions, and request events that pay a lot of Ryu. Here, it's just History mode and Special Story mode, which isn't long enough to gather enough Ryu. Every game that focuses on online gaming is bound to die. I plan to farm Ryu on tournament mode, but that mode sucks too. Wdym, I have to choose every character and even my opponents just to play tournament mode? Like, why can't the game decide for itself, and I'll just focus on my team characters? They remove tilts too!! Yes, I like that there are two jutsu you can perform in the game and not just stick to one jutsu. That's a really good feature, like one is Fire Ball Jutsu and the other one is Amaterasu; it's brilliant, it's like DBZ games where you have two options to choose what you want to do. But they could've retained the tilts; that's what makes the characters unique. There's a feeling that they "own" it; it's their skill that only a specific character can do. Like Itachi's tilt, no one can do that. Minato's tilt is only for him. I love the Special Story Mode here, though, the one with Nanashi Uchiha. The storyline is really great; I love it. If Nanashi Uchiha were canon, I would've shipped her with Boruto; they have great chemistry. I think this is one of the few times they executed a girl character correctly. And the "True Ending"—that's a really nice touch to have closure with Nanashi. This story has more emotions than the series itself, and it could've been even expanded where Naruto is confused why Boruto's name appeared on a scroll. Man, I hope they meet again, but the story isn't canon, so yeah, it won't happen.

If you reached up until here, thank you for reading my tier list! Just comment below if you agree or disagree on other things; keep the discussion healthy!

I can’t say I’m among those who have a disdain for Storm Connections, but there are some aspects to it that I think could have been done better.

One of which is not having such an abundance of characters that have the exact same moveset as another, yet take up a separate character slot on the roster.

For example, Base Kakashi and Great Ninja War Kakashi? No difference. Both versions of Hanabi? They’re exactly the same. Sasuke Part 1? Aside from the awakening there’s no difference between the two versions. So they could have had just 1 version that has the Curse Mark awakening. There’s no need for the other one.

And the most plentiful offender, the Boruto versions of the Konoha 11 (sans Naruto), Darui, and the Sand Siblings. There movesets are the same as past iterations of those characters. They really should have just been costumes like they were in Storm 4.

So to explore the idea of some more unique roster choices, I put together a list of different characters to put in those character slots in place of the clones. Would that mean the game would need more development time if they went that route? Yeah probably. But in this case I think it would have been worth it.

The new game exclusive characters in the special story mode, Nanashi/Hikari and Merz, as well as Toneri who played a significant role in that story, are included because they really should have been characters you unlock after completing that story.

As for everyone else, as you can see there’s a big focus on Boruto era characters. Say what you will about the Boruto series, but the game is literally called Naruto AND Boruto Storm Connections. It just makes sense for it to lean more into the Boruto era like this. In some ways, it honestly should have done that.

However, there are 17 of those clone characters in the game that I’m replacing in this hypothetical “what-if?” and there were 18 total Boruto characters I wanted to include. So I took the extra liberty of adding a few characters for a hypothetical 2nd season pass, and including that extra Boruto character in it. I’m quite confident the game will not get a 2nd season pass, but again, this is just a what-if for funsies.

Is there potential for a game that’s like a middle ground between Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and Naruto to Boruto Shinobi Strikers?