There was a time when the prospect of a new Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm game filled me with anticipation for a series that, even today, set a new standard for what an anime arena fighter could be. Unfortunately, Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections seems to be still riding that decade-old high by giving players a game that, by and large, feels derivate and underwhelming, even for hardcore shounen anime fans.
As the 8th entry into the Ultimate Ninja Storm series (if you count 2017’s compilation game), Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections has a lot to prove to justify its existence, and unless you’re a devout fan or crave the most complete roster in a Naruto game, there is very little to incentive purchasing Connections.
First, the positive, Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections feature the same rock-solid arena-style matches that popularized the series in the first place, now tweaked and adjusted to reflect fan feedback better and accommodate new features and options that make it the definitive Naruto fighting game experience.
One of the more significant changes in the game now includes the option for all of the 130 playable characters present to access two unique special attacks that utilize the charka and kunai buttons, respectively, which, in effect, replaces the tilt-move attacks found in previous games.
New team attacks and combination moves are also present, which, on top of the ten new playable characters included in the roster, gives those wanting the complete Naruto experience something new to enjoy. Smaller changes include buffs to the throwable items, which now recharge over time, rounds that reset the health and other gauges, and a nerf to the substitution jutsu system, which now only recharges after a 10-second or so cooldown as opposed to taking damage from your opponent.
In terms of new game modes, Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections features a History mode which runs through all of the events of the original Naruto manga but, sadly, does so in a way that, like previous entries in the series, opts to use stills from the anime, with only select fights using in-engine assets that make it worthwhile to experience.
History mode also features a pseudo-social element that shows the response or feeling of the player base during key fights or story beats within the mode. Additionally, at the end of each of the eight chapters in History mode, Storm Connections allows the player to choose between two distinct choices that usually revolve around character arc ends, highlighting again what the player base has chosen. These elements are nice but ultimately (no pun intended) contribute very little to the game’s overall enjoyment.
“Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections seems to be still riding that decade-old high by giving players a game that, by and large, feels derivate and underwhelming, even for hardcore shounen anime fans.”
The biggest draw and new addition present in Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, outside of its core fighting game experience, is the inclusion of an original story, which the game refers to as Special Story mode. Special Story mode revolves around Boruto and his friends purchasing a VR game system, which just so happens to be connected to a nefarious rogue ninja organization that has ties with Naruto: Shippuden’s Pain character. The plot eventually centres on an NPC character named Nanashi, who, at first glance, appears to be a simple guide for Boruto and his friends but ends up being more important than first led to believe.
The VR game starts acting haywire, leading to people collapsing throughout the Hidden Leaf village, which in-game translates to watching a bunch of exposition-heavy cutscenes with random battles thrown in here and there that add little to the enjoyment of the mode. Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections‘ Special Story mode suffers from the same issues that plague the Boruto anime: the narrative itself comes off as feeling like filler that has no real consequence to the series as a whole.
The mostly flat and uninteresting walls of text and repetitive use of the same backdrops further detract from any possible enjoyment the story could have had. There are moments of genuine polish with that unmistakable Cyberconnect2 level of spectacle, but like Storm Connections’ History mode, these scenes are few and far between.
As someone who has had no contact with Naruto for over a decade, other than casually playing some of the later Storm games with friends, I had a good time with Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections. However, even then, I found it lacking in overall content, making it hard to recommend to anyone who has already spent considerable time with any previous games in the sprawling fighting game series.
I played the PlayStation 5 version of Storm Connections, where the game runs at a rock solid 60fps with load times that take advantage of the console’s PCIe 4.0 speeds, with each match taking around 2-3 seconds to load in. If I had to nitpick, an option for a 120hz mode would have been appreciated as, like previous entries into the series, Storm Connections’ cel-shaded aesthetic leaves a lot of headroom, which the PlayStation 5 should easily be able to take advantage of.
I’m not sure who the target audience for Storm Connections is, as the game offers little in the way of new, meaningful content. With the series so far removed from its source material in terms of canonical storytelling, fans of Boruto won’t have much to enjoy either, making it perhaps best reserved for those who play competitively or are starved for more Ninja Storm content.
