Naruto Shippuden – Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, known in Japan as Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Storm 4, is a fighting game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows (through Steam) in February 2016. It is the sixth installment and the final main installment of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series inspired by Masashi Kishimoto’s manga Naruto, and the sequel to the 2013 game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst. The story begins with a fight to the death battle between the founders of Hidden Leaf Village: Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

Several years later, the Fourth Great Ninja War is fought by the allied Shinobi forces from the village where Naruto Uzumaki reveals that the villain leading Akatsuki is Obito Uchiha: the presumed-dead best friend of Naruto’s mentor, Kakashi Hatake. Obito and his partner, the reanimated Madara, awaken the legendary Ten Tails creature to defeat Shinobi forces. The rebellious Sasuke Uchiha is uncomfortable with his hatred of Hidden Leaf Village, and has the Konohagakure leaders (the Hokages) reanimated to learn about the village’s origin.

After realising that his late brother Itachi Uchiha and the first Hokage, Hashirama, fought to protect the village regardless of cost, Sasuke’s team and the reanimated Hokage aid Naruto’s group. When Sasuke’s forces reach Naruto’s group, Obito is overpowered by Kakashi and absorbs the Tailed Beasts to become their vessel. Through their combined forces, Naruto and Sasuke defeat Obito and remove the Beasts. However, Madara defeats the Hokages, after reviving using the weakened Obito’s body controlled by Zetsu. Now using Akatsuki’s Sealing Statue, he takes the creatures, including Naruto’s Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and mortally wounds Sasuke.

A reformed Obito and Sakura Haruno try reviving Naruto while Kabuto Yakushi heals Sasuke. A man known as the Sage of the Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsusuki, the first ninja appears in Naruto and Sasuke’s dreams and passes them new powers to defeat Madara. Ultimate Ninja Storm 4’s gameplay is similar to that of previous games in the series, in which players battle each other in 3D arenas. A returning feature, omitted since the original Ultimate Ninja Storm, is the ability to wall-run; players can battle on the sides (walls) of each arena. A major change to the feature is the ability to have one character on the wall and the other on the field; the second player was originally also moved to the wall to keep the battle flowing and the system in check. 

The game has the largest number of fighters in series history. Its roster includes 106 fighters from the Naruto universe, including duplicates of the same characters, such as Naruto (Part 1) and Naruto (Six Paths Sage Mode). The game also includes characters from the films The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014) and Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015). There is total of over a hundred characters in the game. The option to select one of three fighting types was removed; it was introduced in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, restoring the rest of the series’ strongest attacks, Ultimate Jutsu and Awakenings system which enhances the fighting capabilities of fighter for a limited time.

Another new feature is the ability to swap characters during battle, similar to games such as Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Awakenings and ultimate jutsus can be shared by switchable characters; players can build their meter with one character and switch to the other, using the same abilities with the other character (which shares the life bar). Also new to the series is the ability to break weapons and armor in free and boss battles with the ability to inflict elemental damage; fire can burn away clothing, but players can get rid of fire by moving quickly across the area or being attacked with water.

A player can initially play the main story mode about the Fourth Shinobi World War set after the events of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 Full Burst. which is divided into lineal chapters involving the parallel encounters Naruto and Sasuke have until reuniting. Optional chapters focused on the supporting cast’s past are also available to play. Similar to previous Storm games, the history mode has boss fights with quick time events and hack and slash elements. When they complete the mode, the player can travel across an open world to recreate fights from previous series installments. The DLC Road to Boruto also focuses on the same open world but restricted to Hidden Leaf Village with sidequests being available besides completing its main narrative.