HEYOOOOOOOO
MadaraXIII here everyone.
Been awhile since I've truly been active, but after playing a particular game for a good while I think it'd be the best reason to get back into The Escapist with another one of my super special awesome rainbow-tacular and harsh reviews!!
The game up on the chopping block is:
[HEADING=2]Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations[/HEADING]
Now if any of you read my previous review of Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Here):
, you'd know that this is both somewhat of a Sequel. However I use the word, "Sequel" lightly mostly due to the fact that this is a sequel in the same sense that Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was a Sequel to Assassin's Creed 2.
BUT AT LEAST THE FUCKING STORY FOR AC WAS ENGAGING!!!! Sorry, I'm getting too far ahead of myself there.
Ok then beginning the Review.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations isn't so much a sequel as it is a simple half-hearted attempt at combining the events that transpired in Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 and 2 and then just lazily tacking on the last bit of fun that everyone had anticipated in the trailers at the end.
The games story mode is somewhat deceptive as it promises to see the entire story from different perspectives. The perspectives being Young Naruto, Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi, Zabuza, Minato, Gaara of the Sand, Killer Bee and Madara Uchiha.
I say it's deceptive because it looks as if it'll take the Birth By Sleep road and just give bits and pieces to each story in a clever fashion. Well it does give bits and pieces, but not in a clever fashion.
To be honest my first impression had high hopes. Hopes that were killed withing a whopping 3 minutes of playing the game. That has got to be a new record at delivering disappointment.
STORY MODE
Ok then, now we move onto the break down of this dreaded story mode. The story mode starts us off with something neither Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 or 2 did. New Anime Cutscenes to tell the story. However if you think that all cutscenes will be like this then you are dead wrong. The rest of the story is told through lazy and half assed attempts at slide shows with the Third Hokage narrating each event like he's the Morgan Freeman of the Ninja world. And to say the entire story mode campaign is Abbreviated would be like saying "Vlad The Impaler was a slightly aggressive man who never grew out of his Anal-Sadistic phase"
Given the scope at how brief the story mode is, it'd take the layman no longer than a good 2 to 3 hours to beat EVERYONE'S STORY MODE. Provided you skip the horrible powerpoint presentations they call cutscenes.
Now my previous complaint for Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was that the games' story mode was dragged out too long with trivial side quests and mindless collecting missions for Ninja Tools. It seems as if the developers must have heard my complaining and decided instead of weaving a story that drags on a bit too much, they'll give us a story that throws a freaking encyclopedia in our face to recount the events that took place. To be honest. The Story mode was disappointing, lazy, and just a pure waste of time.
FIGHTING and CONTROLS
Well on the bright side, and by bright side I mean the speck of daylight that appears over your head after a long night of rummaging through the bottom of the local landfill in hopes of finding sustenance; we are given the same controller layout as before only with a few slight tweaks so as to make the battle a bit more intense between players.
O - Standard attack and used for unleashing an Unholy amount of combos when combined with the Left Analog stick
X - is your jump, rush and evade button
Square- is you long range weapns such as, Kunai, ninja stars etc, etc
Triangle - is your Chakra charge that when combined with either Square, O or X can enhance those abilities considerably.
R1 and L1 - Calls in your assist characters
R2 - Your Standard Block Button and accompanying it with O will allow you to perform a grab attack at close range
L2 - This is now your substitution jutsu button which teleports your out of the way of your opponent and lands you directly behind them. However the new tweaks have limited your Substitution jutsu to be limited to 4 uses over a set period of time so as to keep you and your opponents on your toes and use your dodges wisely lest you leave yourself open for an absolutely unblockable combo and slew of attacks.
I APPROVE OF THIS SYSTEM
So the controls have definitely improved and have helped remove some of the cheapest tactics that were used in Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 and 2.
BOSS FIGHTS
You know how I was complaining about how short the story mode is? Well that can be extended into this category as well.
[HEADING=2]THERE WERE NO GODDAMN BOSSFIGHTS!!![/HEADING]
I say that with the utmost disappointment in my words as possible.
Why you may ask? Simply put, the new characters that were added in left for GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES for unique boss fights and challenging yet puzzling patterns combined with combat. I miss that. I miss it alot. Instead of Boss fights we're left with slightly overpowered AIs using the characters awakening state the whole match. If that's a boss fight then the Boston Massacre was an Actual Massacre. And as you history buffs know, that's a goddamn lie!
Well at least there are no quick time events this time around.....
Oh what the hell am I saying!? The quick time events in the previous games were actually well done and necessary so as to add some fun to the fights.
I can't believe I'm saying this for any type of game, but "I MISS THE QUICK TIME EVENTS"
STORY AND VOICE ACTING
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations does what it can to try and recall the key events of the first Naruto series and bridge them together with the Naruto Shippuden series. Sadly this attempt is a failure to even the biggest of optimists and as for the super special addition we were supposed to get?
We only got 1 arch added. An Arch that doesn't even last 10 minutes in Gameplay. It's like it was shoehorned in at the last minute. When Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 came out it added a whopping 7 Story arcs on top of the Ultimate Ninja Storm 1. It was put together in a practical fashion instead of tacked on just to introduce us briefly to the new characters we get to use.
However there is some saving grace to this God awful story re-hash.
THE VOICES. The voices are well done in both english and japanese in my opinion, but the English dubbing has definitely improved over time to a considerable amount.
I especially love Madara Uchiha's/Tobi's english voice. It's scary. It's sinister and threatening. It's the voice of a real villain rather than the drab and bland Japanese alternative.
But concerning the story, I was excited because we were getting Madara/Masked Man added to the story and as welcome as his presence is in this game it does not make up for the God Awful Display this game turned out to be.
MULTIPLAYER
The multiplayer stays the same as the previous two titles, only with the improved aforementioned tweaks that I listed in the controls above. So it has improved in that your opponents can no longer escape from your attacks with such ease anymore and has leveled the playing field so as to remove the abundant air of cheapness and replace it with a mild breeze. It's still there, but not in excessive amounts. Yes some characters are unbalanced but their strength remains true to their characters in the anime so I'm ok with this. To have a balanced fighter in Naruto would be like having a Skin head in a Black Panthers meeting. Out of place and no need to even belong. Pick your players wisely and I can assure you though as a fighting game expert, Top Tier does not always guarantee a win. Especially in this game.
FINAL VERDICT
I will not lie to you, fellow escapists. This game is bad. I mean bad. I do not recommend this game at all. It is not worth the $60 they want you to shovel out and the massive amounts of disappointment you will soon experience upon purchasing said unholy game disc.
To call this a game would be like calling HEAVY RAIN a game.
[HEADING=2]Yes I went there. Come at me bro.[/HEADING]
The story line is pure repetition of fight after fight accompanied with slide show after slide show telling us all what happened. Boring, annoying and just so disengaging. It breaks flow like a Horse menstruating while in heat.........Oh God I apologize for such an awful visualization.
Here's some Brain Bleach. You'll thank me.
But yes. To call this a game is a crime and to charge $60 for such a thing is a sin against not just God, but against every Eldritch Horror and Outer God to ever escape H.P. Lovecrafts' mind.
[HEADING=2] CTHULHU WEEPS FOR YOUR WALLET[/HEADING]
It's not a good game. And whatever positive traits this game has is severely outweighed by the lackadaisical story telling and disengaging campaign.
[HEADING=1]I give this game a 4.5 out of 10[/HEADING]
However there is ONE. ONE. ONE good thing about the story mode. And it is simply this video alone that can make those 2 awful hours of grinding through fight after fight seem worth it.
<youtube=O2k7VBiEsL8>
You know there is something wrong when a video of a rapping ninja is the silver lining of a video game.
Well hope you enjoyed this read.
Let me know what you think about it guys.
[HEADING=2]And Finally[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]My Little Dashie does not tolerate Mediocrity in her video games!!
YOU FAILED ME Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations!!
Madara XIII OUT!![/HEADING]
MadaraXIII here everyone.
Been awhile since I've truly been active, but after playing a particular game for a good while I think it'd be the best reason to get back into The Escapist with another one of my super special awesome rainbow-tacular and harsh reviews!!
The game up on the chopping block is:
[HEADING=2]Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations[/HEADING]
Now if any of you read my previous review of Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (Here):
[link]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.240323-Madara-XIIIs-Naruto-Ultimate-Ninja-Storm-2-REVIEW#8666370[/link]
BUT AT LEAST THE FUCKING STORY FOR AC WAS ENGAGING!!!! Sorry, I'm getting too far ahead of myself there.
Ok then beginning the Review.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations isn't so much a sequel as it is a simple half-hearted attempt at combining the events that transpired in Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 and 2 and then just lazily tacking on the last bit of fun that everyone had anticipated in the trailers at the end.
The games story mode is somewhat deceptive as it promises to see the entire story from different perspectives. The perspectives being Young Naruto, Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi, Zabuza, Minato, Gaara of the Sand, Killer Bee and Madara Uchiha.
I say it's deceptive because it looks as if it'll take the Birth By Sleep road and just give bits and pieces to each story in a clever fashion. Well it does give bits and pieces, but not in a clever fashion.
To be honest my first impression had high hopes. Hopes that were killed withing a whopping 3 minutes of playing the game. That has got to be a new record at delivering disappointment.
STORY MODE
Ok then, now we move onto the break down of this dreaded story mode. The story mode starts us off with something neither Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 or 2 did. New Anime Cutscenes to tell the story. However if you think that all cutscenes will be like this then you are dead wrong. The rest of the story is told through lazy and half assed attempts at slide shows with the Third Hokage narrating each event like he's the Morgan Freeman of the Ninja world. And to say the entire story mode campaign is Abbreviated would be like saying "Vlad The Impaler was a slightly aggressive man who never grew out of his Anal-Sadistic phase"
Given the scope at how brief the story mode is, it'd take the layman no longer than a good 2 to 3 hours to beat EVERYONE'S STORY MODE. Provided you skip the horrible powerpoint presentations they call cutscenes.
Now my previous complaint for Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 was that the games' story mode was dragged out too long with trivial side quests and mindless collecting missions for Ninja Tools. It seems as if the developers must have heard my complaining and decided instead of weaving a story that drags on a bit too much, they'll give us a story that throws a freaking encyclopedia in our face to recount the events that took place. To be honest. The Story mode was disappointing, lazy, and just a pure waste of time.
FIGHTING and CONTROLS
Well on the bright side, and by bright side I mean the speck of daylight that appears over your head after a long night of rummaging through the bottom of the local landfill in hopes of finding sustenance; we are given the same controller layout as before only with a few slight tweaks so as to make the battle a bit more intense between players.
O - Standard attack and used for unleashing an Unholy amount of combos when combined with the Left Analog stick
X - is your jump, rush and evade button
Square- is you long range weapns such as, Kunai, ninja stars etc, etc
Triangle - is your Chakra charge that when combined with either Square, O or X can enhance those abilities considerably.
R1 and L1 - Calls in your assist characters
R2 - Your Standard Block Button and accompanying it with O will allow you to perform a grab attack at close range
L2 - This is now your substitution jutsu button which teleports your out of the way of your opponent and lands you directly behind them. However the new tweaks have limited your Substitution jutsu to be limited to 4 uses over a set period of time so as to keep you and your opponents on your toes and use your dodges wisely lest you leave yourself open for an absolutely unblockable combo and slew of attacks.
I APPROVE OF THIS SYSTEM
So the controls have definitely improved and have helped remove some of the cheapest tactics that were used in Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 and 2.
BOSS FIGHTS
You know how I was complaining about how short the story mode is? Well that can be extended into this category as well.
[HEADING=2]THERE WERE NO GODDAMN BOSSFIGHTS!!![/HEADING]
I say that with the utmost disappointment in my words as possible.
Why you may ask? Simply put, the new characters that were added in left for GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES for unique boss fights and challenging yet puzzling patterns combined with combat. I miss that. I miss it alot. Instead of Boss fights we're left with slightly overpowered AIs using the characters awakening state the whole match. If that's a boss fight then the Boston Massacre was an Actual Massacre. And as you history buffs know, that's a goddamn lie!
Well at least there are no quick time events this time around.....
Oh what the hell am I saying!? The quick time events in the previous games were actually well done and necessary so as to add some fun to the fights.
I can't believe I'm saying this for any type of game, but "I MISS THE QUICK TIME EVENTS"
STORY AND VOICE ACTING
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations does what it can to try and recall the key events of the first Naruto series and bridge them together with the Naruto Shippuden series. Sadly this attempt is a failure to even the biggest of optimists and as for the super special addition we were supposed to get?
We only got 1 arch added. An Arch that doesn't even last 10 minutes in Gameplay. It's like it was shoehorned in at the last minute. When Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 came out it added a whopping 7 Story arcs on top of the Ultimate Ninja Storm 1. It was put together in a practical fashion instead of tacked on just to introduce us briefly to the new characters we get to use.
However there is some saving grace to this God awful story re-hash.
THE VOICES. The voices are well done in both english and japanese in my opinion, but the English dubbing has definitely improved over time to a considerable amount.
I especially love Madara Uchiha's/Tobi's english voice. It's scary. It's sinister and threatening. It's the voice of a real villain rather than the drab and bland Japanese alternative.
But concerning the story, I was excited because we were getting Madara/Masked Man added to the story and as welcome as his presence is in this game it does not make up for the God Awful Display this game turned out to be.
MULTIPLAYER
The multiplayer stays the same as the previous two titles, only with the improved aforementioned tweaks that I listed in the controls above. So it has improved in that your opponents can no longer escape from your attacks with such ease anymore and has leveled the playing field so as to remove the abundant air of cheapness and replace it with a mild breeze. It's still there, but not in excessive amounts. Yes some characters are unbalanced but their strength remains true to their characters in the anime so I'm ok with this. To have a balanced fighter in Naruto would be like having a Skin head in a Black Panthers meeting. Out of place and no need to even belong. Pick your players wisely and I can assure you though as a fighting game expert, Top Tier does not always guarantee a win. Especially in this game.
FINAL VERDICT
I will not lie to you, fellow escapists. This game is bad. I mean bad. I do not recommend this game at all. It is not worth the $60 they want you to shovel out and the massive amounts of disappointment you will soon experience upon purchasing said unholy game disc.
To call this a game would be like calling HEAVY RAIN a game.
[HEADING=2]Yes I went there. Come at me bro.[/HEADING]
The story line is pure repetition of fight after fight accompanied with slide show after slide show telling us all what happened. Boring, annoying and just so disengaging. It breaks flow like a Horse menstruating while in heat.........Oh God I apologize for such an awful visualization.
Here's some Brain Bleach. You'll thank me.
But yes. To call this a game is a crime and to charge $60 for such a thing is a sin against not just God, but against every Eldritch Horror and Outer God to ever escape H.P. Lovecrafts' mind.
[HEADING=2] CTHULHU WEEPS FOR YOUR WALLET[/HEADING]
It's not a good game. And whatever positive traits this game has is severely outweighed by the lackadaisical story telling and disengaging campaign.
[HEADING=1]I give this game a 4.5 out of 10[/HEADING]
However there is ONE. ONE. ONE good thing about the story mode. And it is simply this video alone that can make those 2 awful hours of grinding through fight after fight seem worth it.
<youtube=O2k7VBiEsL8>
You know there is something wrong when a video of a rapping ninja is the silver lining of a video game.
Well hope you enjoyed this read.
Let me know what you think about it guys.
[HEADING=2]And Finally[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]My Little Dashie does not tolerate Mediocrity in her video games!!
YOU FAILED ME Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations!!
Madara XIII OUT!![/HEADING]
