It was in the magnificent Japanese room of the Pagoda, an arthouse cinema in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, and in its green gardens that we were able to discover this fourth opus of the Ultimate Ninja Storm saga, in the company of the game producers and CyberConnect2 studio head Hiroshi Matsuyama. For those who are not fans of Masashi Kishimoto's manga and arrived on this page by the unfortunate slip of a finger on the mouse, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 focuses on the events between the destruction of Konoha by Pain and the Fourth Ninja War. Only part of the game was revealed to us, but we were nevertheless able to see the return of the Adventure mode (the equivalent of a "Story" mode) through a long gameplay sequence: Chapter 4, which concerns the birth of Naruto. Even if we haven't seen anything of its interface, it is clear that CyberConnect 2 went back to what was done in the second episode of the series in 2010: a scenario divided into chapters that correspond to the narration of the manga, the possibility to evolve in more or less open environments with secondary quests to complete or not and interactions with NPCs.
The duration of the "Adventure" mode should not however suffer from this and Mr. Matsuyama even promises a lifespan three times longer than that of Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, which already reached 30 hours of easy play!
According to Matsuyama-san, CyberConnect2 has however reworked the rhythm of the adventure to obtain something more controlled and more coherent. Thus, it will probably no longer be possible to dodge a fight that awaits you by going to pick mushrooms for this or that mission. The goal is obviously to avoid the lengths of the second opus and to stick to the rhythm of the events of the manga which accelerate considerably, the end of the series approaching fast. However, the duration of the "Adventure" mode should not suffer and Mr. Matsuyama even promises a lifespan three times longer than that of Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, which already reached 30 hours of easy play! Good news which is accompanied by the strong comeback of real cinematics, created with the game engine, and which had been replaced by a succession of scandalous fixed images in Generations. We thus attended with pleasure in a movie theater the mastery of Kyuubi by Naruto, the meeting with his mother Kushina and the story of the attack on the village of Konoha 16 years earlier. The anime also take a big hit in the lanterns in passing as the graphic quality of the game is close to a cartoon rendering. Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 therefore promises to be extremely faithful to the manga, including in the smallest details of the story, even if it means integrating long minutes of cutscenes that are always very appreciable for fans and instructive for neophytes.
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This very advanced screenplay aspect continues, as in previous titles, to invite itself to the very heart of the fights with the help of QTEs and cut-scenes which energize the games and reinforce the player's immersion, and this especially in gigantic boss fights. As we announced during the Japan Expo, these are making a comeback. We were then able to play the fight between the 3rd Hokage and Kyuubi. This time, it was the confrontation between Naruto and his stowaway that we were able to witness. If the QTEs always take the lion's share, we must admit that the fights are still downright damn good. Note that the demon-fox was also surprisingly mobile, moving from the foreground to the background regularly and turning around the blond ninja in order to force him to move. Still difficult to know if there is still any challenge in these face-to-faces, but the game now offers you thanks to the Ultimate Decision to adjust the difficulty of a fight before starting it. So Naruto could accept Killer Bee's help or refuse it to defeat his demon and gain more Ninja Points this way.
It will be understood, the Receptacles of the Tailed Demons, the famous Jinchuurikis, are at the heart of this new episode since the nine hosts are now all playable!
It will be understood, the Receptacles of the Tailed Demons, the famous Jinchuurikis, are at the heart of this new episode since the nine hosts are now all playable! We were able to try them and face them controller in hand and the least we can say is that they risk dividing the players. They have indeed the titanic power of their demon and in this form, they are almost unbeatable. However, the Awakening mode system has been revised and if some characters have an Awakening that can be activated from the start of the fight, the Hosts can only transform if their life gauge is in the red zone. A welcome balance, even if one wonders how Tenten or Shikamaru will be able to face such monstrosities, which take up a huge space in the arena and literally corner the opponent... Only Sasuke and his Susano were clearly the weight . Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 therefore remains a game that is more tactical than technical, you must always use your Supports and objects wisely, manage your combat distance (except against the Bijuu of course). Seen from here, the recipe has not changed much, but it remains effective. We are waiting to learn more about the content of the Adventure mode, the power of the other fighters, the new special attacks, the interactivity with the environments to know whether or not Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is only a simple character-packed expansion.
