There’s a demo out for the new PS3 Naruto game, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. The game is beautiful looking – but it obviously invites the comparison between the 360 version Rise of a Ninja.
Now, as far as I can tell with Ultimate Ninja Storm (I mean, all I played was a one-stage demo with two characters) it’s only a fighting game. It doesn’t have the same platforming mechanic as Rise of a Ninja. That’s both a good and bad thing. I liked the open world environment where you could explore Konoha in the 360 version… but at the same time, near the end of the game it began to get a little repetitive doing the side-quest missions.
The PS3 version appears to focus mainly on the fights (I assume, again, haven’t played it yet). As far as I can tell it at least covers the first 80 episodes, which will take you to the Garra fight in Season three. That’s where the 360 version ended. Now… if PS3 goes beyond that — awesome! I would love to see it go all the way to the fifth hokage arc. That would be epic!
Here’s where Ultimate Ninja shines: it’s just about fighting, and it totally catches the essence of Naruto. In just the demo level you can fight on land, on water, and even on the side of a mountain! The characters adapt to the environment that you subject them to. And it’s so seamless it actually feels like these ninjas know what they’re doing.
The fighting mechanic is pretty simplistic. I like that it’s easy to pick up but (I assume) requires skill to master. I button mashed my way through the first fight and did all right… until I died at the end. Once I got a feel for the controls the fight moved along smoother. Compare this to Rise of a Ninja… which had an excellent ninjitsu mechanic – but it was really alienating to new users.
Basically, Rise of a Ninja did something awesome: it gave you control of hand-seals with the analog sticks. You hold down a trigger to charge your power and form the seals with the sticks. Usually the pattern was two or three motions and you’d have to charge the move to control the power level. It makes you feel proud when you pull it off — but at the same time, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re at a huge disadvantage. Ultimate Ninja makes fighting a lot of fun. It’s kinda like the characters realize what you wanted to do and just do that.
I’ve heard there’s no online play with the PS3 title, just two-player fights and a single player campaign. The 360 version did have online multiplayer… but it was kinda broken at first and later dominated by people who were way better than me, so I didn’t really care. I’m okay with a lack of online play, although I’m sure other people won’t be so forgiving.
I’m not sure which of the two games look better. I think the edge goes to the PS3 on this one. Granted, there are less character models to focus on and fewer environments (simply arenas rather than full areas to explore full of spikes, coins, and explosive tags). It’s cool that both of the games contained both the Japanese and English voice-overs. I know there was some Rise of a Ninja DLC which added additional characters, but Ultimate Ninja Storm feels like it will have even more characters to play. In any case, I’m excited to have a PS3 right now.
… but, with that having been said; I’ve been playing MGS4 lately… and the game is so overrated. I feel like I don’t really play it, just move Snake to the next place where a cut-scene will play. I know, the criticism has been made before — but considering that you can just knock someone out with unlimited ammo gun it feels like there isn’t much in the way of sneaking involved. I felt more suspense with Uncharted when fighting all of those crazy mercanaries. And zombie things. It is just the beginning… so hopefully it will pick up soon. Hopefully.
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