Experience the Entire Naruto Saga in Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections - Preview

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Bandai Namco was all in on New York Comic Con this year. At the main entrance stood giant inflatable figures of Cell Max and Orange Piccolo of Dragon Ball fame, and inside the Javits Center over 25,000 square feet were dedicated to all things Bandai Namco. There were booths for Dragon Ball, Naruto, My Hero Academia, and The Gundam Base — to name just a few — and demo stations for SandLand and Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash.

For members of the gaming media, there were also opportunities to test out Bandai Namco's upcoming game Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections via an extended hands-on demo. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Brand Manager David Alonzo and Lead Producer Hotaka Suto to get a first-hand look at the action/fighting game that celebrates 20 years of the Naruto anime — not to mention 15 years of the Ultimate Ninja Storm video game series.

For the uninitiated, Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, like the Storm series games before it, is a free-roaming arena fighter in the style of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi games, or the "Field Phase" in Pokkén Tournament. 

For this demo, Alonzo walked me through two climactic fights from the game's "History Mode", a single-player story mode that consolidates the entire storylines of the Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden animated series into one epic tale, for the first time ever. "It cuts down everything into a condensed experience," said Alonzo. "So you can experience the full Naruto storyline in about seven hours."

Note: in addition to History Mode, the game will launch with an offline Versus Mode, an Online Battle Mode with ranked and casual matches, and a unique single-player mode called "Special Story Mode", which tells an original, exclusive story focused on Naruto's son Boruto.

My first fight in History Mode took place against Naruto's rival Sasuke. I was treated to a procession of anime still scenes, along with narration introducing the background and stakes of the fight, and then dropped into the match. I used the X button to fling a few spray-and-pray projectiles at Sasuke before closing the gap and then deployed as many primary and special attacks as possible. My favorite: a "Clone Jutsu" move where I swung a cloned version of myself at Sasuke like a hammer. It never got old.

After doing enough damage to Sasuke's health bar, I triggered a cinematic quick-time event that marked the end of one phase of the battle. Even as someone without an allegiance to the Naruto IP, it was rather thrilling. I can only imagine how hardcore fans will react to recreating all the epic, spectacular showdowns from the series.

Ultimately, based on my brief time with the game, I expect that these loyal fans of Naruto, either of the anime or the Storm sub-series, will get the most out of Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections. Not only does it boast two unique story modes, one designed exclusively for the game, but it features 130 playable characters — the largest roster in the history of the series. 

While Naruto agnostics and Storm rookies won't get nearly as much satisfaction from Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections, they should find it more approachable than past installments, thanks to something designed to ease inexperienced players into the game's complex fighting mechanics: an optional Simple Control Mode. It greatly simplifies the control scheme and allows beginners to perform complicated techniques with a single button. "For people that are new to it, that want to just play through the story or get a feel for how the fights are, the Simple Control Mode allows you to play with training wheels before you level up to the full Normal Control Mode," said Alonzo.

The new simple control scheme helped me a lot in my second fight, this one against Ninetails, the spirit creature sealed within Naruto as a child. I was able to perform a Chakra Dash with a single button press, and escape the spirit's downward smash.

Overall, the battle with Ninetails marked my favorite part of the demo. The fight had an amazing atmosphere and an intimidating sense of scale, helped by the beast's giant size. It also looked lovely, courtesy of some upgraded current-gen shading and lighting effects. Most importantly, it felt different. Unlike my skirmish with Sasuke, which unfolded according to typical 1v1 fighting expectations, my battle against Ninetails had more of a hack-and-slash/action-RPG vibe — like a boss battle out of Devil May Cry, or even Dark Souls. There are about six of these large-scale battles in the game, according to Alonzo.

The showdown with Ninetails, apart from engaging me mechanically, piqued my interest on a narrative level. Indeed, after leaving New York Comic Con, I started watching the original Naruto anime. In the end, I imagine that's the point of Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections — to simultaneously reward longtime fans of the series and serve as a gateway into the Naruto universe for neophytes.

"The people that are Naruto diehard fans, or the people that grew up with it and aren't as connected with it anymore, it's a way for them to dive back into that world and feel that power of their favorite characters," remarked Alonzo. "...[and] people that maybe aren't even familiar with Naruto, they can get into the world and figure out which character is their favorite, and understand the storyline by playing through the History Mode."

"I think the Connections game is a way to bring all those people together into one game."

 
I'd like to thank David Alonzo and Hotaka Suto for walking me through the game, and Fortyseven Communications for arranging the demo. Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections will launch November 17, 2023 on PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and Windows PC. Read more about the game on the Bandai Namco website.

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