In NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment brings us yet another Multiplayer combat driven online action game based upon the fan-favorite popular Manga/Anime series Naruto. It’s developed by a new game developer named Soleil with this game Shinobi Striker being its first development. Unlike many previous Naruto fighter game installments, players are given the opportunity to create their own ninja and not without the exception of also playing your favorite characters from the series like previous games but will also serve as VR Masters to your Protagonist (which ill get into detail along in review points further below). Although those few new additions to the Naruto To Boruto game may excite fans of the series and action genre, there are many anchors that withhold this game from performing what it could be with some of them being the most simplistic or basic errors so lets begin…
Story/Timeline/Character
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER takes place after the Fourth Shinobi World War which was the final story arc of the Naruto Shippuden series in which the story then transferred onto his son Boruto, the games current setting.
- Character Creation/Introduction/Progression
In the Beginning your given the option of creating your own ninja/Protagonist with variants of choosing gender, skin color, hair, clothing and finally his/her ninja village. Most of the clothing options are basic military village gear, but as you progress through the game you will unlock iconic outfits and ninjitsus from the anime franchise through loot called “ninja scrolls” tier like variants.by the way that the gear isn’t there to make you look pretty as they give you perk enhancements like increased damage at critical health or faster sprint. Choosing your Ninja Village however is pointless and serves absolutely no purpose to the game other than showing off the Villages emblem on your characters headband. You’re not at least given a settlement in your own selected village, because the game only takes place in a Online Hub-ish area in the center of the Leaf village. This is where you will periodically visit several vendors as you level up. These vendors are main characters of the franchise such as Sasuke, Sakura ,TenTen, and Kakashi. The hub is very basic and extremely easy to get around however, I wish the vendors were enter-able rather than a interaction screen once you engage with them.
Something important to note for gamers that are looking for a cinematic/story driven-experience will be very disappointed, as the games serves mostly as an online action orientated game with literally zero story. The main premise is to achieve being the strongest shinobi ever through a tournament called Ninja League Tournament. There you progress through repetitive VR Missions (Virtual Reality Missions) that simulate past combat events in the anime franchise. Then barely does as all of them on the Multiplayer maps. Another thing that bugs me about the VR Missions are the cut scenes always exclude your character to not not appear in any of them, this is lazy design of the game and doesn’t make the player feel immersed in the story of what is taking place within the missions.
VR Masters & Combat Mechanics
In order to achieve those cool iconic jitsus such as Rasengan you must visit Sasuke (The VR Master Vendor). The VR Master serves towards your combat progression and obtaining new skills by selecting a variety of iconic characters within the Naruto universe, including villains (as they are just virtually simulated beings after all) to serve as your master. However, only one can be selected at a time and leveled up as you complete any VR mission from Kakashi or online competitive tournament.
Online Tournament/Combat
The Online combat is based around 4 class types: Attack (aggresive) Range (Distance) Defense (Hold/Securing) and Healing. Each Class gives different categories of jitsus such as healing giving you mostly Sakuras justus or Kabutos. You only have two ninjustu slots which have varying cooldown rates based upon it and a Secret Ninjustu Technique which is basically your massive damage move with of course a big charge time before use. you also have the option to play as your created ninja or a iconic master. The difference is playing as your character allows you to play with your modified setups such as using Naruto’s rasengan with Kakashi’s Sharingan or what ever two justus you selected. Playing masters gives their unchangeable default setups.
Their are 4 game modes that are randomly selected during Quick Matches: Combat (Team Deathmatch) Barrier Battle, Flag Battle, and Base Battle. all game modes are team based with 2 teams of 4 At first when you experience online matches it can be fun with the thought of the various ninjustu setups until you realize how bias the system is towards certain abilities.
The right Class abilities to objective game modes can usually turn the tide such as the Defense class comes in handy in objective modes especially base battle with Gaara’s sand shield making you invisible for sometime However Defense is the most weakest class even below healer because you can barely do any type of combat effectively. Heck even Healer can help you and your team push aggressively in outnumbering enemy’s. Attacker alone is the most op class with it being obvious making it worst because of its Planetary devastation Jutsu even after nerf.
The Biggest problem however is the lackluster combat system. In all honesty its a spam festival. i have won many matches as Attacker spamming kunai to stagger then using Ninjustus rinse and repeat against all other classes. Not to mention to have teammates that understands the same concept, you will be unstoppable as an all Attacker class. Healers can be decent and same with Range but only as co-signers for Attackers.
Also Blocking needs a rework as your forced to stand still. if you accidentally move your analog your finished.
Camera Angles/Movement
Another thing to note is the camera angles and lock on systems needs a big overhaul. even though a recent patch fixed the camera angles being off especially against walls The Lock-on system can be extremely not precise with switching to your specified target near impossible which is graving damaging to a fast paced combat jumping game such as this in crowded combat
Conclusion
If your a big fan of everything Naruto related regardless of content than you will probably enjoy this however on a pragmatic point of view this game doesn’t hold up to a $60 price tag but feels more of a mini MMO. It’s a fun game but can diminish its fun factor due to its lack of content with only 4 game modes and small amount of perks at launch. The VR missions are all just re skinned multiplayer map missions that are sometimes constructed awkwardly when you realize your going around in laps. Now don’t get me wrong this game is fun but after a month I was willing to stop playing and move on to other games. I would suggest them doing a major update adding multiple classic characters with their ninjutsu such as Madara, Sage of Six paths, Hashirama. Adding a huge overhaul of all ninjutsu to add a completely better combat system like buffing defense to have increased damage every time there shielding is hit. Personally I enjoyed the moments of having a created character in the Naruto universe but I didn’t feel immersed with having one as I felt sidelined in cut scenes within the VR missions.