Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto has finally landed also on Switch, in conjunction with an additional DLC, New Generations, available for purchase also on other consoles. The title arrives as a “complete package” on the game system of the big N, after an absence that was starting to weigh on given the 4 years since its release on Xbox and Playstation.
For the uninitiated, Road to Boruto is the closing expansion of Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, almost unanimously considered the best title in the series and, less unanimously but with an abundant majority, one of the best fighting gender on the market. Of course it must be said that in general this type of game, closely linked with some of the most famous manga and anime series of martial arts, has reached that "golden sunset" typical of successful sagas. On the one hand, in fact, there is a reliable and fun gameplay, flanked by a physiologically exciting plot, on the other a system that ages without rejuvenating and that is proposed again with you change of dress as continuous as they are ephemeral.
Nothing new in the Naruto house
From the point of view of the plot, the product traces the deed of Naruto and company starting from the Fourth World War of the Ninja, adding in the content of Road to Boruto the story of the son of our. The 4 hours of DLC, perhaps exaggeratedly sparse for those who waited for it after 12 months from Ninja Storm 4, are very well suited to this formula Assessment, which offers an overall abundant and satisfying content. The game therefore offers both the classic mode Story - where we will retrace the most significant battles in the course of the long and complex (if not sometimes chaotic) plot of the original work - that the less attractive Adventure mode. In the latter, to a just mentioned free roaming, the need to solve fairly trivial quests is connected, with the usual and much more palatable martial clashes at the end.
Whatever the choice of game mode, however, the central point of the experience is the combat system, in my humble opinion one of the best of this kind of fighting softcore. Based on an apparently simple parterre of moves, Ninja Storm 4 inserts a whole series of measures aimed at increasing the strategic complexity of the battle, first of all the presence of a combat team, with which to alternate during the battle in order to keep under check the progress of the same.
Closely related to this feature is also that of Jutsu team, simplistically summarized in elemental damage: the fire that gradually reduces the HP, the electricity that combined with the environmental interaction (read "puddles") increases the attack and so on. In addition to the Jutsu, the system of breaking the "costume" should also be noted, thanks to which it is possible to drastically lower the opponent's defenses. Finally, the ability to walk on walls was also reintroduced. In general, this video game renders the feedback of the agile and fast movement characteristic of the ninja of Naruto, also thanks to the vast and well-characterized fighting arenas. The winning aspect, however, remains that of the grandeur of the battles, which manages not to disfigure even in this porting for Switch, which holds its own against competing consoles even in the portable version.
A great port for the big N
Technically in short, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 turns out to be a quality videogame, obviously from the point of view of the transposition on the Nintendo system, assuming that the excellent workmanship of the product has been well known for some time. I admit that I was quite worried about the final result, especially for the portability plays. Actually to the already excellent performance in mode docked, the title manages to hold up a more than good level even with the Switch in hand. A result undoubtedly remarkable. I also add that, net of the objective repetitiveness of the series, the graphic sector becomes a fundamental component to raise the global bar of the evaluation. Finally, the great fluidity of commands and inputs, as well as the almost total absence of lag and frame rate drops, these features are also practically essential for any self-respecting fighting game.
