Naruto: "Ultimate Ninja Storm" Series

[Joe]

So we dont clog up that other thread with our jibber jabber.

Heres the latest trailer for NSUNS2

Shows off some pretty cool characters and boss fights.

There was only 3 real boss fights in Storm 1; which were against Gamabunta, Shukaku & Manda (big fights). The ones in this next one seem like they blend the normal combat fighting with different quick time events and scenarios.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I found a used copy of the first game at my local gamestop that I'm gonna go pick up tonight.

I'm hoping to get the hang of the mechanics of the first game, so that I'll hopefully have an edge on things when the second game comes out. The changes that I've noticed between the demos are an improvement in making it feel more fluid/natural. The QTE cut scenes feel really good, it doesn't look like there's the button falling combo things, and the Ultimate Ninjutsu are Triangle + Circle (hold), not Triangle + Circle 2x. The Awakening Mode seems cool, but I haven't ever gotten to a point where I've used it...

I managed to S Rank the demo of the second game last night (had only A ranked it previously), which made me pretty happy, since I've gotten Kakashi's movements down, so I can take him down more easily, and dodge those damned Suiton Dragon. I'm still not really great at the Kawarimi though. REALLY looking forward to starting through the first game tonight.


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[Joe]

I haven't seen any ultimate Jutsu's being actively used in trailers in the second game (well I might have, and just mistook them for normal jutsus) so I have no idea if the falling button combo is back. You cant use ultimates in the demo for the second so we dont really know yet.

Awakening mode looks much more awesome in Storm 2. In the first game, less than half of the awakening modes actually actively made a big difference in battle. Many of the others only served as visual changes and stat buffs. As far as I can tell with Storm 2, all of the awakening modes have been changed big. Saw Asuma for example has the massive chakra blades as his, which then changes his combos to be more aggressive.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I haven't seen any ultimate Jutsu's being actively used in trailers in the second game (well I might have, and just mistook them for normal jutsus) so I have no idea if the falling button combo is back. You cant use ultimates in the demo for the second so we dont really know yet.

In the Demo for 2:

Triangle + Circle = Rasengan
Triangle + Circle (hold) = Odama Rasengan

I'd assumed that this was a change from how the first game did upgraded Jutsu, since I didn't notice them in the Demo for 1 but having not played it yet, I'm not sure.

Awakening mode looks much more awesome in Storm 2. In the first game, less than half of the awakening modes actually actively made a big difference in battle. Many of the others only served as visual changes and stat buffs. As far as I can tell with Storm 2, all of the awakening modes have been changed big. Saw Asuma for example has the massive chakra blades as his, which then changes his combos to be more aggressive.

Good to know, so I don't try too heavily to rely on them. The idea of each character having an Awakening Mode is really cool, especially because it allows for creativity on their part, and seeing each character really maxed out. I wonder if there are different ones for the same Characters For example:

Sasuke >> Cursed Seal / Susano'o

Naruto >> 1/2/3/4/6 Tails.


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[Joe]

As far as the Rasengan and Giant Rasengan go, I think its the designers being creative and finding a ridiculously easy way to make two ninjutsu accessible with the same button combination. This is a good thing. So I believe that these are just two standard jutsu's being used. I think we have yet to see what Naruto in storm 2 has as his ultimate.


As for different awakening modes I may have the answer. Sasuke had two awakening modes in the first game and it was easily made simple, he had two outfits. His usual blue and white outfit, and then his chuunin exam black outfit. The moves were mostly the same although;

Blue Outfit: Awakening mode = Cursed Seal stage 2. Ultimate jutsu = Chidori (cursed seal 1 active)

Black outfit: Awakening mode = Sharingan activated (Automatically dodges some attacks) . Ultimate Jutsu = Chidori (w/ sharingan)


Combo's and jutsu choices were otherwise the same, but they managed to fit more into the same character.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

As far as the Rasengan and Giant Rasengan go, I think its the designers being creative and finding a ridiculously easy way to make two ninjutsu accessible with the same button combination. This is a good thing. So I believe that these are just two standard jutsu's being used. I think we have yet to see what Naruto in storm 2 has as his ultimate.

As for different awakening modes I may have the answer. Sasuke had two awakening modes in the first game and it was easily made simple, he had two outfits. His usual blue and white outfit, and then his chuunin exam black outfit. The moves were mostly the same although;

Blue Outfit: Awakening mode = Cursed Seal stage 2. Ultimate jutsu = Chidori (cursed seal 1 active)

Black outfit: Awakening mode = Sharingan activated (Automatically dodges some attacks) . Ultimate Jutsu = Chidori (w/ sharingan)


Combo's and jutsu choices were otherwise the same, but they managed to fit more into the same character.

That makes sense now that I've seen more from the first game. I like the ability to charge up the Jutsu in the second game, and I'm looking forward to it even more. I like that the Costume Changes take care of the slight differences in Awakening Modes, and not ONLY in appearance. I think it'd be cool if it slightly altered their Ultimate Ninjutsu as well.

Spoiler: Manga-related spoiler

I can't wait until we get a game where he's got the Awakening Mode of his new Life Chakra-Based, Controlled Kyuubi Chakra form.

As for the first game: I picked it up last night (managed to luck out and get the steelbox collectors edition in great condition, used for $25).

Konohagakure is REALLY pretty, I get a little lost wandering around grabbing secret scrolls, but I'm starting to learn my way around. I wish I could adjust the camera speed for rotating, and that the snap to forward facing was L3 and not R3, but it's just a minor annoyance, nothing really problematic. I do wish taht the town would stay the way I left it rather than regenerating after every mission, though I do appreciate the $. The movement is really nice, and feels just like running around in the anime. I managed to find my way up to the 3rd Hokage, and have only been thwarted scaling a building a couple times by auto-grabbing wires when I was trying to jump past it, though their benefit of zooming through town far outweighs that issue. It's interesting playing the game now, because it really is more like flashbacks, because everyone's so young, and still learning.

I've aced my way through the Genin Arc, and got all the stars on the Flashback missions so far. Mostly just caught up fighting Kakashi, so nothing TOO special, though I was kinda hoping to see Zabuza, though after checking the Character List would've clued me in on that, and getting the random A Rank mission in the middle of the Genin arc would make for a tough game curve. I've got a D Rank mission that I haven't tried yet, but I'll hit it up before getting into the Chunin Arc tonight (hopefully).


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[X-SOLDIER]

From THIS IMAGE, it looks like 4-Tails Naruto will have it's own Character, so I'm assuming that it could eventually get a 6-Tails Awakening Mode (if they don't do it as a seperate costume). I'd also guess that Normal Naruto & Sage Mode Naruto will be handled by different costumes and slightly altered move sets. I would assume that Normal Naruto's "Naruto-Only Rasengan >> Naruto-&-Clone Odama Rasengan" would change to "Naruto-Only Odama Rasengan >> Rasen Shuriken" or something in Sage Mode.

Spoiler: This week's manga spoiler

I'm actually CRAZY excited to be able to play as Konan after her totally out-of-nowhere wrecking the shit out of Madara. It was a really good tactic on her part, though I'm excited to see the rest of the story about Madara suposedly giving Nagato his Rinnegan.

That said, I'm progressing through the Chunin arc rather smoothly, and am attempting to unlock more characters to play with in VS. Any tips on which support characters / techniques are really good, aside from Sakon's Rashoumon that you mentioned earlier? (It'd be interesting if you could choose yourself as a support character and just perform the extra moves on L1 and R1).



***ANIME/MANGA DISCUSSION MOVED TO RELEVANT THREAD***


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[Joe]

I'd say my most used support characters are Sakon (for his amazing ability to quickly render anything the opponent throws at you useless) Neji (8 Trigrams rotation is also a really useful shield, and is very easy to damage with at the same time) Kidōmaru & Kabuto (They're ability to trap/put to sleep opponents is very useful for those times you need to just pull off that finishing ultimate move).
I'll also say that if you gather enough secret scrolls and purchase the required support jutsu, A combination of Sasuke, Itachi and Kakashi all having equipped their Fireball jutsu is lethal. Even though only one of them will hit full-on, its almost a gauranteed hit if you use them all together.

Also you mentioned in the that you'd like to see slight differences in ultimates between different awakening modes. For sasuke this is true. With his Sharingan activated, his ultimate chidori is blue, wheras if he is using Cursed Seal stage 1, it is purple. When in CS2 the whole animation is different (aswell as his moveset) and the chidori is black.

Spoiler: another manga-related spoiler

Although I dont actually read the manga, I like to keep up to date with whats happening in it. I think the game is only including material up to the current episode of the Anime. This would likely be the death of Nagato, or maybe just before this.
I find it a shame though, as Kankuro (one of my most used characters) will have very little changes, only including his 3rd puppet. I'd love to have seen him use his 4th puppet in the game, would have made him much more of a popular choice.

If they do with this game what they did in the first, releasing support-only characters (like the 1st hokage and 2nd hokage who aren't featured much) they might add support-only for characters like:
- Sakumo Hatake
- The non-playable paths of Pain (I believe 3 are fully playable, and the other 3 just appear in attacks, but they could easily just be made supports)
- Hanzō

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Finished the Konoha Crush Arc, and got to the Tsunade Arc this weekend. I've 3-starred all the missions so far. I may have gotten farther, but my lady & I decided to tear through the anime (we watched from the point where Tsunade meets with Orochimaru all the way until the end of the Gaara/Lee vs. Kimimaro fight - only 8 episodes left before Shippuden).

I played around in Vs. Mode to see people's Ultimate Ninjutsu, and Awakening Mode / Ultimate Ninjutsu. I was kinda sad that some people who COULD have had alternate ones didn't seem to have them.
• Chouji's butterfly mode with the Chili Pill as an Awakening Mode would've been nice, but even just the left hand punch as an Ultimate Ninjutsu for his Awakening Mode.
• Neji's switching to his 8 Trigrams 128 palms attack (from the 64 palms) in Awakening Mode.

I do believe that the game is up to current with the anime. I think that all the suggestions you list are good, though they'll probably have to wait until the anime covers that stuff before releasing it into an Ultimate Ninja Storm game. Although, Hinata had better have her Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists in some form (because that's right around where it seems to end).


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[Joe]

I'm sure she will, otherwise they wont have much to add for her.

I was hoping to see a different form for Gaara's awakening mode. Would have been great to see a half-formed shukaku mode.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I finished the the main storyline this week. I 3-starred everything in the storyline missions, and the D & C-rank ones, now I'm about halfway through the B-rank missions. Cleared out Ichiraku, and apparently still have things I need from the Item Shop (that I've never used). I'm still curious as to why on earth there's SO MANY damn secret scrolls constantly spawning, since I can't seem to find a use for them since Iruka's all bought out (haven't really looked for one either, though). I've got all the Figures, about half the Ultimate Jutsu Movies, and some of the songs.

It's a ton of fun, and I'm looking forward to playing more vs. since I've unlocked everyone, and can start some of the characters in Awakening Mode. I've found two support characters that I really like: 3rd Hokage's Shadow Shuriken, and Jiraiya's Rasengan. Shadow Shuriken is by far my favorite ranged attack I've tried thus far, because it has a small delay, and hits really reliably, and it's nice to call him in and strafe away, or close in for an attack. Rasengan is a good move, but pulling it off with Naruto in combat is really chakra consuming, and it's also really good if an enemy's blocking for dealing a bunch of hits really quickly to wear down their resistance. Still trying out more of the characters to see who I like playing as, since I've spent the majority of my time with Naruto.

Still really glad that I'll be able to move on to the Shippuden game in ~ 3 weeks, because I'm looking forward to kicking ass with "current" Naruto.


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[Joe]

To be honest I dont think there are any other uses for the secret scrolls. Its a shame that not all characters are available for additional support moves, but they took a big handful of the best ones anyway.

I've been using mainly Itachi recently in VS because his speed if ridiculously great, plus he has an additional move that allows him to instantly close the distance between himself and an enemy, ignoring any and all obstacles within the path between them. Kankuro is also an interesting one as his tactics and fighting style are so different to every other character.

I'll link in some gameplay footage when I'm back from work later. Seen some extra combat with more characters in Storm 2. Shows Kankuro simulataneously using his first two puppets in battle, rather than just the first one. Awakening modes are great, and each character seems to have a mode unique to them that affects combos and everything. Hinata has the twin lion fist, which packs a hella punch. Kankuro hides in his 3rd puppet and fights like that (awesome transition). Lee and Guy are both ridiculously faster in their eight gates mode, a lot more so than in the first game. Asuma's flying swallow mode has his chakra blades extend to a massive length, changing all of his combos.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Good thing I have like 6,000 of them.

Kankuro really intrigued me when I fought against him. I think the rest of them are just getting around to trying them out.

Awesome. Can't wait to see them.

I think that everyone having a good, unique Awakening Mode is key to the second game. I just hope that they have the ability to create a match for everyone in their Awakening Mode (I just unlocked it for the first game, and haven't tried it yet, but it would be awesome if done right).

Although it would probably require some creativity as to why to include them and how they fight, (expecially for the 5 & 7 tails' hosts), I think it'd be cool to have
all of the Jinchuuriki as well as their Tailed forms in a game like this.



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[Joker]

ITT: two people post back and forth



btw is this actually worth looking into playing? The less like the recent DBZ titles it is, the better.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

ITT: two people post back and forth

Hahaha, mostly. The first game's kinda old, and we're the only people excited about the second game apparently.

Really, I'd download the demo for Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and give it a try, as that's what sold me on the game. The combat's simple but technical, and well thought out so that it plays like it looks in the anime. The Demo for the second one doesn't show Awakening Modes or Ultimate Justsu though, so be aware that there's more to it. The Demo for the first one has those.


On a side note, I remembered my biggest annoyance about the Story Mode Missions: The fact that you can't 3 star a match the first time. I REALLY wish that if you'd achieved one of the hidden achievements for the battles that it would give you the star and reveal it, rather than having to do each fucking battle/match/whatever twice. I can't tell you how many times that I beat someone in 60 counts and finished them with an Ultimate Jutsu, only to reveal that I had to go do it the exact same way again.


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[Joe]

I know the vids aren't great quality, but they are the only ones at the moment showing footage of these characters. Have a look through them Kimble and see what you think.

@X- I think of all the playable characters, there is only one not yet announced. The only Jinchuuriki are Naruto, Bee and Gaara (I think its fair to presume that this is Gaara post-jinchuuriki though)

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I wish I could've seen more, but Naruto's 4-tails looks awesome. Really pleased with Asuma's Awakening Mode as well. Kankuro looks like he's going to be wicked interesting to play with because he's SO different, also awesome Awakening Mode. Sasuke's interesting, because he starts with his shirt on, but goes into cursed seal for his Awakening Mode, and when it's done, his shirt stays around his waist, interesting that it doesn't just revert back to the previous costume, but it's a nice touch.

I think that when Naruto does the Kyuubi-chakra Rasengan in the fight against Asuma, it's because the jutsu gets further modified when your Storm Gage maxes out. It looks like that's the case when Kakashi does his Mangekyo Sharingan (but misses) against Sasuke. If this is the case, that's TOTALLY awesome, and a really good powerup between that and Awakening Mode, and adds in some variety as well for a REALLY large move lineup for the characters.

The support system looks a LOT more well rounded, and I'm excited to get my hands on it and try it out. I'm hoping that Kawirimi feels more responsive, because I had a tough time with it in the first game, because it's on a trigger rather than a button, so sometimes it felt like it SHOULD have gone, but didn't. The Sakura / Hinata fight had a lot of it, and feels like this might be the case.

Neji's 64 plams dash forwards looks awesome. Hinata's Twin Lion Fists Awakening Mode, makes her rotating 64 (Palms?) attack gets slow motion rather than changing into another justu. The interesting thing is that I found this video, and Twin Lion Fists looks like it's also a Ninjutsu, which makes me wonder if it that justu has an enhanced version in her Awakening Mode.

Lastly, I'm pretty sure that this list would have all the characters, I was just saying that it'd be cool to have a game with the other Jinchuuriki in the future.



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[Joker]

I think that the only characters that seems interesting is Neji

 

[X-SOLDIER]

In the whole series, or from the clips?

-because there's about 40 characters playable in this game...


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[Joker]

In the game

 

[Joe]

The other jinchuriiki could well be avalaible at some point as support-only downloads, just like those characters were in the first game.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I forgot about Support Only Characters.

I'm wondering if Anko, Kurenai, Shizune, and a few others Shippuden Characters that aren't getting full characters will still be support only. For new ones, I'd normally suggest Ino/Shika/Cho's parents, but I think that they'd be duplicates of their kids' abilities, but I'd love to have the Konohamaru Corp, (along with the other Jinchuriki as I mentioned before, though that's a bit doubtful that'll be planned).

As for deceased support characters I think it's POSSIBLE, though very doutful that 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Hokage might come back as support characters, since they're apparently including Minato, who is also deceased. If they do, I'd love to have White Fang as a support character.
I think that Jirobo, Kidomaru, Sakon, Tayuya, & Kimimaro are very unlikely to show up though, since they're relatively minor, and don't really come up at all after the first series.


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[Joe]

Aye Minato and Tobi have been the latest (and to my knowledge, last) characters released.
I think you might be spot on with the possible support-only. As Shizune/Kurenai/Anko are still present in Shippuden, playing more or less the same role they did in part 1.
1st and 2nd may come back, and I'd like to see 3rd hokage come back somehow, even if its not as a playable character.
White Fang would be awesome to see but I'm not sure if there enough on him to make a support out of. Another possible support-only could be Guren, she had some unique abilities.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Guren's an anime-only character, so I'm not sure she'd make an appearance, though I'm not sure how they're working with anime vs. manga in terms of filler material. White Fang gets brought up by Chiyo when she meets Kakashi, and Kakashi sees him when he gets killed by Yahiko/Deva Path, so I'd say that he's probably somewhat likely. It sort of parallels how Minato would be Unlockable for Naruto, since it's been stated that 4th Hokage is the last obtainable character. I do agree that there's very little on him, other than the fact that he was an amazing Shinobi, which makes it a bit unlikely. I'm assuming that if he does appear, he'd probably have quick attacks using his White Light Chakra Sabre.


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[Joe]

Aye likely. The supports only have a combo and a jutsu in the first game, so it wouldn't be hard for them to whip up a combo, and add a jutsu that involves the chakra sabre.

Guren is unlikely yes, but I wouldn't rule her out completely. After all the game's plot is done off of the anime.