I would like to start this review by saying if you don’t understand why the title of this article is “Let’s Fighting Love” then you have, at best, missed one of the greatest South Park episodes of all time or, at worst, you just don’t watch the show at all. If the latter is true, I would like to inform you that we will not be friends anymore, and I will be by to pick up all the pogs I was letting you borrow.
Now that we have that nonsense out the way, let’s take a look at Soleil and Bandai Namco’s latest foray into the world of Naruto with Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker.
Gameplay
The first thing that needs to be understood about Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker is that it is not an adventure game, so those of you who were hoping for intense Naruto story action may find yourself a little let down. NtBSS, as it will henceforth be called, is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). What this means is that it is almost entirely an online fighting game where you fight in teams of 4 against other ninjas in game modes such as Combat Battle (Team Deathmatch), Capture the Flag, and Base Battles (Domination/Control). Like other MOBAs such as Smite, the one I am most familiar with, your character has a couple of attacks at his or her disposal and then, when the time is right, you will be able to unleash a super attack. Pretty standard stuff for the genre, honestly.
I was excited when I first got into the game because I realized I was going to create my own ninja. Here I am, a complete novice in the world of Naruto and animes in general, and I was going to invade their world with my own avatar. This was an opportunity I had dreamed of since I started the game and saw that I was supposed to create a character. I don’t know if it’s because of some deep-seated narcissism or just a desire for creative control in a game, but character creation has always had a special place in my heart. To make matters even better, the character customization was actually pretty damn good. You can change a lot of details about your character to completely make it your own. You’re still going to end up looking like an effeminate pretty boy anime ninja (if you create a male that is… I’m sorry I assumed your ninja’s gender), but don’t we all want to be pretty once in awhile?
There are four different kinds of classes you can choose from in NtBSS, and they are pretty standard in MOBAs. There is Defense, which is your standard tank character. Your primary objective is to take the brunt of the damage while your more violently inclined buddies dish it out to your opponents. There is the Attacker which is the aforementioned violently inclined buddy who dishes out the bulk of the damage. There is the Ranged character which is the little asshole who sits in the back and does damage while trying to avoid any kind of confrontation… (I’ve just been informed that I should not be calling any players little assholes, so I’d like to apologize to all you sissies out there who play the Ranged class). Last but not least there is the Healer class which, I’m pretty sure you could have figured this one out, heals the other characters such as the Attack and Defense classes so that they can continue to deal damage and absorb damage respectively. They don’t need to heal the Ranged class because they’re still in the back doing sissy things like little ass… (I have just been informed that there is nothing wrong with playing a Ranged class as it is a perfectly acceptable strategy… for sissies).
The game does have some serious glaring flaws that probably limit the amount of time you can play this game before it gets a little stale. The main one that comes to mind is the fact that the character progression leaves a lot to be desired. There was never really a point where I felt as if I was working towards something worthwhile. This isn’t such a big deal in games such as Smite where you’re playing as gods from various cultures and religions, but when you create your own character, it’s nice to be able to build them from the ground up new abilities, stats, and loot as you move forward in the game. This flaw doesn’t make the game unplayable by any means, but it does create an issue when it comes to the longevity of it.
Visuals/Audio
NtBSS is a really good looking game for what it is. The cel shading art style that is not uncommon in the world of anime and manga, or in the world of video games for that matter, is a nice touch, but seeing the character you created come to life with that anime art style is pretty satisfying. It looks like you could just throw that character right into the show and he or she would be right at home.
The music and voice acting in NtBSS is nothing to really complain about or get excited over. It’s pretty much what you would expect from a Naruto/any anime game. If you’re fluent in Japanese, you can actually change the settings to where you hear the original Japanese voice actors do their work, but what are the chances that you’re fluent in Japanese and reading this article written by some jerk who speaks English poorly even though it’s his first language? Still a fun fact, though!
Verdict
When I first started playing this game, I thought I would be less likely to enjoy it because I’m not a Naruto fan. After giving it a chance, however, I realized that fans of the series were probably a little disappointed by the lack of story content in the game while I was just happy running around doing ninja shit. I am a little surprised that this is a full priced game, however. It definitely feels like a game that should be free to play with some micro-transactions or perhaps a game you buy off Steam for 25 or 30 bucks, but that doesn’t mean it’s an unpleasant experience.
Artemus Ward once quipped that “people who enjoy this kind of thing will find that this is the kind of thing they enjoy.” I would somewhat sarcastically say that this is pretty appropriate when it comes to NtBSS. If you like MOBAs, anime, cel shading, fighting games, and things like that, you will probably get something out of the game. I, personally, enjoy almost anything with a competitive element to it. Add character creation and a beautiful presentation into the mix, and that was enough to make me feel like this is a worthwhile game.
