Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 for PlayStation 3 - Action Fighting Game with Anime Characters | Perfect for Anime Fans and Gaming Enthusiasts

After buying and playing the game extensively, though I've yet to beat it fully, ( I beat just the main story mode, not the side missions after the main game) I can without a doubt say that this is probably my favorite of the Ultimate Ninja: Storm series in the video game world of Naruto and co. Cyber Connect 2 has put developed 3 other game in the Ultimate Ninja: Storm series, those being Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2 and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm Generations. Those this is technically the fourth entry in the series, it ignores the game Generations in favor of continuing directly after Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2 game as it tells it's interpretation of the events of (at least part of) the Fourth Ninja War that's still going on in both the manga and the anime series. Now first off, the graphics:As with the previous games in the series, the graphics of the character models of both in the free roam mode( where you control the character(s) as you explore the villages and surrounding areas and do side missions or run to the next area you need to be to continue the story) the ones you use to fight in the battles and the fully rendered cinemas are quite good and highly detailed. The unique manga cell shading style is very well done and even surpasses the anime visuals in many ways. All the character looks great and there are a lot of them to see with over 80 playable characters( more if you count the variations that some of the character have, usually with different clothing styles and different power sets)The controls are largely similar to the last couple of games though their are some differences. You can now do team coordinated attacks by hold down the attack button which makes your character glow and upon release will make them shoot forward at your opponent. A small window will appear on your screen at which time you hit the R1 and L1 buttons to attack giving you the change to use a jutsu or ultimate jutsu to follow it up. Like wise if your team bar is high enough, you will get the prompt to hit the R1 and L1 button a second time after your teammates attack the first time to do further damage. There are also new attacks use when you fight in the new Mob Battles. a gauge will build up and when it's full a button prompt to hit the chakra button twice followed the attack button at which point time will slow down and let you attack and defeat all your opponents one at a time by pressing the button that appears on screen at that time. Beyond this,, controls are pretty much the same as the other games and are quite intuitive( they work well and are responsive)All this said, great graphics and responsive controls alone don't make a great game , even if they do a lot towards that end. .. So we come to the story... I won't really spoil what happens other then it taking place during the Fourth Ninja War. If you've followed the ongoing Naruto manga and have played the previous games in the Ultimate Ninja: Storm series for the PS3/360 then you should do just fine and won't be confused by the terminology like the difference between the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage or what a Rasangan and a Sharingan are. The only other things I'll tell you involving the story is that it follows the ending if the 2nd game and ignores Generations completely and that like the previous games it doesn't cover any filler arc plots in favor of recreating a playable for m of the Fourth Ninja War's events( albeit a story that is somewhat different then the cannon of the manga/anime).It should be mentioned that the game's main story is fairly short, compared to Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm 2 and will only take you around 10 hours or so to complete. Mind you, that doesn't include the side missions and friendship requests/outings/ dates though, that will add at least another 30 hours to the games time( at least for me.. I'm not done with all the side missions/date/friends requests and my in game clocks says I'm at 39 hours and counting). Even though there are only 10 hours or so in the main story the story is fun, action packed and I didn't want to stop playing once I started.Another thing to mention is the new Ultimate Decisions that come up periodically in both the main game and I free roam mode after your beat it when your doing side missions. There are two choices that will come up, usually in boss battles( at least in story mode, though in the side missions it may come up randomly) and only one of the choices follows the cannon of the manga/anime, where as the other choice is an alternate way of the events playing out that differ from the normal manga/anime story. Also, each choice will put points towards either a Hero or Legend meter that allows for upgrades to your ninja items you can use during battles ( like sleep tags, explosive tags, paper bombs, Kunai Rain, etc.).Another difference/change s that now some characters ( but not all) can activate/deactivate awakened mode when ever they want although it does drain and temporary reduce your chakra bar. Your chakra bar will decrease the longer you use awakened mode and it's up to you to decide when you should use it or deactivate it during the course of a battle. Those who do not have this ability will have the regular awakened mode that requires a certain amount of damage be taken to your character to be activated like in previous games.I've pretty much told you all the good things.. But not all of the game is perfect though... there are some minor issues that may irate gamers in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm 3.. They are as follows...I founds some of the battles, particularly the final two battles to incredibly hard and I had to restart them probably 3 times for one and 5 or 6 times for the other, with the game lowering the difficultly level for me a few times. Whether or not you'll have the same trouble I don't know, it's just something I thought I should point out. Other flaws are the short main game story time(which I already talked about) and other then that ,the only other thing about the game that isn't good is that they kept the substitution meter from Generations and that leads battles between two players to who has a substitution bar left and can go after the other player who runs out of them. To makes things easier.. I'll break my summery down a bit to pros and cons.Pros:+Lots of fun playable characters, over 80 of them in all+ Beautiful graphics for the characters and environments in both battles, free roam mode and pre-rendered cinemas+Great and epicly fun multi-part boss battles that deserve second playthoughs for fun+Great new additions to the attacks in a one on one battle such as team charge combos, Mob Battles, and Ultimate Decisions+Well done English voice actors/actresses for the characters+ Interesting and well done cut scenes that can be surprisingly emotional at times+ Lots of good action and drama in the game+ a plethora of side missions to do after you beat the main game story in addition to the free battle and tournament modes as well as the unlockable Survival modeCons:-Difficulty can be a bit hard at times and may frustrate you-Not being up-to-date and very familiar with the Naruto/Naruto Shippuden anime/manga as well as the previous games in the Ultimate Ninja: Storm series will leave you lost at times-As good as they are, some of the cut scenes drag on a bit too long-Why the Survival mode needs to be unlocked by playing through the side missions doesn't make a lot of senseBottom line, despite a few hiccups here and there, it's a great game for any Naruto anime/manga fan.. oh and there's blood for the first time in the game.. not too bad ( with a few exceptions her and there) but it is noticeable and bother some younger gamers/ parents of young gamers.I loved it at the time im a one piece fan now(This is a rewritten review done one year after the initial review) Naruto storm 3 was shaping up to be the best naruto game ever. the trailers looked great and everything. then it came out. Storm 2 was without a doubt one of my favorite games of all time but when its medicore sequel thing generations left me dissapointed i turned my hopes to storm 3 for a true successor to my beloved title.Ultimate adventure(7/10)Storm 2 was known for its great adventure mode that beautifully mixed Rpg and fighting elements. Generations had ditched the adventure mode for a streamline arcade style approach. and Storm 3's ultimate adventure, well its not what I wanted.You of course continue naruto's tale where storm 2 left off plot wise and this game covers the five kage summit arc and most of the ninja war(with a filler ending most likely to avoid a cliffhanger ending).The ride begins with the prolouge which goes in depth with the nine tails attack on konoha and you get to play a fun boss battle where you jump along rooftops as the third hokage fighting the nine-tails. you also fight the masked man as minato. this is where you encounter your first ultimate decision. ultimate decision is a gimmick introduced where you can take one of two paths in certain battles. you can choose Hero or legend. the hero path is the standard difficulty and the legend is the "more difficult path". note that the path you take only affects that particular battle. I will touch more on my feelings with the difficulty later. Anyways trademark boss battles return. storm 2 had very exciting and challenging fights that introduce a gimmick each time and mix them with quick time events that if you werent careful caught you off guard. Storm 3's put up no fight and some aren't even a passable boss fight. one doesnt even have a single QTE! however to be fair 4 are unique boss fights that were challenging. but only 4! these were obviously rushed! and the difficulty. only 3 fights in the entire story mode are challenging(the 2 boss battles that were good). the rest of the game can be cleared using 1 button in most cases(excluding bosses)! The story of the anime and manga is portrayed perfectly and even though I know what happens I was very engaged. Free roam is here but isn't fully utilized until post game. the world is huge! why wasnt i able to explore it sooner?Vs mode/roster(8/10)cc2 reputation is trash because of this roster! 2 chojis with the difference being an awakening? why are there more than 4 narutos in character slots (and more than 10 dlc costumes)wheres the edo kages? they have a half finished moveset seen in story mode! aside from vs theres tournament and survival(unlockable). this mode is good fun and the survival mode makes for a good challenge.online mode/gameplay(7/10) first off theres terrible frame rate issues. it was never an issue in the previous games! why? the issues pop up when 3 or 4 supports are used around the same time. gameplay is faster. the sub bar returns.a new instant awakening feature was added letting a player power up to an OP state at ANY TIME WITH VERY CONSEQUENCES. I love being able to make a 20+ hit combo with naruto but make sure all characters have it and a normal awakening.sound(9/10)storms trademark music returns. new tracks have been added but they arent as memorable as the tracks re-used. as for the dub. It was great!while a mile flanagan as naruto seems really akward at times every voice actor took their rolls seriously. you will get to hear characters in dub who havent appeared in the anime yet which is cool.this is also one of the few ps3 games that allow custom sountrack but for offline matches only.After a year I do realize that my judgment was clouded somewhat. I loved storm 2 as it's one of my all time favorite games ever and sequels don't always need to surpass their predecessors. Overall storm 3 wasn't the hurricane that was storm 2 however it's Still worth playing if you like the franchise.for those on the fence about the full burst dlc check out my review on the full burst retail page here.It is a awesome game... I have played other games like dragon ball xenoverse... And i must say its better than that... The graphics are just wow and the game is 3d compatible which adds more greatness to it... Story is great.. It makes me stick to it.. And there are a lot of fighting skills.. A must have for Naruto fans and people who like fighting games but not blood violence... And one more thing the game works with INDIAN PURCHASED PS3... GO FOR IT!If you are on PlayStation send me a friend request my name is "blazing sid"and if you are on Xbox send me a req too..name -"blaze7070"One of the best fighting games you will play. Ninja storm has done an excellent job in creating a 3D multiple angle video game. I definitely loved the Naruto show and then playing this game was a true joy.Fun game to play. Kid enjoyed playing this game over the holidays :) learned some Japanese playing this game evenAwesome gameplay and really good gameGreat game, great price. Unable to download the redeem code. Amazon customer service quickly response to my inquiries and offer a couple solutions to resolve the issue