Oh hey. Forgot to update for a while. Not that anyone actually reads my blog, but still.
Let’s see… Not much has happened. Or at least, not much that I can remember (this is why I’m supposed to update my blog) . I beat Halo 3 and Naruto: Rise of a Ninja on the 360.
I’d like to talk less about Halo 3, since I have nothing interesting to say about it. Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, on the other hand, I have some things to discuss.
It’s a great concept, really. It’s an anime fighting game and a platformer all in one… But the way it’s presented, it’s almost like an RPG. When you encounter an enemy, the game switches to the fighting game engine where you beat the crap out of your opponent. The platformer aspect of the game is sort of like the exploring portion of an RPG, except a lot more fun.
I have to admit, controlling Naruto in single player can lead to some problems. The biggest example of this is the double jump. Unlike some platformers, you can’t use the double jump at any point during your fall, you have to activate it right after your first jump for it to work. This means that you can’t use it to break your fall, or use it if you fall off an edge. Minor nitpicking. What is cool, though, is that you can hold down to R trigger to run really, really fast. This in itself is worth testing out for 10 minutes or so. In exchange for incredible speed and a really useful long jump, its quite difficult to turn or slow down.
When I saw this game for the first time, one thing came to my mind; “This is what next-gen Sonic should have played like.” Everything works so well. You run through forests at breakneak speeds, dodging explosive tags and mysterious spiked logs while trying to collect items or meet up with other characters. The enviroments look amazing, as well. The waterfall area in particular. It’s too bad, really. I downloaded the Sonic 360 demo just to see what it was like. It was awful… The control was so bad, you can’t do anything but run in a straight line. Considering that the speed aspect is a minor part of Rise of a Ninja, it’s amazing how much better it’s handled compared to any Sonic game.
Here’s where my praise stops. I’d like to describe the fighting part of the game… Where every battle takes place and where the replay value lies through online play.
I don’t like it. My friends do, though. A lot more than Gekitou 4 for the Gamecube. It certainly is fast paced, there’s no denying that. It’s also fairly accessible, since even idiots like Noah and Max and mash buttons and win some of the time. Still, it’s hard to take the game seriously enough to play online. It basically comes down to getting one hit in, stringing two of the game’s preset combo’s together (one ground and one aerial), then pulling off a jutsu while your opponent is down.
Unlike Gekitou 4, if you pull off a jutsu in this game, it hits automatically. The jutsus all play out as a simple minigame, usually involving timing or (shudder) button mashing. Which I’m bad at. The jutsus look pretty good, but they really should be faster. Compared to Gekitou 4, you’ll be looking at the jutsu animations a lot more.
Anyway, like I said, this 2 combo + jutsu combo will do more than half of your opponent’s health. There is some complexity, and you can use a replacement jutsu, but it doesn’t work half of the time. Also, having the replacement logged to the same button as blocking seems a bit weird.
I do, however, like how to pull off a jutsu in the first place you need to do the hand signs. This means you’ll have to do some memorization, but on the plus side, it’s kinda cool for Narutards like myself. Each hand sign is a combination of the left and right analogue stick in certain directions. Pulling them of in quick succession can be tricky.
Back to single player, the jutsus you learn all have use outside of battle. Shadow Clones destroy giant boulders, the Sexy Jutsu will make heartbroken villagers like you, and Chakra Concentration lets you climb up walls and walk on water. Chakra Concentration is easily the coolest of the bunch, but it’s such a drag to have to pull it off every time you want to walk on water. Really, if they make a sequel, you should be able to use Chakra Concentration without pulling off the hand signs first. It’d just save so much time.
I’m also happy that they used the soundtrack from the show, though they could have used some more of the show’s action themes. Most of the characters are voiced by the show’s VAs, and I say most because there are few that really stand out as bad. These include Anko, Jiraiya, and Moegi (female member of Konohamaru’s team). They’re not that important to the story, really, but the lines they have aren’t done particularly well.
Did I mention that the story is pretty butchered? Because it is. A lot of details are skipped, and if you don’t watch the show, you’ll miss out on a lot. Since the game is told from Naruto’s perspective, the Forest of Death part is especially confusing… Plus, although Rock Lee is a playable character, he doesn’t appear anywhere in the story. What’s up with that?
Despite all of my tiny problems I’ve found with the game, I love it, and if you’re a fan of the show you should definitely try it out. Even you whiny Japanophiles, since theres an option for Japanese voiceovers if you really can’t tolerate “believe it”.