Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections - Deluxe Edition

Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections may have the flashiest graphics in the series, but there’s almost nothing else here to make me seek it out over past entries with basically the same fighting system and better single-player stories.

Because so much of its content is repurposed from past games, Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is easier to recommend if you're new to the series. That said, this is still an impressively comprehensive anime fighter; the team-based gameplay holds up, the new modes are solid overall, and sheer size of the character roster is hard to ignore.

Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is a great and safe entry into the franchise. It delivers fun, fast-paced battles and an impressive character roster. It does lack major innovation beyond what we’ve already seen in Ultimate Ninja STORM 4. If you’re a die-hard Naruto fan or enjoy competitive online play, it’s definitely worth picking up. However, if you were hoping for a fresh, groundbreaking Naruto game, you might be left wanting a little more. This game is definitely the best fighting game in the series though and my favorite fighting game series!

Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is a disappointingly dull entry in the series. You have to wonder where CyberConnect2 will go from here.

It has incredible smooth visuals but all the rest is a bit meh.

Our opinions are a bit bittersweet, we love Naruto and every game we can enjoy, however, we believe that it is time for a change, we are talking about an adaptation of one of the most popular anime we have seen, but if we look at Dragon Ball as an example, the latter has been able to diversify without losing its essence. We hope to see something different in a new installment, which you can sure will arrive and we hope that Bandai Namco along with CyberConnect2, can give it a twist with this series.

Naruto X Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is a game with quality, but with very little ambition. It refines some of the gameplay that comes from several previous titles, further expands the range of playable characters, and offers an original Boruto story that is better than the most optimistic of expectations. But it disappoints tremendously with the lack of love and care it puts into its rather incomplete Naruto story mode, which is nothing more than a series of copies/pastes of past games. There is quality here, but it is a somewhat frustrating celebration of one of the best manga/animes of recent times. It could perfectly be the ultimate Ultimate Ninja Storm experience, but it's just another cobblestone – and one of those poorly placed ones that causes the most distracted to trip over it.

NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS is quite the disappointment. Presenting as a step back for the series in many ways, there are simply better adaptations to spend your time with. The game comes with a middling story combined with a lack of spectacle that serves as a mediocre attempt at celebrating the IP. Whilst some fun can be had with the stacked roster and it's easy to jump into, you'll often be reminded that there are greener pastures elsewhere.

If you are a fan of the Naruto or Boruto anime or manga then you will find loads to love about Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections. Touting the largest roster in series history and an in-depth encyclopedia that covers all the various titles and terms that are used in the series which makes it easy for newcomers to understand. Fights are dazzling and chaotic and developer CyberConnect2 has done an amazing job in that regard. But with the multiplayer being broken on Xbox and the fact the gameplay has been largely unchanged I can’t help but think that this series is in need of some sort of shakeup to push it forward into the future.

NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS definitely offers the best visuals in the Ninja Storm series. However, the storytelling—which follows Naruto from his youth through the Shippuden era to the time when he became the Hokage of his dreams and had a son, Boruto—is chaotic. As a result, the game’s potential has been limited to nothing more than a classic beat-’em-up where you can choose from 130 characters. Considering the entire Ultimate Ninja STORM series and the high standards it has set, this is merely a polished average.