Naruto the way of the ninja series#

The audio/visual design to Naruto: Path of the Ninja is a double-edged sword. This little quirk to the game truly feels tacked-on, doing little to add to the game's complexity. So, here's a quiz, class: Which one of the following is the best of the three relationships? (A) EAfter hours of playing this game and repeatedly making choices that just randomly happened to be good (no, there are no hints as to which character will like which ramen), I've noticed no improvements in my character's combat abilities.

Every so often, a new dish can become available, and if Naruto chooses the right ramen for his target, he can slightly improve his relationship with that person, resulting in additional attacks. Characters' interactions with each other are improved only by having Naruto choose with whom he wants to eat ramen. No, growing the characters' relationships with each other is the job of ramen noodles. Choices are few and far between, and some are often accidentally bypassed after the impatient player continues to press the A button to cycle through endless dialogue that does little to build up the characters. Naruto, played as a misunderstood but sympathetic character in the anime, comes off as a bit of a spoiled brat and jerk in the game, changing from a likeable underdog into someone you just want to shut up. Truly, this can be called a role-playing game only in the most generous meaning of the word dialogue is often forced and unpleasant, following the story of the actual anime in a very loose fashion. It is a pity, then, that this game was obviously made more for the eight- to 12-year-old audience, who puts much more of an emphasis on fighting and flashy moves than on developing the characters.

Naruto the way of the ninja series#

Some, like me, have been fans of the series for some time they appreciate the plotline as much as, if not more than, the action scenes and know a lot of the character background. Naruto: Path of the Ninja starts us out just as the squad is forming, with their initial test from their teacher, the lackluster and seemingly lazy Kakashi. Naruto adores Sakura, Sakura adores Sasuke, Sasuke is indifferent toward Sakura, and Sakura and Sasuke both despise Naruto. After passing the ninja academy finals, Naruto is paired up with a strong-willed girl named Sakura and a dark, brooding young man named Sasuke. As the plotline develops, Naruto gets it into his head to become a ninja, with the ultimate goal of becoming hokage (head of the village), so that people will begin to treat him with respect. Naruto is that child, and the presence of the demon inside his body has caused him to be shunned and hated by his fellow villagers. Some years ago, the village came under attack by a nine-tailed fox demon, and the only way to defeat that demon was to seal it inside the body of a newborn child. After all, the NDS is a wonderful vehicle for role-playing games, and something based on this intellectual property couldn't be too bad, could it?ДЇor the uninitiated, a bit of background: the main character in this series is Naruto Uzumake, a blonde-haired, orange jumpsuit-wearing ninja (yes, you read that right) from the Hidden Leaf Village. It is my understanding that the various fighting titles on assorted systems have been rapidly improving, so when I saw Naruto: Path of the Ninja for the Nintendo DS, I decided to snag it and give it a test drive. I find the plotline interesting and diverse, the characters engaging, and the action to be enough to grab even the attention of a jaded fellow like me. I watch the anime series on Toonami, and I make it a point to catch it every Saturday evening. Okay, it's time for a confession: I like Naruto.