Naruto: Path To Mediocrity

By Louise Yang . October 26, 2008 . 4:52pm

With the number of RPGs out on the DS right now, the only people I can see enjoying Naruto Path of the Ninja 2 are serious Naruto fans.  It’s not that the game is bad; it’s just mediocre.

The story, which is completely forgettable, revolves around a Spirit Beast who is about to awaken. The only way to stop this demon is with five magic mirrors, which just so happen to be scattered around the world.  Good thing Naruto and his crew are ready to take on the challenge of finding these five magic mirrors.

Fights are the usual turn-based RPG type with a couple of slight modifications: in addition to a front and back row, there’s a middle row. Depending on what row the character is in, they have different attack and defense bonuses. Jutsu’s are the game’s version of magic or special skills and some of them produce different results depending what position the character is in.
Almost everything about the game is run of the mill. The music sounds like generic feudal Japan music.  The graphics aren’t anything to write home about.  Dungeons are yawn-inducing and what puzzles there are aren’t all that challenging.

Surprisingly, boss battles weren’t your typical “fight the enemy with tons of health and a damaging attack” fights.   I actually needed to switch up my usual “just press attack” strategy that I used on normal enemies when I came to bosses.  What was even more surprising was that I needed to use different strategies from one boss to another.  I just wish that much thought went into the rest of the game.

Unless you’re a Naruto fan and are tired of the Naruto fighting games and want something slower paced, I would recommend skipping this game in favor of some of the more engaging RPGs on the DS.

Images courtesy of D3 Publisher.

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