While last year’s Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution focused on four player tournaments, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is all about the story. Gamakichi isn’t a stand alone fighter, but Naruto’s summon plays a key role in one of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4’s story scenes. A new demo from Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Global Gamers Day was set in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi World War’s climax where Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke reunite to fight the Ten-Tails.
Naruto summons Gamakichi and you control the giant toad in a battlefield that looks more like Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact, which CyberConnect2 developed for PSP back in 2011. Most of the Ten-Tails clones are tiny compared to Gamakichi so you can just walk on top of them. There are a few giant clones that Gamakichi will need to battle, but these enemies don’t put up much of a fight. The controls are the same as the core fighting game X makes Gamakichi jump, circle makes Gamakichi punch, and you can load chakra with triangle. Gamakichi uses a Toad Blade Tri Cut for his jutsu which can cut most of the Ten-Tails in half. Triangle + square makes Gamakichi spit a water blast below him and his most useful move in this scene is Triangle + X, a dash that also crushes any ant-sized Ten-Tails clone he collides with. Sakura and Sasuke act as support characters in this battle. Calling Sakura makes Katsuyu use Mucus Explosion to create a wall of mucus. Sasuke and Aoda do Chaotic Snake a rapid spinning snake strike that keeps enemies long enough so players can recharge Gamakichi’s chakra.
After pummeling a large Ten-Tails clone, Gamakichi grinds on the Ten-Tails tails. This section has three tails you can switch between by flicking the analog stick left or right. You need to jump from tail to tail occasionally to dodge fireballs shot by the Ten-Tails. Once you get close enough, there are quick time events where Naruto calls out Sakura who makes a Katsuyu wave that Gamakichi and Naruto surf on. The next QTE links Naruto with Sasuke to do a combination jutsu, but the demo ends just as its about to hit the Ten-Tails.
Another Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 demo had Hashirama battling Madara. Madara switches between acting like a regular fighter and using Susanoo. When Susanoo is activated, Madara cannot be hit and Hashirama has to avoid waves of energy waves coming towards the screen. Madara uses the same pattern, five tall waves that fan out, but can be sidestepped followed by a giant horizontal wave Hashirama has to jump over. There is an occasional QTE here where you move the analog stick left to do a quick dodge then press X to counter attack. This makes Hashirama create two shadow clones that keep Madara occupied while you charge a jutsu.
It’s possible to knock Madara’s out of his hands, which changes his attack patterns. Hashirama can pick up this sword by standing next to it and holding circle. The catch is it takes a few seconds to equip the weapon, which leaves the player completely vulnerable. If you decide to pick it up Hashirama’s move set completely changes and he gains a new jutsu that fires a tall wave of energy at Madara. While the fight between Madara and Hashirama rages on you can see Kurama in the background engaged in his own battle with Hashirama’s Wood Golem.
When Madara takes enough damage the battle switches to the giants. Madara wraps Kurama with Susanoo and players fight him using Hashirama’s Wood Golem jutsu. While both characters move significantly slower than human fighters, CyberConnect2 emphasized the power these mammoth fighters have. When the Wood Golem dashes towards Kurama trees uproot and when you hit Kurama pieces of the Susanoo armor fall off. This battle ends with a Hashirama using the Sage Art: 1000 Palms technique, which is shown as a quick time event.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is scheduled to come out this fall on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
