Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 - Road to Boruto

Let me be upfront: this is not a shooter, and I am not the guy who spent 3,000 hours labbing Ryu. But I do know netcode, match pacing, and whether an online mode holds up under pressure, which matters even in an anime brawler when you're trying to run sets with friends at 11pm. So here is the straight read on Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 - Road to Boruto from someone who has zero nostalgia for the source material and came in fresh. This is a 3D arena fighter developed by CyberConnect2. You pick a character, you pick two assists, and you fight in circular arenas. The input scheme is intentionally simple: one main attack button drives auto-combos, a chakra charge powers your Jutsu, and a second slot unlocks your Secret Technique, which is basically an over-the-top super move unique to each fighter. There is also a counter system, a substitution mechanic for breaking pressure, weapon throws to extend combos, and Awakening states that transform certain characters mid-fight into visually absurd powered-up forms. The skill ceiling is real once you start learning how to lock opponents down and chain into 50-hit finishers, but the floor is low enough that a total newcomer can feel competent inside an hour. If you like anime and you want to bring a casual friend into a versus session, this is a comfortable on-ramp. As a complete package, this version ships with the full base Story Mode covering the Fourth Shinobi World War, a separate Adventure Mode with open-world exploration and side quests set after the main campaign, and the Road to Boruto expansion, which drops you into Hidden Leaf Village as Boruto and his team. A thorough playthrough of all three modes lands around 30-40 hours. The main story is a highlight, with boss encounters that scale up dramatically in scope, including kaiju-scale clashes like Naruto versus Madara's Susanoo that play completely differently from standard person-to-person combat. Those setpiece fights carry genuine weight. The Adventure Mode side quests are weaker, a recurring criticism across reviews, with fetch quests and box-breaking that feel like padding. The Road to Boruto story itself is the briefest portion and reviewers consistently called it too short, completable in under four hours if you push through. For online play, the game supports up to 8-player tournaments alongside standard ranked and free battles. The PC version has had a mixed history with online performance compared to console versions, so if smooth netcode is your top priority this is worth checking current community threads before committing. The roster is massive, over 100 characters spanning multiple generations, each with distinct Secret Techniques and Awakening forms. Character variety is genuine, not just reskins. On the downside, reviewers noted that some newer Boruto-era additions felt thin on mechanical differentiation compared to legacy characters like adult Sasuke or Naruto in their various states. If you know the Naruto lore, this game will deliver. The story modes are built entirely for fans and lean hard on assumed knowledge: spoilers are baked into the roster screen from the moment you boot up, and the narrative skips context that non-watchers will miss. Newcomers can enjoy the fighting mechanics in isolation, but roughly half the experience evaporates without the franchise background. For the price of a single new release, you are getting the base game, every season pass, and the full expansion in one package, which is a reasonable value proposition for anyone who has been on the fence since the original 2016 launch. Fred, Scout Team