Tokyo Game Show 2023

What's New in Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections

It's been eight years since the last game in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series, and while the upcoming Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections may mostly be what you'd expect from the newest iteration of the series, it does have a few new things to look out for.

To start with, the game will support 16 languages. Six of these will be fully voiced and include French and German. It will have two main story modes. The first, History Mode, will cover all of the original Naruto stories—letting you fight all the big battles and watch a series of 3D animated cutscenes. The other story mode, written by CyberConnect2 (with no involvement from Masashi Kishimoto), is an original story following Boruto.

The game will have three new fighting stages in addition to the dozens of returning ones and will feature 130 characters—including two new, original ones. As for the returning characters, many have received minor tweaks, while Mitsuki, Sarada, and Momoshiki have received major overhauls. The game's UI has also been updated.

All that said, the biggest addition to the game is the new “simple” controls. While the normal controls can still be used, the “simple” control format makes the game insanely easy to pick up and play. Ninjitsu attacks are on one button while a melee auto-combo is on another—and pressing it when you are out of melee range causes your character to dash to your opponent to start the melee combo. Add to this the substitution dodge—which can get you out of any of your opponents' combos—and you have a game that only requires three buttons to play.

From my hands-on time with the new mode at Bandai Namco's Pre-TGS event, I can say it worked well. Now, is it going to make you competitive at online play? Not a chance. There's little variety in moves, and it's all too easy to destroy opponents who constantly dash straight at you. However, I was able to beat normal-difficulty computer-controlled opponents with relative ease. So basically, these simple controls are an entry point into the game that allows even younger kids and fighting game newbies to pick it up and revel in their love of Naruto without worry.

Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is scheduled for release on November 17, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.