Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Season Pass DLC Review

I remember the announcement of Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (Storm 4) being incredibly apt and “I am L@dy”. I knew from the predecessor that not purchasing the Season Pass was a missed opportunity with ample DLC that came. I knew that with Storm 4, it would be the second game I would purchase with a Season Pass with my pre-order since the DLC Packs would be the following:

DLC Pack 1: Shikamaru’s Tale Extra Scenario Pack

• 1x Scenario (The Fresh Green of the Hidden Leaf)
• 1 x Costume (Hokage Naruto)
• 4 x Combination Secret Technique (Boruto Uzumaki/ Naruto Uzumaki, Past Hokage, Shikamaru Nara/ Asuma Sarutobi, Kiba Inuzuka/ Shino Aburame/ Hinata Hyūga)
• 10 x Costumes from previous games (Suits for Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Shikamaru, Gaara, Minato and Summer Clothes for Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten)
• 1 x Item Set
• 10 x Ninja Info Cards
• 10 x Matching Voice

DLC Pack 2: Gaara’s Tale Extra Scenario Pack

• 1 x Scenario (Bonds of the Sandy Sea)
• 1 x Costume (Wandering Shinobi Sasuke)
• 3 x Combination Secret Technique (Sasuke Uchiha/ Itachi Uchiha, Rock Lee/ Might Guy, Rock Lee/ Neji Hyūga/ Tenten)
• 10 x Costumes from previous games (Jinchūriki Suits for Naruto, Gaara, Killer B, Yugito, Yagura, Rōshi, Han, Utakata, Fū and Road to Ninja Kushina Uzumaki in a Flak Jacket)
• 1 x Item Set
• 10 x Ninja Info Cards
• 10 x Matching Voice

DLC Pack 3: Playable Characters

• 4 x Playable Characters (Sound Four Ninja: Sakon and Ukon, Tayuya, Kidōmaru, Jirōbō)
• 3 x Combination Secret Technique (Sound Four, Zabuza Momochi/ Haku, Zabuza Momochi/ Kisame Hoshigaki)
• 10 x Costumes from previous games (Five Kage Summit Mifunel, Hidden Mist Zabuza, Initial Akatsuki Uniform for Konan, Nagato and Yahiko/Pain and Swimsuit for Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Temari and Tsunade)
• 1 x Item Set
• 10 x Ninja Info Cards
• 10 x Matching Voice

With the entirety of the DLC now out, my slightly high expectations were not fulfilled quite how I expected it to be. Rather than some set pieces with memorable fight scenes, the scenarios - whilst felt like fleshing out the already slightly lackluster Adventure mode - remained like simulacra of the base scenario Trail of the Gale. Prepare your running sandals and tighten your headbands for lots and lots of running.

Overall the DLC could have been more bland so I’ll give CyberConnect2 some slack, but the main component of DLC Pack 1 is The Fresh Green of the Hidden Leaf. If you enjoyed the base Adventure mode you’ll probably will enjoy this, playing as Shikamaru Nara you get to see how everyone else in the Hidden Leaf has progressed. Predominantly text based - lacking voice acting - the story is well formed and builds on the relationships of the characters. Containing the same content as you’d expect from Naruto, the method of storytelling is written as if canon.

Capturing what made the Naruto cast memorable and beloved to the benefit and detriment of the DLC with some characters being slightly annoying and feeling like an unnecessary challenge to you (more later). It’s highs were more often overshadowed by the spacing of the narrative with game play elements; whilst not being fetch quest heavy, its use of travel between “missions” often ruined the pacing of the storytelling. Also, if you’re playing the main component of story, it turns into a very brief session lasting just over an hour if you’re a fast reader. But the irony is that the side stories/missions are really what made this experience better, albeit still acting as padding for the most part.

Strangely, the setup of situations and battle handicaps made the experience more enjoyable. Such as beating Sai with Ino, with the assistance of Shikamaru and Choji to amaze him of her brilliance. Landing a Ultimate Finish on him to leave him gasping for breath and scared of Ino’s sudden bloodlust. These small quirks not present in the main story helped sell me on “Shikamaru’s adventure”. But generally, this part of the DLC just fleshes out characters and really hones in on what makes each character memorable with their quirks.

DLC Pack 2 gave the scenario Bonds of the Sandy Sea, which does more of the same but slightly worse, with the branching narrative becoming lackluster and the side missions for the most part made it rather boring and samey. It’s nuance seems to have been lost, and being a fan of Gaara, it felt like a disservice. Containing, as you can guess, just “some more running”, I found myself feeling incredibly dissatisfied with the missions being rather dull.

Whilst it felt incredibly cohesive when compared to the base Adventure mode and Shikamaru’s scenario, with parts of the narrative linking together, the side missions felt superfluous and lacking any real impact without the fight’s handicaps. But even then the fights felt samey and character dialogue wasn’t as on point, with Rock Lee feeling like the butt of the game - being there only to challenge the player rather needlessly with it’s rather dull use of exposition to focus on the Stamina Freak’s ability to fight AKA hit harder than you. Gaara all of sudden became a philosopher with his responses becoming rather long and stretched which is a very Naruto thing to do. Or even the other Kage’s changing tones rather snappily, which doesn’t make sense considering how they’ve been characterised before.

In the end, I was just getting fed up with the characters. The lack of voice acting made the grunts and one worders irritating - although that was already a thing in the base Adventure mode. It really hit home on what made the Ultimate Ninja Storm series great, the set pieces and ability to tell a narrative, which were lacking for the most part in the DLC Pack 2 for the Adventure mode.

Aside from the Adventure mode in Pack 1 and 2, what about the rest of the content? It’s what you’d expect - parts of the DLC were costumes that don’t really influence the base game and the use of Combination Secret Techniques were cool in their own right.

DLC Pack 3, gave me my most memorable with Zabuza and Kisame’s Combination Secret Technique that just looks stellar when unleashed. But the real meat is the Sound Four being playable characters for the first time. Not being especially well versed when it comes to timings and balancing, the characters for the most part were semi distinct with their maneuverability and the playstyle felt like tweaked combination of other characters. They aren’t game breaking characters for the most part and their cancel frames weren’t the most forgiving for chakra dash combo break chaining. Combos were slightly sluggish on the most part, with Jirobe feeling the slowest in terms of action timing. On the whole the characters played rather smoothly and didn’t feel useless to play with, but aren’t probably going to be your go to characters in terms of playability with their timings.