A tale of triumph, tragedy and magic, with a long running Ninja clan war as it's background....
First of all I shall start by saying thank you to Xbox for sending us the code for this game. Right, with that out of the way... I have to admit that I am a newcomer to this series, and was ignorant as to what it was all about, so as a newcomer, I found the storyline somewhat baffling.
Regardless, I soldiered on and prepared to delve into the game for this review.
PLOT
It's the fourth Ninja Clan war, and things have over time, become somewhat confused. It's the same old story I suppose, alliances formed, betrayals, and even a smattering of romance. It's a traditional Anime style tale of a nation in conflict and it mixes elements of Japanese mythology and magic into the mix, and like you would expect from a long established Anime series, nothing is quite as it seems. It's hard to sum up the story without knowing the backstory that comes with the previous three chapters or it's numerous spin offs. It would appear that this saga has been around for far longer than I knew and to sum it up is a tad tricky. It appears that the 'final battle' is fast approaching, but it's also clear that we should take this news with a slight pinch of salt as the characters say that they thought that this was going to happen before! Two clans gather their forces, tapping into the magical energies that infuse the land and use them as both offensive and defensive tools in the battles to come. If you think it's just a case of a few fireballs and lightning bolts then forget it! These magical powers enable the parties involved to summon vast creatures and elemental forces, including Nine Tails, a fox like creature that was actually the basis for Sonic the Hedgehog's little pal! (No really!). Our young protagonists, guided by your own hands must battle through the adventure, and from time to time, decide which path to choose, but be aware, you cannot get through to the next chapter until all scenes have been played through. The paths are known as the Ying and Yang paths, and if you know what that means, then one is the path of light and the other of darkness, although both paths have their grim moments. Can you get the team to their ultimate victory?, that is the 64,000 Yen question!
GAME MODES
One thing for sure, is you will get a lot for your money. There's the main story line part of the game, that as said, will take you on a relatively long and complicated journey, and if you play through this, you will unlock Adventure Mode (more on this later) and then there's the online battle mode as well as the traditional local one on one beat them up action. With items and weapons and abilities to unlock, you will have more than enough to keep you occupied.
PRESENTATION
The game is presented using cel shaded graphics and the animations are smooth and fluid when they are presented in cut scenes, but some of the 'cut scenes' are static images with voice overs. The voice acting is OK and lip synching isn't perfect but it isn't atrociously out of whack.
ADVENTURE MODE
If the main gameplay and it's tale isn't to your taste, then you have Adventure Mode. It's recommended by both me and the game that you play this AFTER doing the main game mode, but if you don't mind spoilers then you can dive in. What you get is an RPG style adventure game, which reminded me of Knight's Chronicles (a game I reviewed an AGE ago for PS3) in it's style. This is a fun mode and battles are as intense as before and for me this is the best mode on offer.
GAME PLAY
Controls are fluid and responsive although the inputting of movements during RTE, or Real Time Events, are a little problematical. I am not a huge fan of RTE sequences, and when they come they are a little too long in length for me. Use the tutorial options to get used to the general controls. For a change, the B button is the main melee attack button, and other buttons such as Y activate any elememtal/magic enhancements that you are awarded for winning a fight. Fights are fast and furious and will keep you on your toes for this is not your traditional face to face streetfighter style combat, no sir. You can and will need to keep moving around the battleground, and you can do this in almost any direction and can attack from multiple angles. Blocking attacks is achieved with the triggers and the bumpers activate other enhancements and pressed with other buttons, provide you with the summoning of the elemental forces mentioned or indeed the creatures such as Nine Tails and their ilk. Once you get used to it, you will be unleashing multi hit combos that will be enough to leave your average Street Fighter character going more than a little green with envy!
PHYSICS
Though not a key element of the game, characters react well to being hit by heavy attacks, and if they are being juggled and struck with huge body shots they will react accordingly. The presentation of smoke, fire, etc. are what you would see in a decently budgeted Manga cartoon, but don't expect Skyrim quality presentation here, but it is more than adequate to the task for the style of game on offer.
ON LINE
Online battles are fast and furious but I did experience lag and some frame rate issues. Lobbies are active though and if you go for a ranked battle, be aware that those girls and guys who know this game will soon have you flat on your back, choking on dust, and spitting out your digital teeth!
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
It comes across as a seriously complicated tale, and like me, if you are a newcomer to this saga then you will be thinking what the heck is going on and who are these guys? It's a tale of friendship and conflict, the typical mix of ingredients you get in a long running Manga saga. It will take some mastering to get through this game and the learning curve is none too gentle, however if you lose a battle, you can try again with the options of boosting defence or offence with your opponents health as it was when you lost. That does NOT mean he or she or even it, will be a pushover. This game will keep you on your toes!
For me I'd say it's probably a Must Buy for fans of the series, that understand it's history, etc, but if like me, you knew nothing about it or had not played any of it's predcessors, I'd say it's worth a look but be prepared to wonder at times at what the heck is going on. Some images will linger in the head, and maybe not for all the right reasons. I mean there's a guy that's regurgitated from the stomach of a freaking big snake for one thing, and that snake seems to be grafted to the body of one of the enemy protagonists...yeah OK...moving on... It's OK but is best summed up as one of those 'Marmite Games', it won't be to everyone's tastes I think.