Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3

There’s no warm-up. No training arc. Just a burning village, a 20-story Nine-Tailed Fox, and a masked man pulling its strings. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 doesn’t ask you to settle in, it punches through your screen with the biggest, boldest opening in the series yet. First you’re Minato, racing across rooftops to save a newborn future. Then you’re the Third Hokage, circling the beast like a speck of dust in a hurricane. It’s chaos. It’s cinematic. It’s Naruto turned up to 11.

And that’s just the first 10 minutes.

Storm 3 is a love letter to every fan who’s ever shouted “Believe it!” unironically. With an 80+ character roster (including new Full Burst additions like Sage Mode Kabuto), streamlined Awakening mechanics, and the ability to finally tag-team as Sasuke and Itachi against Kabuto, this is the most generous, kitchen-sink Naruto package yet.

The gameplay? As stylish as ever. Arena-sized showdowns let you dodge, dash, and unleash chakra bombs with a flick of your thumb. Controls are tighter than before, and special moves feel like pocket-sized anime episodes, especially in the revamped, high-drama boss fights that pit you against titans like the Tailed Beasts. Storm 3 wants you to feel like a god, and most of the time, it succeeds.

That’s not to say it’s flawless. Difficulty is mostly MIA unless you’re playing online, and story mode occasionally teases exploration before yanking you back into cutscene corrals. The “Hero” vs. “Legend” path choices? Cool in theory, confusing in execution. But if the reward is seeing Choza Akimichi turn kaiju-sized and belly-flop a demon fox? I’ll take the hit to clarity.

As with most Naruto games, canon is more of a suggestion than a rule, especially in Storm 3’s invented endgame scenarios. But honestly? When the spectacle’s this good, and the Uchiha team-up is this satisfying, who cares if we’re a few filler arcs deep into fanfic territory?

Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is Naruto at his most theatrical, tossing out logic and restraint in favor of bombast, brotherhood, and beast-sized boss fights. It’s not perfect, but damn if it isn’t entertaining.