Naruto: Path of Ninja 2
Another RPG outing from the new Dragon Ball Z
Tags: Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 Categories: DS Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Dec 15th, 2008
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 (title page) | 2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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Being Christmas, it should be no surprise that the annual franchises come out to play. That means that we should be facing a deluge of Naruto and other anime-based titles, and the latest I have gotten my hands on is the RPG sequel, Path of the Ninja 2. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original, but I am at least an advocate of classic RPG experiences. These kinds of games are getting rarer and rarer, but should you take the experience where you can get it?
As compared to the last outing, this doesn’t force you to answer that question. Even with just a passing interest in the franchise, you will quickly be rapt into the world of child ninjas and demon catfish. I do have to admit a penchant for anime is a requirement. Although PON2 starts off on a much better footing than its predecessor, as it doesn’t tell us a story that we have seen in the anime, the manga, and a half dozen other franchise games.
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I am not big into the franchise so I am not sure if this exists in the other media, but the Demonic Catfish storyline does not exist in other games. Like the Dragon Ball franchise before it, Naruto spends far too much time releasing far too many games, often with the same story, and only differing engines and gameplay.
So while it may be a bit vexing that we are likely to get another deluge of titles featuring the spunky orange ninja that could, at least this game … wait for it … actually works as a game. Using a tight system of mixing controls and stylus gestures, the combat mixes menu choices and mini-games. Most of the mini-games are tied to the specialized attacks each character has allowing them to be implimented.
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The actual attacks themselves range from impressive series mainstays, to a ton of generic attacks that seem to have been added for the sake of making every level gain worth caring about. At some point the Paradox of Choice kicks in and you’re left with a pile of ignored menu choices. There is a lot of glossing over the finer details of the genre. Whether this was done out of laziness or oversight, I’ll never know, but equipment should matter beyond healing items.
In the end, this is still a licensed title. It brings with it the same rushed feeling, but there is a spark of life here that eludes that albatross almost long enough to deliver a promise of a good game. I think your level of fandom will determine your enjoyment of this game.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Storyline much better than the last game + Nice to get to play a gimmick free RPG |
6.8 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Missing some essential elements - Leveling and character abilities are rather generic |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| It's not horrible, but it's missing a lot of details needed to make this feel like a full on release. | |
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Tags: Naruto: Path of Ninja 2
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Dec 15th, 2008 and is filed under DS Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
