You see, while we've already delved deep into Ninja Storm's basic fighting mechanics, it turns out it's not the simple fighter we were all expecting. Developer CyberConnect2 has apparently run with the basic battling conceit and turned it into a game with a surprisingly broad appeal. Sure, there's plenty to enjoy from a fan perspective and Ninja Storm features 25 playable characters from the Naruto universe, alongside a currently undisclosed number of assist fighters who'll join you in battle for some much needed respite against an enemy at the touch of a button.
However, it's the story mode mission structure CyberConnect2 has put in place that really has us intrigued by Ninja Storm. You see, the game features a large open world -- dubbed the Hidden Village -- which acts as a central hub between battles. Here, you can chat to townsfolk to unlock new objectives or simply explore in a bid to collect handy items for use in battle or bump up your abilities. What's particularly striking though is the amount of effort CyberConnect2 has put into this side of the game, with it practically being a platformer in its own right.
Outside of arena battles, Naruto has a massive array of moves to help him traverse and interact in the Hidden Village. Alongside your shuriken -- which can be used to target objects in the game world, either individually or en masse with a hail of shuriken at once -- Naruto can wall jump between buildings to access roof tops, swing from clothes lines high above the street and carry objects, which proves useful in solving the handful of simple switch-based puzzles we saw around town. There's even a Naruto Cannon mechanic that enables our hero to propel himself through the air toward distant locations. As you level up through continued play, the cannon's reach increases, offering access to previously unreachable areas of the game world.
If that wasn't enough, it's even possible to collect ingredients around town to drop off at the ramen store. Here, the local chef will whip up a dish that grants Naruto with even more spectacular moves to use during battle. We suspect there's even more to see too, which goes some considerable way to alleviating early fears that the accessible combat set-up would prove too shallow to offer a lasting game experience.
In terms of mission structure too, Ninja Storm looks intriguing. As you progress through story mode you'll gradually unlock multi-episode mission arcs. These are based on the first five story arcs from the original anime and include the Genin Training Arc, Chunin Exam Arc and Chasing Sasuke Arc, from what we had time to scrawl down during publisher Atari's demonstration of the game. Each arc consists of multiple missions, all ranked at different difficulty levels, to maintain the challenge throughout the game. From what we could tell, winning criteria range from fighting specific characters to defeating opponents using a certain number of lives. There's seems to be a little more variety than that though, with CyberConnect2 demonstrating a particularly spectacular boss battle to close the presentation.
Throughout story mode, you'll come across some superbly animated and directed cut-scenes, all created in-game using Ninja Storm's stunning cell-shaded graphics engine. In this instance, Naruto encounters Gaara in the forest -- a meeting which ends with the summoning of Syukaka, a preposterously over-sized enemy. Towering above you, Syukaka alternates between ground-pounding and air bullet attacks. In a sequence weirdly reminiscent of Shadow of Colossus, thanks largely to the encounter's grand scale, it's up to you to fell the beast using your standard fighting move set, either slowly grinding down its health meter by targeting anything remotely limb-like, or knocking off big chunks of HP by working your way up toward Syukaka's head and pounding the life out of Gaara as he perches above. It's thrilling to watch and looks genuinely spectacular.
However, that's nothing compared to CyberConnect2's next trick. Clearly keen to incorporate some of Naruto's more kaleidoscopic set-pieces into Ninja Storm, certain sequences of the game feature God of War-like quick-time events. In this case, once Syukaka's health has been depleted by half, you're tasked with following the onscreen buttons prompts in order to clamber up your opponent and unleash a mass of expertly orchestrated, exhilarating pyrotechnics. It's certainly not what we were expecting and far removed from the generic fighter we were anticipating before the demonstration.
Elsewhere, CyberConnect2 dropped a few more hints about the game, showing off Ultimate Storm's Awaken mode. During battle, all playable characters undergo radical transformations if they meet certain specific criteria. Succeed and you'll gain entirely new animations and move sets, alongside a devastating finishing blow. For the demonstration, we witnessed Kimimaro wrench razor sharp rock spikes from the earth before growing tendrils and skewering Naruto below. Effectively, Awaken mode doubles the number of playable characters at your disposal and adds an extra layer of depth to proceedings.
Rounding off our demo, CyberConnect2 noted that Ultimate Storm features both original Japanese voice acting and the US dub, meaning fans of the series can enjoy the game whichever way they choose. Finally, although far from being actual confirmation of the fact, a question concerning downloadable characters and features in the future elicited nervous laughter and an intriguing "Wait and see". Frankly, despite our preconceptions, we came away from Ninja Storm impressed and eager to see more. Luckily though, the game's scheduled for release this November in Europe, even before Japanese punters get there mitts on it -- that wait shouldn't be so unbearable, after all.