rpgprincess8's profile

Like most Naruto gaming fans out there, I’ve been very interested in Naruto Shippuden: Legend: Akatsuki Rising for a while now. In the weeks before its release I read some pretty disappointing reviews concerning it, and now I find myself having to agree with some of them. Akatsuki Rising is a very fun game and any fan of the Naruto series will enjoy it, but it’s just that it doesn’t stray that far from the Ultimate Ninja series of Naruto (which I‘m a HUGE fan of and I‘ve already played them all).

Okay, this game is an honest to goodness button masher. Nothing is truly hard about this game for that reason. You can defeat all your enemies by pushing one button over and over again. But then again there’s nothing wrong with that either. Most games in the Naruto series are button mashers. But the one thing that drove me nuts time and time again was the CAMERA! While trying to lock-on to an enemy to defeat, it will lock-on to an enemy that was way in front of you, and by doing that leaving you wide open to an attack. The battle system needs some work, but there is enough jutsu to keep it fun.

The graphics for this game is surprisingly good but not the best. The developers did a good job on some things and VERY bad on others. The colors for the characters is very vibrant. Something that has come to be expected though in any Naruto game, I feel. But there is a lot to be desired in this game graphic wise. I think the hardest thing to watch in this game is the cut scenes. They are, in my opinion just horrible. There’s no real detail to them. They show no emotion, what’s the point of zooming in on their faces if nothing changes. Plus the backgrounds are very repetitive.

Scenario Mode was a lot of fun. They kept it very close to the story, no strange little changes. Plus the missions are fun. They are kind of straight forward and once you get the hang of the game, most are easy to complete. The battle mode is fun with the characters you are given. But the best part of this game is the chance to play as one of the Akatsuki. It’s a different element being brought to this system, so that’s what makes it stand out.

The music for this game is more of the same. Which isn’t bad, it’s the same music we’ve come to love in the Naruto series. The voice actors did a great job and the choice of either being able to play it in either English or Japanese is just a plus always.

My overall score for this game is a 7. It’s not awful but it’s not the best either. It needs a lot of work. Since I’ve only played the Naruto games on the Playstation systems, I can’t compare it to other games for the other systems. But Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising is a combination of the Ultimate Ninja series and Uzimaki Chronicles. In fact this game plays SO much like Chronicles they might as well just called it that. Like I said before the only thing that sets this game apart is being able to play as one of the akatsuki.