NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER

Let me preface this by telling you right now: this game is not very good. I like it because it lets me create a Naruto OC. All of the fashion is locked behind gacha, however, so a good fit is hard-fought and rarely-won. The open-floor lobby would perhaps be more meaningful to explore and emote in if there was anything else to, you know, do. The lobby really only facilitates Playing The Game; the Game desperately wants you to play its PVP, which I do not find very fun. The PVE is so-so, and takes a nosedive when you fight a boss. Again, this game is not very good. Not very fun. It is a tax on your life which you must appropriately prepare for. I play it because I wanted to make a character and write fanfiction and all that fun stuff. I want to explore the Hidden Leaf Village (and god forbid some of the others? please?), make friends with the cast, all that good stuff. I would absolutely kill a man for some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ plot in this video game. I really think this game could make great use out of a focused, more polished sequel, preferably one that focuses more on PVE and co-op and all that good stuff. I find myself lamenting, "this game would be so good if it were good." The few cutscenes this game has are pretty cute, and they make me want more, more plot that never comes. Then again, I never did finish watching Naruto proper. I got up to Zabuza or so, the Chunin exams, and then Toonami stopped being a meaningful thing. When it picked back up ten years or so later, I realized I was so far behind as to be completely out of the loop, so I contented myself watching the occasional fight on YouTube and picking up whatever I could from cultural osmosis. I love that there seems to be some kind of historical revisionism about how Itachi was actually Really Cool and Loved His Brother despite putting him in superHell. That amuses me greatly. All of this to say, again, that this game is not very good. It has a lot of DLC, which would be way more fun if I got to interact with the VR Masters in any meaningful capacity beyond "give me your hat." If they make another one, I'm probably going to be on board, and I will pray that it's better than this. But that's assuming it ever happens. I come away from this game wanting more, to fill a yawning void that is never truly slaked.