Worse Combat?

[Ritter Ayla]

So I bought the Ultimate Ninja Storm games in the last sale, had tons of fun with the first one and i had heard that the second one was even better.
But is it just me or is combat actually worse in the second one? They took out certain combos, the ones that are in kinda seem useless when compared to spamming jutsu, characters in awakening mode used to have a full move set but now they cant use ultimate jutsu, we used to be able to costumize what different jutsu or combos we wanted support characters to use, and to kick the enemy when they were down, plus we had more health in the last one (four bars rather than two). But all of that stuff seems to have been stripped from this one.

For some reason i heard some people say that this is the best strom game, if you think that can you explain me what makes the combat better? Because it just seems to me like its been dumbed down from the original, and its not like that one was particularly complex to begin with.

[Himiko]

I'm a rather experienced Storm 2 player on Ps4, and of all the storm games in general as I've been playing them since the beginning. However, I didn't really remember just how different Storm 1 felt until I saw your comment and decided to turn on Storm 1 from my trilogy pack. And let me tell you, it baffles me how good it feels compared to Storm 2. The overall feel of the gameplay from the camera angles to the movement of the characters feels so much more fun, in addition to other things you mentioned such as customizing jutsus for characters and stuff. I seriously wonder why CyberConnect2 moved away from the direction Storm 1 had, because imagine a game like Storm 1, but on a much larger scale with a ton more characters and stages? It would be absolutely amazing, and I know the Naruto Storm series would have been way more successful that way.

So, I have to agree with you. Storm 2, while it is similar to Storm 1 in many ways, feels, in other ways, more dumbed down. Even with the addition of support types and team ultimate jutsus, the lack of customization that Storm 1 had such as choosing between what each support can do(not just their drive type) makes the game seem more bland. Storm 1 is a faster game in the sense of how the characters feel and flow in-game as well as the fact dashing into someone's guard doesn't make you bounce off of eachother, which lowers the threat of turtle styles of play significantly. In addition, the combat is more dynamic than 2 because of the camera angle, and the combat is a more cinematic experience. Yet even so, it still manages to retain the elements that made the gameplay of both games more tactful than all the games that came after them. It is truly a shame Storm 2 didn't follow in Storm 1's footsteps very well, but even so, I would consider it the best(or at least my favorite) Storm game with an online mode, as I dislike it's future mechanically fast-paced, mindless, dash-happy iterations.

So what's the best Naruto Storm game? With only having played a handful of Storm 1 matches in free Battle Mode since the last time I played this game 10 years ago on Ps3, I can still easily say it's the best of them all. Storm 2 just can't compare, and it's sad because I have to keep ranking on Storm 2, but I don't know if I can force myself back onto it after having re-experienced the amazing game that is Naruto Storm 1. Although, it sucks because even though I find the gameplay in Storm 1 to be much more fun than Storm 2, the lack of an online mode trivializes the point of playing this game longer than it's required to obtain the platinum trophy. What's the incentive to continue playing? To fight the cpu? Even that gets boring. At the very least, they should have added an online mode to Storm 1 with the release of Legacy and Trilogy.

[Ritter Ayla]

I agree that a multiplayer should've been added since rn the only way to play with other people would be to plug in a second controller. Also Im prettty sad to hear that the Storm games somehow become even worse after 2. I havent played them yet since im not done watching the anime but it just seems like they had a winning formula with storm 1 and threw it out the window. Specially since all it needed was better story which they did deliver on Storm 2 and more characters. But since they ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up the combat so hard im wondering if its even worth my time to play them now. Plus, the Storm games run on the same engine so they could have just reused old assets and animations.

[Himiko]

Originally posted by Malivamar:

I agree that a multiplayer should've been added since rn the only way to play with other people would be to plug in a second controller. Also Im prettty sad to hear that the Storm games somehow become even worse after 2. I havent played them yet since im not done watching the anime but it just seems like they had a winning formula with storm 1 and threw it out the window. Specially since all it needed was better story which they did deliver on Storm 2 and more characters. But since they ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up the combat so hard im wondering if its even worth my time to play them now. Plus, the Storm games run on the same engine so they could have just reused old assets and animations.

Well after Storm 2, the fighting system gets a lot faster. It becomes less tactical, and more reliant on raw technical skill to beat other people. While some people may prefer that style of gameplay, I certainly don't. If that sounds like something you would enjoy, then give them a try. But I really do believe Storm 1 had the best formula for success, from the character select and gameplay elements to even the story mode.

[Hayatemaru]

To me, Storm 1 is great... just that it's more broken and has some mechanics you don't end up using. For instance, anyone with a demon wind shuriken has an infinite. Shino is really high tier for this reason, among others. If you're playing against someone in Storm 1 on high levels, it becomes "who can mash sub the hardest" rather than the game itself because of these. As far as useless mechanics go, I think the super punch (hold O or B), forced jutsu charges (a zero charge lands you no jutsu range/time whatsoever), and wall running are some examples of these. Wall running can happen often, but it limits your move set and is really only there to be a gimmick.

To contrast, Storm 2 doesn't have these infinites to my knowledge (unless you count teams like chitem which only becomes an infinite during support drive), it adds in more practical mechanics (back chakra dashing, support drive replacing the storm guage, etc.), and is generally able to be taken to higher competitive levels than Storm 1 was.

Also, I prefer Storm 2's story mode over Storm 1. Sure, everyone complains about the walking, but you can just use warp scrolls and it's good. Plus that and boss fights are only limited to giant battles in Storm 1 while Storm 2 has more variety in its boss fights.

Overall, I love both of the games and think that the series wouldn't be the same without either of them. If I had to choose between them though, I'd choose 2 over 1 personally. Now to address your points directly:

Originally posted by Malivamar:

They took out certain combos, the ones that are in kinda seem useless when compared to spamming jutsu

What combos? Both games have neutral, up, side, and down combos. Unless you're referring to the "hold O/B" garbage then yeah, they took that out. But that wasn't "useless compared to spamming", it was just generally useless because of how slow and projected it was.

If you're referring to the side combo here, Storm 2 didn't take that out, you're thinking of Storm 3.
[quoite]characters in awakening mode used to have a full move set but now they cant use ultimate jutsu[/quote]
This is actually a good thing. Awakenings aren't supposed to be a god mode mechanic, they're supposed to be a trade-off mechanic that gives you a boost in making a comeback. Awakenings having assists and ultimates plus all of the other implications of awakenings (such as faster combos, super armor, etc.) leads to a complete disaster. In Storm 1 though, awakenings feel much weaker than base forms. To contrast, Storm 2 makes awakenings stroner than base forms.

we used to be able to costumize what different jutsu or combos we wanted support characters to use

This is personally something I do miss and wish would've been in Storm 2. Though, ultimately this isn't a big deal and it also doesn't change the core combat mechanics themselves.

and to kick the enemy when they were down

Shuriken and Chakra Shuriken do this in Storm 2. Please learn how to play.

plus we had more health in the last one (four bars rather than two).

Not true. Let's talk ratios for a sec here. Let's say one person has 3 bars that range on 100 units and another has 2 bars that range on 100 units. Which one has more HP? Neither.

They both have 100 units. Just one is divided into 3 bars while the other is divided into 2 bars. This is precisely how things work in the Storm series. In fact, it's way easier to damage someone for one bar, let alone two bars in some cases, in Storm 1 than 2. As in, Storm 1 lets you combo someone to 2/3 of their health while Storm 2 it's a lot harder to even get that output.

But all of that stuff seems to have been stripped from this one.

And for good reasons.

Because it just seems to me like its been dumbed down from the original, and its not like that one was particularly complex to begin with.

Storm 2 made things more complex overall than 1 if you count the fact that Storm 1 boils down to a game of BBBB->chakra shuriken->repeat and mashing subs. Storm 1 feels more like "whoever gets the first hit in neutral wins", which is more dumbed down than Storm 2's more balanced approach imo.