Top 10 Suggestions for Online in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations:
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is heading its way to the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 in Japan, North America, and Europe in the Spring of 2012. CyberConnect2 been mentioned the game will have an improved online mode. At Saiyan Island, we’re always excited to share our opinions on what we would love to see in the latest Storm game. Below is a list of our top 10 suggestions for online in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations!
10. Lobby Room w/ Text Chat
Exchanging virtual blows of friendship – that’s the reason we play online with our fellow Naruto fans! However, sometimes it feels like we’re just playing a more skilled CPU. There isn’t any pre-game interaction, and it’s something we felt Storm 2 sorely needed. There have been times where we’ve waited that little dust cloud roll around for 5-10 minutes before a player match is made. Until we go to the character selection screen, we need a lobby room to text chat with our potential opponents to not only pass the time, but interact with Naruto fans who we would otherwise never have met!
09. Personalized Camera Views
The camera for Storm 2 was pretty good at keeping both characters in focus, for the most part. The host (player 1), has the behind the character view, and as player 2 there would be a more wider view. Essentially the camera is the same as player 1, except player 2 sees their character out in the distance. Some may love the player 2 camera angle, but we personally hate it! After playing the single player story mode, which puts players in the player 1 host slot, going online and acting as player 2 is annoying! For a local match CyberConnect2 has got it exactly right, but for online, players should be given the option to select their camera view. Either behind the character like Storm 2’s player 1 or a wide view like Storm 2’s player 2.
08. Mini-Games
Before Storm 2, almost all of the games in the Ultimate Ninja series had mini-games. We would love to see them return in Generations and with online capability. Check out our prior article, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations Mini-Games Wish list, for the full details.
07. In Game Taunts
Sometimes the opponent is just so terrible you want to say something to them, but you can’t because voice chat is off. Well, we at Saiyan Island propose in-game taunts! And not just any taunts, but hot-blooded character-specific words of torment! In other words, if it’s a battle between Neji and Lee, Lee could say something along the lines of "Hard work overcoming a genius, now this is a true match of ability".
How could this be accomplished? Well, we’re sure the talented folks at CyberConnect2 can come up with a few hundred ways to do so. The easiest way would be to pre-record phrases for each character. So if Lee sees Neji, he could say what we mentioned above in-game on our command.
The way we envision it for true customization is the voice actors for the game/series record hundreds of commonly used words in the Naruto series, and then the player can join together different words to make phrases. For example, say the voice actor for Sasuke records the 7 words – “destroy” “leaf,” “Naruto,” “you,” “will,” “the” and “I”. As the player in some kind of customizing menu, we can then make the phrase “I will destroy the Leaf” or with those same words “The Leaf will destroy you, Naruto” and assign the buttons we will press to activate those words. Then during a battle, players can move the PS3’s L3 button, for example, to the left and Sasuke can speak his taunt.
06. Spread Out Ranks
In Naruto Storm 2, 9,999,999 BP is the maximum score one can attain in the online mode. However, at about 965,000 BP, one can attain the max rank, Hero. Between 965,000 and 9,999,999 there is a whole lot of nothingness. While it’s still fun to play Storm 2, there is really no actual sense of achievement or motivation to continue playing. We feel the ranks should be spread out! In Storm 2, at 2500 BP one can become a Genin, and not too many people stay there for long. In order to have more diverse ranking between players, up the stakes so maybe it takes 10,000 BP to be Genin. As for Hero, only those who get to 9,999,999 can call themselves one. It’s true getting to 9,999,999 BP is an impossible feat for most, but it will add a whole new level of interest to the game. After all, would Naruto want to be Hokage if everybody could become one so easily?
05. More Statistics
Top 3 characters only, seriously? We’d like to see more in Generations. Specifically, we’d like to see how much we’ve used a character, how much we’ve played on a stage, and what our win percent is per character per stage. Heck yeah, it’s fun to look at, and just for that reason this feature should be in! If memory serves us correct, Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 for the Nintendo Wii had some solid statistics, so if its been done on Wii’s online architecture, this should surely be a cinch for a Xbox Live and PSN-based game.
04. Prevent Duplicate Character Usage
At Saiyan Island we never like to use the same character as our opponent. We’re sure many of you also feel the same. Just like voice chat, which can be turned on and off in Storm 2, the host of the battle session should be able to turn off the ability for both players to choose the same character. This would not only prevent annoying duplicates, but, also speed up the character selection process! In Storm 2, players often wait until there are like 5 seconds left to select their character. With the inability to select duplicates, all of a sudden the opponent has to hurry up, otherwise the character they want may be chosen!
03. Absolute Monthly Disconnect Limit
Imagine a scenario where you started off the match terribly, but then get your act together and make a huge comeback. Your about to launch a Rasengan of epic proportions for the win and then "Connection to opponent lost". Frustrating!
Storm 2 has a very weird disconnect policy. Sometimes we’ll see a player with 8 or 9 disconnect and then the next day they’ll have 0. What gives? There should be an absolute monthly disconnect limit. Players should not be able to disconnect more than 10 times in a month, and that’s being generous. If they do, they can’t play until the next month. Cutting down disconnections, simple as that.
02. Spectator Mode
The ability to watch friends battle it out would be magnificent! The ability to watch, record, and then upload those videos to YouTube would be perfect. This is what we would want from a spectator mode. Not only would it be an enjoyable feature, but it would be a valuable feature for tournaments! We at Saiyan Island could certainly hold a Generations tournament, with prizes, if this was to come true.
01. Four Player Battles
1-on-1 fights are great, and Storm’s system is one of the most fun out there, but if one or two more people can join in how much better does it get, right?! Think about Smash Brothers Brawl – one on one is decent, but if you two or even one people join in, it’s freaking intense!
You may be thinking Storm’s mechanics are nothing like Smash Brothers right? It’s true the 3D environment of the Storm engine possesses a challenge, but 4-player in Storm 2 can be pulled off nicely using the personalized camera view we mentioned as number 09 in our list. Think about it. Isn’t that how Halo or Metal Gear Solid played online? Each person has their own view point, whether first person or third person, and that’s how they are able to take on the opponents. Even Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 for Wii has done it. With Ultimate Ninja Storm’s free flow battle mechanics, four player can be a beautiful thing!
