It was a humble series in the grand scope of fighting games, but is still looked back fondly on as one of the best ways to experience the story of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. CyberConnect2 has since moved on to several other projects including Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, its new Fuga: Melodies of Steel series, and the similar arena fighter Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Hinokami Chronicles. Now that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R is out, CC2 once again seems between projects. However, if a trusted anime YouTuber and leaker is to be believed, a new title succeeding Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is on the horizon.
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The Existence of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 5 Is Very Likely
The YouTuber Senju in Japan has made a name for himself as a highly trusted source of CyberConnect2 information. Senju has made accurate predictions of not only what the DLC characters coming to the Demon Slayer game were, but of mechanics exclusive to certain DLC demons that hadn’t existed in the base game. It seems that Senju has sources inside CyberConnect2, so his reports hold a lot of weight in the anime game community. This made his YouTube and Twitter proclamations in April 2022 sent shockwaves through the Naruto fandom.
It seems that CyberConnect2 has a new Naruto title in development that is, functionally, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 5. Senju claims that it probably won’t be called Storm 5, thus making a statement CC2’s CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama made about the Storm games being finished accurate. Still, that may just mean it’s focused on Boruto instead. The game has supposedly been in development for over a year, and its announcement could come as early as the end of 2022. However, due to various development reasons, when the game will be announced is still uncertain.
What Ultimate Ninja Storm 5 May Be Like
One of those reasons is something big that Senju has refused to elaborate on. Apparently, a major feature of some kind has caused development delays in this Ultimate Ninja Storm successor. There are a few likely culprits for this, and unfortunately a netcode overhaul is not one of them. A character creator like the one in Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker could make its way into this title. The somewhat modular character abilities employed by Ninja Storm should make it possible to fully craft the moveset of a custom avatar. Alternatively, CyberConnect2 could be going the Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot route and include a full open world. Most of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games have had free roam modes, and this would be an evolution of that.
The one hint Senju in Japan has given that implies this new Naruto game will be constructed with the Ultimate Ninja Storm formula is a tweet in regard to its roster. Supposedly, this game will have the largest Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm roster yet, which means that a lot of its characters will be inherited from past games. That also implies that old design and animations are coming back as well, which isn’t the combat refresh some fans want. It remains to be seen whether battle mechanics will remain on par with past games, but the rest of the game should be a fanservice-filled spectacle like always. Senju in Japan may not know when the next Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm game will be announced, but chances are it will be happening in the foreseeable future.
A Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm game is rumored to be in development.
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