Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is the sequel to Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations and is part of the Naruto franchise's Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm subseries developed by CyberConnect2. The game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the United States on March 5, 2013, in Europe on March 8, 2013. Japan received it on April 18, 2013.
The storyline begins where Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 left off, right after the Invasion of Pain arc and the destruction (and reconstruction) of the Hidden Leaf Village. After the battle against Pain, the Five Kages decide to meet in a summit to decide how to deal with the threat of Akatsuki. Meanwhile, Naruto learns about Sasuke's dark deeds, and he must decide whether he insists in his goal of rescuing his rogue old friend, or try to take him down to stop his madness. During this adventure, Naruto will discover the remaining mysteries of his birth while the whole ninja world is immersed in the biggest War ever known. Just like its predecessors, the narrative includes omissions and additions.
Gameplay enhancements include an updated Story Mode with in-game cutscenes like Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, with more emphasis on cinematics in the storyline than before, a Mass Effect-styled decision system called "The Ultimate Decision" (which lets players alter the outcome of certain storylines as well as the difficulty level), and Hack and Slash-styled gameplay from the PlayStation Portable game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact, which are now main storyline forms of gameplay.
General gameplay enhancements include updated super attacks for the characters, plus a new Lag Cancel called "Awakening Cancel" — when attacking, a quick usage of Awakening during a combo (which can now be used anytime instead of needing to lose a specific amount of health using the right stick unless in a particular story mode fight) will cancel the current combo and the character will use a main combo exclusive to their Awakening move, and can be swapped back to the normal mode at any time with the flick of the right stick. Awakenings now have different actions and techniques as opposed to just one, and now don't just rely on the Chakra meter.
Also, the cinematic boss fights, one of the most celebrated features in the series, are back once again after their absence in Generations.
You can find the current official site here
. The first trailer can be found here. There is also an Updated Re-release by the name of Full Burst, featuring improved graphics (and some free DLC costumes if bought as a Retail Copy instead of just the DLC itself) and an additional story chapter: the Uchiha brothers vs Sage Kabuto. It is available both at Retail for consoles and PC, making it the first Naruto game ever released on this platform. The game was also launched with a special add-on pack for owners of the original version on consoles, similar to Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Editon and Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, as well as Steam support.
The game also has a 2014 sequel, called Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution.
In 2017, the game got rereleased with 1 and 2 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC while it released on Switch in 2018.
Tropes exhibited by this game:
- AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle:
- The way the game pronounces the name Kurama. It's proper pronunciation is "Koo-rah-mah", the dub pronounces it "Koo-roo-mah".
- "Tsuki no Me" is likewise pronunced like "Tsuki no MI".
- Action Girl: Considering the huge roster, this was bound to happen.
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: As the war was still ongoing at the time in the manga and anime, a non-canon ending to the story was made. Defeated, Tobi, Madara and Kabuto fall back, thus giving victory to the Allied Shinobi Forces. The Five Great Shinobi Countries shinobi return to their villages while Kage discuss on preparing for a counter-attack against Madara's group along with bettering the peace between them and their countries. Naruto is congratulated for his victory upon awakening from his battle with Tobi in Konoha and is spurred by the spirits of his parents to join his friends. Sasuke, however, leaves the Mountain's Graveyard to find Naruto.
- Adaptational Badass: Sakura gets hit with this. In the manga's Five Kage Summit arc, she avoids fighting Sai, Lee and Kiba once Sai realizes that she plans to drug them so that she could try and kill Sasuke by herself. She can't bring herself to kill him and he tries to kill her twice, during which she just stands there with an Oh, Crap! expression. However, in this game, she fights Sai after he figures out her plan and wins, then she puts up a good fight against Sasuke, and even after Kakashi intervenes, she takes advantage of the distraction and comes within inches of actually stabbing Sasuke in the back, rather than being at a distance like in canon.
- Adaptational Wimp: In canon, Madara outright crushed the Five Kages without any effort on the Uchiha's part. In this game however, the Kages managed to use their teamwork to successfully take him down. Madara didn't even use his Perfect Body Susanoo in this version
- Adaptation Expansion: You get to play through the battle with the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and the group Kage fight with Madara.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Several details skipped in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 are now vital to the plot (like Danzo's overall role and Naruto's encounter with Itachi that happened before his fight with Sasuke). The game does its best to avert this by providing flashbacks where appropriate.
- Adapted Out: Sai's fight with his reanimated brother Shin was cut.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore:
- The western version includes blood, the Japanese version doesn't. It can be turned off though.
- Strangely enough flashbacks don't seem to check for having blood turned off, so still display it anyway. As well as a certain scene with Zabuza and Haku, but that scene wouldn't make sense without it.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: You actually spend quite a lot of the story mode controlling characters other than Naruto, to the point where listing them all would take far too long. The one that most stands out is controlling pregnant Kushina during a flashback. She even gets to kick-start a Sidequest Sidestory that her future son will eventually follow through!
- And for a bit of Black Comedy, when controlling pregnant Kushina, for obvious reasons she walks really, really slowly, unlike Naruto in the main story who runs everywhere.
- Also the final fight you end up fighting as Kurama, The nine tails, who controls vastly differently to the rest of the fights, against a sequence of the 2-7 tailed beasts, for one thing, Kurama hasn't got a jutsu attack nor an ultimate, nor chakra dashing, and he controls rather slowly, thankfully, the tailed beasts aren't exactly strong opponents, and quite predictable, but still, he is very different and awkward to control.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Many characters have alternate "War" outfits. This is purely a cosmetic change, they still play exactly the same. For the ones that don't (Gaara and Choji), their 'War' version are listed as separate characters.
- Kakashi's War outfit is particularly ridiculous, as it changes the kanji on his headband (something you'd probably never notice in a real match), and the only difference in play is that he now has an Awakening ability.
- Lee's is even more ridiculous for his flak jacket covers his headband.
- Art Evolution: The overall graphics are much more cinematic than they were in previous Ultimate Ninja Storm titles, and in-game models look somewhat sketchier akin to the manga as a result.
- It's fairly common at times to think you're watching the anime until something shows you that, yes, it's just game graphics. In fact, this was a selling point for Storm's debut, to blur the line between the game and the anime.
- The Full Burst edition shows yet another evolution of the art style.
- Artistic License – Biology: Babies do not typically have a lot of hair when they're born, and certainly not a shock of blond hair like Naruto's. Justified, however, because if we couldn't recognize that the baby was Naruto, it would have detracted from the big emotional moment.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Many of the "transformation" style Awakenings. You can't use them to cancel combos like the instant Awakenings, a lot of the time the power-up doesn't grant you much beyond a stat boost, you can only use them at low health, and some of them like the Jinchuuriki ones actually make you slower and a bigger target. There are a few that avert this though and are very useful (Sasuke and Itachi's Susano'o forms for example).
- Back from the Dead: Kabuto's Edo Tensei brought back a large number of previously killed off characters. Though you don't actually have to wait until you unlock their Reanimated forms to use them: their living skins are unlocked by default. Heck, even quite a few dead characters who aren't revived, like Pain's Yahiko body, are still playable to maintain a complete roster.
- Barehanded Blade Block: Naruto somehow does this with Sasuke's lightning-enhanced sword.
- Battle Couple: Naruto and Hinata are listed as "Secret Lovers" when placed on a team. Again.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Naruto vs the Nine-Tails in Chapter 4.
- Big Bad: Tobi.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The Portuguese translation. There are a considerable number of grammatical errors and sentences that don't make sense, giving a heavy impression of the translation team not knowing the Portuguese language and using a translator tool like Google Translate.
- Blood from the Mouth: Karin after getting Impaled with Extreme Prejudice by Sasuke's Chidori Spear, and both Kushina and Minato when they're impaled with the Nine-Tails' claw. Not seen if you have blood off, obviously.
- Bloodless Carnage: In the Japanese version, and any other version if one chooses to "turn off" the more graphic natures of battle. Otherwise, see American Kirby Is Hardcore above.
- Body Horror: The Giant Mook Zetsu.
- Book Ends: Throughout the Prologue a female narrator, Kushina, talks about how it is Minato's story, however during the ending she repeats these line, except this time she is referring to her son, Naruto.
- Boring, but Practical: Shurikens and Fuma Shurikens in Bijuu battle. The former causes the Bijuu to flinch and the latter slowly chips away their health.
- Boss Banter: Storyline battles, even non-boss ones, will have combatants talking to each other during battle. The lines change to reflect how the fight is going too, and even Assist characters get a few if used.
- Butt-Monkey: Yamato gets beaten up by Naruto while attempting a You Shall Not Pass!...twice in the space of two chapters. Even he says he feels like crying after that.
- Cave Behind the Falls: The Tailed Beast Ruins on Turtle Island.
- Cerebus Syndrome: This game in particular goes from lighthearted to dark very quickly. Notice how everything listed on Funny Moments is either before the War or in the postgame? Yeah, there's a good reason for that.
- Colon Cancer: Again, like a few of its predecessors, the title manifests as Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja: Storm 3. The rerelease takes this even further, adding Full Burst to the end.
- Combat Sadomasochist: Hidan. His Ultimate Jutsu finish really seals it though.
- Continuity Snarl: Naruto's trademark 'dattebayo' and any other variation thereof in the Japanese version didn't make a very good transition into English when Naruto came over stateside because it's a Verbal Tic that doesn't actually have any meaning. English dubs inserted 'Believe it!' in its place at the time it premiered and it was slowly dropped as the anime went on, but because Kushina's similar Verbal Tic when she and Naruto meet are a tip-off to Naruto as to who she is, the writers were forced to write in something to make up for its place in the conversation. Instead of using 'Believe it!' again, they came up with 'y'know?' The result is a whole conversation with the statement 'y'know?' at the end of every single statement. Those who read the manga and watched the original Japanese version would notice the change the most, because it makes for an amusing and incredibly annoying conversation to listen to altogether. Doubles as a Retcon.
- Degraded Boss: Kakuzu was a major boss in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. Here his revived form is reduced to a Miniboss for Darui on his way to the Gold and Silver Brothers.
- Demoted to Extra: Hinata, Neji, Temari, Shino and Tenten don't even get a line of dialogue in the main storyline.
- Which kind of sucks since Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were part of the Second Division's battle which was completely glossed over. You don't even get a chance to fight on that battlefield. Probably because there were no Edo Tensei on it, just a ton of White Zetsu.
- Sai's fight with his reanimated brother Shin (probably the most significant thing he did in the War) being cut also makes him this.
- Die, Chair, Die!: For the first time in the Storm series, you can break items in the overworld for collectibles.
- Downloadable Content: Several.
- First, for pre-ordering the game from Game Stop, you get Naruto in Goku's outfit. His move animations now resemble that of Goku's and his Rasengan is now performed like the Father-Son Kamehameha.
- Second, if you are a Neon Alley subscriber, you get Samurai Naruto, Kimono Sasuke, School Uniform Sakura, Swimsuit Tsunade, and ANBU Itachi.
- Third, recently released on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, is a School Uniform pack for Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Ino, and Hinata. Designs taken directly from how they appeared in the second anime ending.
- Two new packs were also added to Xbox Live and Playstation Network. An Akatsuki pack that gives Deidara, Itachi, and Kisame the straw hats and Pain his torn cloak, and one that gives various costumes to Naruto, including pirate, matador, and leiderhosen.
- Four more packs were also added. A swimsuit pack for Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Temari, a pack that gives Kage hats to the Kage present at the summit, one that gives Sasuke and Hinata their Road to Ninja outfits, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru their sanin War uniforms, Kakashi and Yamato ANBU uniforms, and Madara a living form, and one that gives Sakura a Hello Kitty themed outfit.
- The new Full Burst add on is this for consoles. If you buy the Full Burst DLC as the retail version instead of just the DLC from PSN/Xbox Live, you get all of the DLC packs above, save for the Goku Naruto Costume.
- Dual Boss: Kinkaku and Ginkaku. The Swordsmen of the Mist are optionally Sextuple Boss (you can also choose to split them up and fight them as a Sequential Boss, but that gets you less points).
- 11th-Hour Superpower: An interesting example. Naruto get his initially before he even joins the War. But during the final battle with Tobi when the Jinchuuriki transforms, he is able to befriend Kurama and take on his full form without being overcome, however during the last part of the battle, Naruto actually loses this ability and has to finish the battle without the help of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
- Evil Overlooker: The Western box-art features three, with Tobi, Sasuke, and Kabuto's heads watching Naruto from behind.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation:
- In one cutscene, we're told the Reaper Death Seal causes its user to die. That doesn't stop Hiruzen from using it as his Ultimate Jutsu without any ill effects. In fact, it's highly possible for him to use it multiple times in the same battle!
- Speaking of which, a simple sparring session with Might Guy can end up with Naruto using his Rasenshuriken which, as a reminder, when pushed into the opponent, can cause cellular damage to Naruto as well as instant kill the opponent. Both end up fine afterward.
- In the postgame, you have access to Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb Ultimate Jutsu, which produces a nuclear explosion the size of an island you see from above. And you can use this in every optional fight as Naruto. In fact the game rewards you for this a lot of the time. Konoha is always fine after the fight though.
- Gecko Ending: Basically the result of Pragmatic Adaptation (see below).
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Being an anime adaptation, a few of these were inevitable.
- Upon arriving at the Land of Iron in Chapter 1 you're hit with two boss fights in a row that both fall under this trope: the Raikage and Tobi.
- Konan's is still just as cruel as it was in canon.
- Hong Kong Dub: The dub team obviously did not bother to match the lip flaps with the English dialogue, as there are many instances where characters' mouths are moving and no sound is coming out and vice versa. Disappointing since the acting itself is
actually quite good. - Irony: Remember the "Ultimate Decision" Sidequest where Naruto has to decide whether he likes girls like Hinata or girls like Ino and Sakura and it's hinted that both are trying to get an "advantage" over Hinata? Later on, Temari and Kurotsuchi, brash girls themselves whose attitude got fame beyond their countries' border, go to Hinata for advice to be more ladylike in another sidequest.
- Kick the Dog: In the "Ultimate Decision" Sidequest where you have to make Naruto pick whether he likes girls like Hinata or girls like Ino and Sakura, should the first option be picked, Ino and Sakura will start to talk about how someone shy like Hinata would get beat before defeating an enemy and how being shy can get you into trouble and boldness is the way to go...when Hinata is right there with them. That's...surprisingly insensitive for both of them. This is especially egregious because in canon, Hinata is the Morality Pet to both Ino and especially Sakura.
- This is Averted since Hinata is only minding the fact that Naruto prefers her personality over Sakura or Ino's and when the two do actually fight Naruto, she teams up with him with no hesitation while Naruto comments that she is "fired up" about it. After the fight, Sakura and Ino end up getting 'kicked', as not only did Naruto prefer Hinata (and that she's got "a great figure, great looks and personality," as they say) but they were then defeated. Turns into Heartwarming when Hinata comments on how happy she is about Naruto preferring her.
- Sakura and Ino are later joined by Tenten. Ino and Tenten invite Naruto to join them who wanted to ask Sakura out for lunch. Then they openly make fun of him.
- Lethal Joke Character: Given that the game has a heavy emphasis on balance, even characters who don't fight (Karin) or hardly ever wins fights (Tenten) are formidable fighters once you know how to use them. Karin may be the closest in spirit to this trope, though, as all her special moves are rather silly compared to others leading to...
- Lethal Joke Item: Karin's perfume spray. First of all, it's perfume being used in the middle of battle. Second of all, it does negligible damage. Despite that, it's a good item because not only does it stop chakra rushes, but each hit gives a random effect (Attack down, Defense down, poison). Also, any skilled player hit by it will immediately substitute out of it, which uses a substitution up quite possibly before the close range battle had even begun.
- Lip Lock: Pretty minor in the Japanese dub. Lots in the English dub.
- Made of Iron: Tobi was already this in the series, but the final battle takes it up a notch. He tanks about a thousand Rasengan and shrugs it off, then takes a Megaton Punch that puts anything Tsunade has ever done to shame, and comes out of it with nothing to show for it but a broken mask.
- Megaton Punch: There's plenty but special mention goes to Naruto giving one to Tobi...which wound up taking an overly long set-up which a different coloring scream that bled awesome, shattering the man's mask... and cracking the ground until it split. Since when was Naruto Captain Falcon?
- Multi-Mook Melee: The Mob Battles.
- Mythology Gag:
- When the Jinchuuriki are telling their names to Naruto, Utakata asks if he remembers him. This is a reference to a Filler arc where they've met prior to this event. Even though this is translation only, this is not in the Japanese audio.
- They manage to sneak "Believe it!" into one of Naruto's rap-off letters to Killer Bee.
- Nerf:
- Awakenings received their own form of this, as they no longer prevent Ultimate Jutsu and grab attacks from making contact. Better yet, Ultimate Jutsu now cancels the opponent's Awakening. Makes sense, in case one uses it against someone like Bee.
- Support characters were also nerfed, as they now possess a Life Gauge, and thus, anytime they block an Ultimate Jutsu for you, they take the damage. When they take too much, they die, and remain lifeless on the field.
- Non-Indicative Name: The game's title has "3" in the name, yet it's the fourth game in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm subseries.
- Numbered Sequel: The game is titled Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, despite technically being the fourth game in the Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm series. The actual third game in the series is the game's predecessor, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations.
- Oh, Crap!: The Tsuchikage, Naruto, and presumably the unnamed ninja in the area all had this when Madara drops a freaking meteor on them.
- Once More, with Clarity: The Prologue shows some of the events of the Nine-Tails' attack on the Leaf Village, but you don't get the full story until a flashback in Chapter 4. The Prologue ends with Kushina narrating that "This is the story of a hero [...] a hero I love." At the time, you're led to believe she's talking about Minato, but the ending shows it actually refers to Naruto. Every line of her speech manages to take on a whole new meaning too.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. The roster includes Fu, Chomei's Jinchuuriki, and Fu, one of Danzo's bodyguards (spelled "Foo" in the English text presumably to avoid confusion). While the latter is assist-only, you can still play as Fu, the Jinchuuriki, assisted by Fu, the bodyguard.
- Opening Bossbattle: The game's Story Mode begins with a flashback sequence where you have to fight not one but two bosses back to back from the get go: The Masked Man with the Fourth Hokage and the Nine Tails with the Third Hokage.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Fundamentally different from the series in gameplay only: a Reanimated character acts as they would if alive, making the "reanimation" purely aesthetic and nothing more. The exceptions are Itachi, Madara, Hanzo and Nagato - the former has a completely new moveset, while Madara has a living form via DLC and the latter two don't have "living" versions to function as a new skin for.
- This is particularly strange with the former Jinchuuriki whose reanimated forms have a Sharingan and Rinnegan, which should make them much more powerful than they were while they were alive. But no, they still play identically.
- Path of Most Resistance: The "Legend" choices are generally harder, but net greater rewards and more satisfying story scenes. Occasionally lampshaded - the decision box for fighting the Seven Swordsmen all at once says, "Yes, it's a little unreasonable. You don't care."
- Point of No Return: Enjoy running around the Leaf Village and buying stuff while you still can, because after leaving in Chapter 3 you won't be coming back until the postgame!
- Posthumous Narration: Like Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and Generations, the narrator is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, who died fairly early on in the series. Kushina also narrates the prologue, the events of which directly led up to her death.
- Post-Victory Collapse: After the final boss, Naruto falls asleep on his feet halfway through trying to fist-bump Bee.
- Power-Up Letdown: Ironically, considering he has a much more prominent role in the story than before, Killer Bee's 8-Tails form falls into this now. Its massive size makes it ridiculously easy to hit (and thus cancel) with Ultimate Jutsu. And being a transformation-type Awakening, it can't be used with the game's new instant-Awakening system.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: To keep from spoiling the manga and to allow for the after-game to exist, the game's ending sees the Fourth Shinobi World War end after Naruto breaks Tobi's mask, and instead of the reveal of Tobi being Obito, he just retreats, ending the story on a completely happy note as opposed to the manga and anime, where the War is still ongoing.
- Press X to Not Die: This feature has returned from Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (it was missing in Generations), and it keeps you geared for more.
- Several of them are now optional to push, known as Bonus Inputs. Similarly to Asura's Wrath's "Synchronic Impact", they don't have to be pressed, but doing so makes it much easier to obtain secret factors in this game compared to Storm 1 and Storm 2.
- Promoted Fanboy: In-Universe example. In the post-game, Naruto can actually convince Kakashi (via letter) to continue Jiraiya's Make-Out series. Yes, Naruto can convince Kakashi to write porn novels.
- Promoted to Playable: Darui went from a support character in Generations to a playable character in this game.
- Purposely Overpowered: Several of the non-playable boss characters, but the Second Mizukage really stands out. See the YMMV tab.
- Remember the New Guy?: After being expunged from the previous Storm games, Zetsu finally shows up in this one, and is treated like he's always been around.
- Say My Name: Take a wild guess...Sasuke: Narutoooooooo!!!!!!!!
Naruto: Sasukeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! - Sequel Hook: Despite this game being a Pragmatic Adaptation, it's made pretty clear that the real battle is not over yet, and that Tobi and Madara will return someday. Madara even uses the phrase "to be continued" during his Villain: Exit, Stage Left. The Full Burst DLC does adapt the Itachi and Sasuke vs. Kabuto fight, however.
- Sequential Boss: The final battle consists of:
- Fighting all six former Jinchuuriki in their human forms. (Optionally you can fight them three at a time.)
- Fighting them in their Tailed Beast states two at a time with small skirmishes with Tobi.
- Fighting the Tailed Beasts again, this time in your Tailed Beast form.
- The final fight with Tobi himself.
- Ship Tease:
- Naruto and Hinata have the infamous 'Secret Lovers' thing. Again.
- The Ultimate Decision whether Naruto likes girls like Hinata or girls like Sakura and Ino.
- Just like in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, the mail Sidequest has plenty of Ship Tease for good measure.
- Shout-Out:
- Naruto's Goku costume, and with it on, he uses the Rasengan with two hands like the Kamehameha.
- The whole sequence with Dark Naruto in Chapter 3 evokes Persona.
- Mifune's combos resemble Hakumen's specials while Hanzo's appear similar to Axl Low's specials, while Han's (the 5 Tails Jinchuuriki) attacks resemble Iron Tager's.
- Yagura's Ultimate Jutsu has him turn into Isobu and ram into his opponents after drawing his legs into his shell and rocketing forwards using jets of water.
- Naruto's final punch done in the last boss fight against Tobi is similar to the last punch done by Asura to Chakravartin in Asura's Wrath. The Bonus Input QTE also act similarly to the synchronic impact system from the same game.
- Slap-on-the-Wrist Nuke: The vast majority of the Ultimate Ninjutsu are this either Downplayed or Played Straight. Most would realistically either shred or disintegrate the target's body with one hit. The biggest would also take the battlefield with them. None can kill in any less than 4 hits.
- SNK Boss: Sage Mode Kabuto. Does a load of damage, has a lot of over priority moves that are very hard to dodge, and has a shit-ton of HP.
- Spared By Adaptation:
- Neji, Inoichi, Shikaku, Mabui and Ao, if you consider the game's storyline to end at the Gecko Ending. Orochimaru Inverts this.
- Foo and Torune are a strange example. In the manga, they're explicitly shown being killed as a sacrifice required for Kabuto's reanimation. In the game, you simply never see or hear from them again after Sasuke's fight with Danzo, effectively downgrading them to What Happened to the Mouse?. (It's still possible they met the same fates they did in the manga offscreen though.)
- Another somewhat-amusing example: the Raikage's arm. The game cuts the scene where he cuts off his left arm to prevent damage from Sasuke's Amaterasu. Though the game does include an alternate form of the Raikage, with a different Ultimate, for the later stages of the story, he still seems to have both arms. Strangely enough, his team name when paired with Darui is still "Two Right Arms".
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Danzo, Kisame and Konan. All are still fully playable in Vs. Mode however.
- Teleport Spam: Minato's entire fighting style revolves around this. A really good player can make it Confusion Fu. The Masked Man also works like this.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill:
- Using the Tailed Beast Bomb ultimate often feels like this. The attack is powerful enough to decimate an island, and you go and use it to knock out PTS Sakura.
- Many, many characters have Ultimates like this. Naruto's "Massive Rasengan Mega Barrage" stands out in particular. In-story he uses it to damage the Nine-Tails itself.
- A few of the Finishing Moves on minibosses in the Beat 'em Up segments feel like this too. Since they also deal heavy damage to all Mooks in close proximity, they're surprisingly practical.
- Too Long; Didn't Dub: In addition to several attack names, a few story terms like "Tsuki no Me" (Moon's Eye) are left in Japanese.
- Took a Level in Badass: Choji. And how! Even more amazing, seeing as he was a complete Joke Character in Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, but now he not only proves himself massively in story mode, but gets a new form with a whole new Awakening.
- Troll: Right from his first appearance, Tobi shows he loves to mess with people For the Evulz.
- Updated Re-release: Subtitled Full Burst.
- Also, this and the other 2 of the first 3 main titles in the series got rereleased in 2017 for Xbox One and PS4 and PC. In 2018, it was rereleased on the Switch.
- Villain Ball: Tobi seems to have swallowed it sometime during the last battle. Outright saying that even Kurama should have trouble fighting all the Bijuu, you'd expect him to make you fight them all at once. Instead, they come at you one at a time. Though honestly, why would you want to fight all six at once?!
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Tobi, after Naruto breaks his mask, putting a (momentary) end to the Fourth Shinobi World War. Madara also pulls this after his fight with the Five Kages, and they call him out on being a coward.
- Violation of Common Sense: Many of the "Legend" choices in battles require you to do something incredibly rash or irrational, such as refusing aid from an ally, or going the Leeroy Jenkins route as opposed to being strategic. The choice for the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist battle Lampshades this, though it's justified in that you're playing as Guy.
- The War Sequence: The main meat of the story mode.
- Wham Shot: The final shot of Chapter 5 shows Tobi with the Rinnegan.
- Wrestler in All of Us:
- Reaches absurd levels here; Naruto ends up pulling off a suplex on The Nine-Tails during his fight with it!
- The Raikage's entire fighting style, just like in the previous game.
- Also Bee's lariats.
- Choji can pull a back suplex on the Gedo Mazo.
- Writer on Board: Much like Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, the writers of the game have a heavy shipping preference for Naruto and Hinata. One of the Sidequests, called the "Ultimate Decision", has Sakura, Ino, and Hinata debating whether guys like innocent girls or brash girls. The player is given a "choice": the innocent girl choice is described as what Naruto really likes, while the brash girl is given the description of being an out so that Sakura and Ino won't be mad.
- You Shouldn't Know This Already:
- Despite Instant-Awakenings being a new feature of this game, the story mode won't let you use it until Naruto masters the Nine-Tails' chakra. Never mind that you play as several other characters before then, who should definitely know how to control their powers...
- Inverted with Juugo and to an extent Konan. Juugo still doesn't have his level 2 cursed seal form and Konan doesn't have the billion of explosive tags as her ultimate.
- Your Soul Is Mine!:
- Nagato's throw. Strangely enough, it only does minor damage in-game.
- There's also Sarutobi's Ultimate, the Reaper Death Seal.
- Zerg Rush: The basic function of White Zetsus in Mob Battles.
