Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is a action adventure and fighting game based on the Naruto Shippuden anime developed by Cyber Connect 2. If you want to know what the story is about you should really head over to the series page, but the gist of it is that the main character (Naruto) is a ninja aspiring to earn the Hokage ("fire shadow") title, or in other words, become the leader of his village. And then it turns out there's an malevolent Beast of Mass Destruction inside of him, friends betray him, shadowy organizations start hunting him -- and all of this before the part of the plot this game deals with.

The game storyline spans the events from the first episode of Shippuden (which is a sequel to the original Naruto anime) to episode 175, though Omissions and additions can be found here and there. The player mainly takes the role of Naruto (though at times, you get to play as other characters of the series). The story begins as Naruto and Jiraiya, Naruto's perverted teacher, return to their home village after two-and-a-half years of training. From that point on, Naruto matures and becomes stronger as the story progresses.

The gameplay is somewhat the same as the original, with the ability to run free within the battlefield as well as the use of battle items and "Ultimate Jutsu" (such as Futon: Rasenshuriken, Chou Odama Rasengan, Amaterasu and Kirin). Out of battles, you can collect all sorts of items- including materials to create items, "Memory Crystals" which show key moments of part one, "battle records" which let you face past battles and "story records" to watch the cutscenes of the game's main storyline. You are able to explore the Hidden Leaf, Sand, and Rain Villages and speak with game characters and civilians.

This game is followed up by Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, which addresses the Substitution problem in Storm 2 and expands the cast of characters from the beginning of the series up to a bit after where Storm 2 leaves off. It also doesn't have the cinematic boss fights that this game had for the fact that Cyber Connect 2 wanted to make Generations a more traditional fighter, and the fact that the team that made the Cinematic boss fights became the main team for capcom published game Asura's Wrath. And Now You Know.

Tropes exhibited by this game:

 * Action Girl: Unlike the main series, the entire female half of the cast gets a fight -- excluding Shizune, Anko, and Temari.
 * Adaptation Distillation: Concentrating over 175 episodes into a game, this was bound to happen. All mentions of Danzo's name itself have been cut from the game; the Raikage doesn't make an appearance even though some events past his introduction in the manga do happen.
 * Adaptation Expansion: A staple of the game, for example the Sasuke and Sai Arc and Immortals Arc.
 * What was a quick punch from Naruto to Sasuke after they meet in Orochimaru's lair turns into a full-on boss fight with flashbacks to when they last fought each other.
 * Adaptation Explanation Extrication: In the game, Suigetsu already has Zabuza's sword with no explanation as to when or how he got it, though it's handwaved somewhat by the fact the first game skipped over the "Bridge Of Heroes" arc so technically, it's not Zabuza's sword he's using, but his own.
 * Battle Couple: Naruto and Hinata are named one in Free Battle ('Secret Lovers', to be exact) after the main storyline is finished.
 * Bloodless Carnage: The game has virtually no bloodshed except for one minor scene where Itachi's eye bleeds following his final use of Amaterasu.
 * He's also surprisingly bloody after the boss fight with him. Still not as much as the original from the manga/anime, but givin the otherwise bloodlessness of the game, it comes as a bit of a shock.
 * Bonus Boss: "Dark Naruto" (basically Sage Naruto pumped up to SNKBoss levels... whose attacks can poison you.) and Jiraiya supported by Pain and Naruto at the end of Grandpa Gen's Trials. (Who's of a higher AI level than the final boss.
 * The Cameo: Lars Alexandersson makes an appearance.
 * Comeback Mechanic: The Awakenings can only be used if the character has less than half of his or her total HP, or in the case of particularly strong Awakenings, less than a quarter or even one-sixth.
 * Controllable Helplessness: After the Boss Fight against Itachi, all Sasuke can do is back away in terror.
 * He can also try to gather chakra (which doesn't work as he's all out) and attack with his sword (which also does nothing, as Itachi has the all but unstoppable Susanoo in effect).
 * This happens again after Jiraiya has fought off Pain. He can run around and attack, but Pain has infinite HP and will eventually wear him down.
 * Death of a Thousand Cuts: Chiyo and Hinata have regular Jutsu that do very little damage per hit but do a lot of them. Hinata's has so many rapid hits that the combo meter, unable to keep up, keeps counting over a second after it ends.
 * Difficult but Awesome: Shikamaru. Proper use of him turns any opponent into a figurative ping-pong ball, exploded across the stage and back with little chance of escape. When Shikamaru is mastered, he can easily beat game breakers like Sage Mode Naruto, Mangekyo Sharingan Sasuke, and Itachi.
 * Also the puppet masters. Much more difficult, and not quite as awesome, but a good puppet master player is a pain in the behind to deal with...
 * Easter Egg: Using Karin's Ultimate Jutsu on Sasuke results in a different animation.
 * Fix Fic: The... thing... they did with Naruto and Hinata just boggles the mind. In the manga, after she nearly throws her life away for him while confessing her love, the event just doesn't get brought up again for a very long time(as of chapter 559, its been addressed). This game decides, post-main-storyline, that they are "Secret Lovers" now. Wishful Thinking? Epileptic Trees? A bit of both? This is even weirder considering that in the game, Hinata doesn't really finish her confession, which means Naruto never hears the "Love You" part.
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: The final part of Jiraiya's fight with Pain winds up becoming this.
 * Which makes the first part of that fight a case of Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Tobi. His attacks are weak... but he can spam bomb balls, phase through attacks, teleport, run real fast, and so on. Then when his health is low, he becomes a Fireball spamming Madara. Also, Karin and Ino are both lethal joke characters with surprisingly powerful attacks.
 * Lampshade Hanging: One of Konohamaru's friends mentions how he's too easy to find in hide-and-seek. This was a sidequest/minigame in the first game that was not at all easy to do, and was toned down for the sequel.
 * Multi Platform: Notable for being the first game in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series to be released on another console besides one from the Sony Playstation brand, as it also made the jump to the Xbox 360.
 * Repeat Cut: Used when 4-Tailed Form Naruto fires his Bijuudama at Orochimaru.
 * Ship Tease: Naruto and Hinata have the infamous 'Secret Lovers' thing. Their letters in the mail Sidequest are a big one too.
 * There are also a couple hints to Ino x Sai.
 * The Unexpected: The level of Exploration in Ultimate Mission Mode was scaled back from what it was in the first game.
 * Unexpected Gameplay Change: Happens with a lot of boss fights' second modes--and that's not counting the ones that simply change up their pattern and attacks in ways that the normal version of the character cannot do. We have for your consideration: A rail shooter (Gaara vs. Deidara), A stationary shooter (Naruto vs. Orochimaru), a beat 'em up with shooter moves (Jiraya vs. Pain), and that middle portion of the final fight with Pain. It's still the fighting genre, but both players are changed up so much as to make the gameplay veeery different.