Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Guide: Tips For Beginners

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is here as the final game in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, which features a solid amount of content across a number of different game modes, including a full Story and Adventure mode as well.

As the game just came out, you may be wondering how best to tackle the different modes here or need some tips in a few different areas. While we have other guides for characters unlocks, obtaining more Ryo and such, there are plenty for tips for those starting out in the game that we thought we’d share with you.

Play Story Mode First

Story Mode is the first thing that will pop up on the game mode select screen when you start up the game and is really where you probably want to start. The early fights are easy enough to where you can get acclimated to the controls, though you could do Practice under Free Battle first if you really wanted. Otherwise, Story Mode will provide you with a fun narrative covering the tale end of the Naruto Shippuden saga awhile also helping to give you a number of the unlocks available in the game.

On top of that, the Adventure Mode in the game works as a good follow-up to the Story Mode, as it can contain some spoilers for that mode. Granted, most playing this game wouldn’t be doing so unless they saw the anime or read the manga, but for those that just play the games, it can be a bit of a problem. After getting through those, you can move onto the tougher modes like Survival and Tournament, which can prepare you for playing in Online Battles as well.

Carefully Use Your Substitution Jutsu

For those new to the series, you may very early notice that it is very hard to avoid getting attacked by long combo strings, with the block button not helping beyond the first blow. This is where the substitution jutsu comes into play, as it will allow you to avoid the long combos while opening a window for you to attack. As soon as an opponent is about to land a blow, whether as the first attack or part of a combo, hit L2, or the respective button on your platform, to use substitution jutsu, placing you directly behind the opponent.

This allows you to get your own attacks in pretty quickly, but you also have to remember that you do not have infinite substitution jutsu. Always keep an eye on the orange bars under the health and chakra bars that allow you to do four substitution jutsus. It’s dangerous to use all of them up, as you will want to have at least one open for when you get stuck in a long combo. To help avoid this, try not to use them all at once, instead spreading them out throughout the match, allowing time for the reloading of the bar as well.

Keep Your Chakra Charged

Chakra is going to play a very important role in your fights, at least when you are facing tougher opponents. The chakra meter is found right below your health bar in blue and should play a very vital role in your fights. Pulling off certain attacks will require the usage of a specific amount of chakra, and not having it will leave you vulnerable by having you button press but nothing actually happening. Honestly, the best time to charge chakra is usually after executing a special move that will knock down the opponent. Quickly try and charge as much as you can and keep the meter at least half full at almost all times, allowing you to consistently do our next tip.

Landing Your Secret Techniques

Secret Techniques are the strongest of the attacks that you will be able to pull off in the game, some much stronger than others. There are some secret techniques that can take off close to two life bars in one hit, so knowing how to use them is a big help in battle. Just executing the move isn’t going to be all though, as stronger enemies will continue to dodge it most of the time. As a result, you will need to find a strategy that helps to pull it off with more precision.

There are a few ways I found that helped to land the secret technique a little better. The first is using the aforementioned substitution jutsu to get behind the opponent and use it. This is best done when your opponent has already used all of their substitution jutsus up for the time being, making it harder for them to dodge it from behind. The other option is to try and overwhelm the opponent by using your support ninjutsu and then use your secret technique while the opponent is busy with them. Neither of these are close to foolproof, but it definitely helps improves your chances.

Avoid Switching Leaders Most Of The Time

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 allows you to pick a party of three fighters, with one being the leader at any given time and the others being available as support ninjutsu. You can also switch to any of the other characters to gain control of them as the new leader at any time. However, I ended up finding out that this was more trouble than it was worth most of the time.

Unlike some other fighting games with tag team battles, the three characters do not have separate life bars, but rather share one, so there isn’t much to gain overall if you have the best fighter already out from the start. You can use the switching as a way of extending combos beyond what one character alone can do, but many times this doesn’t work right and you end up with the new character being vulnerable to attack. Instead, I personally found it best to save these other characters to use sporadically as support ninjutsu instead, helping you to pull off attacks like your secret technique, as mentioned above.