What can I say other than I'm a really big Naruto fan? I've seen all the English dub anime, I've played so many Naruto videogames, and if I had the money I'd finish out my Naruto manga collection. As I said, I've played many Naruto games, but never have I experienced Naruto as an RPG, which is exactly what Naruto: Path of the Ninja brings to the DS. So is Naruto's first foray into a new genre a game only fans will love?

THE STORY SO FAR
Naruto tells the story of a young boy named Naruto, who is shunned by his village because of the spirit of the demon nine-tailed fox that is imprisoned in him. Naruto grows up wanting to be a respected ninja, specifically being the next Hokage (basically the best ninja in the village who looks over everyone and insures the safety of the community). Throughout his life he'll make friends, enemies, go on adventure, and utter the catchphrase "Believe it" more times than you can count.

Naruto: Path of the Ninja (Naruto: POTN from here on) follows Naruto from the beginning of his tale on through a large portion of his story and his adventure. As Naruto you'll meet up with your new squad and sensei, go on a few minor missions, take the Chunin exams, and much more. If you've read the manga or seen the anime the game hits every story point almost exactly note for note, though there are some elements added or adapted to fit more with the RPG setting and videogame form. For instance, when Jiraiya teaches Naruto in the manga or anime, he doesn't make him fetch scattered pages of a book from lands you've already adventured in.

Naruto: POTN is a game that, because of the property itself, both succeeds and fails when it comes to the story. The game nails the story of Naruto as told in the manga and anime, and so fans will love the fact that they can relive and experience the story as an RPG, but yet those same fans might find themselves wishing for the story to branch out more, as they find themselves not being surprised at all by the events that happen and they've witnessed at least once or twice before. Oh, you're escorting a bridge builder? Let me tell you whom you'll fight next! Still, despite knowing what happens step-by-step, the game still tells the story well.

GAMEPLAY
Naruto: POTN is very much a conventional RPG with all the same trappings – it seems the only thing that ever changes anymore is the name of the game. Of course RPG fans are used to things being the same, and so it probably will matter little that Naruto: POTN plays like an old Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, or Dragon Quest game. You'll walk around the game world experiencing the story, engage in random battles against different ninja and creatures, you'll level-up, you'll fight a stronger than usual boss, and you'll buy new weapons and armor to improve your odds of survival.

The biggest difference between Naruto: POTN and other RPGs comes from the fact that the game uses its license to mix things up a bit, which is exactly what it needed to do to work. For example, most RPGs have spells, but Naruto: POTN has jutsus, which in many ways are like spells when you think about it. Most RPGs have a defensive buff spell, usually represented by a shield icon, or some kind of hasten spell that allows you to move quicker and make your enemies miss more; Naruto: POTN has the same type of spell, but instead of having you take damage your character will quickly change to a log, signaling that the enemy didn't hit you, but rather the item you replaced yourself with while performing the Substitution Jutsu. If you aren't a fan you won't get exactly why a log appears, but fans will definitely nod their head and develop a little smile as they watch the jutsu play itself out.

There are some jutsu that characters use or can use that aren't exactly franchise canon for them, but what fun would it be if Naruto could only do four or five moves other than attacking. However, despite the canon breaking jutsu, fans will be happy to know that all the big jutsus characters are famous for are definitely intact and well-represented in the game. You can have Naruto perform his Shadow Clone Jutsu and get in several more hits, have Sasuke use his Sharingan, and have Rock Lee use his Leaf Whirlwind. It is these fan-service jutsus that get the most attention and animation during the game, and they are also usually the ones you can charge up too. Though not every jutsu has the option, you can increase the power of certain jutsu by performing one of several different acts, such as rubbing the screen frantically, spinning an item in a circle in a specified direction, etc. Besides the touchscreen allowing you to move characters and interact with menus, the chakra building aspect of the special jutsus are the only other real way in which the bottom screen is used.

It would've been nice if even more Naruto characters were available to form parties with, but the game gives you some good ones to make your three member teams (ninja teams only come in groups of three, so that is why you never have more than three active members battling at once). Of course you'll start with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, but later on you'll be able to form groups with Shikamaru, Neji, and Rock Lee. Besides being able to make teams with them, you'll occasionally get a fourth member – like Kakashi – who will join you in battle, but who acts on their own and won't allow you to give them any commands whatsoever.

The biggest problem with Naruto: POTN in the gameplay department comes from the fact that there are some areas where you'll go long stretches without being able to walk around an area at will and do some power leveling for some time, and if you find yourself improperly prepared you'll likely not being able to pass the scenario and move the story forward. The problem shouldn't be a huge one for RPG fans, as they should know by now to always have multiple saves, but to those who don't save properly you could potentially run into some choke points where you simply can't move forward, if only because you didn't know you should've had higher level characters.

GRAPHICS
The environments aren't all that interactive or beautiful, and for the most part they are pretty open and are sparsely populated with repeating imagery. However, when you get into the actual battles, the main characters and many of the enemies you'll fight look pretty good in their pixilated form, and there are some nice idling animations, such as the characters lightly bobbing up and down, waiting to attack. The game isn't a beauty queen winner, but it gets the job done and the graphics nicely reflect the style of the franchise.

AUDIO
The audio portion of Naruto: POTN is average, but nothing amazing. The sound of characters attacking enemies, taking damage themselves, or using jutsu all sound good. The background music is a bit too repetitive, but it stays true to the anime in particular. One nice thing is that the game boasts some actual audio files for the characters, so there are some lines of dialogue that are actually spoken, and many of the most well-known jutsu are even announced by their characters.

IN CONCLUSION
Naruto: Path of the Ninja is a game that's in a difficult spot, as the people who will enjoy the story the most will be those who don't know anything about the franchise, while those who will appreciate the gameplay and franchise specific elements will be fans of the show – and those two different groups don't overlap any. If you want to experience Naruto as a RPG, Naruto: Path of the Ninja is a fine game, but for those looking for anything above and beyond what you'd expect a Naruto RPG to contain, you won't find it here. Still, when it's all said and done, Naruto: Path of the Ninja is still a good game.

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