I may not have gotten this game day 1 but I knew at some point that I would need to take the plunge. The whole marketing was about a new Uchiha showing up and that’s like finding out that there is a new Saiyan. It’s an immediate way to build up hype and I can tell you that it succeeded. Really one of the only reasons this wasn’t a day one is because most of the story is old.

When you boot up the game you have your usual array of modes. Vs mode, the main story, and special story. The main story is basically compiled from all of the previous games where they paste a lot of those fights but apparently remove a lot of the interactable bits. From what I’ve heard it’s a straight downgrade which is a shame but that’s just how it goes I suppose. We weren’t hear for the main story either way and I skipped it entirely. At some point I’ll play through it for the trophies but that’ll be a while.

The special story starts off with Boruto getting hooked on this online game where he can play as Naruto. Unfortunately there is a deeper conspiracy here and someone is mind controlling Naruto and the others. Sasuke will have to hold Naruto off but Boruto had to stop the threat at its core. If he doesn’t succeed then that will be game over. Now while the main history mode is longer, they did put a good amount of effort into this special story and it lasted longer than I expected with the post game story chapter. It’s really got a lot of good stuff to it. The beginning of the story is certainly slow paced but once the game starts cooking, it really doesn’t hold back at all.

The gameplay is very familiar to long time Storm fans. You have your auto combos and then several ninjutsu and ultimate jutsu. Use them all to really get the edge in combat and absolutely dominate everyone in your path. The story is generally easy but you still can’t just approach it blindly. You need to have some strategy in mind or you will end up being defeated in short order. Generally I would say that the giant monsters are the toughest to deal with since they don’t really flinch or stagger.

As expected the graphics are pretty high end. The cutscenes still look really amazing as well as the in game graphics which are on that PS5 level. They definitely kept in line with what you would expect from the series. Additionally the soundtrack is also really good with a lot of different tunes. The game can get really dramatic and the themes are able to keep up with the tempo and themes the whole time.

In terms of replay value, this is a fighting game so of course it’s basically endless. You can keep on having new experiences with each fight as they will all be different. Additionally some of the trophies look rather difficult so that will buy some more time as well. Since the gameplay is a lot of fun, you’ll certainly be incentivized to play as much as possible.

The story also handled the new Uchiha, Nanashi really well. She’s a really well written character who manages to get interesting really quickly and ends up having a complete arc. The game even sets up a romance that you could argue is better than any of the romances in the main Boruto and even Naruto series. It definitely has one of those super tragic endings to it too. Naturally you usually want to have a very happy ending for any kind of plot but the tragic angle can sometimes work too and this one pulled it off.

I would say there are some power level issues here as I think Boruto could easily wipe out any of the old Uchiha soldiers. Maybe I’m underselling them but I just see Boruto winning that one. Likewise it feels like Sasuke and Naruto could do even better in the present but at the end of the day power level issues never hurt the game’s actual score and quality. This is still a very engaging story by the end and helps make the experience worthwhile.

This is also a gameplay style that I grew up with so it’s super nostalgic. I won’t say for a minute that I’m the best at it or anything like that but I feel comfortable in the system. Mixing up the combos and trying out new techniques is something I can do without too much trouble. The different cinematics for every finishing special is also another incentive to use each character and learn all of their finishers. Adds to the replay value without a doubt.

Overall, Boruto Connections is definitely an excellent game. It would have been nice to see them redo the whole story from the start to Boruto but it’s definitely easy to see why they would choose to just reuse the assets since they were already there. Naturally if this is your first Storm game then it’ll hit even harder because then this is really an amazing amount of content to go through. You have a ton of replay value here with the trophies and everything so there is more than enough value to justify the price. No downsides there so pick up the game as soon as possible.

Overall 9/10