Naruto: Path of the Ninja

"On the presentation side there are both very positive and pretty negative elements. For starters, the game has been totally overhauled for DS, as you now have seamless dual screen usage for stats on the top screen and gameplay on the bottom, total touch control allowing you to play through the entire game with the stylus if you'd like, lots of VO from the series intertwined, some decent music, and a slick battle interface reminiscent of later Nartuo RPGs in Japan. What you won't get, however, is a graphical leap from the GBA version, as the game is essentially still a re-skinned core game. It's good, but it'll look like a GBA title nearly 100% of the time. As long as you're fine with that, you'll still get a true-to-form RPG experience that should last you quite a while."

Naruto: Path of the Ninja isn’t a bad game, it’s just a stale one. As the first in a series of Naruto RPG titles, there’s little here outside of the license itself that’ll get fans of the anime excited, as the experience is extremely cookie-cutter, linear throughout, and yet another rehash of the Naruto origins tale. If you simply can’t get enough of the Naruto lore, consider this a decent recap of what you’ve already experienced on video or in written form, as the game does a great job of taking the beginning of the series plot and translating it to an extremely traditional role-playing experience. Outside of that, you’ll get the same level up structure, the same skill evolution, random battles, and portrait storytelling as nearly every other RPG before it, as Path of the Ninja does little to evolve the RPG world.

"There isn't much here that has not already been done in Japanese RPGs before and if you keep up with the Naruto manga or anime, there is nothing you haven't already read or watched before."