From an unbiased point of view...
-------------- Pros and cons:
Pros:
[+] Features many, many characters from the Naruto series, including some Akatsuki members: Ever dreamed of playing as Deidara, or Sasori? Well now you can unlock them, plus many other protagonists/antagonists such as Naruto, Neji, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Itachi,...
[+] Loads of character customizations and unlockables: Aside from characters, there are many other things to unlock like skills, items, game modes,... Customizing characters is pretty fun too. You can pick which upgrades you want for your character (like give Naruto Rasengan, damage bonus, defense bonus,...)
Cons:
[-] Absolutely terrible battle system: As the GameSpot reviewer said, to win, you just keep mashing one button: Square. It's the attack button. Triangle to throw items, circle to dash, cross to jump. But it isn't like you'll use other buttons. Strange enough, you can press any of the above mentioned buttons to counter-attack, which pratically means: "mash square ftw!". That's terrible. To some people, mashing sounds just as fun as those Dynasty Warriors games. Well, this game is nowhere near DW. It's slow-paced, doesn't have flashy combos/attacks, and most importantly, it doesn't have a horde of human enemy (read: monsters) like DW. The simple strategy to play this game is: Run up the enemy, MASH SQUARE !!! Then use an item if you're low on health. Think of it like a poor and stupid mix of Dissidia Final Fantasy and DW's combat system.
Now let us look at the skill system. It's as simple as any other Naruto game. Hold R then press either triangle, cross, square or circle. It involves no skill at all, well, unless you don't know how to use a PSP. If you have a PSP and don't even know how to press a button then, sucks to be you. Back to the subject, skills are easy to execute as I've said, and the worst part is, it's not flashy. Rasengan? Not flashy. Sand coffin? Still not flashy. Sakura's whatever fist skill? Even worse. The point here is, the game fails to deliver the flashiness and coolness of the ninjutsu. Moreover, the amount of skills per character is modest.
[-] Lackluster graphics: The moment I started playing, I was disappointed by the graphics. Noticeably, it lacks the cel-shading awesomeness of previous Naruto games. Characters are blocky, square-y, and looks like soulless zombies which shows no emotion at all. Worse, backgrounds are awful 2D pictures that really makes you bored.
[-] Lousy camera and lock-on system: This reminds me of Monster Hunter. The camera just awful, for example, your locking-on a certain enemy, then magically the camera just spin away from that guy. The result, you got sneak attacked. Lock-on system doesn't work either. It's supposed to let you choose which guy to lock-on, but because of the stupidity of the game, you can only lock-on to the nearest guy. This is really bad, especially since you can't land accurate hits without locking-on.
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------------------ Ratings:
Graphics: 7
Gameplay: 4
Sound: 9
Amount of unlockables: High.
Frustration level (how easily the game can get you frustrated): 5/10 - Medium.
Overall (not an average): 6/10 - Mediocre
Unless your a crazy fan of Naruto and can't resist the urge to play a PSP Naruto game, then don't even think of enjoying this game. You can try renting it first, but it won't last long.
Peace out~
XXI_World (Kurogami on some other boards)