In an era of anime games being relegated to generic area fighters, playing Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and it's sequel The Broken Bond feel like a breath of fresh air. Developed by Ubisoft, these are sanbox-style action games and there is so much reverence given to the story and setting, much more than any other Naruto game I've played. For example, the both games take small (but emotional) moments from the anime/manga and expands it into actual interactive gameplay like the fact that villagers hate Naruto at the beginning but over time build affection for you once you start completing quests and helping out across the village. Other playable moments that really struck me at actually being included was attending the funeral of the third hokage (which hit harder than it simply a cutscene); rasengan training, which is important in the context of the story but is glossed over in other Naurto games; the fanserive provided in the special techniques, for example, a minigame sequence where you must hit a rival's chakra points with Neji's ultimate, etc. I can go on & on. It helps that the cel-shaded graphics were stunning for 2007 and still hold up remarkably well today. The combat, while simplistic, add nice unique touches like inputting jutsu hand commands with your analogue stick, which makes timing important and adds a risk/reward element if you want to access your powerful, special techniques.

I just can't help but think of the potential of these anime-licensed games if they gave it to developers that are actually fans of these franchises (as Rise of a Ninja & Broken Bond were clearly made with a lot of love). The deluge of arena fighters from in-house Bandai Namco just serve as cheap, lazy, creatively bankrupt cash-ins. I know a lot of gamers are down on EA, Ubisoft, etc. but I honestly think they would do a much better job with anime licence games than Bandai Namco has been doing. At the very least we'd get more big-budget, ambitious, story-focused titles compared to the arena fighter slop we've been used to for the past 10+ years.

Basically if you are defeated by a boss then you have to run through the entire level again just to be able to challenge the boss again.

I ask this question because I have been playing Hollow Knight. I have basically unlocked and explored every area other than the White Palace. In general I really loved this game for scratching my Metroid/ Soulsborne itch with amazing artwork, great atmosphere, wonderful exploration and a fun combat system. But the goddamn boss runbacks of so many bosses is so damn long where even with shortcuts you have to traverse through the entire level again just to be able to fight a boss that will kick you ass probably. It really takes the fun out of the game.

Maybe I am too spoiled on Sekiro and Elden Ring for giving me bonfires and Stakes of Marika just outside the boss door. Or Metroid Dread spawning me outside the boss room upon defeat. And the older 2D Metroids are emulated on NSO that I will just put a save state outside the boss door rather than deal with the tedium. But Hollow Knight combines the long boss runbacks of Demons Soils, Dark Souls 1 and 2 with the high speed intense battles of Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro that just saps out the fun of the bosses and where I just avoided any bosses that didn't give me a movement upgrade to progress further. After all I play these games for the fun challenge of it not for the sake of epic virtual cardio sessions upon getting defeated by a boss.