Naruto: Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution is the umpteenth game in the series, ever since Bandai Namco silently annualized the franchise. With the series now having to rely on telling side stories as it waits for the manga to end, what is developer CyberConnect2 focusing on? According to CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama, the focus is on attracting core fighters.

"Of course we have refined the battle system over the years. But for Revolution, we have totally changed the battle system," Matsuyama said. "In order to create such a new battle system, we asked for support from other development company staff who are fighting game experts, like Street Fighter or King of Fighters."

"We'd like to make our battle system more sophisticated and more enjoyable," Matsuyama explained to us, adding that the eventual goal is to bring the game to tournaments like EVO. "Because we're Bandai Namco Games, then we can get Harada-san from Tekken to promote both games," he joked.

Of course, while Matsuyama would like to chase the hardcore fighting audience, he can't risk alienating the casual base that the franchise has already attracted. "Even with the new system in the game, we are not losing the super-anime expression," he said. "Because we have to support both beginners who like anime and Naruto, and hardcore gamers, we're not considering making the button inputs more complicated."

Here's the latest trailer for the game: