My second, worse reviewed game on Steam. (Demon Slayer: Hinokami actually was rated higher)

Would love to do my usual long form reviews where I go in-depth about a game or franchise but I don't think that's necessary here.. I'll give a few bullet points & get straight to the point


This is actually one of the best running Storm games on Steam when it comes to Steam Deck performance.

SteamOS:

Game[Storm: Connections] Properties - I have resolution set to 1600x900 for internal/External(to make the game more GPU bound)

PerGame: Profile - Disable Frame Rate[On], Allow Tearing[On], TDP Limit[Off/Auto], Manual GPU Clock 1300mhz(if 1300 has issues try 1100-1300mhz)

In-Game: Settings - To change the resolution(it's broken atm) settings you can go to Sub-Menu < Options, swap from Fullscreen to Windowed Mode & switch to Windowed Fullscreen & it will apply the max resolution you've set.

- Performance tweaks: V-Sync, FXAA, MSAA, Bloom, Motion Blur [Set - Off] - Shadow Quality Medium / Frame Rate 60

Stable 60FPS, if you modded Steam Deck / Game Mode - Make sure plugins like MorePowerTools isn't doing something to affect the Deck's performance like "Downclock Memory".


I'm also well aware of this, but I need to say this for the sake of the review, Connections is more closely related to other sideline entry like Storm: Generations & Revolution, rather than a mainline game like Storm 3/4.

• No Private Lobbies or Endless Mode [ Online Experience ]
  -You literally cannot play with friends online unless you get lucky af during a region-based search.
  
  -Also No South American region, NA/SA is now mixed together(jfc...)
  
  - In Ranked if you get into a session with someone with a bad connection(Red Bar), there is no way to exit/cancel the lobby you have to fight him or take a disconnect count to your Ninja card.
  
  - Characters have Super-Flashy Jutsu's that take up the entire screen while used, during a fight making it hard to understand what's actually going on during battle.
  
  
• Terrible English Voice Acting
  -Some of the Previous English Vocal work for older Storm games have new VAs, along side the new characters.. & some of it is incredibly out of place(the overall mixing) & or just bad VA'ing. I'm not anti-dub, I played all Storm games in dub & the quality & mixing here was a clear miss, there was no care taken with this iconic franchise.)
  
  (Looking Specifically at Sarada. Kawaki & Hinata's VAs)
  
  
• History Mode...
  For $60, the level of quality in the paid slideshow that was History Mode is abysmal..
  
  Story Mode....
  If you skip cut scenes you can make out of the story mode in under 2hrs.. Refund territory...
  
  The story is not canon, & yet also uneventful, lacking impact & art direction were all lacking to the previous entry[STORM 4] The story mode is clearly one of the most rushed aspects of the game.
  
  
  
• The Removal of Tech
  
  Ultimately this seals the deal for me. Storm 4's multiplayer had something community defined as 'Tech'niques which would enhance the battles, open up new avenues for battle in Arena Style combat never explored in any other title of a similar genre. Example's such as Counter Switching, Jutsu Switching, Hit Buffers, etc.
  
  All allowed for a deep level of complexity & high level play that was never properly utilized by CC2 to expand the Arena Fighter genre into something more.
  
  CC2 has given up on competitive for the most part & thus future STORM games may play more like Connections than Storm 4 & ultimately that's just unfortunate.
  
  I won't do a deep dive on 'Tech'.. but I will just link to my previous review on Storm 4, which I highly recommend you buy instead of this game.. Not to mention it's usually $6 on sale all of the time. https://gtm.you1.cn/id/AuxeumRift/recommended/349040?snr=1_5_9__402 (Storm 4: Review)

CC2 has been making & refining Storm for a while, but there's no reason for why this game exists, nor for why it was released without the ability to easily play with friends, the popular Endless Mode is also not here(Again), the short story & low effort overall content to the straight up bad so bad it's distracting English Dub.

The worst part about this is they had the galls, to ask you(Likely Loyal Fans) for $59.99 or as high as $95 USD.. For this...

Just buy Storm 4, atleast you can find friends and play them, not to mention all new characters will be backstopped to Storm 4 via the Modding Community, so there's no real difference between S4 & Connections when you compare price tags in this economy.
https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/349040/NARUTO_SHIPPUDEN_Ultimate_Ninja_STORM_4/