Instead of using the open-world story crusade from the previous titles, 'Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4' will be present an exceptional branching story with a view to enable the gamers to follow the manga/ anime plot right from its beginning to end.

A report from GeekSnack states that recently the producers released one of the first screenshots displaying what the story mode of the upcoming game would be like. The change will allow gamers to simply go from one chapter to the next, as they progress long the storyline, rather than having to discover an open world, converse with NPCs, and fight indiscriminate ninjas along the way.

It also appears that the 'Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4' story campaign has been split into two, with one following the story of Naruto, whereas the other focuses on the story of his friend and ultimate rival, Sasuke. Nevertheless, at this point, it is not clear if either will present branching storylines that will explore the plotline of side characters, not essentially related to the main overarching plot.

Fans of the game have been speculating that the main campaign would concentrate mainly the story set by the manga and ignore many of the fillers incorporated into the anime series. Still it is not clear if the developers will consider the storyline of the several movies in the game. Screenshots, however, point out that 'The Last: Naruto the Movie' and 'Boruto: Naruto the Movie' are likely to be a part of the main plot.

These screenshots are accompanied with some images displaying a battle against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. This is predictable as the game is intended to include the entire history of the "Naruto" franchise. However, this is the first time that the legendary ninja will be seen in action.

According to a report in Gematsu, Bandai Namco has announced at the Gamescon 2015 that the game will not be released this fall, but the launch has been pushed back to February 2016. 'Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4' will be released for the Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4 in Japan on Feb. 4, while the European version will be launched on the next day. The game will be available in North America starting Feb. 9.