D.I.K.A

Gameplay usually moves in a pattern of going to the Ninja Academy, getting assigned a mission (not optional ones, they're all from the story), preparing in town by buying items and equipment and eating ramen with teammates (to boost chemistry with them), then leaving for the dungeon involved. Equally basic is the dungeon navigation itself, consisting of straight-and-narrow paths with only 90-degree turns, which in their nature, make stylus-based navigation neigh intolerable, even for those who champion the concept in other DS games. The dungeons themelves are fairly well done, with enough branching paths and stuff to keep things interesting while still being straightforward enough to accomodate those who just want to blaze through. Also noteworthy is the ability to save anywhere, which, combined with the DS's great sleep mode, make the game perfectly portable.

Path of the Ninja's battle system is one of its better aspects. The player's team of Naruto-series characters lines up in a formation using three rows of layout (most turn-based RPGs use two). From there, it's mostly a traditional turn-based system mixed with the "jutsu" from the series, which are activated in ways ranging from button combination presses to certain actions with the touchscreen. It's simple, but pretty effective for a game like this, and its young target audience won't be overwhelmed. The only problem with it is that it's somewhat of a bother to dig out the stylus to execute the jutsu that require touching, since that's the only thing the stylus is ever used for in this game (aside from a brief minigame in the exam), so it's more tempting to use a finger and possibly smudge up the screen. Pull out the stylus and use it for three seconds before it's put away again for several minutes, or mess up the screen? Maybe I need to learn to get comfortable playing with buttons while holding the stylus, but really, screw that.

Playable characters

* Naruto Uzumaki
* Sakura Haruno
* Sasuke Uchiha
* Rock Lee
* Shikamaru Nara
* Neji Hyuga
* Jiraiya