The Making of NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS DLC Pack 1: Hagoromo Otsutsuki!

Hagoromo Otsutsuki, known from myths and legends as the "Sage of Six Paths", has very few battle scenes in the original story.
However, he enters the battlefield as a part of NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS DLC Pack 1. How exactly did that come about?
The development team reveals all!

Table of Contents
Giving Hagoromo a Sense of Uniqueness
Powerful Ninjutsu Born from Natural Phenomena
A Powerful Scene! Creating a Secret Technique
Summary

There aren't many attacks shown off by Hagoromo in the anime or manga, so in order for him to appear in-game, a little creativity was going to be in order.

First, please have a look at the following.

Could you tell what was going on?
It's Ten-Tails Obito and Hagoromo both wielding the Sword of Nunoboko.
Hagoromo isn't shown using this weapon during the story's timeline, but as Obito calls it "the Sage of Six Paths' divine blade", I think we can safely say it was once used by him.
From these two videos, you get the impression that Hagoromo's attack is larger and more powerful.
Though the moves are similar, in order to give him a unique feeling we not only added flashier effects, but also incorporated additional elements like the screen shaking and tiny freeze-frames upon impact.

That idea of making things individualized to him applies not only to the Sword of Nunoboko, but also to the attacks that utilize Truthseeker Orbs.
There's no scene in the story where Hagoromo fights with these orbs, but as there are already some characters who use them in Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS—Naruto (Sage of the Six Paths Mode), Madara Uchiha (Six Paths), and Ashura—we could use them as a reference.
That eventually led to things like changing the shape of the Truthseeker Orbs or creating larger ones.
Just by moving them around you really get the sense of uniqueness that comes with being the legendary Sage of Six Paths.

Of course, Hagoromo has more at his disposal than just the Six Paths' power. As he is the father of ninjutsu, he can use all of the Five Great Changes in Nature. That's why we created many of his techniques based on the idea that he fights with all the power of nature itself.

In this case, Hagoromo's uniqueness comes from his combining multiple changes in nature in a single attack, compared to the ninja of Naruto's generation who normally stick to one.
For instance, a combo invoking multiple natural phenomena in quick succession, such as blowing away opponents with wind and then raising the earth and causing it to spout flames.
We tried to use the timing and effects of each move to give the impression that they're being used together, rather than in a series of separate attacks.

While creating these techniques, we did a lot of research into real-world natural phenomena.
As an example, let's discuss the tornadoes Hagoromo can create.

Well, I say "tornado", but these tornadoes were made to look very different depending on the situation.
To give the impression of a "tornado strong enough to suck up boulders", we used translucent winds, but for a "tornado about to be lit aflame", we designed the wind to look like a solid wall for a sturdier impression.

We also matched their appearance to each element. At their base level, a "water tornado" and a "fire tornado" have a similar shape, but the water tornado incorporates water patterns in the wind and splash effects coming from the ground, whereas the fire tornado lights up the whole area and has effects like sparks, ash, and charring. Our goal was to make tornadoes that felt at home among other water or fire style attacks.

With all these big elemental attacks, Hagoromo might now be the flashiest character that has appeared so far in an Ultimate Ninja STORM game.

"With a wave of his khakkhara,
the earth rises and becomes great peaks.
Let the form of his fist wreathed in sage lightning,
become thunder which can pierce the very mountains."

This is the concept the team came up with when we were working on Hagoromo's Secret Technique.
It not only expresses what kind of Secret Technique it should be, but also encapsulates the atmosphere we want it to create. The action we ended up with based on this was "a single blow with a fistful of lightning".

Compared to all the impressive combo moves and ninjutsu we've shown off up to this point, it might not seem like much, but with Secret Techniques you can give them more impact by adjusting individual elements of their animation.
For example, in Hagoromo's case we emphasized the wrinkles and shadows on his face even more to create a dignified expression.

We also added mist in the background for an air of mystery.

To see the fruit of our labors, check out Hagoromo's promo video!

With just a tap of his staff, he raises a mountain.
Then a single blow from his fist shatters the mountain and launches the enemy to the ends of the earth.
The intent was that having such small movements create such huge effects would leave a real impact.

We have the storyboards that were used to create this Secret Technique below!
Give them a look if you're interested!

When we started developing Hagoromo, we were basically fumbling in the dark.
We started off with about 150 ideas—things like "Hagoromo seems like he'd be capable of this" and "this would be pretty unique"—but over time we narrowed things down, and after a lot of trial and error we're confident we came up with an enjoyable result.
NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS DLC Pack 1, which includes Hagoromo, is currently on sale.
Please try playing him yourself!