Road to Connections
Before Evolution absorbed Connections content directly, the team ran a separate project to reconstruct that game inside STORM 4. It is retired, and worth understanding if you find references to it in older videos.
What it was
The mod's own description: a side project, run with community members who had access to pre-release builds of NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM Connections, aiming to recreate the then-upcoming title as accurately as possible inside STORM 4.
Status
- No longer downloadable through the launcher as of October 2026. The team's stated reason is that storage was needed to maintain the current Evolution build.
- Last update: v1.12 (GamesCom), 8 September 2023. The final changes included roster-wide character parameter work, Storm 1 jutsu added for their characters, a Fireball Jutsu for Sarada, an air variant of Mitsuki's jutsu, and a projectile-swapping second jutsu for Boruto (Scientific Ninja Tool) controlled with the analogue stick.
- The last update remains available as a manual download you copy into your game directory, rather than something the launcher installs.
Where its features went
Many of the changes prototyped in Road to Connections show up in Evolution's own changelog: UI and match elements modelled on Connections, Storm 1 jutsu returning for their characters, damage and reset handling reworked, and the Connections effect files and shaders later brought across wholesale in 1.07.
Should you install it
On the current release, no. Evolution 1.07 and later already carry the Storm Connections characters, stages and effects through the DLC-dependent port, and the team has been explicit that storage now goes to maintaining Evolution. Treat Road to Connections as history — useful for understanding why Evolution looks the way it does, not as a second thing to install.
Related pages
- Version history — where 1.07 sits.
- Test build — the other retired track.
- Retail Steam copy — the DLC dependency both projects share.
