I mean in the sense that less from one particular place means more new characters we could see. I'm not saying they all play the same, I think you could easily subsititue someone in for the likes of Ike for example from that series.
My thing is I'd rather see more newer characters than older ones. I like all the characters from Brawl in one way or another, (except Metaknight because I hold a personal grudge against him) but I feel like a bit of a mix up of characters would be good. Like I'm more jazzed about Wii Fit Trainer, Mega Man, Rosalina, and the Villager than I am about making sure we get every single character from the previous game. Because if we keep everyone and add new characters it gets to be a big huge mess.
There's always going to be casualties, I mean they switched Ike for Roy, took out characters from melee to brawl. But they'll be made up for with new additions/changes. Like from Melee to Brawl I was pretty upset I couldn't play as Dr. Mario, specifically cause he looked the coolest.
Oh, I'm really excited for Wii Fit Trainer, Mega Man, Rosalina, and Villager too. The idea that when the game comes out I have a bunch of new characters to learn is exciting, plus changes to veterans like Bowser and Pit are great too. I'm going to lose my social life for a long time when this game comes out, heh.
I'm expecting like 10-12 newcomers in the end of it all, and if all Brawl veterans will return that will be a
huge roster. That's something that actually makes me pretty excited rather than thinking it's a huge mess.
Dr. Mario not returning
really sucked (as I play Doc in Melee), Sakurai wanted no clones to return in Brawl... but that doesn't explain Mewtwo! Roy being replaced by Ike was something I'm happy with if it was a one-or-the-other situation, but it still sucks that he couldn't make it anyway with an updated move-set... (I love Ike anyway as he was my first character I really got into in Brawl)
I guess I just trust that Sakurai has a clear idea of what newcomers will come into Smash 4 and what veterans will return. I don't really see it as a veteran returning will equal a lost slot in the roster, as Sakurai seems to be pretty okay with a huge roster!