I have a hard time believing that Smash 4 will feel more like Melee. Unless Sakurai and the development team had taken serious notes about the Melee->Brawl changes and the hardcore fan response, to the point of actually trying to re-create the feel of Melee (as well as replicating Melee's l-canceling and physics exploits), then the odds are Smash 4 will be a continuation of Brawl or will do its own thing, which will be equally as controversial.
I feel like Sakurai has taken note of the online criticisms.
His recent praise of Melee, talking about how it was aimed at the hardcore, and how he wanted things to be simpler in Brawl are a complete reversal of what he said before Brawl's release.
See these Sakurai quotes from the Iwata Asks about Brawl:
Of course, I think there was a possibility of taking Smash Bros. in a more casual-gaming direction. For example, we could make the art style simpler or make it possible to use Miis. However, with the various titles that the Wii was to offer, I felt that people were looking for something different. That’s the reason I decided in very early stages of development that the Wii pointer and motion movements would not be a primary feature of the game.
If we had decided to adhere to the new approach offered by the Wii, I think it would have been possible to design the game with more unconventional controls. However, in the end, I set aside several ideas as I thought it was important to dedicate our resources to developing what our gamers were looking for.
It’s best to have both approaches, right? If I had been at Nintendo, I may have made a Smash Bros. Brawl that was more in line with the Wii. As a result, I feel, in some ways, that my decision-making wasn’t the very best…particularly as gamers readily tire of games these days. Smash Bros. Brawl may not be effective asit tries to perfect the experience of conventional games.
(about adding Subspace Emissary)
I don’t know if I can accurately express my feeling but, I mean, Smash Bros. has received high marks from all over for the fighting pleasure it provides and I felt that merely refining what was already there was too simple and would preclude changes. Don’t get me wrong though, the fighting is more advanced than before.
I feel like the true goal with Brawl was actually to modify to mechanics to make people play Smash exactly like how Sakurai thought it should be played (thus, attempting to eliminate combos, making the A sequences generally track better, removing alternate ways of movement/dodge), however, in the end, that concept failed both due to design and execution problems (like the chain throws and lack of balance) and the game still doesn't play like he expected.
He probably saw the online criticism from the competitive fanbase and seems to have taken it to heart. Now, Brawl suddenly was never intended to be an enhancement on Melee's mechanics, but a softer, more accessible game, while Melee was "hardcore". However, if you look at those pre-Brawl and post-Brawl interviews, that's not the sentiment given by him at all. He never mentioned that take on Brawl before years had passed from the game's release.
Now, I don't know if this will influence the next Smash's development, but I think it will - I just hope this won't mean a bland featureless game, but I guess Sakurai has enough budget and focus to not fall into such a trap.