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Smash Direct coming December 15th

Who do you want announced as a new fighter for Smash?


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There are already certain characters that are a given, I think. Isabelle and Inkling are no-brainers. Xenoblade already has characters ready too (Elma), and there are always old Mario/Donkey Kong/Zelda characters to choose from. Pokémon will always have new cool characters ready as well. And yeah, who knows what retro franchise will be revived, if any. A lot can happen between now and the next Smash game.

Elma will be half a decade old when Smash 5 comes out. She'll have her fans, but what impact will a character from a mediocre selling RPG released half a decade ago have? I don't believe Xenoblade will get another character. X will have a few song rips on Guar Plains with Shulk returning and that'll be about as far as Xenoblade gets.

I also don't think Isabelle is a given. Not for any particular reason against her character, I just don't think they'll want her participating in violence.

Inkling is 100% getting in Smash. They are the Brawl's Olimar for Smash 5.

I can't really think of an old Mario character not in Smash, unless we start really pulling in oddballs like Kamek and Waluigi. And I wouldn't mind either (Kamek would be awesome), I don't believe either will be in Smash. Paper Mario really feels like the only potential Mario character that could be added to Smash. Foreman Spike would be interesting, and he's very much a character right up Sakurai's alley, but eh...

Donkey Kong has everyone from Jr to Dixie to K Rool to even Funky or Cranky. Literally any of them. Pick one Sakurai.

Zelda has Impa, Beast Ganon and Tingle. Or any newer character that becomes a series staple (if Linkle starts appearing more, for example). Not really sure how I feel their chances are. Zelda desperately needs a new character for Smash though.


It's really hard to think about a Smash 5 roster though, because characters like Rosalina, Robin and Greninja will likely exist by that time. While for when Brawl was out nobody would have thought about them for the next Smash (obviously lol)
 

Pachimari

Member
A 40-minute set between Shamrock's day 1 Cloud and my Mewtwo, if anyone is interested in seeing Cloud in action. Shamrock is one of the best Smash players here on GAF, but of course it's his first day using Cloud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YglOqbPuFSM
Hey, I loved this video, thanks for it. It's nice to watch these matches when I'm new and can't remember how the mechanics work. Those battles at the edge are intense, and I have no idea how to recover and get back up on the stage? Just how? And am I right in saying, that the higher ones percentage, the more powerful an attack you can unleash?
 

Golnei

Member
X will have a few song rips on Guar Plains with Shulk returning and that'll be about as far as Xenoblade gets.

I don't even think that's a guarantee. Look at how cautious they are with licensing music for Smash - if the whole Sony music licensing issue with Xenoblade X's soundtrack has the potential to complicate things or increase costs, they might forgo representing it with music entirely.
 

Jaeger

Member
My biggest gripe with the latest round of Smash is the forced parity with the 3DS version. Fine, it generated alot of sales and I get that. However it being the gimp to remove Ice Climbers makes me furious.
 

NotLiquid

Member
Impa in Smash would be tight.

Of course I expect people to be salty yet again at another sword user, considering her depiction in Hyrule Warriors.

Lol if she ends up being Cloud's replacement.
 

jph139

Member
I can't really think of an old Mario character not in Smash, unless we start really pulling in oddballs like Kamek and Waluigi. And I wouldn't mind either (Kamek would be awesome), I don't believe either will be in Smash. Paper Mario really feels like the only potential Mario character that could be added to Smash. Foreman Spike would be interesting, and he's very much a character right up Sakurai's alley, but eh...

I honestly think Toad's chances are pretty good; better now than ever. He's been increasingly prominent over the last few years, and even moreso since Smash 4 entered development (between 3D World and Captain Toad).

It's still up in the air if he continues to make major playable appearances in the years to come, but I think he's developed into a real contender.
 
Oh right, I totally forgot about Toad.

Change Peach's neutral to be Toadsworth, and then add Toad or Captain Toad.

He's been long overdue to be added to Smash. You'd think being playable in SMB2, SM3DW, two NSMB games and having his own spin off game would get a guy in Smash :p
 

Golnei

Member
Impa in Smash would be tight.

Of course I expect people to be salty yet again at another sword user, considering her depiction in Hyrule Warriors.

Lol if she ends up being Cloud's replacement.

It's not like she only used a sword there...

tumblr_n9m4cm3Ktc1qfs9zoo1_400.gif


But I don't really think they'll seriously consider Impa based only on her current appearances, and definitely not with Hyrule Warriors as the main point of reference. The only way I could really see her being a possible character is if the next mainline game gave her a strong role that consolidated some of those elements.

I honestly think Toad's chances are pretty good; better now than ever. He's been increasingly prominent over the last few years, and even moreso since Smash 4 entered development (between 3D World and Captain Toad).

It's still up in the air if he continues to make major playable appearances in the years to come, but I think he's developed into a real contender.

It's nowhere near certain, but I do agree that it seems more plausible now than ever - especially looking at Captain Toad. There was even that piece of official art referencing the Smash splash screens. If he continues making major appearances in that light, I wouldn't be surprised to see him.
 

Berordn

Member
Lol if she ends up being Cloud's replacement.

While it would be hilarious, I don't think we have to worry too much about that this time. All the third parties being represented seem to be in really good standing with Nintendo right now (and none of them are pulling Komami level shooting-self-in-foot antics). I wouldn't be surprised if most of them make it to the next one.

but if not, linkle can replace bayonetta
 

ffdgh

Member
Oh right, I totally forgot about Toad.

Change Peach's neutral to be Toadsworth, and then add Toad or Captain Toad.

He's been long overdue to be added to Smash.

Toadsworth counter smacking characters with his cane would be hilarious actually...but using a old person as a meat shield would probably get some questionable looks.
 
Toadsworth counter smacking characters with his cane would be hilarious actually...but using a old person as a meat shield would probably get some questionable looks.

We all know we sprayed him with water and jumped on his head and abused him in Sunshine and NSMB.

Didn't stuff happen to him in Partner's In Time as well?

Toadsworth kind of fell off the face of the planet after being in everything for an entire generation.
 

RK128

Member
There are already certain characters that are a given, I think. Isabelle and Inkling are no-brainers. Xenoblade already has characters ready too (Elma), and there are always old Mario/Donkey Kong/Zelda characters to choose from. Pokémon will always have new cool characters ready as well. And yeah, who knows what retro franchise will be revived, if any. A lot can happen between now and the next Smash game.

I feel that Smash 5/NX will have newcomers for a lot of Nintendo series and even some of their third party partners.

Xenoblade will get another rep with Elma from Xenoblade X and her moveset will use firearms and the big mechs from the game. If using music from the game is a problem due to licensing, then I guess non-vocal versions of the tracks or more Xenoblade Chronicles tracks will be used for her.

I agree with another poster on Isabelle; she is linked to the peaceful element of animal crossing (she is the main character in many ways for the two spin-off games for example). So who knows honestly.

I feel that we will get two DK characters and they will be supporting Kongs. Dixie and Cranky; the former uses Diddy as her base while the latter uses DK as his base. They have new specials and attacks but do share some elements from Diddy and DK. King K. Rool might have a shot at returning but who knows.

Sonic WILL get another character and it has to be Eggman. That is a dream match up in the making; Dr. Eggman vs. Bowser. Eggman has a lot of potential with his moveset and considering how important he is to the Sonic series and the fact Sonic has appeared in two Smash games, its likely that he will appear. Tails is also just as likely as Eggman but who knows.

Mario will get at least two more newcomers and I feel that a rep for the RPG side of the series (Paper Mario) and the Mario Sports series (Princess Daisy) could be possible. Both offer a lot of moveset potential and in the case of Daisy, it would add a new female face to the Smash Roster and be an inclusion that could be really cool.

Zelda might get two newcomers too; Impa would be a great pick while Minda & Wolf Link would be interesting.

Metroid could use Dark Samus as a semi-clone (same core A-Attacks but different specials and final Smash) while having a Prime Hunter's character Bounty Hunter be a playable fighter.

Inkling and a Code Named Steam character has to be in Smash 5. Both are series that launched this year and while Steam wasn't the hit like Splatoon, both represent major investment in new IP that Nintendo has been doing lately. Would be nice for them to celebrate that with them being playable fighters :).

Could see Dr. Willy or Leon be a new Capcom Fighters and in the case of Square Enix, I would wonder if Geno has a shot....he got a detailed Mii Fighter costume and it would make for a great rep for the Mario RPG side of the series.

I could see Atlus offer a Persona or SMT Demon for a playable rep too; either Yu (Persona 4) or Jack Frost (SMT, Persona) would be great picks.
 

ffdgh

Member
We all know we sprayed him with water and jumped on his head and abused him in Sunshine and NSMB.

Didn't stuff happen to him in Partner's In Time as well?

Toadsworth kind of fell off the face of the planet after being in everything for an entire generation.

He was in Dream Team recently. Not sure about Paper jam though.
He was booked for driving around in the trophy ceremony without a licence.

Always found it hilarious how they took the time to model him with driving animations In DD but he wasn't playable.
 
Code Name STEAM will be lucky to even get a trophy. Let alone a character. The game absolutely bombed. Coming out this year is irrelevant when discussing Smash in 5-6 years.
 

Draxal

Member
It's really hard to think about a Smash 5 roster though, because characters like Rosalina, Robin and Greninja will likely exist by that time. While for when Brawl was out nobody would have thought about them for the next Smash (obviously lol)

Well, new pokemon and new fire emblem characters were to be expected (except you know I thought they would have replaced older ones like Ike replaced Roy and not to add 3 new ones and keep all the old ones and reintroduce old ones).

We also need to know what new IP's will be introduced (Inklings/Callie/Marie) and what old IPs will have a renaissance (I'm hoping for Warioware here).

Code Name STEAM will be lucky to even get a trophy. Let alone a character. The game absolutely bombed. Coming out this year is irrelevant when discussing Smash in 5-6 years.

Mallo from Pushmo would get in over anybody from that game.
 

Golnei

Member
Code Name STEAM will be lucky to even get a trophy. Let alone a character. The game absolutely bombed. Coming out this year is irrelevant when discussing Smash in 5-6 years.

I can't imagine it getting any representation at all, either, regardless of whether the next game comes out next year or in 8. And considering the gulf in model quality between, I'd doubt a trophy - they probably wouldn't want to model anything unique unless it was also an AT. Maybe a single music track? Even then, I'm not sure.
 

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
Code Name STEAM will be lucky to even get a trophy. Let alone a character. The game absolutely bombed. Coming out this year is irrelevant when discussing Smash in 5-6 years.

What made you so sure that it wouldn't come out until like 5-6 years. Are you suggesting that they should skip NX itself or being released during late years of NX?
 

Pachimari

Member
I will go crazy if Codename Steam gets a character in, before Isaac from Golden Age.

I would like Linkle, Cranky Kong, Captain Toad, Inkling and Bomberman to be added in the next game. And I hope they can get to keep Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man from the third parties at least.
 

NotLiquid

Member
Don't forget to link to the Tweet! Thanks for sharing though <33.

Personally, I'm not surprised by Sakurai's response. I even predicted it in my Reaction Response.

The newcomers are all very unique, and you have to give props to Sakurai for that. It was a goal after Brawl, and he succeed! I hope he does come back for the next game.

Incidentally I was just reading that article and man, a good deal of you guys did not seem to enjoy that Broadcast lol

I find SmashChu's continuous comparison to Heroes of the Storm to be a weird one particularly because that is a game primarily reliant on a games-as-service approach in contrast to something like Smash which is already only mildly sustainable in it's current ongoing development, and the idea that Sakurai primarily selected DLC on account of personal bias seems somewhat foolish since Cloud has always been a highly requested "what if" character (especially since Sakurai's personal choices are usually dependent on interesting moveset ideas while Cloud is pretty standard as far as being a sword user goes) and the idea of Bayonetta has been a long one brewing ever since she went exclusive. It also helps that the latter seems to embody a mentality Nintendo fully embraces in terms of the sheer amount of energetic fun there is from just playing games because she feels right at home with Nintendo.

I don't think Smash has done anything at all to jeopardize it's integrity because more than anything the series represents not only the gravitational pole surrounding Nintendo but also how several facets encompass to give context to games as a whole. That's why we have Sonic in the game; someone who's in the game not necessarily just because he had games on Nintendo but because he was a longstanding rival to Mario and we wanted to see the two duke it out. In a way Cloud fits that mold too; people like to square him off with Link and he's the embodiment of the betrayalton Nintendo experienced during the PSX era (while also being the face of RPGs and the franchise that Nintendo helped foster).

While Sakurai will obviously have his occasional quirks and personal choices I think his prowess as a designer helps distinguishing many elements to create a distinct difference between the things we want for Smash and the things we need, or can actually get.

For that matter it's rather obvious that they'd start analyzing the ballot and work on characters surrounding them well before it closes. It shutting down seems more a formality than anything since if they do start gunning for third parties it becomes a matter of extended licensing discussion, and people want to results sooner than that. Hell, some people expected we'd hear ballot news almost immediately upon closing and that we'd get some kind of detailed rundown of them.
 
What made you so sure that it wouldn't come out until like 5-6 years. Are you suggesting that they should skip NX itself or being released during late years of NX?

Game development takes longer than ever and that's about the length of time between previous Smashes, other than Melee, which was developed under a really aggressive time line.
 

jph139

Member
What made you so sure that it wouldn't come out until like 5-6 years. Are you suggesting that they should skip NX itself or being released during late years of NX?

Speaking only for myself, I expect Sakurai to want to take a break and develop a new game himself (2-3 years) before starting up Smash again (another 2-3 years). So I think 2019-2021 is a fair bet for the next Smash.

This, of course, is assuming they don't release a "Smash 4.5" NX port (which I personally doubt; not really Nintendo's style) and that Sakurai will return - and that Nintendo is willing to wait for him to return, which are both up in the air. But I think he'll be back - Smash is even more Sakurai's baby than Kirby at this point.
 

kirby_fox

Banned
Smash 4 was crazy hype. Way better than Brawl - everything seemed like a possibility at one point or another. To me, the biggest day in Smash hype history was the Robin/Lucina trailer. To explain:

1) I was a huge Gematsu believer. 100%. I expected, save a possible hidden character or two, that that was all we were getting. I was happy with it, but it was mostly a matter of checking off boxes. The leaker even said, the night before, "Enjoy my good friend Shulk!" - who I didn't care much about. I didn't bother waking up early to see the trailer. I knew what was coming - why bother?

2) In the lead-up to Smash hype, I expected Chrom as the FE newcomer. I don't give a shit about Chrom. I wanted Robin - sword and tomes, one element for each Special. And I wanted Lucina - a cool character and an easy Marth clone. They were some of the only characters I actively dreamed of, and I assumed they were lost causes.

I woke up, started up the trailer, fully expecting Shulk to show up. But no. It's... Lucina?! And... who is that? Is that Shulk? Wait! No! Robin!! Holy shit!!!

That morning everything seemed possible. More than Cloud, more than Bayonetta. That was Smash hype, pure and unadulterated.

I remember that day. The weeks leading up to it, speculation seemed to be dead. Hype seemed to stutter out because we had what we were getting and the leak was all we were going to get. I was upset because I had to go into work early that day, and so as I'm standing around this new warehouse my boss was checking up on to move into-- I stood in the one spot I could get signal. OK, let's see this Shulk trailer already.

Oh. I guess it's not Shulk, it's Chrom. Wait...Lucina? ROBIN!? Wait, is Chrom in the game or not?!?

Hype was back. Speculation started up again, because the rumors were wrong and we were getting everything.

Cloud felt like anything outside of expected, could happen. Banjo Kazooie was a pipe dream before, but with Cloud- nah, it's possible. Darth Vader and Batman? Let's throw them in there with Goku. Everyone's favorite character even if they weren't in games was somehow possible with Cloud.

And then...we ended with another FE rep and Bayonetta. Not as hype for me, but seeing realistic guns for Bayonetta brings a whole new perspective. Especially with Kirby even donning them.
 

Draxal

Member
I do think Linkle's a given if the push from the fan base continues for it.

Of the 19 new characters (including the miis) introduced; 9 have options of switching gender (and the inklings being a given in the new smash will bring that up to 10), and one character is a gender shifted Marth (Lucina), I don't think that's really a coincidence.

edit. (forgot duck hunt and bowser jr were unlockables and thus hidden on the smash roster site).
 

Tom Nook

Member
Smash 4 hype train from beginning to end was an awesome ride. Can't wait for Feb to complete all the characters.

The fanboy in me thought at the direct, when they showed "58 characters", they would pull a surprise by

"58 characters"

+

"2"

=

"60 characters"

Then show wolf and finally Snake with the line "kept you waiting huh"
 
and now there's a shitload of third party characters.

Well, there's only three in the base game and another three as DLC, so not exactly a shitload ;b In terms of just the base game there's just one more third-party character in Smash 4 compared to Brawl. But yeah with the DLC characters there's definitely a lot more!
 

Diffense

Member
I'm sad about Snake but since he would have been perfect with all the other 3rd party icons that are in Smash 4. My hunch is that it's Konami's fault since Kojima was instrumental in Snake's appearance in Brawl and he obviously has no clout anymore.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Now is a good time to compare Smash 4's roster to Brawl's.

tumblr_n5g3nr9gZM1trllnco5_400.png


In addition to the smaller size, it's interesting how generally more restraint and "proportionate" the representation of the series seemed to be. What I mean, the big three (Mario, Pokemon, Zelda) all share four character slots, surpassing the other series in terms of playable characters. Then you have a lot of the smaller scale series like Kid Icarus, Fire Emblem, Pikmin, WarioWare, Yoshi, etc having only about 1-2 characters each. Then you have the two third parties at the end as a bonus.

Smash 4 on the other hand is way more zany. Series like Kid Icarus and Fire Emblem have characters up the woozu and now there's a shitload of third party characters.

I remember really hating the Brawl roster, and I still do. Partly because I didn't care for most of the newcomers, partly because they ended up being really annoying to fight (sup Brawl Diddy/Snake/Metaknight), and partly because the character I did want (Toon Link) got a clone moveset.

It's a shame Wolf got cut, but I do not miss those days at all. SAYONARA BRAWL ROSTER.
 
Here's another video; my Mewtwo play is much better in this one, if anyone wants to see his potential with his buffs this patch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZoViV8qJfY

Hey, I loved this video, thanks for it. It's nice to watch these matches when I'm new and can't remember how the mechanics work. Those battles at the edge are intense, and I have no idea how to recover and get back up on the stage? Just how? And am I right in saying, that the higher ones percentage, the more powerful an attack you can unleash?
Having a higher % increases your knockback somewhat, but it's more of an incidental benefit than anything else.

The best way to get good at recovering is to go into training mode, jump off, and see how low you can go before making it back. Have FUN with it - laugh when you fail, and turn it into a kind of competition to see how daring you can be. If you watch the video I just linked above, I go for a lot of deep and daring kills, and the only reason I do it is because I've spent a lot of time learning (and failing, and dying) how to recover properly.
 
I remember really hating the Brawl roster, and I still do. Partly because I didn't care for most of the newcomers, partly because they ended up being really annoying to fight (sup Brawl Diddy/Snake/Metaknight), and partly because the character I did want (Toon Link) got a clone moveset.

It's a shame Wolf got cut, but I do not miss those days at all. SAYONARA BRAWL ROSTER.

I still find Brawl's additions to be the strongest in the series. I think that's mostly because Brawl was a huge "clean up" of the roster, adding a dozen characters from repped series that were totally obvious, along with Snake and Sonic. Characters like Dedede, Wolf, Metaknight, Diddy and Charizard finally got their chance to shine. Characters that had been requested since Melee, or even 64 in Dedede's case.
 

Azure J

Member

I still don't get two things that these videos continue to illustrate:

1. How did so many people get caught up in the idea of this being a real election proceedure? The "ballot" always was a suggestion box and was referred to as such in wording when the Smash Ballot became a thing AND when addressing itself on the SmashBros main site.

2. People just can't be happy that such an awesome and novel character like Bayonetta made it in? I understand personal disappointments from people who believed in a miracle for characters who weren't necessarily "spotlight of the era". I can also understand if the character isn't in your lane from game play or visual design hooks. I just can't agree with all this need to rationalize the inclusion to yourselves via tearing down the idea that she was a popular suggestion or making an arbitrary list of accolades she needed before she dared to become a viable entrant.

Seriously, the idea that Bayonetta, the lead protag of a strong gameplay first series built in the mold of most of the Nintendo series celebrated in Smash currently was going to be outright relegated to the "cool but dead as fuck pile" in 2010 due to Sega's downsizing and lack of faith in the property, manages to not only find a second life and immediate fame (notoriety) for Platinum-gate with a Nintendo funded sequel but would only ascend further with an invitation to the biggest dream fight that exists in gaming is one of those Cinderella series you hardly ever get to witness in this industry. Even if I didn't love the character, I would now just from hearing the circumstances behind it all.
 

Azure J

Member
I can see Linkle being a potential Zelda character. I don't know why people are doubting that Hyrule Warriors can be repped in Smash.

If anything, I'd say Impa has a good shot of coming along but with a design that better incorporates her series canon as well as HW's gameplay hooks. Linkle is too early to call but she does have that "thing everyone ever wanted to see happen" hype behind herself and Sakurai is a magic man, sooooo...
 

Hylian7

Member
That delicious salt.

I don't get why it is that suddenly people in the "fraud" camp find it impossible that Bayonetta was the most frequently voted character among the (eligible) votes in the ballot. I fucking laughed at the "Well King K. Rool had to have more support than Bayonetta." No, he didn't. Only a small circle of the internet wanted him. I'm honestly surprised these guys weren't part of the "Where's Bandana Dee and Sukapon?" crowd.

Bayonetta won fair and square, deal with it.
And enjoy playing against a bunch of Bayonettas in For Glory
 
The most rational explanation to me is K. Rool's audience is far louder and far smaller than they thought and/or Nintendo could tell when it was the same people voting over and over and over.
 
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