Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - DADDY SAKURAI'S WILD RIDE HAS CONCLUDED

[Waveshocker Sigma]

Another cool tribute and kind of a callback to just before Ultimate came out. If you know, then you know.

[KHCast]

I’m seeing a lot of people saying now that the excitement has cooled down that Sora looks boring and bland and pretty bad, especially as a dlc character because he doesn’t have any “dlc op gimmicks” to incentivize people buy him, and honestly? I don’t agree here. Idk, call me biased, but tbh, this expectation that “DLC must equal broken OP/complex character” I never got. Mario is basic, a lot of the smash roster is pretty basic, but many people play with those characters still despite the presence of characters like Kazuya, Min Min or Hero. I’m fine with not every dlc character being some ridiculously broken character everyone complains about being too good. Sora looks basic, and fun, and that’s ok. He looks very accessible and like a great character to learn and main for me, and that’s all I could ask for. Like, maybe if they somehow by some miracle brought him back in a future smash game they could add some stuff(magnet spiral seems like it would be a interesting finisher to bring in for example, or explosion), but what we got now isn’t a negative in my eyes.

[Kuzu]

I think it's the whiplash that after two DLC packs of weird, gimmicky characters, ending on someone who is pretty basic feels jarring.

I personally don't mind since not every character needs a gimmick, but I can understand the general feeling of being underwhelmed after the initial hype wears off.

[KHCast]

3 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

I think it's the whiplash that after two DLC packs of weird, gimmicky characters, ending on someone who is pretty basic feels jarring.

I personally don't mind since not every character needs a gimmick, but I can understand the general feeling of being underwhelmed after the initial hype wears off.

Honestly, knowing the smash community, feels like this would’ve been a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. People still are bitching about the likes of Pyra/Mythra, Hero, and Kazuya being “broken/OP”. Had they gone that direction with Sora and based him off more KH2 or KH3 Sora, with a ton of varying air combos, punishes and finishers and magic, I feel we’d just be on the other end of the spectrum. After all, Bayonetta ended of Sm4sh, and the community fucking hated her

[Wraith]

19 minutes ago, KHCast said:

I’m seeing a lot of people saying now that the excitement has cooled down that Sora looks boring and bland and pretty bad, especially as a dlc character because he doesn’t have any “dlc op gimmicks” to incentivize people buy him, and honestly? I don’t agree here. Idk, call me biased, but tbh, this expectation that “DLC must equal broken OP/complex character” I never got. Mario is basic, a lot of the smash roster is pretty basic, but many people play with those characters still despite the presence of characters like Kazuya, Min Min or Hero. I’m fine with not every dlc character being some ridiculously broken character everyone complains about being too good. Sora looks basic, and fun, and that’s ok. He looks very accessible and like a great character to learn and main for me, and that’s all I could ask for. Like, maybe if they somehow by some miracle brought him back in a future smash game they could add some stuff(magnet spiral seems like it would be a interesting finisher to bring in for example, or explosion), but what we got now isn’t a negative in my eyes.

There were maybe a billion meter mechanics, counters, installs etc they could have given sora to make him broken and they subverted my expectations by doing none of them. Instead they based it off the first game. I'm almost impressed at the restraint there.

I wonder how they decided on that. It couldn't have just been artistry, and it's a little too convenient that his stage is the simplest new stage in the game yet. Time constraints, maybe? Disney and Nintendo didn't want to play ball until the last minute? Did development stretch on a bit too long and it was just time to wrap it up?

I'm okay with it because I think it's really nostalgic and I'm tired of fighting against weird shit in this game. I see why people are disappointed, though. The possibilities were truly endless with this character. He's done a little bit of everything. Wielded every type of weapon and element you can think of. Dipped his toe into every combat mechanic. If he ever comes back I'd like to see them blow the doors wide open on this character, but for now, this is okay.

[KHCast]

14 minutes ago, Wraith said:

There were maybe a billion meter mechanics, counters, installs etc they could have given sora to give him broken and they subverted my expectations by doing none of them. Instead they based it off the first game. I'm almost impressed at the restraint there.

I wonder how they decided on that. It couldn't have just been artistry, and it's a little too convenient that his stage is the simplest new stage in the game yet. Time constraints, maybe?

I'm okay with it because I think it's really nostalgic and I'm tired of fighting against weird shit in this game. I see why people are disappointed, though. The possibilities were truly endless with this character. He's done a little bit of everything. Wielded every type of weapon and element you can think of. Dipped his toe into every combat mechanic and even made up some new ones. If he ever comes back I'd like to see them blow the doors wide open on this character, but for now, this is okay.

I’d say hollow bastion is more interesting than the Dragon Quest stage, maybe the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 one (I mean, that one has a talking head, so is more visually dynamic, so that’s why I say maybe) , but yeah, while I like the stage personality, and appreciate it’s a legal stage for once, I gotta wonder if they maybe wanted something more wild. Maybe Disney vetoed certain stage requests from Sakurai?

 

I definitely can understand feeling underwhelmed, but idk, the “he sucks/why isn’t he another super broken character” reactions I’m starting to see crop up, even before he’s out, is just kinda sad to see

[Kuzu]

I mean, that's just the Smash community in general. Nobody is ever going to be satisfied because everyone wanted someone else. Its best not to focus too much on it because its something you can't control and is kind of inevitable given the type of series Smash is.

[Wraith]

Aside from calling people on here boomers I haven't' really been looking at the reactions. This one was for me.

[Zaysho]

I mean my favorite DLC character is no frills and KO's at 40% with her F-Smash. I don't think every DLC character needs to be super gimmicky as long as they're fun and I like them. I felt similarly about Banjo.

[JezMM]

As an outsider to the franchise, the whimsical nature of Sora makes a straightforward moveset feel just right to me.  Giving him a super tricky difficult-to-master one would've kinda surprised me as much as if they did the same for Kirby or Toon Link.  I think the slight complexity of keeping his rotation of magic in your head when planning moves is just the right amount of gimmick to appreciate that he comes from an action RPG series.

[StaticMania]

1 hour ago, JezMM said:

I think the slight complexity of keeping his rotation of magic in your head when planning moves is just the right amount of gimmick

It's not anymore gimmicky than Peach's smash attack, it just applies to his special...instead of affecting a kill move.

[KHCast]

So I’ve been thinking about what I’d put as my all time top 5 stages (that were ultimate only). I think I’ve finally decided:

-Mementos

-Hollow Bastion

-Northern Cave

-King of Fighters Stadium 

-Mishima Dojo

1. Mementos goes at the top for how stylish and energetic it is. There’s so much to appreciate about it. The fact little things like a walking trail being there like in the original game is seriously amazing and really gives it its own identity. The stage just oozes persona, and I love how you can change its colors. (I only wish that doing that would have allowed the P3 and 4 cast to show up, but it’s no prob)

2. (Yeah yeah, haven’t played it yet, but give me this ok lol.) Anyway, Hollow Bastion I would have placed first due to personal bias, but I’m trying to be fair lol. Hollow Bastion is a basic, but visually very appealing stage to look at, the forbidding atmosphere of the castle already gives me nostalgic tingles, but for Sakurai to go that extra step and add the iconic dive to the heart segment REALLY sold it for me. I already love this stage from what I’m seeing, and the best part is that it’s tournament legal! Hopefully there’ll be an select option to play only the dive to the heart segment, that would make for fun times certainly.

3. Northern Cave is similar to Hollow Bastion in being a tour stage, but I appreciate how it tells the story of FF7 throughout it. It’s super flashy, so can at times be distracting, but I think it does its job quite well overall and was the perfect area to use as Sephiroths stage. It’s such a visual treat.

4. KOF stadium while not my all time favorite stage, is still super cool. I love how different it operates compared to other smash stages with the wall functions. It gives it its own unique identity, and makes for tense close combat battles. (Definitely will be a bad stage for me if I’m playing Sora tho lol)

5. Finally, we come to Mishima Dojo. It’s just a atmospherically cool stage. It sort of revisits the wall thing from KOF Stadium, however it doesn’t automatically kill, and it’s on all sides. Being able to break apart the dojo as you beat opponents is so incredibly satisfying, and to see Heihachi give his approval to your kills is always a pleasure lol. It’s a fun time, although it doesn’t wow me or keep me as interested as the other stages in the list despite all that. Still a great stage tho 

If I had to choose one of the base roster stages, I guess I’d have gone with New Donk. It’s honestly the least annoying compared to the other ultimate base stages, and I like collecting the band so they can play Jump Up Superstar. But still, it doesn’t hold my interest, and I don’t ever really go to it often when playing matches. It’s ok.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

SCREW IT. I'm taking this as my head canon for how they dealt with all those legal gymnastics. 

[Zaysho]

Phoenix was so afraid after Project X Zone 2 of course he'd never want to be in a crossover ever again. 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Well, even if Sora drops his keyblade, at least we know he can still manhandle opponents in a fight.

[KHCast]

Someone recreated the “Everyone is Here” trailer to include everyone, and god damn this made me feel things lol. The hype from the real trailer is still there so adding everyone revealed after it really just further emotionally tugs at me and  does a great job at showing us how far we’ve come

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Holy cow. What a heartwarming sendoff. 

A showing that while this is the end of this Smash game, it also the opening of a door for new possibilities in the next one.

[KHCast]

Kinda funny to think about how the DLC began and ended with characters that specialize in themes of the heart

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Kinda funny to think about how the DLC began and ended with characters that specialize in themes of the heart

One who steals them and one who saves them.

[dbzfan7]

Sora's out and they released the last incentive spirit. So now I got all 1512 of them and you can too.

[KHCast]

Sora’s fun. I like him. He’s VERY divisive currently online with how people feel. It ultimately comes down to if you can adjust to his floaty aspect and the fact he doesn’t really have many great kill options. 
 

again, I like him. I’d CURRENTLY say he’s (DAY ONE IMPRESSIONS. Nothing set) a good high mid-tier/low high tier character. Got a great out of shield option with his up b, and amazing recovery. He’s got a lot of good potential, and I can definitely see them doing at least one more patch that buffs him decently. His biggest weaknesses are, again, the fact he’s floaty, easily launchable, and slow. But if you can work around that, get good reads, you can probably set up some crazy air and offstage combos.  But if you can’t, I don’t blame people for saying he’s not their favorite. I wouldn’t say he’s ass or the lowest low tier possible or anything 
 

I’m happy with him. And thank god we got a new legal stage 

[Remy]

It doesn't really surprise me at all that he's floaty. Seems like a no brainer considering the source material. 

 

 

[KHCast]

I think I’ve gotten a good hold on Sora and doing fun combos with him. Not sure if I wanna go into quickplay with him tho lol. Ever since I got Samus into elite like over a year back(the only elite character I got) I pretty much dropped it lol. But from what I heard, getting characters into elite right now is crazy easy whether you’re playing as Sora, or using someone else against Sora players haha. 

[Wraith]

They lowered the requirements since then + a new character coming out means a lot of bad players will try online out again. I dont care about elite but I got Sora in after 3 matches. 

[Wraith]

Doubleposting because Push Dust In just dropped the translation for Sakurai's second to last column, which describes the process for getting Sora into Smash.

https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1450855082203901954?s=2

Quote

Sakurai starts off by saying that Sora’s reveal had an amazing reaction! For more details, fans can watch Mr. Sakurai Presents Sora to learn more about the last fighter. He mentions it in the presentation, but Sora was the #1 most requested new character in the Fighter Ballot.

Banjo and Kazooie also ranked very high in the Fighter Ballot results as well. From a Japanese perspective, it was quite surprising. The barriers to Sora’s inclusion in Smash weren’t as surprising, though. It wasn’t the same as getting other fighters.

Even though he was highly requested, Sakurai thought it’d be highly unlikely to get Sora into Smash. There’s no doubt that the team involved with negotiations for Smash Bros also thought it was impossible as well.

But, one day an opportunity came through. At a certain award venue, Sakurai had the chance to meet with a Disney representative. They said it would be great if Sora could get in!

But that meeting alone wouldn’t be able to get Sora into Smash Bros. The higher-ups could feel differently and talks could fall apart. After long and careful discussions with Square, Nintendo, and Disney, the okay was finally given. Fighter Pass 2(FP2) has 6 Fighters.

Originally FP2 was planned to only have 5 fighters in the Pass -- just like FP1. All the fighters had been decided, but it looked like Sora would be able to join after all. So even though it was quite challenging, it was decided to increase the number of fighters in FP2!

TLDR: it barely happened. FP2 was going to just be the 5 characters, but a chance meeting got Sora into the game. It's eerily similar to the elevator pitch that got us KH in the first place.