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

[Celestia]

Most likely Monster Hunter will get a trophy or two, on top of a boss/assist and the "stage". Which, let's be real, is probably part of some kind of story mode (though in the spirit of this game being Ultimate I think it'd be cool if "story mode exclusives" were unlockable for standard Smashing, maybe give 'em a separate tab ala custom stages in the stage select or something).

[Shaddy Zaphod]

I'd honestly have expected them to not even have Monster Hunter be a thing in the game, given that they didn't even get the new and apparently-amazing one on their console.

Guess I can just give it a year or two and they'll be releasing a giant new one all over again anyway though. What the hell is up with that series? If they stop making them, do they die? Whatever.

 

Also

Spoiler

You know that expanding brain meme?

 

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

You know, I looked back at previous roster and I must admit, Nintendo are masters of marketing

Melee: "Ladies and Gentlemen, 13 new fighters!!! Please ignore that half of them are clones and nobody asked for Dr Mario or Pichu."

Smash: "Ladies and Gentleman, we apologize for all those clones last time. We removed worst of them and this time only 4 new ones, much more unique anyway."

Wii/3DS: "And this time only 2 clones (unless you count Mii)"

Ultimate: "Ladies and Gentlemen, clones are back in full forces. But we're calling them 'echos' now, so you'll eat them up. 4 send, more probably coming."

And yet I still want echo Shadow. Well played Nintendo, well played.

[Blacklightning]

A lot of the bad stigma for clones in the past came from the misconception that it diverted resources away from making wholly original characters, which was never really true, at least not in the sense that most people imagined - Sakurai even back in the day went on record saying that he could make a pretty large number of clones with the resources it took to create just one proper newcomer, and that the sheer amount of them we got in Melee was more down to time constraints than anything else.

They've been welcomed more readily in Ultimate because Sakurai has made that distinction crystal fucking clear this time - these aren't glory stealers, they're just the little bonuses on top of the main event. The fact that many of the new echos are fan favourites that would have been only Assist Trophies at best before - and some of which that were ATs before - certainly helps

[JaidynReiman]

Well, I was hyped as hell after that. Haven't commented yet, and Mando is more known for K. Rool around here simply because I don't talk about him as much, but he's been my mosted wanted for years, followed by Isaac.

 

So, there's a few things I'd like to say.

1.) I don't think we're done with stages. Those 6 slots missing are a glaring thing for one, and I can't see them revealing ALL stages before launch. It really sounded like Sakurai was saying "so far". But it is hard to say. Maybe we are done with returning stages, though, and the 6 remaining stages are all brand new.

2.) I think Dixie Kong and Shadow are both locks. Shadow is completely obvious:

Shadow's AT is missing, and we have Knuckles now instead. And we got Richter Belmont as an Echo Fighter. I think Shadow will be Sonic with new animations, but he might have a teleport recovery instead of spring based on either Mewtwo or Zelda.

For Dixie, its a bit less obvious, but the important takeaway is that Diddy Kong's tail jab is missing. This, combined with Chrom getting a different recovery, makes her an easy Echo of Diddy now. She can get all her hair animations, and get DK's recovery instead of Diddy's now.

3.) Isabelle is also insanely likely as an Echo Fighter, though I won't say she's a lock. I did recently hear that Vergeben is reporting she's an Echo Fighter, though.

4.) I think Isaac skyrocketed in likelihood. There's a few factors I'm looking at. The big one for me is Shovel Knight. Isaac is already a first-party character, and regularly ranked higher in polls that Shovel Knight. I think Isaac is at least a lock for an AT right now... and the fact that he's still MIA is a good sign. As my second most wanted I'm very cautiously optimistic about him.

5.) I'm mixed on the Skull Kid rumor. Loz18 has insider information, that's guaranteed. My problem is he never had information that directly told him a character was in. Instead, he speculated King K. Rool based his "Heroes vs. Villains" thing, but he didn't actually know it was related to King K. Rool's trailer. He simply thought it was and was trying to gather evidence to support it. Right now I think he's saying the same thing about Skull Kid because of the circumstances in the Direct about Skull Kid, namely the Moon and Skull Kid's AT being MIA.

Personally, I'm really not sure how Skull Kid would even work as a fighter. Hyrule Warriors will not be used for this, because that was all in the eyes of Tecmo Koei. Sakurai would have to come up with something else based solely on Majora's Mask which might be difficult to do. Also, Ashley just got confirmed as an Assist Trophy as well, Skull Kid could easily just be saved for later.

So, I really don't know what to think about the Skull Kid rumors/theories right now.

 

Anyway, that's just all I have to say on this. I've already preordered the game. Even with just the Classic Mode reveal I was quite sold, but yeah. I'm anticipating Dixie and Shadow, and really hoping for Isaac, but its not too big of a deal if Isaac misses out (I'd be shocked if Dixie and Shadow aren't in atm).

[Wraith]

I wouldn't say Shadow is a LOCK but there's literally not a character I'm more certain about given how easy it would be and how hard this game is leaning into "heroes vs villains"

Skullkid is hard to say. It's weird that he's an assist trophy but it's weirder that they wouldn't make something like the Moon his final smash, right? I'm probably just keeping my expectations in check because that is literally my most wanted Smash character ever though, lol. 

Don't really have much speculation to offer about the rest though. Literally anyone can get in. 

RE: stages. I didn't believe for a second those were the total amount of stages. Stage reveals are almost always tied to characters. He's gonna surprise us with a few more(not that many though)

[Waveshocker Sigma]

On the topic of Xenoblade, I'd honestly prefer Pyra to be a character on her own and use her own sword, as she's fully capable of doing, with Mythra as her Echo Fighter instead of Rex being playable.

Rex just does nothing for me at all and I can confidently say that the entirety of XC2 still could have worked without him around with minor tweaks. I don't hate the kid, but he is kinda bland and not nearly as important to the story as Shulk was in his game.

[Tailikku]

Just something fun I cobbled together based on K. Rool's trailer

[Radiant Hero Ike]

I love Rex's generic "never give up" personality, I hope he's in as DLC.

As for base roster I'd love a Xenoblade Chronicles X character and stage. Probably Elma and maybe one of those moving stages that goes to each of the areas (Primordia, Noctilum, etc.)

And I hope Black Tar is one of the songs. :^)

[Ryannumber1gamer]

4 hours ago, Wraith said:

Skullkid is hard to say. It's weird that he's an assist trophy but it's weirder that they wouldn't make something like the Moon his final smash, right? I'm probably just keeping my expectations in check because that is literally my most wanted Smash character ever though, lol. 

It's an odd choice, but then again, I could also see them changing it so Majora possibly consumes Skull Kid and goes into one of it's many final forms, possibly doing something similar to Super Sonic where it runs around for a few seconds and if you get hit, it's more than likely a K.O.

As for Monster Hunter, I imagine it's going to end up in a Wonderful 101 or Rayman situation. A few trophies, the stage, etc but nothing much else.

I do think Rayman, or *ugh* even the Rabbids are a shoe-in. With how successful Kingdom Battle ultimately turned out, it wouldn't even surprise me if we ended up having the Rabbid variations for the likes of Mario, Luigi, Peach, DK etc.

[KHCast]

1 hour ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I do think Rayman, or *ugh* even the Rabbids are a shoe-in. With how successful Kingdom Battle ultimately turned out, it wouldn't even surprise me if we ended up having the Rabbid variations for the likes of Mario, Luigi, Peach, DK etc.

I’d take either tbh over an Assassin at least. Well unless Ubisoft used Ezio. Imagine the death trailer for that lol

[Your Vest Friend]

Personally I dunno. He has been requested for a long time, but he's kinda lost some steam in recent years. I honestly think Crash might have the edge over him. Not Spyro though, hype for him started way too late. 

[Celestia]

I think Rayman still has a slight edge in that he (bizarrely, but still) got a trophy in the last game. It's not even close to a guarantee but it's...something.

[GentlemanX]

I'm not really familiar with Rayman, but it'd be a nice concession to have him in Smash after he got left out of the Mario/Rabbids game.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

For some reason I see the Rabbids as assist trophies rather than playable characters. And with characters like Ridley and King Freaking K.Rool getting in, there could be a possiblity of Rayman getting a slot too.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Big hopes for Rayman

Rayman Origins is one of best Sonic games I played

[StaticMania]

4 hours ago, GentlemanX said:

I'm not really familiar with Rayman, but it'd be a nice concession to have him in Smash after he got left out of the Mario/Rabbids game.

He didn't get left outta nothing...Rabbids are their own thing.

[Mega]

> People wanting all these FF characters who never appeared on a Nintendo console.

Don't get me wrong. You guys have a right to that, but... can we get a little classic Final Fantasy love if we're to add another Square rep? Or hey, how about someone from Chrono Trigger?

But in all likelihood, the second Square rep is going to be Geno. Think about it. Sakurai's wanted him since at least Brawl. He was a Mii Fighter costume. The fan demand is HUGE. Given that they put in K. Rool and Ridley? I fully suspect Geno is going to be in and will likely be the last character reveal.

As for Sora, I think the biggest hurdle with him is Disney. Remember, Disney ultimately owns all the original KH characters. They might charge a pretty penny.

[JaidynReiman]

IMO second "Square rep" should be Crono, but Crono probably won't happen.

I have no idea what to think on Geno, personally.

[Sean]

I really want Geno badly, and I'll be legitimately upset if any other Square character gets in before him lol

[Dee Dude]

I’ve been discussing a lot on Smashboards lately and even though I think people still give him too much credit than what he really has (being a one-off supporting who only gained popularity solely because of Smash and Sakurai acknowledging him), I wouldn’t really mind Geno either.

As long as Mallow is also incorporated into his moveset ala Toad/Phantom or better yet, have both of them together as duo in Duck Hunt fashion.

If there’s a second SE character, Sora has a better chance then him tho.

[Mega]

Eh, I still have my doubts on Sora. Remember that Dissidia was supposed to be a Kingdom Hearts fighter until Disney vetoed it. That coupled with the likely licensing costs just don't make it seem very likely in my book.

I'd say the Mii costumes are the best way to anticipate at least some newcomers. Consider that K. Rool, Chrom, Inkling, Ashley, and others have all either become fighters, echoes, or assist trophies.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

I don't have a source for this and I might be completely wrong, but I think all the original KH characters are owned by Disney... I think it'd be up to them I'd I'm remembering things correctly.

Anyways, I've been notified that Tails still appears on GHZ.

 

He shows up around 1:14. Although he could still end up being a fighter, they could do what they did with Toon Link on the Spirit Tracks stage and have Alfonzo be in charge of the loop

EDIT: Ashley was already an Assist in Smash 4, and she's still one now... Although I wonder if Lloyd is possible (even though I'd prefer a different Tales character).

[Mega]

Can confirm. All of the original KH characters are owned by Disney, not Square Enix. That's why I doubt we'll see Sora in a Smash Bros. game.

[KHCast]

58 minutes ago, Mega said:

Eh, I still have my doubts on Sora. Remember that Dissidia was supposed to be a Kingdom Hearts fighter until Disney vetoed it. That coupled with the likely licensing costs just don't make it seem very likely in my book.

I'd say the Mii costumes are the best way to anticipate at least some newcomers. Consider that K. Rool, Chrom, Inkling, Ashley, and others have all either become fighters, echoes, or assist trophies.

Umm...I thought Square just assumed Disney would say no cause “violence” and scrapped it, when it turned out Disney themselves were working on their own Disney beat em up fighter game. The existence of wreck it Ralph and the crossovers that game had with Nintendo and other companies, along with Ralph showing up in Sonic and Sega racing, tells me they’re open to discussion and making deals with game companies. And Sora did show up in WoFF...  Idk, Disney seems to be pretty chill when it comes to KH lately. And given the fan request for him, I’d be hard pressed to believe they aren’t aware, if Square’s given another rep

anhway,

lol look I’m all for skull kid, but this evidence is laughably dumb as shit. “Well the chairs may be a reference to the fairies, and the pillows kinda look like skull kids design” the Smash fandom really likes over analyzing huh?