Ah, what chances would Krystal have for Smash 5 if she doesn't make it as DLC?
We keep referring to the idea that Star Fox will again be relevant for Smash 5 because of Star Fox Wii U.
Look, by the time Smash 5 comes around, Star Fox Wii U will widely be considered
irrelevant because it will most likely be roughly 7 years old.
I'm not sure Krystal will
ever get in Smash, now. She's just too controversial, and Star Fox coincidentally is almost always irrelevant by the time each Smash comes around.
1. She's taking a lot of hate regarding the "decline of Star Fox", and the developers are magically dodging all of the bullets (even though they're the ones responsible for making the games and restricting the characters). This is a stigma. Miyamoto in particular dodged most of the bullets (somehow). Apparently people are too blinded by their worship for Miyamoto to see that he was the guy who decided to KEEP Krystal from Dinosaur Planet AND restrict her role from the original story by shoving her into a crystal.
2. She has the furry stigma attached to her far more than the other "animal-like" characters that are supported for Smash. Not saying other characters
don't have this stigma, however.
3. We have no clarity regarding if she may even return to the franchise. Miyamoto could
just as easily sweep Krystal under the rug as he saved her from the destruction of the videogame Dinosaur Planet (yet he simultaneously destroyed her as a character by making her dumbed-down to high hell--yet Miyamoto continues to dodge the bullets). You would be INFINITELY wise NOT to assume that she's guaranteed to stay.
4. She has yet another stigma attached to her regarding how obnoxious her supporters were (apparently) during the pre-Brawl days that people can't seem to let go. They use this as a means that "she should not get in".
5. Supporting Krystal on various Smash fan websites is a form of suicide. You'll
never hear the end of the ad hominem and ridicule by certain fellow fans of Smash. Perhaps that's why her supporters have been more...
quiet this time around. Maybe Nintendo/Sakurai sees the huge controversy and doesn't want to add her in Smash because of the fear of angering
too many fans?
6. People mainly view Krystal to be using the staff if she gets in Smash. The staff may be from her origin, but it has not been a part of the Star Fox gameplay for
12 years (since Star Fox: Adventures). The staff is more irrelevant than Krystal! Who's to say that Sakurai wouldn't just make her a clone if she were to get in?
I feel that Krystal's only hope (+using her staff) is if Sakurai ignores all of the controversy while SIMULTANEOUSLY using Krystal's origins to create her for Smash. What are the chances of that?! That's not even COUNTING the decline of Star Fox AND how irrelevant it has been deemed.
If we're assuming that she could be Sm4sh DLC to promote Star Fox Wii U, why would she use the staff? The staff most likely will never make another appearance. How would she work with her staff in Sm4sh as PROMOTION for Star Fox Wii U if you CAN'T even use the staff to begin with?
Beyond all this, you have the looming threat of people that understand Krystal's source potential "aging out of videogames" by the time Smash 5 comes around. A lot of us will be in our upper 20's and low 30's by that time. We'll need to focus on more important life issues! Thus, her support may dwindle drastically.
Her only chance at ever making it in Smash may be now as DLC. Else, she runs the risk of all the above. Hell, even THAT has a lot of things going against it.
A forgotten legend indeed. Well, to be fair, Nintendo never even gave the potential legend a chance...
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. . .
Which, again, leads me to why I supported Krystal. I supported Krystal for reasons that many people
might not expect.
See, I always felt that Star Fox as a franchise has so much untapped potential. There are many things that can be brought to the table to breathe new life in the franchise. So many possibilities...
some of which I discussed roughly 80-100 pages ago in this thread.
And yet, I knew Nintendo was restricting the franchise from these possibilities--whether it was intentional or not doesn't matter. So, if I
already knew the franchise was being limited by focus, why did I support Krystal for Smash?
It's a multifaceted answer.
For starters, I'm not a guy who looks to the face value of things for enjoyment. I like to look at the
implications.
For instance, a question I have asked myself a few times was:
what would be implied unto the Star Fox franchise if Krystal managed to get in Smash with her staff?
Quite possibly, many things. Allow me to elaborate:
Long have I fancied the logic of
exposure. If you understand the logic of exposure (and all it can imply), you would understand why many people want certain veterans back in Smash. They're used to these characters being in Smash, as they've already been exposed to them. If you're exposed to something for a certain amount of time, you could easily get used to it (not saying everyone does, but it is pretty effective).
Exposure is only half of the equation, however.
The thing you're exposed to generally needs to have effort put into it for you to eventually enjoy it.
Allow me to sidestep briefly with an important note: this second half of the equation is what Star Fox is missing as a franchise. The characters don't have that much effort put into them. For starters, you can't even really
play as them. They're restricted to be
things that revolve the story of Fox McCloud--you only really ever get to play as Fox.
Tell me, why do
you think so many people are interested in the Star Fox characters in Smash Brothers?
It's simple. It completes the equation. They have
effort put into them. Fox, Falco, and Wolf have NEVER had the chance to display their martial arts in ANY of the Star Fox games. This makes them interesting, particularly in the field of Smash. They've
generally been restricted to the sky/space (or underwater in a few circumstances). Point is, they've usually had to use vehicles for their escapades. And when they
were on-foot, well, it was very
restricted and lackluster (Star Fox: Assault).
Another sidestep: being able to
play as the character is a form of exposure. This is something that, like I said, was lacking from a lot of the Star Fox characters. Sure, Command
allowed us to play as them, but it was the wrong way to go about it. There are other playable ways you could better distinguish the effort in the characters,
and Smash is one of them.
Smash is a venue where some characters are able to do things they can't normally do in their franchises. We may not realize it, but it gives us an interesting perspective on these characters. This usually allows us to become
even more interested in the characters, and deepens the experience as a whole. Naturally, because we are fans, we usually cross-reference our experiences of the franchises with the experience of Smash.
What does this have to do with Krystal? Many things, potentially.
For starters, having Krystal in Smash (granted she'd need something interesting, like her staff) would plant the seeds of
exposure to the players. "
Whoa, that's different". Or, "
Wait, she can do that?!"
These are the sorts of inferences people make that pique interest value.
However, I'm not necessarily interested in the inferences made about Krystal in such hypothetical situations alone...
I'm more interested about the implications on the Star Fox franchise that result from these inferences made about Krystal in Smash.
For starters, the exposure of Krystal in Smash, what with her being
different and
actually enjoyable for once, would allow some people to become more open to the idea of her being in
Star Fox. She is the
epicenter of the negativity revolving the Star Fox franchise within the fandom. If this epicenter can be weakened by the exposure to her
actually being an interesting character in Smash, the negativity that follows would
also weaken.
If the negativity is replaced by
positive outlook (as a result of them being exposed to an interesting Krystal for once), the fans would be less occupied by the things that are
weighing the franchise down (because Krystal
was the epicenter of negativity). They will be more able to look at the
possibilities of Star Fox rather than "what's wrong" with it.
But that's not all.
You see, if they are less focused on the negativity, they would be more open to the idea that the
developers make the decisions behind the games. Then, the realization hits:
"O
h, so it wasn't Krystal's fault that Star Fox has been so lackluster, it's the developers fault! I mean, look at what Sakurai did with Krystal in Smash! She's a lot better there than she has been in Star Fox!"
And from this realization, the talk about what
could be done with Star Fox begins. They'll realize all the different gameplay styles that Star Fox could do: on-foot, aerial, in-space, underwater, etc.
All in the same game. Oh, but then, there are subcategories in each style of gameplay. Depending on the situation, you could have it to where you focus on martial arts on-ground OR with weapons. Hell, give them some of their Smash Brothers abilities on the ground, like the Fox Illusion! Similar differences could be made from the other forms of gameplay that Star Fox could encompass. For instance, an upgrading system
not only for your on-ground weapons or physical (or for Krystal, psychic) prowess, but also different kinds of upgrades for your different vehicles. There's just so much you could do, it's almost unfathomable. I'm not even
talking about how good the stories and characters OR multiplayer possibilities could be, either.
Do those concepts make you excited about the possibilities in Star Fox? If they do, good.
They should.
Star Fox, as a franchise, needs to evolve if it hopes to become something
truly legendary. Right now, it's just... a franchise.
Unfortunately, it's going to have a hard time becoming legendary if it becomes riddled with hardware technology and controls that try too hard to be different (I'm looking at you, Miyamoto). Mark my words.
. . .
So, were you expecting those reasons? They're not personal reasons, believe me.
See, I support Krystal for Smash Brothers for reasons that extend
beyond Smash. There are
many possible implications that could take place if she were to get in as a unique newcomer.
Unfortunately, this may never come to pass.
Do you know why? It's not
simply because she's not going to be in Smash Brothers.
. . .
Honestly, I'm surprised none of you have added two and two together.
Ask yourself:
Why was she absent from the codecs?
Why was she absent from the E3 demo that tested out game mechanics for the new Star Fox game?
Don't give me that "oh, it's because it was a demo" bull****. Wolf was there. You know what else was there? All of those new game mechanics that are planned to be implemented in the final build. Why would Krystal be the ONLY MISSING Star Fox member?
You ask me.
If you honestly think NINTENDO would reserve her and her alone as hidden information, or as a surprise, then I am disappointed in you. You will have shown that you haven't learned much from what I said about Miyamoto.
Oh, and don't take your beef with me.
Take your beef to the K. Rool thread. They understand what it's like...
They understand what it's like to have a character kept from the main series. K. Rool himself...
A few pages ago, I paraphrased one of Miyamoto's quotes regarding K. Rool's absence from Donkey Kong's main games as of recent:
"Do we really have to use [K. Rool]? Can't we just make a new set of enemies for Donkey Kong?"
With this quote, it's simple to understand what he's getting at. He doesn't want to rely on ideas or concepts that were created by other companies--especially if they're in franchises he's responsible for. @
JaidynReiman
can actually back me up on this one. He frequents the K. Rool thread more than I.
Tell me. Do you know who created K. Rool? Which company? It's such a simple answer.
That's right. Rareware, a European company.
If you think Nintendo of Japan's criterion aligns with Rareware's, you're sorely mistaken.
Rareware also created Krystal. As far as Miyamoto's concerned, Krystal is
fair game.
Also, if you think Krystal could return if she was truly taken out, you're mistaken. Take another look at K. Rool. Miyamoto has decided to keep him away from the main game series. If it were up to Retro, they'd probably use him. The fans' cries for the Kremlings and K. Rool have fallen on deaf ears and stone hearts.
However, I made it pretty clear that you don't simply say "no" to Miyamoto. Rareware had trouble with this in the past, isn't that right, JonTron? With Dinosaur Plan-I MEAN Star Fox: Adventures? Eh? Ring a bell? Anyone?
Yep. Miyamoto was the one in control of Krystal's fate all along. He's the one who stripped her of her intended glory from the beginning.
In the end, I think Miyamoto noticed the declining sales of Star Fox, and wanted to do something about it. He probably looked to the past to see what was making the game actually sell. From this, he'd probably assume that it was the new hardware technology that made those games sell.
For Star Fox SNES, it was 3D console games. For Star Fox 64, it was the rumble pak.
. . .
For Star Fox Wii U, it's the extended use of the Wii U gamepad, apparently.
At any rate, Miyamoto doesn't have to get rid of Krystal, obviously. That won't stop him, though. If he sees no use for Krystal, she won't be there. Just like K. Rool hasn't been in the Donkey Kong main game series.
Sure, let's see what the future brings us. I'm warning you, however. For your sake, you better prepare yourself for this possibility.
It could hit like a stone wall.
. . .
And you know what? I suppose that's okay. We can't do anything about it.
If Star Fox can't hope to achieve its potential, I can't stay to support it. It's just a waste of time and breath. There's no need to get myself all worked up about it. Just wanted to share my thoughts on this possibility, is all. Doesn't change the fact that all this wasted potential would be a shame, though.
You can spread this post around if you want.
but no seriously he's not! 
)
