Custom moves for all DLC characters chances:
85%
Something I feared about DLC characters in Smash Bros. was the fact they could possibly not get as much as characters from the base game when it came to contents, like: no fighter trophy, the inability to use them in Classic/All-Star mode, no amiibo for them, or no custom moves for example... and unfortunately I was right on the later. That said, I never accepted to believe it was a fate set in stone, and I think Mewtwo's custom moves have a very strong chance to eventually release.
Custom moves are, admittedly, not necessary to have a (mostly) functional fighter, which means they were most likely put low priority when Sakurai's team was developing Mewtwo. That said, I refuse at this point to believe they were just deemed as disposable enough to simply ignore. You may think "They're not necessary" if you don't like them, but they're still a fully legitimate part of each character's identity and a standard set for every fully fledged character unless Mewtwo was somehow specifically designed with no possibility to customize the moveset in mind. Custom moves are an heavily prominent game mode in the new iterations on Smash Bros., promoted in the April Direct, getting its page on the official Smash Bros. website, and featured in the game's tips, and most importantly: they're an important gameplay feature that helps making SSB4 more different from its predecessors and allow to change how you're using a character. Here's the key part:
gameplay feature!! Without custom moves, DLC characters get less gameplay features than the standard set by the base game;
it's absolutely not comparable with Palutena's Guidance which is a stage specific easter egg with no direct influence on the gameplay. Without them, there's much less incentive to use them with custom on which means:
DLC characters are less usable in an entire game mode than the rest of the cast!
Even though I guess custom moves as a whole may be a bit gimmicky in how they work, that doesn't mean they're just an "unnecessary gimmick", they're still a fully legitimate gameplay feature and just saying "they're just a disposable gimmick" doesn't work for me. Otherwise you could just remove modes like Special Smash, Trophy Rush, Events, Challenges, Smash Run or Smash Tour just because they're "gimmicky", right?
Okay I admit the later is useless ahah. This feature is noticeably even mentioned in the back of the box of both versions!
You may not like them which is fine, maybe you don't like them because of the wasted potential for more references to the source material, maybe you don't like how tedious it is to unlock them, and I won't disagree with those criticisms, but a lot of people enjoy custom moves for what they are. Three different variations for each special move is the standard set by the base game, they're part of the identity of each fighter, and without them Mewtwo is downright incomplete and bellow this standard. As such I'm confident they'll eventually happen in a future update, and I think it's very likely they were put as a low priority thing set to be released in the next update; programming and debugging may have delayed them, thus preventing them to be released alongside Mewtwo, which I think is more likely than they just ditched them. Plus I doubt Nintendo is just going to ignore the disappointment coming from the fans, and I'm fully confident they'll at the very least acknowledge this concern at some point in the future.
I have enough faith in Sakurai and his team to consider custom moves as a fully legitimate gameplay feature which deserves to be given to everyone and not as something disposable they can't even take themselves seriously, and that's the reason why I give such a high chances score. I just can't imagine Mewtwo and future DLC characters never getting them; it would be making DLC characters incomplete by being less usable in a prominent game mode just to save time and money, which I think would be a bad business practice. The worst thing coming from this is the fact it would come from the same person who cut the Ice Climbers on the Wii U version because they couldn't work on the 3DS version, due to Sakurai's philosophy about all characters getting the same treatment of being on both versions to benefit from all the things they have to offer like the different stages, different game modes, and custom fighter transfer from one version to another. If no DLC characters get custom moves then it would mean that Sakurai is an hypocrite for me.
Well, I think we'll most likely know in the next update. If Mewtwo still doesn't get his custom moves, then I'll admit I was in denial hoping they would eventually be released. But until that don't expect me to lay down my arms anytime soon.
Custom moves for all DLC characters want:
Despite what I said on the first paragraph of my chances rating I was still 99% confident custom moves for DLC characters were going to be a thing, and I loved all the speculation about them, like how they could work, if they could represent actual Pokémon moves, how to unlock them (unlocked at the start, or randomly like most other fighters?); I only jokingly said once "Plot twist: Mewtwo has no custom moves
" once prior to Mewtwo's release... and I was right
I was so overjoyed when I played Mewtwo for the first time on the 3DS version! I played some battles with him, completed classic mode, used his awesome Final Smash, it felt so amazing! After that I wanted to see what Mewtwo had as custom moves, I was really curious to see them, maybe they're unlocked by default since he's a DLC character! Oh, no custom moves? No problem, I just have to unlock them first like other characters it seems. As such I immediately played Smash Run with Mewtwo, with the excitement of unlocking his custom moves! I was surprised when I didn't unlock any in my first run with him, so I did a second one, and then I started to imagine the worst, thinking "Wait, please don't tell me..." then I did a third one and when saw the rewards I was like this:
I finally saw on Smashboards a confirmation of no custom moves for Mewtwo and this happened in my mind:
Ever since I've learned about this I've made a personal commitment to this cause, like changing my avatar and signature, posting about how I was upset about this, suggesting people to send emails to Nintendo, and nominating this concept on this thread. I love using custom moves, even though I admit they're not flawlessly handled (I wish they could be chosen from the CSS so they could be more practical to use consistently), but I find it awesome to have the possibility to change how each character's special moves work and I enjoy them for what they are. Mewtwo not having custom moves just makes me unable to fully enjoy him in an entire game mode and if they're simply cut for all DLC characters just to save time and money then I call this an horrible business practice and bad handling of Smash DLC. Heck I'd rather have four fighters with all their custom moves rather than six fighter with no customs!
Especially if it means we're not getting characters I don't want like Daisy
Mewtwo's lack of custom moves really deflated my hype towards DLC characters in general, and I'm not even sure if I'm going to buy more characters if I won't be able to fully enjoy them in all game modes. The only character I would be getting no matter what would be Tetrimino, because it would be downright amazing, with or without custom moves
With this wall of text I written I guess you may understand why I absolutely wanted to be there for this day. This is without a doubt my longest post for any rating, something I want much more than any character or additional game mode, and I wanted to share all my thoughts about the situation. Oh, and if you care about them like I do, don't forget to send an email to Nintendo to show your interest towards DLC characters getting custom moves! Nintendo must be as aware as possible about this!
DLC characters not having their own Palutena's Guidance and being put at the wrong place on the CSS is rather sad, but at least those are only aesthetic or at least non-gameplay features and don't leave me anywhere near as upset as the lack of custom special moves.
Finally I guess you've understood that my want score for this is
an absolute 100%!!
Again, I want to thank everyone who helped me nominating this concept during Squirtle's and Ivysaur's day to let it happen today!
Spyro prediction:
0.45%
This one has so much going against him... maybe our first <1% chances character?
Nominating:
Concept: Battlefield form stages x1
Playable newcomer: Tetrimino x4