*(some stuff I said here were thought of on the spot, so this might appear all over the place)*
I may be a little late, but I think what
R3D3MON
is feeling is what I've experienced when I first felt the transition from brawl to S4. In my experience, everyone was either more rounded, cut off, or just uninteresting. Everything felt streamlined and simplified.
Glide toss was removed
DACUS was removed
Link and toon link had hundreds of tech in their arsenal in brawl, not sure about S4 though.
Two pivotal movement options from brawl were gone (jump canceled tosses are still here tho, but glide tosses moved you further and faster).
Diddy in brawl had SICKKK nana tech and really relied on that tool to get crazy, but S4 diddy has the nana as a accessory rather than something really integral to his gameplay. Adding onto his oppressive aerials that covers a multitude of options at a time (so you can use one move kinda repeatedly) and lack of excessive tech to distinguish one from another, and diddy is like another Mario, but with nanas. Brawl diddy had crazy normals like S4, but they paled to what he could do, or set up with nanas. They were a real open-ended tool (dribble them, do infinities with them, combos, "tech-chase," kill, gimp, fortress setup (ADHD style), stage control, etc... forgetting some stuff). And he was hugely interactive because you could use the nanas against him (and pull off your own crazy combo/string with your respective character).
Wario in brawl had waaaaaay better aerial control than his S4 version. Also had tires to improve his poor range, make kill confirms, movement options, a new neutral tool, and host of every things I forgot (it was a old wario guide about the magic of those tires that got removed to S4 SMH). Not to mention the depth the bike itself provided also, but to go back to his aerial mobility, wario could really WEAVE in brawl. Like, his movement was really a art form, whereas his S4 version struggles more to be evasive (though it's still possible, but not as extreme as his brawl version (more streamlined). Also had hidden bike tech with the platforms.
ROB had his Fair, Ftilt, glide toss, down-b wave bounce, and up-b aerial movement gutted in exchange for kill potential with his throws. More streamlined and Mario-esque because he struggled to kill in brawl
Can't speak for peach in-depth, but she is underwhelming in S4.
Falco got burnt in S4. In brawl, he was a crazy zoner. SHDLing from afar, then you got close and met his chain-grabs, crazy jabs, SH Dair, and combos from grab that led to his Gatling combo (a delayed dacus that combined his dash Attack and upsmash together). In S4, they just took everything away from him basically.
Snake was GREAT. A super heavy who was super fast (longest and easiest DACUS), had grenades, C4s, Mines, mortars, stupid normals (Ftilt and Utilt), and was just the epitome of interesting design. He was really open-ended and could set up traps like crazy. And they removed him.
Olimar had six pikmin to take care of and manage. Had stupid grab range with the blue and white, but had a garbage recovery. Had super armor on the whistle to protect him from getting juggled repeatedly. In S4, they cut him down to just three pikmin to manage, reduce his grab range, removed the SA on the whistle, and boosted his recovery. Streamlined him.
I'm sure there's more examples (can't think of any else), but that's what I'm seeing. Oh, and all the interesting characters in S4 are underwhelming (bowser jr., PAC-man, duck hunt, maybe even villager even, robin, shulk, etc...). Smash 4 is the game where the interesting characters lack the foundation (good normals), while the top characters lack the flash (good, interesting tools that breed creativity). This GENERALLY speaking though, as people are just about optimization and being as logical and robotic as possible. There is not many people who tries to push their character to their limits and create this highly nuanced character in their repertoire. We all talked about how fundamental ZeRo is. We also talked about gluttony and his amazing wario usage. The gluttonies are few and far between, whereas ZeRos' are pretty popular. Lastly, S4 is streamlined and polished, but that doesn't mean there isn't potential. Ryu is mr.well-rounded in ST, but his less-restrictive play style breeded multiple different styles. Same could come out of a lot of characters if people would just loosen up and let go of the "play-to-win" mentality. Armada and ZeRo are "play-to-win" personified, because they took the path of least-resistance and has been the most consistent based this mindset: top tiers, top fundamentals, no flash, and defensive oriented. Also readily able to switch mains. Very robotic. If you're trying to be creative and expressive, you're not consigning with the play to win mindset. You're actually going against it since,
- You're with only one character (who is most likely not top tier)
- You're willing to use options that are not optimal.
- You're willing to play unfavorable MUs
- You may go aggressive with the "wrong" character
- It'll be hard for you to switch with all that muscle memory in a patchy game.
- You'll be working harder than you'll need to for a win.
I think with how Japan sets up their tournies (no prize money, character loyalists, etc...) breeds better character development, which is why in brawl APEX 2010, Japan really shook America with their tech and made us level up (brood, a Japanese olimar player, was in a interview and said the American olimars were weak). But, yeah.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯