Arle Nadja, Puyo Popper Extraordinaire pops into Smash Bros.! (New Management!)

[Ctoan]

We've got six more chances fellas. Don't worry!

 

[FamicomDisk]

Oof, I'm glad we're still in the running! During the Mii Costume reel, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time... and then it happened again when they said there'd be a bonus with the second Pass. But it turned out just fine, haha!

Pretty good announcements all around! Byleth wouldn't have been my character choice, but I really enjoyed Three Houses, and they look pretty cool, so I'm content! And now we've got confirmation of six more DLC characters, which means many more chances for characters (like Arle!) to make the cut!

 

[Dr. Jojo Phantasma]

Yeah, don't worry guys this is actually good as she didn't get Mii costume'd. I guess there weren't going to be two SEGA characters in the same pass, but not a problem for season 2.

 

[AreJay25]

Gotta be honest, after seeing the Ubisoft and Capcom costumes I was really fearing for Arle. Thankfully she made it out alive lol.

Hopefully she's one of the 6 chosen characters.

 

[Flyboy]

Arle lives!!!! I'm actually super happy with the new character, too! I thought for sure Arle was going to become a Mii but I think she's just as likely as she was before, which is cool.

 

[smashkirby]

I forgot to mention this yesterday. but prior to Shulk's Smash 4 reveal, didn't Monolith tweet about Robin's and Lucina's reveal? Then Shulk was revealed a month later? Maybe the same can happen to Arle?

 

[Deleted member]

I forgot to mention this yesterday. but prior to Shulk's Smash 4 reveal, didn't Monolith tweet about Robin's and Lucina's reveal? Then Shulk was revealed a month later? Maybe the same can happen to Arle?

That could happen! I hope so! Byleth's debut in SSB actually cured my anxiety, and Now it's time to keep on!

 

[xwingz900]

6 more chances then, sounds good to me, the dream lives on. Plus the community reaction to this has been gold to watch.

 

[Captain Shwampy]

6 more chances then, sounds good to me, the dream lives on. Plus the community reaction to this has been gold to watch.

Sakurai making a FE character the last one and hidden with the upmost secrecy and giving out wikipedia trivia about fire emeblem to people who woke up at 6am for 30 min is the ultimate flex

 

[Deleted member]

I just learnt something. The Daisy theory was for Byleth. Daisy is Nintendo, that is what i forgot! And Mario is also Nintendo, so the Mario & Daisy theory was for Byleth (Both versions)

 

[TheRockingGoomba]

Welp. The direct just went down, and i need to say
*Spiderman 2 Pizza Theme as i remember the posts in this thread*
Blyeth seems pretty cool, though. I'm not a Fire Emblem Fan, i've never played any of the games yet. But they seem pretty neat. And i am digging their stage.
I am also really excited for that Cuphead costume.
Maybe Arle could be part of Fighters Pass 2?

 

[ProfPeanut]

Tough luck that it wasn't Arle this time, but we've still got everything else going for us. Arle's built up a much stronger position between prelaunch and now, which makes her chances of having been picked in Fighters Pass 2 a lot higher. And this time, we don't have to contend with the superfluous Sega rep argument with Joker! (Although, I wonder if Lip's back in the running again...)

Still, I'm surprised she regularly showed up in anticipation posts this time. Let's hope it takes more than Daisy showing up randomly for people to think about Arle!

 

[Jave]

No luck this time, but at least we got no deconfirmation of any kind and we still have six chances through the span of two years. We’re still fighting the good fight.

Also, good luck to everyone out there. Hope you all get at least a character you like.

 

[Deleted member]

Let's hope that Arle is a Fighter! Amitie as either an Alt or Echo, anybody?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I made my prediction for Fighter's Pass 2 based on current circumstantial evidence I've witnessed:

My predictions, in no particular order:
FP2-1: Ryu Hayabusa. There’s a rumor that Byleth was originally gonna be in pass 2 but got expedited to pass 1 cause Hayabusa was leaked. Hayabusa is a common name among insiders while almost NO insiders knew of Byleth.

FP2-2: Neku Sakuraba. The The World Ends With You site went under a surprise maintenance lately. Last time this happened was before Final Remix’s release, and I doubt we’d see a sequel just yet. Nintendo’s Twitter accounts also heavily promoted Final Remix before its release. I also doubt Geno will make the jump from Mii Costume in 4 to playable in Ultimate via DLC. See KOS-MOS’s section for my reasoning.

FP2-3: Elma. First Spirit promotion. Rex was shown as a Mii Costume at the start of Pass 1 and apologized for him not being playable. It could be that ANOTHER Xenoblade character is planned, especially if Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition becomes a thing. Plus, Caitlin Glass’s NDA is STILL unknown. CRAZY STRAW GRASPING - also, Fiora was added to Shulk’s Chain Attack Final Smash despite Chain Attacks in 1 and 2 having only three party members. X, however, has four party members and Overdrive instead of Chain Attack but that’s not important so Fiora breaking the three members only rule may be a reference to X. Again this here is just a stretch but I can see it.

FP2-4: Octoling (Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion). Second Spirit promotion. At the start of the year, something new involving Splatoon 2 was teased months after Final Fest (the SAVE OUR SALMONS thing). Octo Expansion was a huge hit and Splatoon 2 is still played widely today even after Final Fest. A major Splatoon 2 update is also scheduled for April. And despite Rex being a costume, Spring Man an Assist Trophy and Officer Howard from Astral Chain an Event Spirit, Byleth proves there’s no such thing as “too new” for Smash. Octo Expansion came out in 2018, and Inklings can be used as a base for an easy Isabelle style semi-clone if not Echo.

FP2-5: KOS-MOS. She was deconfirmed for the fifth pass character, sure, but the second pass opens up an opportunity. And before you say Heihachi or Lloyd, it’s very unlikely a 4 Costume will be promoted to playable in DLC. So far that’s only happened in base with Inkling, Isabelle (who was also an AT in 4), Chrom, King K. Rool and I think I’m forgetting one more. Maybe not. But my point stands and while a Xenosaga HD Trilogy was deemed financially unfeasible, the interest is very much there. Plus, KOS-MOS appeared in Xenoblade 2 as a Blade alongside Shulk, Fiora and Elma; and in the Project X Zone series with Ryu and Ken (and in 2, Chrom, Lucina and Fiora).

FP2-6: Arle Nadja. Why DID the Puyo Puyo director retweet the 1/16 announcement when Byleth was revealed...? Arle wasn’t even a Mii costume. Unless... Arle will be in Pass 2. Arle was another big name among insiders, and since Lip from Panel de Pon couldn’t be added as playable, Arle may be the next best thing. Plus, Sega has been promoting Puyo Puyo like CRAZY as of late.

you have to admit, it IS odd the Puyo Puyo directer retweeted the direct announcement when it was Byleth that was shown...

 

[zferolie]

I made my prediction for Fighter's Pass 2 based on current circumstantial evidence I've witnessed:



you have to admit, it IS odd the Puyo Puyo directer retweeted the direct announcement when it was Byleth that was shown...

they could have just been excited to see who it was?

 

[Ctoan]

Oof, I'm glad we're still in the running! During the Mii Costume reel, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time... and then it happened again when they said there'd be a bonus with the second Pass. But it turned out just fine, haha!

No kidding. That always makes me nervous. Thankfully they seem to know not to put major wanted characters as them too much (at least so far).

Regarding my previous long post, I have good news and bad news. Bad news is all the evidence for is now basically moot. Good news is, all the evidence against is now too. Basically we have a clean slate. Also Sakurai never said he'd be done after the second either. I think he may shoot for 90-100 in total characters.

 

[Deleted member]

Oooooh, knowing that Arle still has a Shot and Amitie as a possible Alt or Echo Fighter fills me with.....

DETERMINATION

 

[Dr. Jojo Phantasma]

I think at E3 they will do two reveals with the east + west combo again, so Arle with Master Chief/Doomguy/Dragonborn or someone.

 

[Deleted member]

I think at E3 they will do two reveals with the east + west combo again, so Arle with Master Chief/Doomguy/Dragonborn or someone.

That would be Cool! Heck, i would be fine with Doomguy as long as he is kade suitable for the Good Boys and Girls of All Ages!

 

[RodNutTakin]

Arle is literally the only viable puzzle character left from how I see it. Lip is dead, Meteos was never going to happen, Dr. Mario was only ever added to pad out Melee and Sm4sh's rosters and certainly wasn't designed as a puzzle rep, and Tetris, the literal grand-daddy of all puzzle games, was nonchalantly spirited a while ago. Any other puzzle game character would only pale in comparsion to Arle, both from a recognizability and importance standpoint, and a demand standpoint.
Not to mention, we're still in a pretty good position like we were since the aforementioned Tetris Spirit event. In fact, I'd argue we're in a better position than ever right now. Right off the bat we know that at least six more fighters are planned when most people suspected no more than two or three, and if Volume 2 sells well, we could even see a third wave (though let's not hold our breath on that yet.) Even if Hosoyamada's retweets did turn out to be bunk, it's still pretty odd that ever since last year we've had a steady flow of Puyo games in the West, and even if others don't think so, I still find it very peculiar that the Direct that gave us Super Puyo Puyo 2 as a worldwide launch title for SNES Online is the same one that first announced that characters after the first pass were planned. I guess what I'm saying is that things are still looking bright for the lot of us, and we should keep our chins up for the forseeable future, as things are still stacked in our favor.

 

[Captain Shwampy]

Arle is literally the only viable puzzle character left from how I see it. Lip is dead, Meteos was never going to happen, Dr. Mario was only ever added to pad out Melee and Sm4sh's rosters and certainly wasn't designed as a puzzle rep, and Tetris, the literal grand-daddy of all puzzle games, was nonchalantly spirited a while ago. Any other puzzle game character would only pale in comparsion to Arle, both from a recognizability and importance standpoint, and a demand standpoint.
Not to mention, we're still in a pretty good position like we were since the aforementioned Tetris Spirit event. In fact, I'd argue we're in a better position than ever right now. Right off the bat we know that at least six more fighters are planned when most people suspected no more than two or three, and if Volume 2 sells well, we could even see a third wave (though let's not hold our breath on that yet.) Even if Hosoyamada's retweets did turn out to be bunk, it's still pretty odd that ever since last year we've had a steady flow of Puyo games in the West, and even if others don't think so, I still find it very peculiar that the Direct that gave us Super Puyo Puyo 2 as a worldwide launch title for SNES Online is the same one that first announced that characters after the first pass were planned. I guess what I'm saying is that things are still looking bright for the lot of us, and we should keep our chins up for the forseeable future, as things are still stacked in our favor.

The fact that Yuji Naka felt that vs puzzle genre felt worth maintaining while the genre itself was dying is pretty much why puyo stuck around compared to Panel De Pon

 

[Ayumi Tachibana]

Byleth looks cool. I love his movesets and pallet swaps.
I wasn't expecting Arle for this pass anyway so her surviving the periodic Mii costume typhoon was all I wanted. So that's good.
But Hosoyamada. You.

 

[Ayumi Tachibana]

Double post delete this.

 

[Ctoan]

I was initially disappointed, but Byleth really stands out as a unique fighter (and I may or may not have the hots for the female alt lol).

But here's something to keep in mind y'all. The second fighters pass (who have all been decided) was also announced during this presentation, and it's still strange the Puyo director retweeted this presentation. I know this is a stretch, but Arle may be one of those 6 fighters and the Puyo director obviously would know.

 

[Ryu the Weredragon]

Arle'd be an interesting character, especially since the only Puzzle character we've got at the moment is Dr. Mario (And Lip's a Costume).

Any spellcasters are welcome in Smash, I'd say. ^^ Especially one with as much personality as Arle. Full Support on this one.

 

[Ctoan]

Any spellcasters are welcome in Smash, I'd say. ^^ Especially one with as much personality as Arle. Full Support on this one.

This is an interesting thing. There is a very noticeable lack of pure mages in Smash. Hero, Robin, and Zelda use magic sure, but they're more defined by being a knight, a tactician, and princess respectively rather than purely a mage.

 

[Deleted member]

Arle is one of them that Smash is lacking. And i am sure Sakurai sees her full potential to make her a Worthy fighter just like anyone else. Heck, i can see Arle's gimmick basically being unique with the magic attacks as the Smash attacks and Aerial attacks, and the specials revolve around the Puyos.

I can see Mario, Shulk, Cloud, Bayonetta, Sonic, and Terry getting Puyos thrown at their faces VERY Silly, and that's the sort of thing i want to see in Smash. If we have cute gaming characters with Bubbly atmospheres in their series, their attacks in Smash would be FREE ESTATE! I'd laugh hard for every puyo thrown at the opponent's face.

Sure, KOS-MOS, Dante, and Doomguy are great picks but they have one same flaw with their inclusion: They are already obvious to be fighting, and since they are Aggressive fighters, we know what to expect from them, and again, Arle's inclusion will be INSANE. She is on the same level with Villager and Wii Fit Trainer.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

Here's something self-indulgent I thought of bringing here from the Lip-thread. I feel most here would find this fun.

Spoiler

Probably very off-topic in a fashion and a strange thing to come back talking about it, but hey, I had fun talking about this on PDP-discord...

I remember back during becoming a Puyo-nut and play PdP prior to that, I'd end up shipping Elias with Incubus from Puyo-series.

I guess this was due noticing this line from Elias's bio, implying she's a hopeless romantic:

Probably just for personal indulgements of "dawwws" back then because two bluenette romantics hitting it up easily. But I felt they'd be very adorable.

Interestingly enough, I discovered Incubus having a "Blue"-variant as one of the events in Puyo Quest:

For some reason the outfit shares some elements with Elias to me like the long boots and maybe the jewel despite being red before, though color scheme's still close to Incubus's original...

I guess I can indulge myself a little more with some cracky headfanons little more?

She made that outfit for him, shhh--

you have to admit, it IS odd the Puyo Puyo directer retweeted the direct announcement when it was Byleth that was shown...

Maybe they had some connections with the makers related to Three Houses? Hmm...

Though someone mentioned the director of Xenoblade tweeting about Robin/Lucina-trailer, and we'd end up getting Shulk a month later.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Something self-indulgent I thought of bringing here from the Lip-thread. I think most might find this fun.

Spoiler

Probably very off-topic in a fashion and a strange thing to come back talking about it, but hey, I had fun talking about this on PDP-discord...

I remember back during becoming a Puyo-nut and play PdP prior to that, I'd end up shipping Elias with Incubus from Puyo-series.

I guess this was due noticing this line from Elias's bio, implying she's a hopeless romantic:

Probably just for personal indulgements of "dawwws" back then because two bluenette romantics hitting it up easily. But I felt they'd be very adorable.

Interestingly enough, I discovered Incubus having a "Blue"-variant as one of the events in Puyo Quest:

For some reason the outfit shares some elements with Elias to me like the long boots and maybe the jewel despite being red before, though color scheme's still close to Incubus's original...

I guess I can indulge myself a little more with some cracky headfanons little more?

She made that outfit for him, shhh--

Maybe they had some connections with the makers related to Three Houses? Hmm...

Though someone mentioned the director of Xenoblade tweeting about Robin/Lucina-trailer, and we'd end up getting Shulk a month later.

The Xenoblade producer worked on F-Zero X iirc, which is why Captain Falcon was in that trailer

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

The Xenoblade producer worked on F-Zero X iirc, which is why Captain Falcon was in that trailer

Hmmm, I guess my former hypothesis might be truer than I thought?

Anyone might have an idea if the current PP-director has been involved with Three Houses in some form?

 

[Sunredo]

Hmmm, I guess my former hypothesis might be truer than I thought?

Anyone might have an idea if the current PP-director has been involved with Three Houses in some form?

From what I know he joined SEGA in the early 2000's as a part of Sonic Team and then became the main person of Puyo later on. I don't believe he has any real connection to Three Houses. Maybe friends with one of the devs?

 

[Captain Shwampy]

Maybe he just likes smash

 

[Deleted member]

If Nintendo did decide the DLC fighters, i really hope they chose Arle as the Puzzle rep if they don't choose Lip.

 

[meleebrawler]

It's too bad DLC fighters can't be used as the basis for spirit battles, because Byleth would have made a great one for Dark Prince.

 

[Ridrool64]

It's too bad DLC fighters can't be used as the basis for spirit battles, because Byleth would have made a great one for Dark Prince.

I mean, they can be. In fact they are. Until Terry launched, every DLC package that had Spirits involved had at least one Spirit with a DLC character as part of a battle.

In fact, think about it this way. DLC characters are downloaded with the updates; what you pay for is a key to use them, their stage, their music, and their Spirit Board. Otherwise, the game would go nuts when you try to fight online and inevitably get paired with somebody who does have the DLC.

I think it's a combination of a conscious decision prior to the end of Volume 1 and a coincidence that we haven't seen DLC characters involved of stuff outside their own thing. But I believe that's gonna change at some point.

As an aside, I picked Ganondorf as my pick for a Dark Prince Puppet Fighter, and while I stand by that, I think Byleth fits well as well.

 

[Captain Shwampy]

Made Arle and Carbuncle's Restaurant King Sprites transparent if anyone wants to use them

 

[Blankiturayman]

Don't know why I took this long, but I'm coming in to say I'd love to see Arle make it. Given there's no true puzzle rep in Smash (Dr. Mario barely counts, he's more like regular Mario than a puzzle char) I think she'd make perfect sense to be the first. Puyo Puyo has a pretty long history, and it's only getting more known by the day.

Plus, I'd love to have another spellcaster, I'm sure Arle would use many of her magic should she make it in. I really hope she's one of the 6 in this pass.

 

[Deleted member]

This is an interesting thing. There is a very noticeable lack of pure mages in Smash. Hero, Robin, and Zelda use magic sure, but they're more defined by being a knight, a tactician, and princess respectively rather than purely a mage.

And it's sad that the requests of Anime-like Mages of the Gaming Industry are overshadowed by the Requests of Dark gun guys or a Key wielder or a Bland Blocky character or an Extremely irrelevant supporting character from one Obscure Mario game that never came back to relevancy for over 20 years or even a certain Purple Plumber.

 

[Sunredo]

And it's sad that the requests of Anime-like Mages of the Gaming Industry are overshadowed by the Requests of Dark gun guys or a Key wielder or a Bland Blocky character or an Extremely irrelevant supporting character from one Obscure Mario game that never came back to relevancy for over 20 years or even a certain Purple Plumber.

I don't think we have much room to talk when it comes to being "Obscure" lol. I don't particularly care for those characters myself but I can see the appeal of them and why people would want them in. Envy accomplishes nothing but to make us look dense and oblivious in regards to our current standing. We should try to make fans of other characters also want to support us and vice versa. Then if Arle somehow does make it in fans of other characters will be happy for us rather than upset that their character didn't get in.