Cloud Strife Announced For Smash 4!

When the first Nintendo Direct was announced since the passing of Satoru Iwata Nintendo fans were excited. Then Sakurai himself retweeted the direct and the website movie list for Smash broke (something that has happened before other DLC videos released). Well Smash fans the hype was very real as we got a brand new character coming to Smash: Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7!

Also hinted in the video are Chocobo costumes for the Miis. In the Nintendo direct itself it was announced a special Smash broadcast would be taking place some time in Decemember 2015. Will this be a big broadcast about the Smash Ballot? Excited to see Cloud in Smash? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned to Smashboards for future news coverage!

 

Even if that was the case, it's still just another Battlefield. We don't need more of those.

True Enough, But i'll take a Battlefield with sweet ass FF music over the other ones any day.

 

True Enough, But i'll take a Battlefield with sweet *** FF music over the other ones any day.

True.

Anyway I'm super hype for Cloud, not just for the character himself joining Smash, but what it means as a whole. This opens up a ton of possibilities for Smash, and Nintendo, in the future. Don't see why some people are butthurt over his inclusion when this literally only means positive things to come.

 

People say Cloud wasn't very high on the ballot but... you do realize that's only because most people that would have voted for him didn't think it was possible for him to ever be added, right?

Of course this doesn't even matter because he ain't the ballot winner or even a ballot pick imo. But people underestimate his popularity I'd say.

 

The only way Sora even touches Smash Bros right now is the day Nintendo finally allows Disney to use Mario for Disney Infinity which would be a fair deal (Disney has admitted well before 3.0's release that they want Mario to join Infinity's series as a guest character in the same way Skylanders got both Donkey Kong and Bowser for their most recent game, alongside Link and Pikachu), but knowing Disney they'd probably would let Mickey join the Smash Bros roster in return for Mario's services which is something I can see Nintendo agreeing with as it'd be 2 icons trading spots between 2 very popular games (plus Mickey meeting Pikachu alongside Mario, Sonic and Pac-man would be amazing to see in-game).

Then all of Disney's current Infinity figurines becomes compatible with Smash Bros as extra trophies or even as skins for your system, having all of them playable would cause legal issues with Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilms and would be far too many characters to handle and let alone balance (along with the fact 4 of out the many characters from Infinity can't even fight as they're not human).

Mickey Mouse is not really much of a fighter. Even if they put him in in his Kingdom Hearts form, he really doesn't have much to him other than Keyblade melee combat.

I am a massive Kingdom Hearts fan, but I just don't see why Sora warrants an inclusion in Smash. In PS All-Stars, maybe, but there's just something with the whole Disney thing that makes him feel untouchable in a sense.

Cloud was one thing, but if I see Disney characters stepping into Smash, I think my brain'll explode.

 

Mickey Mouse is not really much of a fighter. Even if they put him in in his Kingdom Hearts form, he really doesn't have much to him other than Keyblade melee combat.

I am a massive Kingdom Hearts fan, but I just don't see why Sora warrants an inclusion in Smash. In PS All-Stars, maybe, but there's just something with the whole Disney thing that makes him feel untouchable in a sense.

Cloud was one thing, but if I see Disney characters stepping into Smash, I think my brain'll explode.

I generally agree with you there but I think most people forget that almost every 3rd party has felt like they either shouldn't get in or wouldn't belong. With Snake having few ties to Nintendo, Sonic being the anti-Nintendo for so many years, and no one thinking Cloud possible until a few days ago. I honestly think that almost any Video Game character can make it in at this point, Personally I think that most Microsoft characters wouldn't be able to make it in such as Master Chief and the like due to the age demographic not lining up with Smash but then again who knows.

 

he isn't from the ballot, there is no possible way this character was made in a month. stop whining about a completely unique fighter added to the game

 

Protip: Cloud is assuredly one of the Ballot characters. The Ballot was not a poll, but a suggestion box - do you really think they never dipped into that box while it was going, picking out potential fighters and starting on them early?

 

he isn't from the ballot, there is no possible way this character was made in a month. stop whining about a completely unique fighter added to the game

Protip: Cloud is assuredly one of the Ballot characters. The Ballot was not a poll, but a suggestion box - do you really think they never dipped into that box while it was going, picking out potential fighters and starting on them early?

 

by that same logic we could assume that ryu, lucas, and roy were ballot characters

 

I want that release date right now! I think they may announce a date in December I guess. Another possibility is that cloud may be released after the broadcast like Roy/Ryu/Lucas.

 

by that same logic we could assume that ryu, lucas, and roy were ballot characters

except sakurai himself said they weren't

 

I still don't know how to feel about Cloud. I am really more surprised than anything else, especially considering that it wasn't leaked.

However, seeing the huge grin on my friend's face who has wanted cloud in smash since melee made me genuinely happy.

It was that "dreams don't die" look.

 

It's SMASH brothers, I'd rather have PLATFORMER characters like most of the cast.

because this is "Super fighting game with only platform characters Bros.", not "Super FUC*ING SMASH (sorry, but SMASH) Bros."

And now this generic RPG protagonist

KILL ME
PLS

 

because this is "Super fighting game with only platform characters Bros.", not "Super FUC*ING SMASH (sorry, but SMASH) Bros."

KILL ME
PLS

*facepalm*

I wouldn't even mind this character if they had not shoved in Lucina and brought red Mart- err... Roy back.

You're pretty much one good example of why I stay away from RPG's and their communities.

 

I'm still excited! How can I be so hyped for a character I didn't even want (and most likely, would have hated to see being suggested)!!?

Seriously, the only thing that can maybe match this level of hype for me is if Simon Belmont is included as well. (Or my main man protagonist from StarTropics, but that's far from a possible scenario right now).

Bring in the ballot results if you want, Sakurai, but for me, it pretty much ended here. :D
Nothing can beat this reveal. And I admit that being a complete surprise played a HUGE part of this.

 

I'm very hyped for Cloud... didn't know I wanted him till after I saw him in the game. I hope to see more Final Fantasy Mii costumes besides Chocobo. Maybe they could even have Dragon Quest Mii costumes too!

I would also be hyped for Simon Belmont. My god, he's one of the remaining NES/SNES All-Stars not yet in Smash.

 

You're pretty much one good example of why I stay away from RPG's and their communities.

Hey you're the one who's attacking the character, and you expect no one to defend him? Generic is not the word I'd use to describe Cloud. Me thinks you definitely have not played the game.

 

1. Cloud is in the game. Whether you like it or not, Sakurai deemed him worthy and made him. If this upsets you, go to college, become a game designer, make a game that you're proud of, and watch people tear it apart online.

2. Cloud isn't part of the ballot unless they guessed before the voting even started. It takes a lot of work to fully develope a character and stage.

 

Hey you're the one who's attacking the character, and you expect no one to defend him? Generic is not the word I'd use to describe Cloud. Me thinks you definitely have not played the game.

Well, Whenever I think of "Generic RPG Swordsman", Cloud PERFECTLY fits those tropes with a generic appearance and design and comes from an (overhyped) RPG which really isn't as great as anybody makes it out to me. I'll stick with the Mario RPG's as at least they have some differences than pretty much every other RPG out there.

 

Well, Whenever I think of "Generic RPG Swordsman", Cloud PERFECTLY fits those tropes with a generic appearance and design and comes from an (overhyped) RPG which really isn't as great as anybody makes it out to me. I'll stick with the Mario RPG's as at least they have some differences than pretty much every other RPG out there.

You might not find it very great, but numbers don't lie when discussing the game's influence and popularity. You can have your opinion on the character, but at least try to take an objective view on likely reasons for his inclusion in Smash.

 

Except he pretty much was the one who crippled Nintendo in the late 90's.

 

Except he pretty much was the one who crippled Nintendo in the late 90's.

What, do you expect Nintendo to hold a grudge for this long? If anything, that fact supports my point further. That FFVII could give Nintendo such a run for its money in the fifth generation is a clear sign of its prominence in game culture and fuel for the argument toward Cloud's admission into Smash 4 - a game that, as I have previously observed, is quickly becoming a mixing pot of the most iconic characters from all of game history.

 

Another reason for FF7 fanboys to flaunt that FF7 is a great game...its an awful game, especially now.

 

Slime is more iconic than Cloud, honestly.

 

Well, Whenever I think of "Generic RPG Swordsman", Cloud PERFECTLY fits those tropes with a generic appearance and design and comes from an (overhyped) RPG which really isn't as great as anybody makes it out to me. I'll stick with the Mario RPG's as at least they have some differences than pretty much every other RPG out there.

Cloud is a generic RPG swordsman who perfectly fits those tropes? Maybe he looks generic now because he was the one who popularized those tropes to the point many other RPG protagonists are emulating Cloud. That's how much Final Fantasy VII influenced the JRPG genre.

Mario RPGs are different because Mario always does his thing.

 

You're pretty much one good example of why I stay away from RPG's and their communities.

sorry, i was just butthurt.

 

Well, Whenever I think of "Generic RPG Swordsman", Cloud PERFECTLY fits those tropes with a generic appearance and design and comes from an (overhyped) RPG which really isn't as great as anybody makes it out to me. I'll stick with the Mario RPG's as at least they have some differences than pretty much every other RPG out there.

Except he pretty much was the one who crippled Nintendo in the late 90's.

Oh, I see what's going on. You're not an FF7 hater, you're a Nintendo fanboy.

Nintendo crippled itself when they abandoned their plans for a CD-based console and instead went with extremely expensive cartridges to prevent piracy. The console prototype they abandoned went on to become the PlayStation, and Square jumped ship because FF7 simply would never work on an N64. It already didn't fit on a CD and N64 cartridges hold much less data and each one is expensive.

Their draconian policies were also what pushed developers towards Sega in the Super Nintendo era. If Nintendo couldn't produce enough of their anti-piracy chips to meet demands for your game you were out of luck.

The idea that a video game character from a game company that's not a console manufacturer crippled a console manufacturer is absurd. Businesses cripple themselves with bad business practices. Mario didn't put Sega out of business, Sega made bad decisions.

If you want to stick to your Nintendo-centric universe and miss out on some truly great games, be my guest. What you do with your spare time is none of my business. But I wouldn't go trying to claim your narrow world view is correct.

 

Oh, I see what's going on. You're not an FF7 hater, you're a Nintendo fanboy.

Nintendo crippled itself when they abandoned their plans for a CD-based console and instead went with extremely expensive cartridges to prevent piracy. The console prototype they abandoned went on to become the PlayStation, and Square jumped ship because FF7 simply would never work on an N64. It already didn't fit on a CD and N64 cartridges hold much less data and each one is expensive.

Their draconian policies were also what pushed developers towards Sega in the Super Nintendo era. If Nintendo couldn't produce enough of their anti-piracy chips to meet demands for your game you were out of luck.

The idea that a video game character from a game company that's not a console manufacturer crippled a console manufacturer is absurd. Businesses cripple themselves with bad business practices. Mario didn't put Sega out of business, Sega made bad decisions.

If you want to stick to your Nintendo-centric universe and miss out on some truly great games, be my guest. What you do with your spare time is none of my business. But I wouldn't go trying to claim your narrow world view is correct.

Fanboy? No, I hate this console war BS, And wow: I love how everywhere I go, I see people getting called this. I don't think Final Fantasy was interesting in the slightest and I don't understand WHY Nintendo would want to put him in because of that reason.

And I would love a Square Enix rep: Rocket Slime. He's actually INTERESTING.

If anything: We have enough ****ing Swordmen in Smash already, This is NOT Soul freakin' Calibur.

If anyone's being a fanboy here, It's you.

I'm just going to quote this guy:

Another reason for FF7 fanboys to flaunt that FF7 is a great game...its an awful game, especially now.

 

You might think it's an awful game, but Nintendo clearly didn't. You're crying over spilled milk at this point.

 

Fanboy? No, I hate this console war BS, And wow: I love how everywhere I go, I see people getting called this. I don't think Final Fantasy was interesting in the slightest and I don't understand WHY Nintendo would want to put him in because of that reason.

And I would love a Square Enix rep: Rocket Slime. He's actually INTERESTING.

If anything: We have enough ****ing Swordmen in Smash already, This is NOT Soul freakin' Calibur.

If anyone's being a fanboy here, It's you.

I'm just going to quote this guy:

Someone seem to forget that this game being co-developed Bandai-Namco who is also the owner of Soul Caliber. You shouldn't be surprised that developers would put some elements from their own games into a game that they are working on.

 

If anything: We have enough ****ing Swordmen in Smash already, This is NOT Soul freakin' Calibur.

I've got news for you: swords are a very common weapon in video games. In the future, you are very likely to see more characters with swords in video games, and as a result, more characters with swords in a game like Smash. There are a lot of games with swords in them, and moving forward, there are going to be a lot more. This is not something anyone is able to control as swords tend to be the most useful and ubiquitous of all fantasy weapons, and no one who makes games with sword-wielding protagonists is able to predict whether or not they'll be in a fighting game with other sword wielders in the future. If you find swords to be this problematic, then maybe gaming isn't the right hobby for you.

However, I will concede that Sakurai put way too many Fire Emblem characters in this game, and they play too similarly to each other. If there weren't a billion Marth clones then Cloud would be less of a problem. But at least he doesn't play anything like them.

 

i don't have time to argue with little kids

 

i don't have time to argue with little kids

 

Fanboy? No, I hate this console war BS, And wow: I love how everywhere I go, I see people getting called this. I don't think Final Fantasy was interesting in the slightest and I don't understand WHY Nintendo would want to put him in because of that reason.

And I would love a Square Enix rep: Rocket Slime. He's actually INTERESTING.

If anything: We have enough ****ing Swordmen in Smash already, This is NOT Soul freakin' Calibur.

If anyone's being a fanboy here, It's you.

Rocket Slime might be..interesting...but he lacks that real Iconic Status that every other 3rd Party character has. Every gamer knows who Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, Cloud, and Snake are..most gamers can recognize Slime from Dragon Quest..but not every Slime and, honestly, Slime itself would be extremely difficult to make a moveset for and Cloud is more popular..and they wouldn't pick Rocket Slime over Slime itself.
Also, Cloud is only 'not interesting' in your opinion..other people think differently.

We have 5 pure Swordsman (Marth, Ike, Lucina, Roy, Mii Swordfighter), 4 that use other items (Link, Toon Link, Pit, Dark Pit), and 1 that also uses magic (Robin). That's only 10..11 now with Cloud. 11/56 isn't that much..we have a lot more unarmed fighters..should we stop having unarmed fighters too due to that?

If a character works and is beloved, I don't care how they fight..a weapon is just a weapon, its all about how they use it.

You may not be a 'fanboy', but I think you are being an entitled little brat that doesn't care about the fact that other people are happy and can just ignore that which you hate.
I hate Bowser Jr, I hate having him appear in games, but I don't want him removed from this nor future games since I know he has a lot of fans..and to a lesser extent I don't like Mr. Game & Watch, ROB, and Ice Climbers..but they still have their place in Smash..and now, so does Cloud. Like him or not, think he's overrated or not, he's still an Icon for Square-Enix, RPGs, and Gaming in General. He's earned his place.

 

Rocket Slime might be..interesting...but he lacks that real Iconic Status that every other 3rd Party character has. Every gamer knows who Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, Cloud, and Snake are..most gamers can recognize Slime from Dragon Quest..but not every Slime and, honestly, Slime itself would be extremely difficult to make a moveset for and Cloud is more popular..and they wouldn't pick Rocket Slime over Slime itself.
Also, Cloud is only 'not interesting' in your opinion..other people think differently.

We have 5 pure Swordsman (Marth, Ike, Lucina, Roy, Mii Swordfighter), 4 that use other items (Link, Toon Link, Pit, Dark Pit), and 1 that also uses magic (Robin). That's only 10..11 now with Cloud. 11/56 isn't that much..we have a lot more unarmed fighters..should we stop having unarmed fighters too due to that?

If a character works and is beloved, I don't care how they fight..a weapon is just a weapon, its all about how they use it.

You may not be a 'fanboy', but I think you are being an entitled little brat that doesn't care about the fact that other people are happy and can just ignore that which you hate.
I hate Bowser Jr, I hate having him appear in games, but I don't want him removed from this nor future games since I know he has a lot of fans..and to a lesser extent I don't like Mr. Game & Watch, ROB, and Ice Climbers..but they still have their place in Smash..and now, so does Cloud. Like him or not, think he's overrated or not, he's still an Icon for Square-Enix, RPGs, and Gaming in General. He's earned his place.

If we are talking Square-Enix reps, I think Crono would be my number one pick.

 

Funny thing... Sakurai's always been a Final Fantasy fan, up to and including 13 and it's sequels. Really shouldn't be a surprise the absolute most popular Final Fantasy character became playable.

 

If we are talking Square-Enix reps, I think Crono would be my number one pick.

While Crono (and Chrono Trigger itself) are extremely awesome, Cloud Strife really is the best pick. Not for any sort of personal reason (Terra Branford, as my favorite FF character, would have been my pick for Personal) but due to being, for a fact, the most well known Square-Enix, Final Fantasy, and RPG character around. Even people who've never played any RPGs or Square-Enix titles know who Cloud is, similar to how those same gamers know who Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Ryu are, while all of them, Cloud included, have left a huge mark on Gaming itself in some way. So even though I love characters like Crono, Terra, and Geno, their popularity and impact on gaming pales in comparison to Cloud Strife.

 

The excitement for this is making my heart stop.
I wonder if I'm so excited because it wasn't leaked, making it really unexpected for me.
Anyway I sure hope we'll get a crossdressing or female Cloud to go with the Linkle announcement.

I would definitely see that there will be lots of R34 once Cloud is out..

 

While Crono (and Chrono Trigger itself) are extremely awesome, Cloud Strife really is the best pick. Not for any sort of personal reason (Terra Branford, as my favorite FF character, would have been my pick for Personal) but due to being, for a fact, the most well known Square-Enix, Final Fantasy, and RPG character around. Even people who've never played any RPGs or Square-Enix titles know who Cloud is, similar to how those same gamers know who Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Ryu are, while all of them, Cloud included, have left a huge mark on Gaming itself in some way. So even though I love characters like Crono, Terra, and Geno, their popularity and impact on gaming pales in comparison to Cloud Strife.

I TOTALLY AGREE, well im pretty sure he will have color swaps of them. LIke his hair being pink to resemble LIghtning or his hair being white like Sephiroth, Just like how Lucina's resembling the girls of awakening.

 

While Crono (and Chrono Trigger itself) are extremely awesome, Cloud Strife really is the best pick. Not for any sort of personal reason (Terra Branford, as my favorite FF character, would have been my pick for Personal) but due to being, for a fact, the most well known Square-Enix, Final Fantasy, and RPG character around. Even people who've never played any RPGs or Square-Enix titles know who Cloud is, similar to how those same gamers know who Sonic, Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Ryu are, while all of them, Cloud included, have left a huge mark on Gaming itself in some way. So even though I love characters like Crono, Terra, and Geno, their popularity and impact on gaming pales in comparison to Cloud Strife.

I meant second rep. I never said they shouldn't have picked Cloud. I am just saying they should have both Cloud AND Crono since Capcom has Mega Man and Ryu.