In a vacuum...I think Joker alone is too small of a sample size to get any accurate read on how the rest of the Fighter Pass will go. All Reggie really did was reiterate that it's all newcomers from here on out; we've already established that the "all from franchises new to Smash" line didn't actually happen. Speculators have a habit of taking the most recent reveal and extrapolating from it, expecting future reveals to take whatever just happened and escalate it, but as we know, it rarely works out that way.
World of Light is...interesting. It's something close to Edge Master mode from the original Soul Calibur, if you can remember that. The sheer number of fights you have to go through means you'll get burnt out if you binge it, but it's something to grind out over time.
Far as music goes, my new highlights so far are Crocodile Cacophony, Destiny (Ablaze), and the remix of Kass' theme. I'm also pretty partial to a few of the Castlevania covers. Though the new Pokémon tracks are...very hit and miss for me. The only ones that feel like straight up improvements are the two from ORAS!
I actually don't mind the constant Spirit battles, even in longer play sessions, for the most part. Of course, while I'm mostly just shattering faces with Pichu, I've been keeping things fresh by playing a number of different characters every so often. Lucario, Pokemon Trainer, Young Link, Zelda, Marth, and Chrom have been my favorite non-Pichu heroes so far. Lucario and PT are kind of obvious, with one being my former main and both being Pokemon fighters, but Zelda is incredibly fun to shatter fools with as well. Marth and Chrom are mostly characters I'm good with who I use more for story reasons. For example, I rescued Lucina with Marth(Self-explanatory for the most part), and the Mii Swordfighter with Lucario (based on my stories, where Lucario is the character's mentor). I think that's part of the fun, my ideas just flow so easily through the scenarios created by the game's choice of Spirits and the conditions of the battle.
I never played Edge Master, but Soul Calibur II's Weapon Master mode is pretty similar. Very unique fights, each containing a bit of story to it that makes writing a story from it very easy. It's almost like a beginner's handicap in a way, though the training wheels will come off of that one once I finish Chapter 10. Such is the mind of a dedicated writer.....even if one who really needs to get back to practicing.....
I also love the Castlevania music, but then, who doesn't? I especially love Twilight Stigmata and Divine Bloodlines, and I'm glad Monster Dance gets some proper representation. Bloody Tears is great, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't mean its counterpart is in any way unworthy. I haven't listened to many of the new Pokemon remixes yet, though Battle at the Summit seems to be just as awesome as it's supposed to be. I'm more in awe of the re-translated song titles, like how they fixed Eternal Bond and changed "Poke Floats" to the more accurate Red/Blue Battle Theme Medley, among others. Though that does leave a few untouched titles frustrating, like "Against the Dark Knight."
Careful. Characters aren't chosen based on which series is in need of "representation". We shouldn't build our arguments on such things.
So I've been thinking lately about the whole "how would a quadruped interact with certain items if they can't rely on vines or Looney Tunes logic" thing. One issue I've seen brought up before is regarding the hammer items, and how exactly the Midday and Dusk forms would swing it in a way that doesn't break immersion. Well, what if they still held the hammers in their mouths, and just swung the hammers horizontally and had different hitboxes on the swings than everyone else as a deliberate point of uniqueness? We've seen characters deviate from the norm in item animations before--shout out to Mewtwo "holding" items by levitating them, and the guillotine-like motion he uses for his Beam Sword fsmash in Melee! And it's not like Smash is any stranger to unique Hammer animations, what with Wario standing sideways and leaning over, Pit doing a 2 frame animation as a nod to the original Kid Icarus, and Dedede straight up dual wielding! Why not play up the unusual build even further by deliberately having certain item hitboxes be different?
You could even carry that over into other weapon-based items. How about doing a frontflip into an overhead swing during the smash animations on the Beam Sword or Home Run Bat?
So, funny story. The answer to this issue has been staring us in the face with adorable red eyes since Brawl:
Ivysaur. We kept bringing up that Ivy can use his vines for items, but he actually generally doesn't! Ivy just bites the Ray Gun to fire it, and like Pikachu wields melee weapons with his mouth. I think there's at least a few where he uses his vines, but there are plenty of examples where he doesn't. I do love the image of a wolf doing a flip-slash with a lightsaber though. It's like the secondary definition of Bada** Adorable, right under everything that is Pichu, Pikachu, Squirtle, and to an extent Lucario.
If you got to pick 2 Pokemon you could put in to Smash besides Lycanroc who would you add?
Am I using up my 2 choices if they'd be a duo fighter?
Definitely the important questions here. I honestly feel that of all Pokemon, Umbreon and Espeon can work well as fighters, especially an Ice Climbers-type deal. Umbreon and Espeon together have everything they need to be unique, fun characters in Smash, and they can represent Double Battles since the other Pokemon are all single or a tag-team deal. Both can learn Psychic, which has sometimes been portrayed as telekinesis in the anime, which takes care of items and their throws, as well as Shadow Ball, which can work as a neutral special. They'd be sort of a combined reversal of Sheik/Zelda with some traits of the Ice Climbers, with Espeon being a faster, ranged attacker who's lightweight, while Umbreon would be slower in movement, with more of a focus on melee attacks and debilitating the enemy.
More than that, I feel that Umbreon and Espeon would have the best chances of any pre-Gen VII newcomer at this point in time. They are easily THE most popular Eeveelutions, and if Ash were ever allowed to have a freaking Eevee, it would probably become an Espeon to contrast Gary and Gladion, who both have Umbreon, giving them relevence. Of course, this asks the show to actually let Pikachu's officially designated partner join the main character we're obviously never going to not have, preferably for more than one region. I mean, it's only the absolute freaking perfect time to give Ash an Eevee, given the themes, and the style of the show allowing for a decent amount of focus, especially if, say, it were to accompany him to at least one more region as Aipom did, preferably without being traded, but, y'know, whatever. Totes fine. Tooooootally.
I'm not salty at all. YOU'RE the one being defensive!
*cough*
That got off-topic, I'm sorry. Anyway, besides the best Eeveelutions, I'd want Braixen in, honestly. I know that as a middle-stage Pokemon, it's not at its full potential in terms of power, but technically neither are Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Squirtle, or Ivysaur. And while I'd like to see Delphox, Braixen being more popular is undeniable, and I have to admit to having some bias. Braixen is the same brand of adorable face-breaker as the Eevees and Pikachu, and I have a preference for younger characters, on top of Pokken Braixen being really fun and really cool. Most of my other choices are obvious picks, like other Starters, or popular non-starters like Cubone/Marowak. Though I also really like the idea of a playable Sawsbuck for some reason. Maybe mine was just that awesome....