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Discussion: The Process of Unlocking Characters and Other Content

Do you like the unlock process in past games?

  • YES! I love spacing out the reveals!

    Votes: 256 54.7%
  • I don't mind it. It's neat once.

    Votes: 114 24.4%
  • I'm not a fan. I try to complete it quickly.

    Votes: 48 10.3%
  • NO! Just lemme play the game!

    Votes: 50 10.7%

  • Total voters
    468

TheTrueBrawler

Smash Demon
Joined
Jul 16, 2018
Messages
817
Location
Mystery
Yes. It is better, But that's like saying a stone being thrown at your head is better than being shot. I mean, yeah it is better. But it's still not good.
Even through the shop means, I'm still collecting them fairly quickly. I am about to crack 800 songs after just one week of playing.
Do the My Music settings just not apply to online matches in this?
For me, they seem to apply only 60% of the time.
I want to unlock the Norfair theme, but i can’t find it anywhere.
I found that one in the shop. Just keep checking back every so often.
 
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Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
Does anyone actually enjoy unlocking things? It was good in 64, Melee and Brawl when there was no/primitive online, but I think we're now at the point where everything should just be unlocked in Smash; like it actually feels like I'm playing the game now that I have all the characters unlocked, whereas it was like I was demoing it before.
 

PF9

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 13, 2010
Messages
1,065
Location
America
I think the Classic Mode unlock chains should have been themed

Here's how they should have been arranged:

(in no particular order)
Mario: Bowser, Bowser Jr., Daisy, Dr. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Rosalina & Luma, Sonic
Donkey Kong: Diddy Kong, Ken, King K. Rool, Little Mac, Mr. Game & Watch, Pac-Man, Ryu, Snake
Samus: Bayonetta, Dark Samus, Inkling, Isabelle, Lucina, Palutena, Wii Fit Trainer, Zero Suit Samus
Link: Ganondorf, Marth, Pit, Sheik, Simon, Toon Link, Young Link, Zelda
Yoshi: Chrom, Cloud, Corrin, Ike, Richter, Robin, Roy, Wario
Kirby: Dark Pit, Duck Hunt, Ice Climbers, King Dedede, Lucas, Meta Knight, Ness, Villager
Fox: Captain Falcon, Falco, Mega Man, Olimar, R.O.B., Ridley, Shulk, Wolf
Pikachu: Greninja, Incineroar, Jigglypuff, Lucario, Mewtwo, Pichu, Pokémon Trainer

Mario's chain would consist of other characters in his series, and his former rival Sonic

DK would have the other characters in his series and numerous other characters that debuted in the 1980s on a non-NES/Famicom platform

Samus would have all the female characters not in Mario or Zelda

Link would have all the characters in his series, plus 3 "cool" characters that also debuted on the NES in America or Famicom in Japan

Yoshi would have Wario, the one remaining Mario sidearm character, plus characters would would likely see Yoshi as a beast that must be defeated

Kirby has the other characters in his series, plus other cute characters and Dark Pit (who is assigned to Kirby arbitrairily)

Fox has other characters from science fiction games

Pikachu would have all the other characters in his series

This makes more sense than just randomly assigning characters to unlock chains.
 
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TriforceBun

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
139
Speaking only for myself, but I love unlocking characters, Spirits, music, etc. The more the better. In fact, I'm probably in the minority in that I would've preferred getting new characters at a slightly SLOWER pace in Ultimate.
 

jwillenn

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Apr 30, 2018
Messages
126
Just unlocked what is presumed to be all music tracks (876) yesterday. All that is left is the challenges and spirit board.
Would you say that the remaining 26 I need will come from a run through World of Light? Building up to that 850 was fairly simple. Music was always showing up in the shop. I haven't seen anything since unlocking all characters through Classic Mode, I believe.
 
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Pippin (Peregrin Took)

Formerly “ItalianBaptist”
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
949
Switch FC
SW-0542-4021-7641
Question on the challenger approaching door:

If I lose to a character, then lose to others, do I have to unlock the first character before the following ones appear? Or do they loop or is it random?

EDIT: Got my answer tonight; they do loop. So now I have everybody except for the one character who I choose to keep behind the door for personal reasons.
 
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notion_of_the_ocean

Smash Rookie
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
18
Would you say that the remaining 26 I need will come from a run through World of Light? Building up to that 850 was fairly simple. Music was always showing up in the shop. I haven't seen anything since unlocking all characters through Classic Mode, I believe.
There are several music tracks in both the challenges and world of light. Be sure to take your time in world of light as there is a track or two that is easily missed.
 

Terotrous

Smash Champion
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
2,419
Location
Ontario
3DS FC
1762-2767-5898
A very small note for Patch 2.0. The patch notes say you can now buy Partner Pikachu and Partner Eevee in the shop (previously exclusive to having a save for Pokemon LGPE on your system), but you can also find them on Spirit Board.
 

Xelrog

Smash Lord
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
1,136
Location
Battle Ground, WA
Switch FC
SW 2367 4933 3404
I like unlocking things. It makes it feel special, the first time you're playing a Smash game. Honestly I think I would have liked unlocking levels as well, provided there weren't any ludicrously stupid unlock conditions. I cite Mewtwo's unlock method in Melee, or having to play Smash Tour for Pac-Land in Wii U.

That said, I don't like having to unlock game features. There were some extra settings you had to unlock in Melee, and you have to beat World of Light to change the menu music in Ultimate.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
I also like unlocking things, but they definitely went overboard with 66; they should've just had the newcomers/new stages be unlockable.
 

SnakeFighter64

Smash Obsessed
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
28,695
Location
Shadow Moses Island
Okay. I am not a fan of the unlock process here. Unlocking characters was quick and fun via World of Light, but everything else.... this is lame. I hate just having to randomly wait for all these spirits and songs to show up in the board and on the shop.

Why can’t the spirit board list the whole collection. Challenge them as many times as you want as often as you want, you just have to wait a cooldown period if you loose to a particular spirit. The way the board is now is designed to keep you captive. Especially due to the fact that you get repeats all the bloody time.

Same with the music. Like, just list the songs out in the sound test and put a gold count next to each. Or even just... not force you to unlock it. They advertised this huge amount of tracks and you’d be able to make playlists and carry it around like an iPod. But the way it is, I found it easier to just, download rips of the songs and listen to them all on my phone. That should not have been the easiest option here. They show themselves in the foot.

And the Fighter Spirits. Why do we just have to wait for them to show up in the store. Why can’t we unlock them by, idk, finishing another mode. Or even finishing classic mode in that costume? Never mind that you cannot even USE the Mii Fighters in classic mode.

This whole system just... it just sucks.
 

Xelrog

Smash Lord
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
1,136
Location
Battle Ground, WA
Switch FC
SW 2367 4933 3404
Okay. I am not a fan of the unlock process here. Unlocking characters was quick and fun via World of Light, but everything else.... this is lame.
But everything besides characters is optional and not really important to gameplay.

Like... you don't NEED all the spirits other than to say that you got all the spirits. And it's the unlock process that makes that an accomplishment, so if it were easier then having all the spirits would neither be useful nor an accomplishment. What's the point?
 
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SnakeFighter64

Smash Obsessed
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
28,695
Location
Shadow Moses Island
But everything besides characters is optional and not really important to gameplay.

Like... you don't NEED all the spirits other than to say that you got all the spirits. And it's the unlock process that makes that an accomplishment, so if it were easier then having all the spirits would neither be useful nor an accomplishment. What's the point?
I don’t want it to be easy. Just don’t want it to be random. I want to be able to pick the spirits I want and fight them. I don’t want them to then leave and have to wait for them to randomly pop up. And I e em more don’t want to have to wait for songs and Fighter spirits to just randomly pop up in the shop. Regular spirits, sure I get that. But since this is literally the only way to get the Fighter spirits, they could at least all be listed there.
 

JiggyNinja

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
275
Does anyone actually enjoy unlocking things? It was good in 64, Melee and Brawl when there was no/primitive online, but I think we're now at the point where everything should just be unlocked in Smash; like it actually feels like I'm playing the game now that I have all the characters unlocked, whereas it was like I was demoing it before.
I do not, and only enjoyed it the first time I unlocked the Smash 64 characters. It was novel then, and I was also in elementary school. After the first time it became a chore. Mewtwo's unlock requirement in Melee was especially stupid. 20 hours of Vs Mode? Who's bright idea was that? When I baught this game, the first thing I did was speed-unlock all the characters with my sister (play vs game, beat the challenger, reset the game, repeat). And when my sister bought a switch, we did the exact same thing for her game.

I knew I disliked unlocks, but I didn't really realize exactly how much until I bought Pokken Tournament. When I discovered the full roster was available right from the start, it just felt so....complete. Perfect. I never want to do the stupid grind for unlockable characters again, which is why I was at least relieved by the news that this game's unlock process was so simple and didn't require any stupidly specific criteria (like defeat the first level of adventure mode with a time ending in 2! Or finding some specific hidden doors that are off the beaten path in story mode!)
View attachment 194571

They already did something like that
(Aware it’s adventure mode)
That is only one game mode. I'm find with the story mode requiring you to unlock characters before you use them, but all the other modes should have them available from the start.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
I actually really enjoy unlocking everything in Melee. It felt super rewarding and like a game within itself.

I mean, Ultimate was obviously a ****ing joke - how many unlockable characters were there? 60-some?

The Luigi criteria in Melee is kinda ridiculous; the characters should come from naturally playing the game and not something super-specific like that.
 

lucasla

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 24, 2018
Messages
481
I like the process of unlock characters in Ultimate. The only process I dont like is the process of unlock the possibility of change the menu music. I dont understand or support the idea that everyone must listen the same menu music as a penality for not want to finish World of Light. This is kind of stupid to me.
 
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1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
I do not really mind unlocking as long as I can get to R.O.B. fast. In fact, I would love to have a Smash Bros. that starts with only R.O.B. and would let me unlock all other characters in a huge story mode. If only Gunpai Yokoi could make a Smash Bros.…
 

Gestahl

Smash Cadet
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
45
I like the process of unlock characters in Ultimate. The only process I dont like is the process of unlock the possibility of change the menu music. I dont understand or support the idea that everyone must listen the same menu music as a penality for not want to finish World of Light. This is kind of stupid to me.
Also, you should have been able to chose from all music to have as menumusic.
 

Smashoperatingbuddy123

Smash Legend
Joined
Jul 16, 2013
Messages
10,909
Seeing the sephiroth challenge thing

that’s definatly how to do dlc characters from here on out 5 days to do a persudo challenger approaching thing then it’s just normal (Auto Unlock)
 
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1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
I beat it on difficult on my second try within a few seconds. The challenge is far too easy.
 

1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
By difficult do you mean Very Hard?
My game was set to French. I think it was called "Difficile" which translates to "Difficult" so it's the difficult mode in French. I guess that it's "Very Hard" in English then. Going by the names of the modes it should be the most difficult mode there is. But it was still far too easy. I hope that next unlock challenge will be an actual challenge and not something that I beat within a minute on my first try.
 
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Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
I tried Very Hard on handheld and struggled with it... I'm about to try with an actual controller so we'll see if that makes a difference.
 

1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
I did it on handheld and it was very easy. I dumped him off the edge with Arm Rotor. Even in stamina this can be done thanks to his poor recovery distance and low weight. What an inferior fighter. R.O.B. is heavy weight and has great recovery distance. As always R.O.B. is by far the superior character.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
I'm actually quite struggling with this fight given everyone's been destroying it. You're obviously best using a ranged character, right? I've done the best with K. Rool.
 

scoobymcsnack

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 3, 2015
Messages
497
I'm actually quite struggling with this fight given everyone's been destroying it. You're obviously best using a ranged character, right? I've done the best with K. Rool.
I seemed to do well with Sonic.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
I actually beat it with K. Rool yesterday in about 50 seconds... I'll probably try for a better time tonight given this is the final night and I started to have fun once I found a formula (crown throw and blunderbuss).
 

1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
I'm actually quite struggling with this fight given everyone's been destroying it. You're obviously best using a ranged character, right? I've done the best with K. Rool.
I used a ranged character, R.O.B., but that was not why I won. I beat him using Arm Rotor, which is a short range attack. I won by knocking him off-stage, not by reducing his HP to 0.
 
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1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
I actually beat it with K. Rool yesterday in about 50 seconds... I'll probably try for a better time tonight given this is the final night and I started to have fun once I found a formula (crown throw and blunderbuss).
What difficulty? I do not think that I could win on Very Hard by reducing his HP that fast. I had to drop him off-stage to win that fast in Very Hard.

Also, with K. Rool, maybe you can use the blunderbuss' sucking to get him off-stage far enough to die. I'm not familiar with how it works since I never use K. Rool, but it seems that if you knock him off stage and then suck him up while he's recovery then maybe you could gimp him.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
What difficulty? I do not think that I could win on Very Hard by reducing his HP that fast. I had to drop him off-stage to win that fast in Very Hard.

Also, with K. Rool, maybe you can use the blunderbuss' sucking to get him off-stage far enough to die. I'm not familiar with how it works since I never use K. Rool, but it seems that if you knock him off stage and then suck him up while he's recovery then maybe you could gimp him.
One of Hero's down-B's is capable of beating him in one second, I swear to God.

And yeah, both that and my K. Rool run were on Very Hard.
 

1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
One of Hero's down-B's is capable of beating him in one second, I swear to God.
At least 2 of Hero's moves should be capable of beating him in 1 hit AFAIK. Kill and Superkill. 3 if you count Kill or Superkill gotten through Hocus-Pocus. Is there more?

And yeah, both that and my K. Rool run were on Very Hard.
How did you reduce his HP that quickly?

Too bad he's gone now.
 

Dan

Smash Lord
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
1,937
Throw the crown, shoot the gun; suck him or the ball back up when necessary. And these weren't even perfect runs either; like if he didn't disrupt the process the time could've been reduced considerably.

For those wanting to recreate the fight, I'm assuming he was just a level 9 CPU? Or was he better than that? Like I assume 1 was Easy, 5 Normal and 9 Very Hard?
 

1FC0

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,801
He played really bad but he started with more HP and it seemed like his attacks did more damage than they normally would. I think that he was a low level CPU using a character that's stronger compared to the player's character than normal.
 

Doc Monocle

Smash Ace
Joined
Dec 24, 2020
Messages
814
Location
The seventh lantern.
I do not really mind unlocking as long as I can get to R.O.B. fast. In fact, I would love to have a Smash Bros. that starts with only R.O.B. and would let me unlock all other characters in a huge story mode. If only Gunpai Yokoi could make a Smash Bros.…
Your post gives me an idea. What if the next Smash Bros. enabled you to select a starter character that you want right from the beginning, that way you are not pulling your hair waiting.

Another thing I believe would make the unlock process all the more exciting. Each character has a different requirement for unlocking them. For example, perhaps Bowser can be unlocked by K.O. of an opponent who fell to the lower blast zone without being meteor smashed, or Zelda can be unlocked by defeating Ganondorf with a final smash from Link. The idea is a challenge based approach to unlocking characters.
 
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