The reason I feel this way goes back to that same post - DKC is largely western, keyword DKC. Advance Wars and WarioWare are Japanese or created by a Japanese source and while Advance Wars is definitely a shocker, it still was made by a Japanese studio, said studio being consistent with their releases in that series prior to its respite. Donkey Kong in general hasn't had a consistent developer and in the span of a decade, only two new games, said games being ported at least once. That's what bothers me - those two games did well, Returns even outselling a mainline Zelda title. Yet here we are in the dark. Some of my cynicism derives from the DKU forums, but there was a
post that Sean made that came to pass when Returns and Tropical Freeze released without the Kremlings. Now that DK got two games, the series is more or less done according to some boneheads who are unable to muster a creative bone in their body.
Keep in mind this was when Metroid was still in its dire state and people were crying about Retro becoming the Donkey Kong Company just because they refused to remain the Metroid Prime Company (And they got their wish with Prime 4, it better be good). I generally don't buy ports, even if they have new material. Wind Waker HD was the only time I did so and that was only because it came with the Wii U I brought as a bundle. Metroid Prime (Keyword Prime) is also a western IP and Retro has been consistent with its releases. Metroid in general isn't popular in Japan, but it's still Japanese in origin. DK lost a developer (Rare), had a developer that didn't get why DKC was popular (Nintendo Tokyo) and had both the original and re-release flop twice and a secondary developer that developed games that would accentuate a mainline title (Paon) that lacked said mainline title. With Retro developing two titles in a row, you had people screeching about the DK series taking their developer away from Metroid and the Federation Force debacle did no favors for them, making their frustrations magnified.
Going back to Sean's post, people see DK as mostly fine and that's the problem. Smash is one thing, but a series needs to be able to stand on its own two feet without Smash's publicity. Dixie was mostly fine thanks to Tropical Freeze, but by Ultimate, her absence from the game did her no favors. And now in 2021, that truancy grows by the second. K. Rool's reception is great, but it also goes back to what I said - since K. Rool is 'back' and he's technically still AWOL - there isn't any need for anything else from DK, at least in the context of Smash. There are also arguments that due to the Wii U's stigma, Tropical Freeze DX is just as good as a new DK title and the quota has already been filled. This irritates me the most. What was the point of buying a Switch if all they're going to do is port older games?
Some say pessimism, I say realistic. I've been optimistic for too long and I find it better to be critical and cautious than to blindly think all is good and all will be good. I'm not saying you guys can't be that way, but for me, I've been burned too much in life to where I don't want that pain to return again.
But on a lighter note, there is room for both Dixie Kong and King K. Rool and Dixie's inclusion doesn't take away from a 3rd party the same way that K. Rool wasn't taking a spot from a one-off character that wishes they could be part of a recurring multi-million dollar selling series. I actually
hope Dixie is the last 'underwhelming' reveal. It'd serve both as a reminder that this is still a Nintendo crossover while also giving DK just a little more care and attention. Plus, a new stage that breaks from the jungle archtype and a varied catalog of music.
Edit: I want to revise a statement I made: DKC being western does make for somewhat of a culture shock with Nintendo, but Paon, Camelot and Namco had no issue with using DKC's elements, Camelot wanting to do a DK64 sequel even. So it's not that Japan can't make a DKC, they have with Paon mainly making those handheld titles and Barrel Blast, it's that Nintendo themselves seem to lean on their Japanese audience (Which I can't blame them for) while the western side depends on whether or not they want to dabble in on it.
It's a matter of seeing if a Japanese developer
can do a full-fledged DKC game with the DKC spirit intact, and Nintendo may not be the developer for that job.