And adding onto that point, most of the time when people say uniqueness, they mean big, crazy gimmicks. Byleth throws a wrench in that, because their moveset doesn't have any abnormal attributes, meters, or control schemes, just different weapons for different directions. It's consistent, at least, but it's not really a moveset-defining gimmick. To a lesser extent, Banjo does the same, as he only has a limited-use mechanic for a single special. The main punching bag for "Too simple" seems to be Crash, but going off of Banjo and Byleth, if he needs a gimmick that badly we can just slap Aku Aku on him and call it a day. There, problem solved.
We've just got it in reverse. "Moveset potential" isn't needed to get into Smash; Gimmicks and unusual fighters are just what Sakurai likes making.
Banjo-Kazooie also has a Stance Change (can one call it a gimmick? I vote yes, but it's not the first Stance Change) with Egg Fire / Breegull Blaster - it's just that that one is not flashy at first glance and it's a technical move. Most of the the time when I've seen casual B-K's I've seen them either use it on accident or as an attempt to further wall someone out. It becomes a different move when used by intermediate or better B-K players, where suddenly Blaster becomes a combo starter and tech chase tool.
That move is in an awkward position where it's useable on a casual level, but it becomes much more effective when one takes the time learning how Egg Fire and Breegull Blaster works in game. Granted, casuals generally play to have fun, and generally are not that keen on spending time looking at how Breegull Blaster pops people up a couple feet in the air so they can get another aerial out of it.
Still, one tip I've seen is that Breegull Blaster usually does a good job popping people up on platforms, so it's a good tech chase set up. And that doesn't require spending lots of time in Training Mode.
People talk about Crash or Master Chief for the potential second western character, but not going to lie I am jumping on the League train, specifically Ahri.
Welcome to the Summoners' Train. We have no brakes, and it's only 30 seconds until minions spawn.
Wait, it's not physical?
...Huh, not getting an English physical release. In all honesty I've just been holed up in lockdown somuch that I've kinda forgotten to really check if a game's physical or not. That, and I've just been going through my backlog for the past couple months so I've never really needed to check. Physical/digital release just don't seem to cross my mind anymore.
I've actually been leaning towards LoL a little lately myself. Though, I don't really know much about it, so I'm not really in a position to start the convos or keep them going. All I know is Ahri, a couple other names like Lux and Ryze, a couple items that reference Touhou (Of course), and the fact that there's about 150 characters, give or take, and it's easy to joke about the horrifying LoL guessing games. I suppose there's some room to talk about LoL, though.
I'm not super-familiar with LoL either (its older sibling / rival Dota 2 is my forte - having played that a lot between 2012 and 2017, and I still watch that), but I do have some familiarity with it thanks to having watched a lot of LoL and having delved into some of its characters. Ahri's been at the center stage ever since she made her first appearance in (I believe) Season 2-ish (if not early Season 1) - partly because she's considered one of the most dynamic and exciting characters to play (the other reasons... well, yeah
). Some other champions of note include Ryze (one of the centerpieces of the initial reveal), Renekton (one of the most popular tanks, partly because he's a ****ing croc), Jynx (very popular Harley Quinn esque character and centerpiece of LoL's marketing), Draven (LoL's resident "If Heihachi was even more of an egomaniac meme" character) and of course
.
LoL has a pretty decent shot, but it would be quite tight timing for Riot / Tencent because Tencent only started to collab with Nintendo seriously around the 2017 / 2018 window. It depends IMHO on a number of factors - if Smash Bros is indeed one topic that Nintendo and Tencent / Riot discussed or even partnered over when they entered talks being the primary factor. Now I would not be surprised if Smash was brought up in the talks - and not just because Riot is one of many, many studios that would gladly take the opportunity, but also since Tencent's MO is heavily based around multi-pronged projects, collabs and promotions (Pokemon Unite is certainly a part of this, as is the Switch's release in China - which Tencent handles).
I honestly find it difficult to call whether or not such talks lead anywhere in regards to Smash, and it's a main reason I can't say LoL's a frontrunner. Still, I definetely count it as a dark horse - especially for E3.
Of course, I'm reminding
3BitSaurus because he's the guy that's most familiar with it (2 support threads after all).
