Official DLC Speculation Discussion Volume II

[DaybreakHorizon]

ArcSys had a River City spirit even but that's about it. I think it's something interesting to note that Nintendo has collaborated with them for Smash but just on something small. Could be a prelude for greater things to come or just what it is at face value?

Again, mayhaps.

We got Octopath Traveler spirits in Pass 1, which was followed up by Sephiroth in Pass 2, so it's certainly possible that an ArcSys character could follow the River City spirits, but it's also possible that one could not. I certainly think it's a point in-favor of an ArcSys character, but it's nothing definitive or worth considering deeper than "Nintendo has talked to ArcSys about Smash in some form."

 

[ROBnWatch]

Tinfoil hat conspiracy time.

Sakurai's POTD was this

pic.twitter.com/nT1H5QYvBX

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) January 11, 2021

And some people have been comparing it to this

Spoiler: Large image

View attachment 298894

So the theory is that Sakurai's making a DMC5 reference to allude to Dante getting in, like the POTD of the clocks alluding to Crash Bandicoot. No I don't believe this but I thought on bringing it up anyway.

Plot twist, Sakurai is making references to characters who won’t get in. (Though I’m not saying I would hate Crash/Dante getting in.)

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Square Enix trademarks Ever Crisis, The First Soldier, and Shinra logo in Japan https://t.co/cGVG92tGR1 pic.twitter.com/2jRiDmivrd

— Gematsu (@gematsu) January 11, 2021

Clearly this means that Zach's the next FF character who'll be DLC in Smash 6

 

[JOJONumber691]

It honestly makes more sense for Nintendo to be in charge of a list like this from a business perspective. I'm sure Sakurai understands business but he probably has some personal bias that might pick characters that wouldn't sell as well. It seems when he's working on the base game, there's more to Ultimate than just newcomers so he can partake in the character suggestions but the DLC is Nintendo's chance to make a lot of money and all they have to work off is just the character and the character has to be strong enough to sell the pass on their own.

Yeah considering Nintendo probably picked Bayonetta lol.

 

[cothero]

Don't forget the Battletoads, as well Billy and Jimmy from Double Dragon, Excitebiker, Bub and Bob, Mach Rider and others too.

I could see Battletoads (Maybe a 3 in 1 character like Hero or just Rash) as a third Microsoft rep getting added if Nintendo really wanted to, as Microsoft content is already present in the game and their negotiations got relatively easy. The same goes for the Contra guys (Konami) and Billy/Jimmy Lee (Arc System Works).

 

[SpecterFlower]

Undertale seems to have gone from a joke pick to an actual want for a lot of people, and I am all for it. Frisk or Flowey would be nice inclusions, or Sans if next game. A traveling stage going through the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hot Land, and ending in the Judgment Hall would be really cool.
Though I would be entirely satisfied with just more music.

A lot of this is that the fandom that stayed with the game was actually passionate about the game and didn't treat it like a meme.
during it's most popular it had a Sonic level fandom. but now that most of the toxic members have left it it's much better.

 

[Dalek_Kolt]

Square Enix trademarks Ever Crisis, The First Soldier, and Shinra logo in Japan https://t.co/cGVG92tGR1 pic.twitter.com/2jRiDmivrd

— Gematsu (@gematsu) January 11, 2021

Clearly this means that Zach's the next FF character who'll be DLC in Smash 6

Advent Children
Before Crisis
Crisis Core
Dirge of Cerberus
Ever Crisis
First SOLDIER

This is how Gilgamesh can still win.

 

[UltimateCyborgOverlord]

It honestly makes more sense for Nintendo to be in charge of a list like this from a business perspective. I'm sure Sakurai understands business but he probably has some personal bias that might pick characters that wouldn't sell as well. It seems when he's working on the base game, there's more to Ultimate than just newcomers so he can partake in the character suggestions but the DLC is Nintendo's chance to make a lot of money and all they have to work off is just the character and the character has to be strong enough to sell the pass on their own.

I'm sure Sakurai has some veto power, like if it quite simply cannot be done, Sakurai can make the case and reject it. However, generally I assume that when the producers come by with an assignment, the expectation is that "it WILL be done.... riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight?"

 

[SneakyLink]

Again, mayhaps.

We got Octopath Traveler spirits in Pass 1, which was followed up by Sephiroth in Pass 2, so it's certainly possible that an ArcSys character could follow the River City spirits, but it's also possible that one could not. I certainly think it's a point in-favor of an ArcSys character, but it's nothing definitive or worth considering deeper than "Nintendo has talked to ArcSys about Smash in some form."

Small clarification:
Octopath was after Min Min’s release.

You might be thinking of Mana, which had a spirit event between the passes.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

So I made another thing. This time it's for Rex & Pyra/Mythra...Well, I don't really have anything else to say so uh, here it is:

Spoiler: It's split into segments, but the whole thing is a long read

Rex is a salvager; one who dives beneath the Cloud Sea in order to find relics of an ancient past. He lives in Alrest, a place made up of a bunch of worldly creatures known as titans. Unfortunately, these titans are dying out, and soon there will be nowhere to live. Rex dreams of reaching Elysium, a place atop The World Tree that exists forever. There, everyone in Alrest could live in peace instead of fighting over places to live.

At the beginning of the game, Rex accepts a job from some particularly dangerous employers looking for the Aegis, who end up killing him after he completes it. Not wanting to fall into the wrong hands, Pyra (the Aegis) shares her life force with him, allowing him to become her driver. Now Rex fights alongside her, and her original form, Mythra to journey to Elysium, and save people of a dying world.

Spoiler: Pyra and Mythra

So the first thing you’ll notice when playing as Rex & Pyra/Mythra, are Pyra and Mythra themselves. They stand behind Rex, lending him their power via a thread that becomes more golden as they grow in power. They grant Rex the use of the Aegis Sword, a two handed sword with Pyra or Mythra’s energy forming its tip. This tip grants the blade a sweet spot in the sword’s attacks that causes Pyra and Mythra’s power to grow faster if Rex manages to land it.

They also grant Rex slightly different properties: Pyra’s Battle Skills, Purifying Flames, Resplendence, and Flaming Edge, cause the sweet spot on the Aegis Sword to do more damage, and allows Rex’s attacks to 1 hit K.O. characters that aren’t fighters, such as the Pikmin, Luma, and Assist Trophies like Waluigi. Pyra’s Blade Specials also have more K.O. power on average than Mythra’s do, but I’ll talk about those later. Mythra’s Battle Skills, Foresight, Lightspeed Fury, and Glint makes the Aegis Sword’s sweetspot larger, and in exchange for the extra damage, landing the sweetspot causes Rex’s Driver Arts to charge faster (more on those later). Rex’s dodge, dodge roll, and spot dodge are also active faster and longer when Mythra is out.

To sum it up, Pyra gives Rex a higher overall damage output if you can hit the sweetspots (though the extra damage can work against you when comboing), but Mythra grants him higher utility by making him harder to hit and charging his attacks quicker. One last thing to note about the two is that Pyra and Mythra can keep up with Rex if he walks or jumps, but they have to drop their power thread in order to focus on running if Rex dashes (they can keep up with his initial dash, but drop the thread after that). They will also teleport to Rex if they get stuck on something, but this will also cause them to drop the thread. If the thread is dropped, Rex will not gain any of the benefits of their Battle Skills, nor will Rex be able to use their Blade Specials. Also, since they are sharing their life force, Pyra and Mythra take the same damage that Rex does, meaning that while they can’t normally be hit directly, they will be sent flying when Rex is. This doesn’t break the thread, but stuns will (and by stun I mean the status inflicted by things like Paralyzer. Other statuses like bury and shield break don’t count).

Spoiler: Special Moves (Blade Switch/Blade Special)

Rex can choose to start the battle with either Pyra or Mythra on the character select screen, but if you want to change who you fight with in battle, you can tap the Special Move button to use Blade Switch, swapping Pyra out with Mythra, and vice versa. Rex can do this at just about any time, including while shielding, and he can even cancel his attacks on hit with it. Holding the Special Move button is a whole different ball game.

Rex’s held Neutral Special is Blade Special, an attack that changes depending on whether Pyra or Mythra is out, and the level of charge the attack has. The level of charge is indicated by a diamond with a number on it on Rex’s UI. A line goes around it, indicating how close you are to the next level, and the power thread brightens with each level so you can tell which level you’re on without taking your eyes off the action.

You start the battle with no charge, which isn’t enough to use a Blade Special. Levels I-III are reached by canceling Rex’s normal moves into his Driver Arts, while Level IV reached by maintaining the thread for a bit. If you break it, you have to start over from Level III even if you’ve already built up the Level IV Special. This makes them impractical to use normally, but if you do pull them off, the power is immense. Pyra’s Blade Specials are as follows:

• Level I: Flame Nova-Pyra twirls around with the Aegis Sword extended, and then lets out a burst of flames.
  • This attack is a multi-hit that pulls nearby opponents that are level with her horizontally, then knocks them away with the fire burst.
  • This is the easiest Blade Special to build so it’s more useful for extra damage than K.O. power, but it can still K.O. at really high percents.
• Level II: Prominence Revolt-Pyra stabs the ground, causing a flame pillar to erupt from the ground underneath opponents in range.
  • Rex will hit any opponents that are directly in front of him as he throws Pyra the Aegis Sword, so the Special Move doesn’t have to be done raw.
  • Because the hit can be guaranteed, and it can be accessed decently easily, this attack is Rex’s most powerful K.O. move.
  • There is no aerial version of this attack, so it completely whiffs if used too high in the air. Rex and Pyra can also fall to their doom if they use this above a pit.
• Level III: Blazing End-Pyra slashes with the Aegis Sword three times before spinning it in place for a bit.
  • This attack deals a ton of damage, and has a lingering hitbox during the last hits. However, this also leaves Rex and Pyra wide open if Pyra misses her attack.
• Level IV: Burning Sword-Rex and Pyra do a downward slash that causes a huge pillar of fire to erupt from the ground.
  • While impractical, the sheer damage and knockback as well as the huge, lingering hitboxes of this attack make this both one of the the coolest feeling attack to land as well as one of the most painful attacks to whiff.
  • Using this move over a pit is ill advised.

Mythra’s Blade Specials are as follows:

• Level I: Ray of Punishment-Mythra fires a projectile diagonally downward that explodes on impact.
  • This attack’s trajectory makes it a decent edgeguarding tool, and while it isn’t quite as powerful as Pyra’s Flame Nova, it can be even more effective at racking damage due to Mythra’s quicker charging.
  • The attack also deals more damage against a tripped opponent. So canceling it after using Anchor Shot is one of Rex’s most damaging combos.
• Level II: Photon Edge-Mythra dashes forward, and if the hit connects, she will dash around the opponent(s) and slash them multiple times.
  • This attack is the most normal of the bunch, and it grants even more burst damage than Ray of Punishment, though it doesn’t come out as often.
• Level III: Lightning Buster-Mythra slashes three times with the Aegis Sword.
  • This attack has more K.O. power than Prominance Revolt, but it launches more horizontally rather than straight up.
• Level IV: Sacred Arrow-Rex and Mythra point the Aegis Sword to the sky and summon giant beams of light to rain down from the top of the screen all around them.
  • This is the largest reaching attack in the game, potentially going from the top to the bottom of the screen, but Mythra’s boost to attack charging doesn’t help with this special, which makes it even more impractical than Burning Sword.
  • Rex's shouting of "hooray!" during the move gives me life.

As a general rule, Pyra’s Blade Specials are more powerful, but are riskier, and Mythra’s Blade Specials are good enough to even try using raw. What’s more about these attacks is that you can cancel your normal, and Special Attacks into these Blade Specials. Now, the way I’ve described them so far kinda makes them sound like they’re some super nuke buttons or something like Terry’s Super Special Moves. This is not the case. Level I Blade Specials are actually more in line with a normal attack on the power scale, and it’s not until you get to Level III where things get super crazy on the damage or K.O. power. Level IV Blade Specials are almost on par with Final Smashes, but they’re also impractical to build up in a normal fight.

Spoiler: Special Moves (Driver Arts)

Rex’s Up, Down, and Side Specials make use of his Driver Arts. Unlike Blade Special you don’t have to charge them up in order to use them, but if you do charge them up, you can cancel certain attacks into them if they hit, which will be noted as they come up. All Special Moves except Blade Special are cancelable.

Rex’s Up Special is Rolling Smash, which works differently on the ground than in the air. On the ground, Rex will do a front flip with the Aegis Sword extended and slam it into the ground. It’s pretty slow, but it can cover the space above him pretty well. The aerial version has him take a flying leap straight up as he rolls, then comes straight down like before. This makes for a pretty decent aerial combo ender, but it’s a terrible recovery move, and it’s made even worse by Rex’s slow air speed.

His Side Special, Anchor Shot, makes it a little better as it can tether to the ledge, but it can only do so if Rex is mostly horizontal to it, creating certain angles where he just can’t recover. As an attack, Anchor Shot has Rex fire a grappling hook straight forward. It comes out quick, but only has a hitbox at the tip of the range. If it does hit though, it acts as a hit grab (is a grab but can be shielded) that trips the opponent, forcing a tech chase, which can be followed up by canceling into Double Spinning Edge, though that’s kind of a Flame Choke -> Down Tilt tier strategy. If Anchor Shot hits an airborne opponent, it’s a normal attack that launches the opponent toward Rex. Despite being a ranged grab, the hitbox is larger than you’d expect, so there aren’t any characters who can low profile it by…existing. Interestingly, you can cancel this attack into Rex’s Forward Tilt, and it’s the only instance where canceling into a normal move is possible.

Rex’s Down Special is Double Spinning Edge, a move where Rex delivers two spinning slashes as he advances forward. The first hit comes out decently fast, but the entire move’s duration is a bit long, so it is very punishable on whiff. In the air, Rex stays in place as he spins, allowing you to stall your decent for a bit, and making for a good aerial combo tool as well.

Spoiler: Normal Moves (Ground)

Rex’s Neutral Attack consists of two sword swings and a stab. He brings the sword over his head and slams it down for the second swing, so it can catch opponents in the air. All three hits of this attack are cancelable, and canceling on the third hit can lead to one of his highest damaging combos due to the cancels, but its startup is one of the slowest among all Neutral Attacks.

His Forward Tilt is a wide slash. It has a lot of end-lag, but there’s has a lot of power behind it. Just don’t go using it against an opponent’s shield. It won’t end well. Rex’s Up Tilt is an uppercut. He just uses his fist, so it doesn’t have much range, but it’s his quickest grounded attack, and a combo starter to boot. The only problem is that the knockback on it is so low that it’s generally impossible to land a sweetspot afterward.

Rex’s Down Tilt is a low sweep with the Aegis Sword. The extra range makes its combo ability much more reliable, but the attack itself is slower. It does allow you to cancel it into his Special Moves though. His Dash Attack is a simple shoulder tackle. It can combo at low percents, but it isn’t too useful beyond that. Another reason not to dash everywhere.

Rex’s Forward Smash is a powerful stab with the Aegis Sword. This is Rex’s go-to K.O. move when he doesn’t have the right Blade Special active. It’s also the only cancelable Smash Attack, but this isn’t nearly as useful as it sounds due to the high knockback. His Up Smash is an upward slash. This doesn’t cover over the top of his head, but rather, above and to the right of him, granting him two anti-air options: Rolling Smash, which hits behind him first, or Up Smash, which only hits in front. Rex’s Down Smash is a spin slash that hits on both sides. It’s pretty standard as Down Smashes go.

Spoiler: Normal Moves (Air)

Rex’s Neutral Aerial is an uppercut with the Aegis Sword. It only hits in front of him, but it is a great combo option in the air, even comboing into itself a few times if you hit close enough. His Forward Aerial is a downward swing. It has a lot of range, and is his best spacing tool. It’s even better with Pyra’s extra damage threatening the opponent. Both attacks are cancelable into Special Moves.

Rex’s Back Aerial is a backward stab. It has good K.O. power, but can be a bit difficult to land with its narrow range. His Up Aerial is a simple overhead slash, and his Down Aerial is a downward swing similar to Roy’s. Both moves can be quite powerful on hit, and the Down Aerial can even spike opponents if you hit it right. With Pyra, the Up Aerial can be a K.O. move as well.

Spoiler: Grab & Throws

Rex’s grab is pretty short, and his throws aren’t much better. His Forward and Back Throws are mostly for minor stage control, and his Up Throw doesn’t do much of anything for him. His Down Throw can start combos, but it has the same problems as his Up Tilt.

Spoiler: Final Smash: Chain Attack

Rex does a slash and calls for a Chain Attack which starts the cinematic. During the cinematic, Torra comes in with Poppi α, drilling into the opponents with their Drill Shield. Nia and Dromarch are next, with Nia attacking with her Twin Rings, and Dromarch following up with Aqua Wave. Rex and Pyra can end the combo with Burning Sword, or Rex and Mythra will end it with Sacred Arrow.

Sometimes, Vandham and Roc will replace Torra and Poppi α in the combo.

Spoiler: Overall

Rex is a lot like Ike in certain respects. The Aegis Sword grants him quite a bit of range, and his attacks can be quite powerful despite that, not to mention his ability to do highly damaging combos in short bursts. This does come at the cost of mediocre to poor mobility and frame data overall, and Rex players will also have to do a good bit of meter management; deciding when to cancel into Special Moves and which Blade Special to use. Rex also has a hard time in disadvantage with few options to stop him from being juggled, and get back onto the stage.

What makes Rex different from the other swordfighters is his emphasis on combos. He’ll want to rack up the hits in order to charge his Special Moves so he can do more combos with his Special Moves so he can do even more combos with his Special Moves.

Spoiler: Stage: Garfont Village

The stage takes place on a large wooden platform overlooking Garfont Village created by the Garfont Mercenaries just for Smash. The stage is on the smaller side due to taking place on top of the training grounds, which is in itself a smaller area. The main platform is completely flat, and it’s held up by scaffolding that players can wall jump off of. Additionally there are three platforms; one on the center just above the dip, and two higher ones to the left and right of that one.

As the fight goes on, Core Crystals will sometimes fall on the stage. If a character picks them up, they can awaken a new Blade, which fights on its own until it is K.O.’ed. Rarely, a Rare Blade will be awakened, which is a bit more durable, and may have different effects on their attacks and such. For example, Floren’s Blossomfall ability will heal the one who summoned them when they get K.O.’ed. Lastly, Rare Blades that don’t fight can sometimes be seen in the background, just watching the action.



So, why Garfont Village? There are a lot of memorable locations in Alrest, so why not a traveling stage? Well, even if putting together the various areas of Alrest was feasible, going to them all is probably not. Argentum Trade Guild, Garfont, Leftheria, Temperantia, Mor Ardain, and Indol would likely be fine, but Uraya and Tantal would be very difficult to include due to their location being inside their respective titans. I’d be fine with not including Tantal (and I probably wouldn’t include Temperantia either), but Uraya is a very important titan, and I don’t think it should be left out of a traveling stage.

But isn’t Uraya a bit far into the game though? Why not use Gormot? Well, that’s for a few reasons. The first is that it would be yet another grassland stage, and the fact that is somewhat resembles Guar Plain doesn’t help. Rex would already draw comparisons to Shulk for various reasons, so I’d like the stage to at least consist of iconography that hasn’t been seen in Super Smash Bros. before. The second is that I’d argue that Garfont Village is the most important town in the game. It’s home to Vandham, who is the catalyst for some of Rex’s character development, and it’s also tied to the Merc Group mechanic, which is a pretty major mechanic in the game. You’ll be coming back quite often. The third and least valid reason is that Garfont Village looks like this:

Isn’t it pretty?

Spoiler: Potential Pallet Swaps

• Rex & Pyra/Mythra: Rex is a young man in with predominantly blue apparel inspired by old timey scuba divers. Pyra is a girl with predominantly red coloring on her clothing, and Mythra has a predominantly dress and shoes, with black leggings.
• White and Blue: Rex’s outfit is predominantly white with blue and black trim, and Pyra and Mythra follow suit, gaining beautiful blue hair and eyes. This is a reference to Pyra’s Blue Sky outfit…and nothing else…
• Black and Green: Rex’s outfit is predominantly black with green trim, and Pyra and Mythra follow suit, gaining purple hair. This is a reference to Mythra’s Carbon outfit.
• Yellow: Rex’s outfit becomes Yellow, and his hair turns white. Pyra and Mythra gain white clothing with a blue trim. This is a reference to Nia and Dromarch, Rex’s first permanent party members.
• Green: Rex’s outfit mostly becomes two different shades of green. His skin turns dark brown, and his hair turns grey. Pyra and Mythra take on a much more orangy color pallet. This is a reference to Vandham and Roc, the two party members that Rex was closest to.
• Red: Rex’s outfit becomes predominantly red, and Pyra and Mythra swap pallets. This is mostly a reference to Pyra and Mythra’s pallet swap costumes. There’s no real connection for Rex.
• Brown: Rex’s outfit becomes predominantly brown, and Pyra and Mythra wear a Gormotti outfit over their clothes. This is a reference to the generic salvager color pallet, and Pyra’s disguise.

Spoiler: Classic Mode Route: Battle of Rare Blades

• Cloud (Midgar)
• Roy (Castle Siege)
• Meta Knight (Halberd)
• Ike (Coliseum)
• Link & Toon Link (Great Plateau Tower)
• Marth, Chrom, & Lucina (Arena Ferox)
• Bonus
• Shulk (Final Destination)

This is more just a fun theme than anything else. Said theme being legendary swords from throughout the series. This theme is a lot like Roy’s, but Rex wouldn’t be the first DLC character to reuse a theme so I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I would have liked to make the theme about Rex’s path to Elysium, but I haven’t finished the game so I don’t know how that would end…

Spoiler: Music

This one is much easier to find the musical choices for. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a great soundtrack. I haven’t played Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country, so I’m not sure what music should be pulled from that game, but I made sure to include at least two tracks.

• Garfont Mercenaries (Remix)
  • The theme of Garfont Village. Probably the most important town in the game.
• Battle!!
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s regular Battle Theme. I have no idea why this wasn’t added with the other two songs in base but eh.
• You Will Recall Our Names
  • The Unique Monster theme…sort of. Some of them have different ones for some reason.
• Counterattack
  • The big cutscene song like Engage the Enemy before it. This one is a criminal omission from the base game.
• Incoming!
  • Probably best known as Mòrag’s battle theme, but it does play more often than that.
• Monster Surprised You
  • Oddly enough, this is just a story encounter/boss theme. The game doesn't have a "you got jumped" theme like Xenoblade Chronicles X does.
• Gormott
  • The theme of the first major titan.
• Torigoth
  • The theme of the first major titan’s village.
• Eye of Shining Justice (Remix)
  • Zeke’s theme. I bet they could make this one super funky. Like, more than it already is.
• War and Peace (Remix)
  • The Merc Group theme. It’s quite pretty.
• Mor Ardain
  • The theme of the titan with the dumbest story arc. The Theme of Mor Ardain, a titan that is a pretty big centerpiece of the brewing war.
• Tiger! Tiger! Medley (Remix)
  • Tiger! Tiger! is something that players will be held against their will keep coming back to in order to upgrade Poppi. The linked track is the level theme.
• Battle!! (Torna)
  • The main battle theme from the Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country…I think. I quite like it.
• Kingdom of Torna (Remix)
  • The theme for Torna, which I assume is the most important titan of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country.

Spoiler: Spirit Board

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 already has a handful of spirits that would go here. The ones without explanation are already there (except Poppi α because she doesn’t have a Spirit Battle), and the Rex, Pyra, and Mythra spirits aren’t on it because they’re playable.

• Nia (Ace)
• Dromarch (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Fox and a Nia Mii on Guar Plain. Healing Sprouts appear frequently, and Fox is distracted by them. Battle!! plays for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Critical Healing.
• Torra (Advanced)
• Poppi α (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a brown Mega Man that shields a lot alongside an orange Kirby that starts with a Drill. The battle takes place on Great Bay, and Torigoth plays during it.
• Mòrag (Novice)
• Brighid (Novice)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle purple female Corrin on Gerudo Valley. The floor is lava, and Incoming! plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Fire & Explosion Attack Up.
• Zeke (Novice)
• Pandoria (Novice)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a purple Zelda and a blue Ike. Bob-ombs rain from the sky on intervals, but they can only hit Zelda and Ike. Eye of Shining Justice plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Electric Attack Up.
• Vandham (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a grey Ryu, and a golden Pit on Garfont Village. There are no special happenings, and the music that plays is Garfont Mercenaries.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit. Is Defense Type, and has 3 slots.
• Roc (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a golden Pit on Garfont Village as winds blow through. The music that plays is War and Peace.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Wind immunity.
• Lora (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a red Lucina who starts the battle with a Freezie on Midgar. Battle!! (Torna) plays for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Causes you to start the battle with a Freezie.
• Fan La Norne (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Palutena and a red Lucina on Spear Pillar with a fast Final Smash meter. Kingdom of Torna plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Jam FS Charge.
• Jin (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Cloud, who’s speed goes way up after a bit. Counterattack plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit. Is Neutral Type, has 2 slots, and raises your speed.
• Praetor Amaltus (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a white Marth on Kalos Pokémon League while random Assist Trophies keep spawning. Destroyed Skyworld is the music for this fight.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit: Is Neutral Type, and has 3 slots.
• Malos (Legend)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a black Shulk with the power of his Monado Arts increased on Unova Pokémon League. Incoming! is the music for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit: Grants the Shackle FS ability, which stops opposing Final Smashes from being used while you have yours ready.

 

[Schnee117]

Advent Children
Before Crisis
Crisis Core
Dirge of Cerberus
Ever Crisis
First SOLDIER

This is how Gilgamesh can still win.

Broke: Gilgamesh
Woke: Gackt

 

[cothero]

So I made another thing. This time it's for Rex & Pyra/Mythra...Well, I don't really have anything else to say so uh, here it is:

Spoiler: It's split into segments, but the whole thing is a long read

Rex is a salvager; one who dives beneath the Cloud Sea in order to find relics of an ancient past. He lives in Alrest, a place made up of a bunch of worldly creatures known as titans. Unfortunately, these titans are dying out, and soon there will be nowhere to live. Rex dreams of reaching Elysium, a place atop The World Tree that exists forever. There, everyone in Alrest could live in peace instead of fighting over places to live.

At the beginning of the game, Rex accepts a job from some particularly dangerous employers looking for the Aegis, who end up killing him after he completes it. Not wanting to fall into the wrong hands, Pyra (the Aegis) shares her life force with him, allowing him to become her driver. Now Rex fights alongside her, and her original form, Mythra to journey to Elysium, and save people of a dying world.

Spoiler: Pyra and Mythra

So the first thing you’ll notice when playing as Rex & Pyra/Mythra, are Pyra and Mythra themselves. They stand behind Rex, lending him their power via a thread that becomes more golden as they grow in power. They grant Rex the use of the Aegis Sword, a two handed sword with Pyra or Mythra’s energy forming its tip. This tip grants the blade a sweet spot in the sword’s attacks that causes Pyra and Mythra’s power to grow faster if Rex manages to land it.

They also grant Rex slightly different properties: Pyra’s Battle Skills, Purifying Flames, Resplendence, and Flaming Edge, cause the sweet spot on the Aegis Sword to do more damage, and allows Rex’s attacks to 1 hit K.O. characters that aren’t fighters, such as the Pikmin, Luma, and Assist Trophies like Waluigi. Pyra’s Blade Specials also have more K.O. power on average than Mythra’s do, but I’ll talk about those later. Mythra’s Battle Skills, Foresight, Lightspeed Fury, and Glint makes the Aegis Sword’s sweetspot larger, and in exchange for the extra damage, landing the sweetspot causes Rex’s Driver Arts to charge faster (more on those later). Rex’s dodge, dodge roll, and spot dodge are also active faster and longer when Mythra is out.

To sum it up, Pyra gives Rex a higher overall damage output if you can hit the sweetspots (though the extra damage can work against you when comboing), but Mythra grants him higher utility by making him harder to hit and charging his attacks quicker. One last thing to note about the two is that Pyra and Mythra can keep up with Rex if he walks or jumps, but they have to drop their power thread in order to focus on running if Rex dashes (they can keep up with his initial dash, but drop the thread after that). They will also teleport to Rex if they get stuck on something, but this will also cause them to drop the thread. If the thread is dropped, Rex will not gain any of the benefits of their Battle Skills, nor will Rex be able to use their Blade Specials. Also, since they are sharing their life force, Pyra and Mythra take the same damage that Rex does, meaning that while they can’t normally be hit directly, they will be sent flying when Rex is. This doesn’t break the thread, but stuns will (and by stun I mean the status inflicted by things like Paralyzer. Other statuses like bury and shield break don’t count).

Spoiler: Special Moves (Blade Switch/Blade Special)

Rex can choose to start the battle with either Pyra or Mythra on the character select screen, but if you want to change who you fight with in battle, you can tap the Special Move button to use Blade Switch, swapping Pyra out with Mythra, and vice versa. Rex can do this at just about any time, including while shielding, and he can even cancel his attacks on hit with it. Holding the Special Move button is a whole different ball game.

Rex’s held Neutral Special is Blade Special, an attack that changes depending on whether Pyra or Mythra is out, and the level of charge the attack has. The level of charge is indicated by a diamond with a number on it on Rex’s UI. A line goes around it, indicating how close you are to the next level, and the power thread brightens with each level so you can tell which level you’re on without taking your eyes off the action.

You start the battle with no charge, which isn’t enough to use a Blade Special. Levels I-III are reached by canceling Rex’s normal moves into his Driver Arts, while Level IV reached by maintaining the thread for a bit. If you break it, you have to start over from Level III even if you’ve already built up the Level IV Special. This makes them impractical to use normally, but if you do pull them off, the power is immense. Pyra’s Blade Specials are as follows:

• Level I: Flame Nova-Pyra twirls around with the Aegis Sword extended, and then lets out a burst of flames.
  • This attack is a multi-hit that pulls nearby opponents that are level with her horizontally, then knocks them away with the fire burst.
  • This is the easiest Blade Special to build so it’s more useful for extra damage than K.O. power, but it can still K.O. at really high percents.
• Level II: Prominence Revolt-Pyra stabs the ground, causing a flame pillar to erupt from the ground underneath opponents in range.
  • Rex will hit any opponents that are directly in front of him as he throws Pyra the Aegis Sword, so the Special Move doesn’t have to be done raw.
  • Because the hit can be guaranteed, and it can be accessed decently easily, this attack is Rex’s most powerful K.O. move.
  • There is no aerial version of this attack, so it completely whiffs if used too high in the air. Rex and Pyra can also fall to their doom if they use this above a pit.
• Level III: Blazing End-Pyra slashes with the Aegis Sword three times before spinning it in place for a bit.
  • This attack deals a ton of damage, and has a lingering hitbox during the last hits. However, this also leaves Rex and Pyra wide open if Pyra misses her attack.
• Level IV: Burning Sword-Rex and Pyra do a downward slash that causes a huge pillar of fire to erupt from the ground.
  • While impractical, the sheer damage and knockback as well as the huge, lingering hitboxes of this attack make this both one of the the coolest feeling attack to land as well as one of the most painful attacks to whiff.
  • Using this move over a pit is ill advised.

Mythra’s Blade Specials are as follows:

• Level I: Ray of Punishment-Mythra fires a projectile diagonally downward that explodes on impact.
  • This attack’s trajectory makes it a decent edgeguarding tool, and while it isn’t quite as powerful as Pyra’s Flame Nova, it can be even more effective at racking damage due to Mythra’s quicker charging.
  • The attack also deals more damage against a tripped opponent. So canceling it after using Anchor Shot is one of Rex’s most damaging combos.
• Level II: Photon Edge-Mythra dashes forward, and if the hit connects, she will dash around the opponent(s) and slash them multiple times.
  • This attack is the most normal of the bunch, and it grants even more burst damage than Ray of Punishment, though it doesn’t come out as often.
• Level III: Lightning Buster-Mythra slashes three times with the Aegis Sword.
  • This attack has more K.O. power than Prominance Revolt, but it launches more horizontally rather than straight up.
• Level IV: Sacred Arrow-Rex and Mythra point the Aegis Sword to the sky and summon giant beams of light to rain down from the top of the screen all around them.
  • This is the largest reaching attack in the game, potentially going from the top to the bottom of the screen, but Mythra’s boost to attack charging doesn’t help with this special, which makes it even more impractical than Burning Sword.
  • Rex's shouting of "hooray!" during the move gives me life.

As a general rule, Pyra’s Blade Specials are more powerful, but are riskier, and Mythra’s Blade Specials are good enough to even try using raw. What’s more about these attacks is that you can cancel your normal, and Special Attacks into these Blade Specials. Now, the way I’ve described them so far kinda makes them sound like they’re some super nuke buttons or something like Terry’s Super Special Moves. This is not the case. Level I Blade Specials are actually more in line with a normal attack on the power scale, and it’s not until you get to Level III where things get super crazy on the damage or K.O. power. Level IV Blade Specials are almost on par with Final Smashes, but they’re also impractical to build up in a normal fight.

Spoiler: Special Moves (Driver Arts)

Rex’s Up, Down, and Side Specials make use of his Driver Arts. Unlike Blade Special you don’t have to charge them up in order to use them, but if you do charge them up, you can cancel certain attacks into them if they hit, which will be noted as they come up. All Special Moves except Blade Special are cancelable.

Rex’s Up Special is Rolling Smash, which works differently on the ground than in the air. On the ground, Rex will do a front flip with the Aegis Sword extended and slam it into the ground. It’s pretty slow, but it can cover the space above him pretty well. The aerial version has him take a flying leap straight up as he rolls, then comes straight down like before. This makes for a pretty decent aerial combo ender, but it’s a terrible recovery move, and it’s made even worse by Rex’s slow air speed.

His Side Special, Anchor Shot, makes it a little better as it can tether to the ledge, but it can only do so if Rex is mostly horizontal to it, creating certain angles where he just can’t recover. As an attack, Anchor Shot has Rex fire a grappling hook straight forward. It comes out quick, but only has a hitbox at the tip of the range. If it does hit though, it acts as a hit grab (is a grab but can be shielded) that trips the opponent, forcing a tech chase, which can be followed up by canceling into Double Spinning Edge, though that’s kind of a Flame Choke -> Down Tilt tier strategy. If Anchor Shot hits an airborne opponent, it’s a normal attack that launches the opponent toward Rex. Despite being a ranged grab, the hitbox is larger than you’d expect, so there aren’t any characters who can low profile it by…existing. Interestingly, you can cancel this attack into Rex’s Forward Tilt, and it’s the only instance where canceling into a normal move is possible.

Rex’s Down Special is Double Spinning Edge, a move where Rex delivers two spinning slashes as he advances forward. The first hit comes out decently fast, but the entire move’s duration is a bit long, so it is very punishable on whiff. In the air, Rex stays in place as he spins, allowing you to stall your decent for a bit, and making for a good aerial combo tool as well.

Spoiler: Normal Moves (Ground)

Rex’s Neutral Attack consists of two sword swings and a stab. He brings the sword over his head and slams it down for the second swing, so it can catch opponents in the air. All three hits of this attack are cancelable, and canceling on the third hit can lead to one of his highest damaging combos due to the cancels, but its startup is one of the slowest among all Neutral Attacks.

His Forward Tilt is a wide slash. It has a lot of end-lag, but there’s has a lot of power behind it. Just don’t go using it against an opponent’s shield. It won’t end well. Rex’s Up Tilt is an uppercut. He just uses his fist, so it doesn’t have much range, but it’s his quickest grounded attack, and a combo starter to boot. The only problem is that the knockback on it is so low that it’s generally impossible to land a sweetspot afterward.

Rex’s Down Tilt is a low sweep with the Aegis Sword. The extra range makes its combo ability much more reliable, but the attack itself is slower. It does allow you to cancel it into his Special Moves though. His Dash Attack is a simple shoulder tackle. It can combo at low percents, but it isn’t too useful beyond that. Another reason not to dash everywhere.

Rex’s Forward Smash is a powerful stab with the Aegis Sword. This is Rex’s go-to K.O. move when he doesn’t have the right Blade Special active. It’s also the only cancelable Smash Attack, but this isn’t nearly as useful as it sounds due to the high knockback. His Up Smash is an upward slash. This doesn’t cover over the top of his head, but rather, above and to the right of him, granting him two anti-air options: Rolling Smash, which hits behind him first, or Up Smash, which only hits in front. Rex’s Down Smash is a spin slash that hits on both sides. It’s pretty standard as Down Smashes go.

Spoiler: Normal Moves (Air)

Rex’s Neutral Aerial is an uppercut with the Aegis Sword. It only hits in front of him, but it is a great combo option in the air, even comboing into itself a few times if you hit close enough. His Forward Aerial is a downward swing. It has a lot of range, and is his best spacing tool. It’s even better with Pyra’s extra damage threatening the opponent. Both attacks are cancelable into Special Moves.

Rex’s Back Aerial is a backward stab. It has good K.O. power, but can be a bit difficult to land with its narrow range. His Up Aerial is a simple overhead slash, and his Down Aerial is a downward swing similar to Roy’s. Both moves can be quite powerful on hit, and the Down Aerial can even spike opponents if you hit it right. With Pyra, the Up Aerial can be a K.O. move as well.

Spoiler: Grab & Throws

Rex’s grab is pretty short, and his throws aren’t much better. His Forward and Back Throws are mostly for minor stage control, and his Up Throw doesn’t do much of anything for him. His Down Throw can start combos, but it has the same problems as his Up Tilt.

Spoiler: Final Smash: Chain Attack

Rex does a slash and calls for a Chain Attack which starts the cinematic. During the cinematic, Torra comes in with Poppi α, drilling into the opponents with their Drill Shield. Nia and Dromarch are next, with Nia attacking with her Twin Rings, and Dromarch following up with Aqua Wave. Rex and Pyra can end the combo with Burning Sword, or Rex and Mythra will end it with Sacred Arrow.

Sometimes, Vandham and Roc will replace Torra and Poppi α in the combo.

Spoiler: Overall

Rex is a lot like Ike in certain respects. The Aegis Sword grants him quite a bit of range, and his attacks can be quite powerful despite that, not to mention his ability to do highly damaging combos in short bursts. This does come at the cost of mediocre to poor mobility and frame data overall, and Rex players will also have to do a good bit of meter management; deciding when to cancel into Special Moves and which Blade Special to use. Rex also has a hard time in disadvantage with few options to stop him from being juggled, and get back onto the stage.

What makes Rex different from the other swordfighters is his emphasis on combos. He’ll want to rack up the hits in order to charge his Special Moves so he can do more combos with his Special Moves so he can do even more combos with his Special Moves.

Spoiler: Stage: Garfont Village

The stage takes place on a large wooden platform overlooking Garfont Village created by the Garfont Mercenaries just for Smash. The stage is on the smaller side due to taking place on top of the training grounds, which is in itself a smaller area. The main platform is completely flat, and it’s held up by scaffolding that players can wall jump off of. Additionally there are three platforms; one on the center just above the dip, and two higher ones to the left and right of that one.

As the fight goes on, Core Crystals will sometimes fall on the stage. If a character picks them up, they can awaken a new Blade, which fights on its own until it is K.O.’ed. Rarely, a Rare Blade will be awakened, which is a bit more durable, and may have different effects on their attacks and such. For example, Floren’s Blossomfall ability will heal the one who summoned them when they get K.O.’ed. Lastly, Rare Blades that don’t fight can sometimes be seen in the background, just watching the action.



So, why Garfont Village? There are a lot of memorable locations in Alrest, so why not a traveling stage? Well, even if putting together the various areas of Alrest was feasible, going to them all is probably not. Argentum Trade Guild, Garfont, Leftheria, Temperantia, Mor Ardain, and Indol would likely be fine, but Uraya and Tantal would be very difficult to include due to their location being inside their respective titans. I’d be fine with not including Tantal (and I probably wouldn’t include Temperantia either), but Uraya is a very important titan, and I don’t think it should be left out of a traveling stage.

But isn’t Uraya a bit far into the game though? Why not use Gormot? Well, that’s for a few reasons. The first is that it would be yet another grassland stage, and the fact that is somewhat resembles Guar Plain doesn’t help. Rex would already draw comparisons to Shulk for various reasons, so I’d like the stage to at least consist of iconography that hasn’t been seen in Super Smash Bros. before. The second is that I’d argue that Garfont Village is the most important town in the game. It’s home to Vandham, who is the catalyst for some of Rex’s character development, and it’s also tied to the Merc Group mechanic, which is a pretty major mechanic in the game. You’ll be coming back quite often. The third and least valid reason is that Garfont Village looks like this:
View attachment 298901
Isn’t it pretty?

Spoiler: Potential Pallet Swaps

• Rex & Pyra/Mythra: Rex is a young man in with predominantly blue apparel inspired by old timey scuba divers. Pyra is a girl with predominantly red coloring on her clothing, and Mythra has a predominantly dress and shoes, with black leggings.
• White and Blue: Rex’s outfit is predominantly white with blue and black trim, and Pyra and Mythra follow suit, gaining beautiful blue hair and eyes. This is a reference to Pyra’s Blue Sky outfit…and nothing else…
• Black and Green: Rex’s outfit is predominantly black with green trim, and Pyra and Mythra follow suit, gaining purple hair. This is a reference to Mythra’s Carbon outfit.
• Yellow: Rex’s outfit becomes Yellow, and his hair turns white. Pyra and Mythra gain white clothing with a blue trim. This is a reference to Nia and Dromarch, Rex’s first permanent party members.
• Green: Rex’s outfit mostly becomes two different shades of green. His skin turns dark brown, and his hair turns grey. Pyra and Mythra take on a much more orangy color pallet. This is a reference to Vandham and Roc, the two party members that Rex was closest to.
• Red: Rex’s outfit becomes predominantly red, and Pyra and Mythra swap pallets. This is mostly a reference to Pyra and Mythra’s pallet swap costumes. There’s no real connection for Rex.
• Brown: Rex’s outfit becomes predominantly brown, and Pyra and Mythra wear a Gormotti outfit over their clothes. This is a reference to the generic salvager color pallet, and Pyra’s disguise.

Spoiler: Classic Mode Route: Battle of Rare Blades

• Cloud (Midgar)
• Roy (Castle Siege)
• Meta Knight (Halberd)
• Ike (Coliseum)
• Link & Toon Link (Great Plateau Tower)
• Marth, Chrom, & Lucina (Arena Ferox)
• Bonus
• Shulk (Final Destination)

This is more just a fun theme than anything else. Said theme being legendary swords from throughout the series. This theme is a lot like Roy’s, but Rex wouldn’t be the first DLC character to reuse a theme so I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I would have liked to make the theme about Rex’s path to Elysium, but I haven’t finished the game so I don’t know how that would end…

Spoiler: Music

This one is much easier to find the musical choices for. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a great soundtrack. I haven’t played Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country, so I’m not sure what music should be pulled from that game, but I made sure to include at least two tracks.

• Garfont Mercenaries(Remix)
  • The theme of Garfont Village. Probably the most important town in the game.
• Battle!!
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s regular Battle Theme. I have no idea why this wasn’t added with the other two songs in base but eh.
• You Will Recall Our Names
  • The Unique Monster theme…sort of. Some of them have different ones for some reason.
• Counterattack
  • The big cutscene song like Engage the Enemy before it. This one is a criminal omission from the base game.
• Incoming!
  • Probably best known as Mòrag’s battle theme, but it does play more often than that.
• Monster Surprised You
  • Oddly enough, this is just a story encounter/boss theme. The game doesn't have a "you got jumped" theme like Xenoblade Chronicles X does.
• Gormott
  • The theme of the first major titan.
• Torigoth
  • The theme of the first major titan’s village.
• Eye of Shining Justice(Remix)
  • Zeke’s theme. I bet they could make this one super funky. Like, more than it already is.
• War and Peace(Remix)
  • The Merc Group theme. It’s quite pretty.
• Mor Ardain
  • The theme of the titan with the dumbest story arc. The Theme of Mor Ardain, a titan that is a pretty big centerpiece of the brewing war.
• Tiger! Tiger! Medley(Remix)
  • Tiger! Tiger! is something that players will be held against their will keep coming back to in order to upgrade Poppi. The linked track is the level theme.
• Battle!! (Torna)
  • The main battle theme from the Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country…I think. I quite like it.
• Kingdom of Torna(Remix)
  • The theme for Torna, which I assume is the most important titan of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country.

Spoiler: Spirit Board

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 already has a handful of spirits that would go here. The ones without explanation are already there (except Poppi α because she doesn’t have a Spirit Battle), and the Rex, Pyra, and Mythra spirits aren’t on it because they’re playable.

• Nia (Ace)
• Dromarch (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Fox and a Nia Mii on Guar Plain. Healing Sprouts appear frequently, and Fox is distracted by them. Battle!! plays for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Critical Healing.
• Torra (Advanced)
• Poppi α (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a brown Mega Man that shields a lot alongside an orange Kirby that starts with a Drill. The battle takes place on Great Bay, and Torigoth plays during it.
• Mòrag (Novice)
• Brighid (Novice)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle purple female Corrin on Gerudo Valley. The floor is lava, and Incoming! plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Fire & Explosion Attack Up.
• Zeke (Novice)
• Pandoria (Novice)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a purple Zelda and a blue Ike. Bob-ombs rain from the sky on intervals, but they can only hit Zelda and Ike. Eye of Shining Justice plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Electric Attack Up.
• Vandham (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a grey Ryu, and a golden Pit on Garfont Village. There are no special happenings, and the music that plays is Garfont Mercenaries.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit. Is Defense Type, and has 3 slots.
• Roc (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a golden Pit on Garfont Village as winds blow through. The music that plays is War and Peace.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Wind immunity.
• Lora (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a red Lucina who starts the battle with a Freezie on Midgar. Battle!! (Torna) plays for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Causes you to start the battle with a Freezie.
• Fan La Norne (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Palutena and a red Lucina on Spear Pillar with a fast Final Smash meter. Kingdom of Torna plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Jam FS Charge.
• Jin (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Cloud, who’s speed goes way up after a bit. Counterattack plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit. Is Neutral Type, has 2 slots, and raises your speed.
• Praetor Amaltus (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a white Marth on Kalos Pokémon League while random Assist Trophies keep spawning. Destroyed Skyworld is the music for this fight.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit: Is Neutral Type, and has 3 slots.
• Malos (Legend)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a black Shulk with the power of his Monado Arts increased on Unova Pokémon League. Incoming! is the music for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit: Grants the Shackle FS ability, which stops opposing Final Smashes from being used while you have yours ready.

The only thing that drastically diminishes Rex chances of getting in is his return as a Mii costume. But otherwise, very nice ideas.

 

[CommanderZaktan]

And Nintendo forgot to upload this until now.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

And Nintendo forgot to upload this until now.

how long usually is the wait between a character drop and one of these videos?

 

[Adrianette Bromide]

So I made another thing. This time it's for Rex & Pyra/Mythra...Well, I don't really have anything else to say so uh, here it is:

Spoiler: It's split into segments, but the whole thing is a long read

Rex is a salvager; one who dives beneath the Cloud Sea in order to find relics of an ancient past. He lives in Alrest, a place made up of a bunch of worldly creatures known as titans. Unfortunately, these titans are dying out, and soon there will be nowhere to live. Rex dreams of reaching Elysium, a place atop The World Tree that exists forever. There, everyone in Alrest could live in peace instead of fighting over places to live.

At the beginning of the game, Rex accepts a job from some particularly dangerous employers looking for the Aegis, who end up killing him after he completes it. Not wanting to fall into the wrong hands, Pyra (the Aegis) shares her life force with him, allowing him to become her driver. Now Rex fights alongside her, and her original form, Mythra to journey to Elysium, and save people of a dying world.

Spoiler: Pyra and Mythra

So the first thing you’ll notice when playing as Rex & Pyra/Mythra, are Pyra and Mythra themselves. They stand behind Rex, lending him their power via a thread that becomes more golden as they grow in power. They grant Rex the use of the Aegis Sword, a two handed sword with Pyra or Mythra’s energy forming its tip. This tip grants the blade a sweet spot in the sword’s attacks that causes Pyra and Mythra’s power to grow faster if Rex manages to land it.

They also grant Rex slightly different properties: Pyra’s Battle Skills, Purifying Flames, Resplendence, and Flaming Edge, cause the sweet spot on the Aegis Sword to do more damage, and allows Rex’s attacks to 1 hit K.O. characters that aren’t fighters, such as the Pikmin, Luma, and Assist Trophies like Waluigi. Pyra’s Blade Specials also have more K.O. power on average than Mythra’s do, but I’ll talk about those later. Mythra’s Battle Skills, Foresight, Lightspeed Fury, and Glint makes the Aegis Sword’s sweetspot larger, and in exchange for the extra damage, landing the sweetspot causes Rex’s Driver Arts to charge faster (more on those later). Rex’s dodge, dodge roll, and spot dodge are also active faster and longer when Mythra is out.

To sum it up, Pyra gives Rex a higher overall damage output if you can hit the sweetspots (though the extra damage can work against you when comboing), but Mythra grants him higher utility by making him harder to hit and charging his attacks quicker. One last thing to note about the two is that Pyra and Mythra can keep up with Rex if he walks or jumps, but they have to drop their power thread in order to focus on running if Rex dashes (they can keep up with his initial dash, but drop the thread after that). They will also teleport to Rex if they get stuck on something, but this will also cause them to drop the thread. If the thread is dropped, Rex will not gain any of the benefits of their Battle Skills, nor will Rex be able to use their Blade Specials. Also, since they are sharing their life force, Pyra and Mythra take the same damage that Rex does, meaning that while they can’t normally be hit directly, they will be sent flying when Rex is. This doesn’t break the thread, but stuns will (and by stun I mean the status inflicted by things like Paralyzer. Other statuses like bury and shield break don’t count).

Spoiler: Special Moves (Blade Switch/Blade Special)

Rex can choose to start the battle with either Pyra or Mythra on the character select screen, but if you want to change who you fight with in battle, you can tap the Special Move button to use Blade Switch, swapping Pyra out with Mythra, and vice versa. Rex can do this at just about any time, including while shielding, and he can even cancel his attacks on hit with it. Holding the Special Move button is a whole different ball game.

Rex’s held Neutral Special is Blade Special, an attack that changes depending on whether Pyra or Mythra is out, and the level of charge the attack has. The level of charge is indicated by a diamond with a number on it on Rex’s UI. A line goes around it, indicating how close you are to the next level, and the power thread brightens with each level so you can tell which level you’re on without taking your eyes off the action.

You start the battle with no charge, which isn’t enough to use a Blade Special. Levels I-III are reached by canceling Rex’s normal moves into his Driver Arts, while Level IV reached by maintaining the thread for a bit. If you break it, you have to start over from Level III even if you’ve already built up the Level IV Special. This makes them impractical to use normally, but if you do pull them off, the power is immense. Pyra’s Blade Specials are as follows:

• Level I: Flame Nova-Pyra twirls around with the Aegis Sword extended, and then lets out a burst of flames.
  • This attack is a multi-hit that pulls nearby opponents that are level with her horizontally, then knocks them away with the fire burst.
  • This is the easiest Blade Special to build so it’s more useful for extra damage than K.O. power, but it can still K.O. at really high percents.
• Level II: Prominence Revolt-Pyra stabs the ground, causing a flame pillar to erupt from the ground underneath opponents in range.
  • Rex will hit any opponents that are directly in front of him as he throws Pyra the Aegis Sword, so the Special Move doesn’t have to be done raw.
  • Because the hit can be guaranteed, and it can be accessed decently easily, this attack is Rex’s most powerful K.O. move.
  • There is no aerial version of this attack, so it completely whiffs if used too high in the air. Rex and Pyra can also fall to their doom if they use this above a pit.
• Level III: Blazing End-Pyra slashes with the Aegis Sword three times before spinning it in place for a bit.
  • This attack deals a ton of damage, and has a lingering hitbox during the last hits. However, this also leaves Rex and Pyra wide open if Pyra misses her attack.
• Level IV: Burning Sword-Rex and Pyra do a downward slash that causes a huge pillar of fire to erupt from the ground.
  • While impractical, the sheer damage and knockback as well as the huge, lingering hitboxes of this attack make this both one of the the coolest feeling attack to land as well as one of the most painful attacks to whiff.
  • Using this move over a pit is ill advised.

Mythra’s Blade Specials are as follows:

• Level I: Ray of Punishment-Mythra fires a projectile diagonally downward that explodes on impact.
  • This attack’s trajectory makes it a decent edgeguarding tool, and while it isn’t quite as powerful as Pyra’s Flame Nova, it can be even more effective at racking damage due to Mythra’s quicker charging.
  • The attack also deals more damage against a tripped opponent. So canceling it after using Anchor Shot is one of Rex’s most damaging combos.
• Level II: Photon Edge-Mythra dashes forward, and if the hit connects, she will dash around the opponent(s) and slash them multiple times.
  • This attack is the most normal of the bunch, and it grants even more burst damage than Ray of Punishment, though it doesn’t come out as often.
• Level III: Lightning Buster-Mythra slashes three times with the Aegis Sword.
  • This attack has more K.O. power than Prominance Revolt, but it launches more horizontally rather than straight up.
• Level IV: Sacred Arrow-Rex and Mythra point the Aegis Sword to the sky and summon giant beams of light to rain down from the top of the screen all around them.
  • This is the largest reaching attack in the game, potentially going from the top to the bottom of the screen, but Mythra’s boost to attack charging doesn’t help with this special, which makes it even more impractical than Burning Sword.
  • Rex's shouting of "hooray!" during the move gives me life.

As a general rule, Pyra’s Blade Specials are more powerful, but are riskier, and Mythra’s Blade Specials are good enough to even try using raw. What’s more about these attacks is that you can cancel your normal, and Special Attacks into these Blade Specials. Now, the way I’ve described them so far kinda makes them sound like they’re some super nuke buttons or something like Terry’s Super Special Moves. This is not the case. Level I Blade Specials are actually more in line with a normal attack on the power scale, and it’s not until you get to Level III where things get super crazy on the damage or K.O. power. Level IV Blade Specials are almost on par with Final Smashes, but they’re also impractical to build up in a normal fight.

Spoiler: Special Moves (Driver Arts)

Rex’s Up, Down, and Side Specials make use of his Driver Arts. Unlike Blade Special you don’t have to charge them up in order to use them, but if you do charge them up, you can cancel certain attacks into them if they hit, which will be noted as they come up. All Special Moves except Blade Special are cancelable.

Rex’s Up Special is Rolling Smash, which works differently on the ground than in the air. On the ground, Rex will do a front flip with the Aegis Sword extended and slam it into the ground. It’s pretty slow, but it can cover the space above him pretty well. The aerial version has him take a flying leap straight up as he rolls, then comes straight down like before. This makes for a pretty decent aerial combo ender, but it’s a terrible recovery move, and it’s made even worse by Rex’s slow air speed.

His Side Special, Anchor Shot, makes it a little better as it can tether to the ledge, but it can only do so if Rex is mostly horizontal to it, creating certain angles where he just can’t recover. As an attack, Anchor Shot has Rex fire a grappling hook straight forward. It comes out quick, but only has a hitbox at the tip of the range. If it does hit though, it acts as a hit grab (is a grab but can be shielded) that trips the opponent, forcing a tech chase, which can be followed up by canceling into Double Spinning Edge, though that’s kind of a Flame Choke -> Down Tilt tier strategy. If Anchor Shot hits an airborne opponent, it’s a normal attack that launches the opponent toward Rex. Despite being a ranged grab, the hitbox is larger than you’d expect, so there aren’t any characters who can low profile it by…existing. Interestingly, you can cancel this attack into Rex’s Forward Tilt, and it’s the only instance where canceling into a normal move is possible.

Rex’s Down Special is Double Spinning Edge, a move where Rex delivers two spinning slashes as he advances forward. The first hit comes out decently fast, but the entire move’s duration is a bit long, so it is very punishable on whiff. In the air, Rex stays in place as he spins, allowing you to stall your decent for a bit, and making for a good aerial combo tool as well.

Spoiler: Normal Moves (Ground)

Rex’s Neutral Attack consists of two sword swings and a stab. He brings the sword over his head and slams it down for the second swing, so it can catch opponents in the air. All three hits of this attack are cancelable, and canceling on the third hit can lead to one of his highest damaging combos due to the cancels, but its startup is one of the slowest among all Neutral Attacks.

His Forward Tilt is a wide slash. It has a lot of end-lag, but there’s has a lot of power behind it. Just don’t go using it against an opponent’s shield. It won’t end well. Rex’s Up Tilt is an uppercut. He just uses his fist, so it doesn’t have much range, but it’s his quickest grounded attack, and a combo starter to boot. The only problem is that the knockback on it is so low that it’s generally impossible to land a sweetspot afterward.

Rex’s Down Tilt is a low sweep with the Aegis Sword. The extra range makes its combo ability much more reliable, but the attack itself is slower. It does allow you to cancel it into his Special Moves though. His Dash Attack is a simple shoulder tackle. It can combo at low percents, but it isn’t too useful beyond that. Another reason not to dash everywhere.

Rex’s Forward Smash is a powerful stab with the Aegis Sword. This is Rex’s go-to K.O. move when he doesn’t have the right Blade Special active. It’s also the only cancelable Smash Attack, but this isn’t nearly as useful as it sounds due to the high knockback. His Up Smash is an upward slash. This doesn’t cover over the top of his head, but rather, above and to the right of him, granting him two anti-air options: Rolling Smash, which hits behind him first, or Up Smash, which only hits in front. Rex’s Down Smash is a spin slash that hits on both sides. It’s pretty standard as Down Smashes go.

Spoiler: Normal Moves (Air)

Rex’s Neutral Aerial is an uppercut with the Aegis Sword. It only hits in front of him, but it is a great combo option in the air, even comboing into itself a few times if you hit close enough. His Forward Aerial is a downward swing. It has a lot of range, and is his best spacing tool. It’s even better with Pyra’s extra damage threatening the opponent. Both attacks are cancelable into Special Moves.

Rex’s Back Aerial is a backward stab. It has good K.O. power, but can be a bit difficult to land with its narrow range. His Up Aerial is a simple overhead slash, and his Down Aerial is a downward swing similar to Roy’s. Both moves can be quite powerful on hit, and the Down Aerial can even spike opponents if you hit it right. With Pyra, the Up Aerial can be a K.O. move as well.

Spoiler: Grab & Throws

Rex’s grab is pretty short, and his throws aren’t much better. His Forward and Back Throws are mostly for minor stage control, and his Up Throw doesn’t do much of anything for him. His Down Throw can start combos, but it has the same problems as his Up Tilt.

Spoiler: Final Smash: Chain Attack

Rex does a slash and calls for a Chain Attack which starts the cinematic. During the cinematic, Torra comes in with Poppi α, drilling into the opponents with their Drill Shield. Nia and Dromarch are next, with Nia attacking with her Twin Rings, and Dromarch following up with Aqua Wave. Rex and Pyra can end the combo with Burning Sword, or Rex and Mythra will end it with Sacred Arrow.

Sometimes, Vandham and Roc will replace Torra and Poppi α in the combo.

Spoiler: Overall

Rex is a lot like Ike in certain respects. The Aegis Sword grants him quite a bit of range, and his attacks can be quite powerful despite that, not to mention his ability to do highly damaging combos in short bursts. This does come at the cost of mediocre to poor mobility and frame data overall, and Rex players will also have to do a good bit of meter management; deciding when to cancel into Special Moves and which Blade Special to use. Rex also has a hard time in disadvantage with few options to stop him from being juggled, and get back onto the stage.

What makes Rex different from the other swordfighters is his emphasis on combos. He’ll want to rack up the hits in order to charge his Special Moves so he can do more combos with his Special Moves so he can do even more combos with his Special Moves.

Spoiler: Stage: Garfont Village

The stage takes place on a large wooden platform overlooking Garfont Village created by the Garfont Mercenaries just for Smash. The stage is on the smaller side due to taking place on top of the training grounds, which is in itself a smaller area. The main platform is completely flat, and it’s held up by scaffolding that players can wall jump off of. Additionally there are three platforms; one on the center just above the dip, and two higher ones to the left and right of that one.

As the fight goes on, Core Crystals will sometimes fall on the stage. If a character picks them up, they can awaken a new Blade, which fights on its own until it is K.O.’ed. Rarely, a Rare Blade will be awakened, which is a bit more durable, and may have different effects on their attacks and such. For example, Floren’s Blossomfall ability will heal the one who summoned them when they get K.O.’ed. Lastly, Rare Blades that don’t fight can sometimes be seen in the background, just watching the action.



So, why Garfont Village? There are a lot of memorable locations in Alrest, so why not a traveling stage? Well, even if putting together the various areas of Alrest was feasible, going to them all is probably not. Argentum Trade Guild, Garfont, Leftheria, Temperantia, Mor Ardain, and Indol would likely be fine, but Uraya and Tantal would be very difficult to include due to their location being inside their respective titans. I’d be fine with not including Tantal (and I probably wouldn’t include Temperantia either), but Uraya is a very important titan, and I don’t think it should be left out of a traveling stage.

But isn’t Uraya a bit far into the game though? Why not use Gormot? Well, that’s for a few reasons. The first is that it would be yet another grassland stage, and the fact that is somewhat resembles Guar Plain doesn’t help. Rex would already draw comparisons to Shulk for various reasons, so I’d like the stage to at least consist of iconography that hasn’t been seen in Super Smash Bros. before. The second is that I’d argue that Garfont Village is the most important town in the game. It’s home to Vandham, who is the catalyst for some of Rex’s character development, and it’s also tied to the Merc Group mechanic, which is a pretty major mechanic in the game. You’ll be coming back quite often. The third and least valid reason is that Garfont Village looks like this:
View attachment 298901
Isn’t it pretty?

Spoiler: Potential Pallet Swaps

• Rex & Pyra/Mythra: Rex is a young man in with predominantly blue apparel inspired by old timey scuba divers. Pyra is a girl with predominantly red coloring on her clothing, and Mythra has a predominantly dress and shoes, with black leggings.
• White and Blue: Rex’s outfit is predominantly white with blue and black trim, and Pyra and Mythra follow suit, gaining beautiful blue hair and eyes. This is a reference to Pyra’s Blue Sky outfit…and nothing else…
• Black and Green: Rex’s outfit is predominantly black with green trim, and Pyra and Mythra follow suit, gaining purple hair. This is a reference to Mythra’s Carbon outfit.
• Yellow: Rex’s outfit becomes Yellow, and his hair turns white. Pyra and Mythra gain white clothing with a blue trim. This is a reference to Nia and Dromarch, Rex’s first permanent party members.
• Green: Rex’s outfit mostly becomes two different shades of green. His skin turns dark brown, and his hair turns grey. Pyra and Mythra take on a much more orangy color pallet. This is a reference to Vandham and Roc, the two party members that Rex was closest to.
• Red: Rex’s outfit becomes predominantly red, and Pyra and Mythra swap pallets. This is mostly a reference to Pyra and Mythra’s pallet swap costumes. There’s no real connection for Rex.
• Brown: Rex’s outfit becomes predominantly brown, and Pyra and Mythra wear a Gormotti outfit over their clothes. This is a reference to the generic salvager color pallet, and Pyra’s disguise.

Spoiler: Classic Mode Route: Battle of Rare Blades

• Cloud (Midgar)
• Roy (Castle Siege)
• Meta Knight (Halberd)
• Ike (Coliseum)
• Link & Toon Link (Great Plateau Tower)
• Marth, Chrom, & Lucina (Arena Ferox)
• Bonus
• Shulk (Final Destination)

This is more just a fun theme than anything else. Said theme being legendary swords from throughout the series. This theme is a lot like Roy’s, but Rex wouldn’t be the first DLC character to reuse a theme so I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I would have liked to make the theme about Rex’s path to Elysium, but I haven’t finished the game so I don’t know how that would end…

Spoiler: Music

This one is much easier to find the musical choices for. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a great soundtrack. I haven’t played Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country, so I’m not sure what music should be pulled from that game, but I made sure to include at least two tracks.

• Garfont Mercenaries(Remix)
  • The theme of Garfont Village. Probably the most important town in the game.
• Battle!!
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s regular Battle Theme. I have no idea why this wasn’t added with the other two songs in base but eh.
• You Will Recall Our Names
  • The Unique Monster theme…sort of. Some of them have different ones for some reason.
• Counterattack
  • The big cutscene song like Engage the Enemy before it. This one is a criminal omission from the base game.
• Incoming!
  • Probably best known as Mòrag’s battle theme, but it does play more often than that.
• Monster Surprised You
  • Oddly enough, this is just a story encounter/boss theme. The game doesn't have a "you got jumped" theme like Xenoblade Chronicles X does.
• Gormott
  • The theme of the first major titan.
• Torigoth
  • The theme of the first major titan’s village.
• Eye of Shining Justice(Remix)
  • Zeke’s theme. I bet they could make this one super funky. Like, more than it already is.
• War and Peace(Remix)
  • The Merc Group theme. It’s quite pretty.
• Mor Ardain
  • The theme of the titan with the dumbest story arc. The Theme of Mor Ardain, a titan that is a pretty big centerpiece of the brewing war.
• Tiger! Tiger! Medley(Remix)
  • Tiger! Tiger! is something that players will be held against their will keep coming back to in order to upgrade Poppi. The linked track is the level theme.
• Battle!! (Torna)
  • The main battle theme from the Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country…I think. I quite like it.
• Kingdom of Torna(Remix)
  • The theme for Torna, which I assume is the most important titan of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country.

Spoiler: Spirit Board

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 already has a handful of spirits that would go here. The ones without explanation are already there (except Poppi α because she doesn’t have a Spirit Battle), and the Rex, Pyra, and Mythra spirits aren’t on it because they’re playable.

• Nia (Ace)
• Dromarch (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Fox and a Nia Mii on Guar Plain. Healing Sprouts appear frequently, and Fox is distracted by them. Battle!! plays for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Critical Healing.
• Torra (Advanced)
• Poppi α (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a brown Mega Man that shields a lot alongside an orange Kirby that starts with a Drill. The battle takes place on Great Bay, and Torigoth plays during it.
• Mòrag (Novice)
• Brighid (Novice)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle purple female Corrin on Gerudo Valley. The floor is lava, and Incoming! plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Fire & Explosion Attack Up.
• Zeke (Novice)
• Pandoria (Novice)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a purple Zelda and a blue Ike. Bob-ombs rain from the sky on intervals, but they can only hit Zelda and Ike. Eye of Shining Justice plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Electric Attack Up.
• Vandham (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a grey Ryu, and a golden Pit on Garfont Village. There are no special happenings, and the music that plays is Garfont Mercenaries.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit. Is Defense Type, and has 3 slots.
• Roc (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a golden Pit on Garfont Village as winds blow through. The music that plays is War and Peace.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Wind immunity.
• Lora (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a red Lucina who starts the battle with a Freezie on Midgar. Battle!! (Torna) plays for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Causes you to start the battle with a Freezie.
• Fan La Norne (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Palutena and a red Lucina on Spear Pillar with a fast Final Smash meter. Kingdom of Torna plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Support Spirit. Grants Jam FS Charge.
• Jin (Advanced)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle Cloud, who’s speed goes way up after a bit. Counterattack plays for this battle.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit. Is Neutral Type, has 2 slots, and raises your speed.
• Praetor Amaltus (Ace)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a white Marth on Kalos Pokémon League while random Assist Trophies keep spawning. Destroyed Skyworld is the music for this fight.
  • Effect: Primary Spirit: Is Neutral Type, and has 3 slots.
• Malos (Legend)
  • Spirit Battle: You battle a black Shulk with the power of his Monado Arts increased on Unova Pokémon League. Incoming! is the music for this fight.
  • Effect: Support Spirit: Grants the Shackle FS ability, which stops opposing Final Smashes from being used while you have yours ready.

Cool character writeup. I've been working on a lotn of fan movesets, I even did one for Steve before he got in and it's interesting to compare what I thought we'd get vs. what we actually got.

 

[Minimilk]

Hey. Toad for smash

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

Hey. Toad for smash

*Lets out a sad Waaaahhhhh

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

how long usually is the wait between a character drop and one of these videos?

Usually right after the presentation.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Usually right after the presentation.

Hmmm... here it’s a WHOLE ASS MONTH LATER. very strange...

 

[SharkLord]

Hmmm... here it’s a WHOLE ASS MONTH LATER. very strange...

Sephiroth forced the devs to release him early just to spite Cloud at the Game Awards

 

[cashregister9]

Clearly this means that Zach's the next FF character who'll be DLC in Smash 6

Finally. Cloud but interesting

 

[Otoad64]

would a gen 8 pokemon be worth it if it means pokefloats returns?

 

[XorahnGaia]

Hmmm... here it’s a WHOLE ASS MONTH LATER. very strange...

The video was actually uploaded right after the Sephiroth presentation just like any other trailer, but now they re-uploaded it again after deleting the first video.
The only difference between the videos seems to be that new one doesn't feature the "FINAL FANTASY VII" logo, just the "FINAL FANTASY" one.


This won't stop some Geno fans from making conspiracy theories about this (being gaslighted into always over-thinking any stuff related to their precious puppet by click-baiting YouTubers and fake insiders for over a year will do that anyone I suppose), but still thought it was important to make things clear.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

I just want English voice acting for the two ****ers. Why is that so hard?

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

The video was actually uploaded right after the Sephiroth presentation just like any other trailer, but now they re-uploaded it again after deleting the first video.
The only difference between the videos seems to be that new one doesn't feature the "FINAL FANTASY VII" logo, just the "FINAL FANTASY" one.


This won't stop some Geno fans from making conspiracy theories about this (being gaslighted into always over-thinking any stuff related to their precious puppet by click-baiting YouTubers and fake insiders for over a year will do that anyone I suppose), but still thought it was important to make things clear.

It apparently won't stop people from randomly making pointed implications about fanbases just because they can either.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I just want English voice acting for the two ****ers. Why is that so hard?

Because Nintendo is a tiny company who can't afford union VAs, after all, they'd go bankrupt if someone played Mother 3 on an emulator or if Breath of the Wild got a price lower than 70 bucks.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

The video was actually uploaded right after the Sephiroth presentation just like any other trailer, but now they re-uploaded it again after deleting the first video.
The only difference between the videos seems to be that new one doesn't feature the "FINAL FANTASY VII" logo, just the "FINAL FANTASY" one.

The whole thing is very strange. As far as I know, Final Fantasy VII has never been rated M, so the fact that they're having issues with age rating stuff here is really quite odd.

I just want English voice acting for the two ****ers. Why is that so hard?

"Because then we'd have to deal with, ugh, union actors."

-Nintendo, probably.​

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

The lack of Voice acting for FF characters is so annoying. Especially Sephiroth, his English VA is haunting.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

was this discussed yet?

Visiblement la playlist Nintendo Direct japonaise a été mise à jour. Après ça peut être lié à Monster Hunter, mais pas sur pic.twitter.com/9DTK1MFp78

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) January 9, 2021

in english:

Kelios: The Japanese Nintendo Direct playlist has visibly been updated. It might be linked to Monster Hunter Rise, but I'm not sure. Alerts: Multiple sources are certain we'll have information soon. Maybe even some hardware. Fab: Software AND Hardware? Or one of the two? Alerts: I've got hardware info, but it seems logical that software would follow. Fab: Alright, thank you. Hype. Alerts: It's maybe time to bring out a Zelda console, maybe of the new model or the current one. Alerts: I got the same messages when I announced the Lite. I don't think I need to prove anything again. In every case the near future will tell us, Monday or Tuesday maybe.

 

[Louie G.]

So the theory is that Sakurai's making a DMC5 reference to allude to Dante getting in, like the POTD of the clocks alluding to Crash Bandicoot. No I don't believe this but I thought on bringing it up anyway.

What people fail to recognize is that Sakurai has referenced MANY games in POTD. Crash and Dante (and Sora) see the most discussion because they're community frontrunners. Meanwhile though, when Sakurai referenced Puyo Puyo and Darkstalkers I took notice because those are two of my favorites. Most people didn't, though.

Sakurai is a man who likes video games and likes cheekily referencing video games. Which is to say I don't think it has much of an impact on a character's chances one way or another, aside from acknowledging that at least Sakurai knows who they are. Even though this one and the Crash one are... pretty vague, this one is especially a stretch while at least Crash's linked up perfectly with the N. Tropies' clocks in official renders or something.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

What people fail to recognize is that Sakurai has referenced MANY games in POTD. Crash and Dante (and Sora) see the most discussion because they're community frontrunners. Meanwhile though, when Sakurai referenced Puyo Puyo and Darkstalkers I took notice because those are two of my favorites. Most people didn't, though.

Sakurai is a man who likes video games and likes cheekily referencing video games. Which is to say I don't think it has much of an impact on a character's chances one way or another, aside from acknowledging that at least Sakurai knows who they are. Even though this one and the Crash one are... pretty vague, this one is especially a stretch while at least Crash's linked up perfectly with the N. Tropies' clocks in official renders or something.

Hold up when did he reference darkstalkers???

 

[CannonStreak]

"Because then we'd have to deal with, ugh, union actors."
-Nintendo, probably.

Who was that one guy who ran Nintendo before Iwata? The guy who, as I have been told, disliked unions? Why still carry out his ways when he is gone? I know about honoring someone, but it's not like he was that great of a guy, anyway, right?

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

It’s worth noting that Square has also loosened up on their copyrights when it comes to Smash maybe?
At launch and up to this point, this is at the bottom of Cloud’s character page:

While Sephiroth’s character page is devoid of it:

Probably nothing but I thought it was interesting nonetheless because there’s been rumors for a while that Square and Nintendo have struggled with their content.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

As far as a potential video presentation I wouldn't be surprised if we got either a Partner Showcase or some kind of game reveal this week. Plus something detailing Super Mario 3D World for Switch is due any time now.

 

[Louie G.]

Hold up when did he reference darkstalkers???

https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1220541858310307841?s=20

It's not exactly a sure thing, but I feel like there's just as much similarity here as any of the other POTD references that people freaked out about lmao.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

The lack of Voice acting for FF characters is so annoying. Especially Sephiroth, his English VA is haunting.

Same guy who voices Superman, Injustice Superman especially.

Injustice Superman vs. Sephiroth would be a legit fight to see. Two fallen heroes that were looked up to that fell from grace.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Square Enix trademarks Ever Crisis, The First Soldier, and Shinra logo in Japan https://t.co/cGVG92tGR1 pic.twitter.com/2jRiDmivrd

— Gematsu (@gematsu) January 11, 2021

Clearly this means that Zach's the next FF character who'll be DLC in Smash 6

ECHO FIGHTER!!

 

[Dinoman96]

The lack of English VAs for Cloud/Sephiroth probably has to do with Nintendo being really anal about using union VAs, and SE obviously not wanting anyone else voicing them.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

I do wonder why they’re so specifically against Union VAs. Were the FFVII Remake cast unionized?

 

[CannonStreak]

I do wonder why they’re so specifically against Union VAs. Were the FFVII Remake cast unionized?

Apparently the guy who ran NIntendo before Iwata was heavily against unions. Since he is gone, I don't know why they would continue with those policies after he left, other than possibly honoring his word or something.