1. How do you like Smash 4 so far?
I absolutely love Smash 4. It is like the inverse of Melee, but still amazing. Melee was fast paced and primarily offensive, with some emphasis on defense as well. Brawl was too slow for me, and heavily favored defense over offense (not to mention it had tripping). Smash 4, to me, is like the opposite of Melee...but in a good way. It is moderately paced and primarily focuses on defensive strategies, but also employs offensive strategies as well.
Unlike Melee, however, Smash 4 is exponentially far less technical. And because of the slower pace of the game, everyone can jump in: Both casual and competitive players alike. And I really, really love that. To me, it ultimately does the best in the series when it comes to making the most amount of people happy, regardless of how they like to play the game. And something that makes the most amount of people happy is something that I will ultimately treasure and cherish more than anything else.
The fact that it is the most balanced game in the series also helps, too. Sure, there are a few problems. Such as Diddy being noticeably better than every other character, and Lucina being completely outclassed by Marth. But even if this isn't completely fixed by patches in the future, the fact still remains that you can pretty much pick any character that you like, and you have a reasonable enough chance to do well in the competitive scene with that character. Or in casual matches for that matter. This balance is the 2nd thing that appeals to me the most about this game. The third thing being custom moves, which I will cover later.
Smash 4 feels like Street Fighter 4 to me, while Melee feels like Street Fighter 3 to me. Both are amazing games, but with their own flair. And while competitive players may end up preferring Melee/Street Fighter 3, for me personally, I will always love Smash 4/Steet Fighter 4 more due to how the game feels much more balanced overall, there are more characters to pick, there are more options to diversify your characters (customs/ultras), and how the game's mechanics make it to where pretty much anyone can play and have a chance to win/be successful competitively.
2. How do you like the EVO stage selection?
Duck Hunt stage is going to cause problems for certain characters, like Little Mac (extreme example) or Ganondorf. Other than that it is an okay stage.
While I understand why Skyloft, Kongo Jungle, and Wuhu Island are banned for their music: I honestly would argue that Mario Circuit (Wii U) should be allowed.
The stage itself doesn't seem any less obtrusive than the other three stages. Though it does have problems, like the other three stages. Namely how certain areas are walk-offs (Offroad, Bridge 2, Flower Bed, Start Line sections), and how the ceiling of the Anti-Gravity section can kill you. But other than that, it's really not that bad. Skyloft has one more walk-off section than Mario Circuit does (Bridge, Plaza, Residential District, Bazaar, Isle of the Goddess sections). Wuhu Island has a few as well (Bridge, Beach, Fountain, Cliff sections). Plus, the Boat section on Wuhu Island can kill players just like how the Antigravity section's ceiling can kill players. As for Kongo Jungle, it has the barrel that can be used for stalling purposes, especially for characters with amazing recoveries.
So if people are trying to push for these three stages, I honestly don't see why Mario Circuit shouldn't be considered as well. Because, unlike those three stages, Mario Circuit doesn't have any copywriter music to warrant it to be auto-banned. So unless I am missing something completely broken about this stage, I feel as though it should be allowed.
Overall though, I am mostly fine with the EVO stage selection, beyond it lacking Mario Circuit as an optional stage.
3. How do you like the stage selection in your locals?
I don't play competitively unfortunately, as much as I would love to. So I honestly don't know.
4. What do you think about using customs?
Customs on vs Customs off environment are both viable choices for playing Smash 4 competitively. And while I prefer playing with Customs on, the choice you make is like choosing what cola you like more.
One isn't better than the other. It's like Coca-Cola vs Pepsi. Some prefer the taste of one more than the other, but they are still relatively the same thing.
Customs on allow a lot more variety when it comes to playing the game. It allows Mario to actually be extremely threatening in neutral thanks to Scalding FLUDD, and in particular it can give mid to lower-tier characters a much larger chance to shine (Palutena/Marth/Wii Fit/Bowser/Ganondorf/Charizard/Kirby/Ike/etc).
Of course, there are some problems with custom moves as well. Heavy Skull Bash's risk vs reward, Villager camping being monotonous, Kong Cyclone having super armor, Order Tackle's glitch on reflectors, and etc. Not to mention the huge pain in the *** it is to unlock the moves. Because reasons.
But ultimately, the positives that custom moves provide outweigh the negatives. And for me personally, I have a lot more fun playing with custom moves on. Though I won't look down upon anyone who prefers to not play with them. The metagames that both environments provide are equally viable in my eyes; so it's okay to just pick the one you prefer. As long as you don't look down upon someone who has a different opinion from yours in regards to picking custom moves or not.
5. What do you think about watching customs?
It is extremely fun for me, both to watch and play. For certain characters, such as Mario, the set that you pick can make your character feel like an entirely different character altogether. And with variety, comes more strategies. And it is always fun to see new strategies being employed by a wide range of players, especially competitive ones. Personally, I cannot wait for EVO simply due to it allowing custom move sets. Probably one of the things I am most hyped and excited for this year, honestly.
6. What do you think about equipment?
A fun distraction, but highly uncompetitive unlike custom moves. Unlike custom moves, there are
truly broken stuff in custom equipment. Such as making you completely invincible, carrying items, making your rolls EVEN SAFER, and a wide array of other reasons.
The biggest reason of all is how they edit stats. Offense/Defense/Speed. Because of this, there is virtually an infinite amount of "characters" you can make using this system. And because there is little to no way to predict anything, it is the bane of competitiveness by virtue alone. If you cannot predict anything due to an infinite amount of variables, then there is absolutely no way it could ever become competitive.
If custom equipment didn't change stats whatsoever, some of them COULD be considered. Such as the one that reduces landing lag. But even then, it would be best as a side event or for casual play only. Because further dividing the community beyond customs on/off would be a very unwise thing to do.
7. Do you support more patches after the next one?
Because Bandai Namco is working with Nintendo with this game, I have faith that their patches would be good. The last patch that the game had did some very sensible changes, such as increasing the Luma's respawn timer, removing "Wectoring"/vertical vectoring, buffing Ike/Shulk/Meta Knight, and other changes. So I expect future patches to be just as sensible...such as the expected Diddy nerf (who honestly needs it).
The more the merrier, I say. Especially if they do things to balance custom moves (such as Charizard's custom side B), removing dangerous glitches, and (of course) improving the overall balance of the game.
8. Do you like how 2v2 is in Smash 4?
I prefer 1v1 matches personally. 2v2 matches, especially in a customs environment, can be extremely chaotic. Definitely fun for casual matches, but doesn't really hold my interest when it comes to a competitive environment.
9. Assuming nothing huge changes, do you see yourself playing smash 4 in a year?
I've played every Smash game for as long as the timeframe between each game was released. I played Smash 64 all the way up until Melee, Melee all the way up until Brawl, Brawl all the way up until Brawl was modified into Brawl+/Balanced Brawl/Brawl Minus, then I moved on to Project M which I had the most fun with out of all of the mods, and finally I went to Smash 4. And I will probably continue to play Smash 4 up until the next potential Smash game. For many, many, many years.
But unlike previous games in the series, I can see myself playing Smash 4 and Project M for even longer. That is how much I love these two games in particular.
10. Assuming nothing changes, do you see yourself playing smash 4 in 5 years?
Sure. I don't see why not.
Besides this is sort of a silly statement anyways, since things WILL change in the future. Even if no more balance patches are released after this one, there is still the Smash Ballot and the new characters that will come along in the future.
