All in all, I cannot help but laugh at this whole experience.
More hours on this site than I spent playing Brawl.
More absurd speculation for the fun of it than I have had...since Brawl.
Characters that do not need to be justified because the only sole factor is Sakurai.
I've had a good time with all of this.
Corrin is ridiculous, and I love it. Its quite literally so infuriating that its hysterical. *This* did surprise me. And in a somewhat charming way.
I'm not ever going to have the roster I want. Brawl was damned close. This one...actually back tracked a good deal for me.
But, it doesnt matter. Its a game about mechanics, and that is why Ive always enjoyed playing Melee the most. (I recently picked it up again with friends in NYC, and damned, it was incredible. Such nostalgia with the roster, teaching one how to use advanced techniques a bit, even the unpolished charm). Melee is the best game in the series for me, and I couldn't admit that before Corrin's reveal.
Ultimately, I don't think Sakurai's intent was to utilize his initial concept, because he no longer needs to do so. In one of Source Gaming's articles, they go into a translation in which Sakurai only ever used the Nintendo IPs because he was afraid the fighting game wouldn't appeal to people on its own without recognizable IPs. Now that he knows it is successful- he doesn't need to give us characters we give a damn about. I do wish the mechanics were most fun, even casually, I think Melee is most fun. "Who cares about the characters," is something I can finally say.