Geno (♥♪!?): Return of the Starsend Savior

[MisterMike]

What do you guys think Geno's character title would be on the Boxing Ring stage?

"Me When I Wake Up"

 

[Franco Geno]

"Me When I Wake Up"

"Morning Wood"

 

[Spatulo]

What do you guys think Geno's character title would be on the Boxing Ring stage?

Could just be ♪!?

 

[Griselda]

What do you guys think Geno's character title would be on the Boxing Ring stage?

'Agent From Above'.

 

[Deleted member]

Oh damn, I just realized that we can post images again! Finally I can post some memes!
Okay, so this first one was made as a reply to a comment by @Tomasagaz14

View attachment 253622

This second one was made because @Serenade01 said they don't want Miyamoto anywhere near Super Mario RPG because they don't want him turning Geno into a toad.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... Genoad.
View attachment 253624

A bold artistic vision, but I'm thinking Geno the Toad would look something like this

 

[catsforlife1]

A bold artistic vision, but I'm thinking Geno the Toad would look something like this
View attachment 253637

Jesus that looks amazing. Such a detailed and creative design. You are a really talented artist

 

[ChoccyStar]

A bold artistic vision, but I'm thinking Geno the Toad would look something like this
View attachment 253637

Gee-no thanks.

 

[nessdeltarune00]

Saw a couple of posts back about Fatman thinking Waluigi could be 6.


I’m not going to believe Waluigi being a playable character (or any assist trophy for that matter) until I see it with my own eyes.

 

[catsforlife1]

Saw a couple of posts back about Fatman thinking Waluigi could be 6.


I’m not going to believe Waluigi being a playable character (or any assist trophy for that matter) until I see it with my own eyes.

That was speculation. I would not worry about that until something else pops up for him. Even tho its not likely.

 

[Griselda]

I don't see any problem with Waluigi. I certainly don't think he really affects Geno's chances much either way.

 

[MisterMike]

A bold artistic vision, but I'm thinking Geno the Toad would look something like this
View attachment 253637

Oh, so all Toads look alike to you, eh? RACIST!

 

[Giga Kaiju]

An interesting point to bring up is the following. Would Geno be considered a Mario rep or would he be considered part of it's "own series" with his "own symbol"? You know, the one that it's his name as letters.

I feel like it could go either way considering that he is a Third Party technically.

.

 

[Griselda]

An interesting point to bring up is the following. Would Geno be considered a Mario rep or would he be considered part of it's "own series" with his "own symbol"? You know, the one that it's his name as letters.

I feel like it could go either way considering that he is a Third Party technically.

.

Don't he and Mallow have the Mario symbol on their spirits?

 

[Giga Kaiju]

Now that you mention it, yes. Its just that it seems odd that he is considered as part of a First Party series but is technically a Third Party and gets added as part of the First Party group of characters as playable while also being a Third Party.

.

 

[TheCJBrine]

I think Geno should be considered a Mario character in Smash, just like his spirit; while he’s owned by a third party, he’s still part of the Mario franchise, after all.

 

[MisterMike]

An interesting point to bring up is the following. Would Geno be considered a Mario rep or would he be considered part of it's "own series" with his "own symbol"? You know, the one that it's his name as letters.

I feel like it could go either way considering that he is a Third Party technically.

.

He's a Kirby character, true facts.

 

[Malo Mart]

I feel like DK, Wario and Yoshi set a precedent for Mario sub-series being their own universe in Smash, so Geno and SMRPG following that trend wouldn't be too farfetched in my opinion.

... buuuuut his and Mallow's Spirits still appear as part of the Mario series and their icon is a Mushroom, same with all Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi content in the game, so maybe never mind. There goes my plans of correcting people who complain that we have too many Mario reps by saying "akshuely, Geno technically isn't one lol"...

 

[P47]

What do you guys think Geno's character title would be on the Boxing Ring stage?

The Shooting Star

 

[Ze Diglett]

I feel like DK, Wario and Yoshi set a precedent for Mario sub-series being their own universe in Smash, so Geno and SMRPG following that trend wouldn't be too farfetched in my opinion.

... buuuuut his and Mallow's Spirits still appear as part of the Mario series and their icon is a Mushroom, same with all Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi content in the game, so maybe never mind. There goes my plans of correcting people who complain that we have too many Mario reps by saying "akshuely, Geno technically isn't one lol"...

People who genuinely ***** about having too many Mario reps can shove it. Oh no, the mascot of Nintendo and literal face of gaming as a medium is vying for the most representation in this primarily Nintendo-focused mascot fighter. Oh me, oh my...
It's even funnier because most of the people who complain about stuff like that are salty Fire Emblem fans who are just trying to be contrarian.

 

[3DSNinja]

The Star Sent Saviour sound s like a good title.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

People who genuinely ***** about having too many Mario reps can shove it. Oh no, the mascot of Nintendo and literal face of gaming as a medium is vying for the most representation in this primarily Nintendo-focused mascot fighter. Oh me, oh my...
It's even funnier because most of the people who complain about stuff like that are salty Fire Emblem fans who are just trying to be contrarian.

The great thing with the Mario series is also that it just has so many characters that can make for great additions, it has one of the strongest casts out there. Like, even past Geno there’s still Waluigi, Toad, Paper Mario, and probably more that I’m forgetting, and that’s not accounting for more left field additions akin to Dr. Mario or Piranha Plant. It’s only a good thing that we’re getting so many characters from the series, and not just because it's basically the video game franchise.

 

[Deleted member]

Okay, this is definitely not Geno in Smash related, but it IS SMRPG related. I would have posted this in the Operation Starfall thread.. but it's dead, to be honest.

I have an idea of an accessibility romhack for SMRPG. The general idea of it is to reduce the flashing effects the original game has.
For example, head over to a Save Block anywhere in the game and you'll notice the issue I've been having. It's rainbow-coloured, and sprite movement is overall quick. It's very hard to look at.

I have a strong aversion to lights like that, nothing epileptic but it's very difficult to keep my eyes fixated on it.
My aversion is bad enough to a point where I have to play the Marx boss battle or the SNES/64 Rainbow Roads on MK8D on greyscale. They actually made N64 Rainbow Road much worse to look at because they changed it from a rainbow-appearance to a checkered appearance. Again, it's hard to look at. The fact that I have to manually change the Switch colour to greyscale is an issue. I have no other issues with other tracks, primarily just the pre-Double Dash Rainbow Roads. The effects on ones like the Wii and 7 versions are much easier on the eyes.

It would basically be patched over the PAL Romhack found here: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4497/
Which itself is a romhack of a romhack, changing the 50Hz back to 60Hz: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2363/

Nintendo has actually been really good with this with their NES/SNES Classic and NES/SNES Online. They've reduced the seizure-inducing effects a lot, and they're actually playable for me. SMRPG was made in this era where it was just acceptable to go all out with flashing lights. Star Fox, Link to the Past, Super Metroid.. they all had this flashing light issue.

To see what I mean, compare the intro of the SNES Link to the Past to the re-releases:

Old:

As you can see, as the Master Sword lands it creates a very fast flicker of blue and red lights akin to the Porygon incident.

New:

Now look at the effect. Now it flickers green. It definitely isn't seizure-inducing like the original.

So overall, that's an idea I had. I want to basically do the same for SMRPG. Unfortunately, I suck at romhacking, so if there are romhackers, please do take me up on my offer. Or at least people that can reduce this rainbow effect, like slow the sprite speed by half. I've been playing SMRPG and it's hard to play when I try to save because I keep having to look away from the screen. It's like I have to position Mario just right. I shouldn't have to do that at all.

It would really ease up my playthrough, and may help others with the same problem I have with old games and excessive seizure-inducing flickers.

 

[Dynamic Worlok]

I've been giving some thought to the whole "they might be holding off geno's mii costume to release later on" issue, and I wanted to weigh in with my two cents.
Let's look at the details:
-Joker indeed did not come with Jacky or Akira, which they did indeed save to release with terry, since they're both fighting game characters.

Going by this, it stands to reason that they might wait to release Geno with a JRPG Char-

Oh...

Let's be honest, even given the jacky and akira situation, it still made zero sense to not release it with Hero as it's:
1.) The same genre and style of game (Turn-based JRPG)
2.) The same parent company (Square-Enix) (And no, I don't subscribe to that whole "This was only for the enix side of square-enix, theory)

The only other situation I could see them holding off release of geno in this manner is if they release him with another mario character. So let's watch out and see if waluigi gets un-snowglobed.

Now I know what you're all thinking: "But Dyna, if you think them holding off on geno's costume means he's getting upgraded, surely that also means you think Chocobo is likely to be upgraded as well"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA INCORRECT! There's absolutely no way in hell that the bird is getting a playable incarnation before any of the absolute wealth of protagonists and antagonists in the Final Fantasy series. There's no way it's getting in before even sephiroth. You can quote me on this, and if I'm wrong, I'll eat crow and apologize.

Now I know what else you're all thinking:
"But Dyna, what if they just release him with a different square character?"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I mean, maybe... But it would still make absolutely zero sense to not just release it with hero. Unless there was somehow some weird rights issue with obtaining the costume by that point, which I doubt, considering how Sakurai noted just how easy square was to work with.

The only real issue I foresee is if Waluigi gets un-snowglobed and they drop geno with him, being as they're both mario characters. Which is absolutely a possibility, but not one I'm putting too much stock in.

Anyhow, that's my post, take it as you will.

 

[Griselda]

Geno is a Mario character, sure, but I personally feel that he's way too different and separated from Waluigi for it to make much sense for his costume to come with him. It'd be like Waluigi coming with a costume of Knucklotec from Odyssey. Technically from the same series, but still a weird pairing.

 

[KoopaSaki]

I don't see any problem with Waluigi. I certainly don't think he really affects Geno's chances much either way.

The best part is that opens the door for Isaac! I really hope that future comes true where both geno and Isaac can share the battlefield (as playable characters of course)

 

[Kevinhend]

So overall, that's an idea I had. I want to basically do the same for SMRPG. Unfortunately, I suck at romhacking, so if there are romhackers, please do take me up on my offer. Or at least people that can reduce this rainbow effect, like slow the sprite speed by half. I've been playing SMRPG and it's hard to play when I try to save because I keep having to look away from the screen. It's like I have to position Mario just right. I shouldn't have to do that at all.

It would really ease up my playthrough, and may help others with the same problem I have with old games and excessive seizure-inducing flickers.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't they actually tone down Super Mario RPG when it got a Virtual Console release?
I know they at least toned down stuff like the Flame Wall attack. Or are you suggesting to go even further than that?

 

[Deleted member]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't they actually tone down Super Mario RPG when it got a Virtual Console release?
I know they at least toned down stuff like the Flame Wall attack. Or are you suggesting to go even further than that?

Even further. https://tcrf.net/Super_Mario_RPG:_Legend_of_the_Seven_Stars#Virtual_Console_Changes
While this does include Flame Wall and Static-E!, it doesn't include objects like the Save Block. Those are equally as difficult to look at, IMO. Especially when that block is appearing in nearly every part of the game. Seems that for the SNES Classic they just carried over the Virtual Console changes.

Going back to my previous post, the PAL romhack I linked is basically the definitive way to play SMRPG. Though I'm not a fan of the title font change. Toadstool is now Peach, battle button colours/Bowyer's button colours now reflect the PAL/SFC colours (I find that much more appealing than the US colours) Bowser's victory animation from the JP version is restored, et cetera. All of these changes are perfect, and work much better - but the only problem is that none of these changes are in the Virtual Console/SNES Classic re-releases.

Ideally I want that romhack and the accessibility hack to be combined to make a more definitive way to play SMRPG that's accessible for everybody. A lot of older games are much more difficult to play simply because of the excessive seizure-inducing effects that were a staple of the time. SMRPG has a tendency to use strong light effects, particularly with more of the flashy special moves. It's like when lightning strikes near you and you get that strong white light in your eyes that almost blinds you. That's pretty much the standard for all NES/SNES games, including SMRPG.

I know some people won't agree with this, but I think a few other things could be toned down too, more specifically the rainbow colours. The stars that appear when you hit an enemy. Do they really have to be rainbow-coloured? I get what they were going for, but why not just have them yellow like other Mario games?

These are things that just really bug me, and it does hurt my eyes looking at them, especially when they happen so fast. Geno Blast's could definitely be toned down. It's a great move, but the rainbow effect does hurt to look at when it's flashing all at once. If they coloured it like Geno Beam, it would be easier on the eyes.

A lot of this just takes me out of the experience. I don't want to have to play this game in greyscale to continue playing like I do with the Marx battle and RR because the colours are way too flashy for my eyes.

Earthbound had this very same problem with it's moves. It's too over the top. Like, just look at this:
((WARNING: Seizure-inducing))

Zelda 2's game over screen is a PRIME EXAMPLE of what I'm trying to point out. Christ, that WILL give you a seizure.

 

[Dynamic Worlok]

Even further. https://tcrf.net/Super_Mario_RPG:_Legend_of_the_Seven_Stars#Virtual_Console_Changes
While this does include Flame Wall and Static-E!, it doesn't include objects like the Save Block. Those are equally as difficult to look at, IMO. Especially when that block is appearing in nearly every part of the game. Seems that for the SNES Classic they just carried over the Virtual Console changes.

Going back to my previous post, the PAL romhack I linked is basically the definitive way to play SMRPG. Though I'm not a fan of the title font change. Toadstool is now Peach, battle button colours/Bowyer's button colours now reflect the PAL/SFC colours (I find that much more appealing than the US colours) Bowser's victory animation from the JP version is restored, et cetera. None of these are in the Virtual Console/SNES Classic re-releases.

Ideally I want that romhack and the accessibility hack to be combined to make a more definitive way to play SMRPG that's accessible for everybody. A lot of older games are much more difficult to play simply because of the excessive seizure-inducing effects that were a staple of the time. SMRPG has a tendency to use strong light effects, particularly with more of the flashy special moves. It's like when lightning strikes near you and you get that strong white light in your eyes that almost blinds you. That's pretty much the standard for all NES/SNES games, including SMRPG.

I know some people won't agree with this, but I think a few other things could be toned down too, more specifically the rainbow colours. The stars that appear when you hit an enemy. Do they really have to be rainbow-coloured? I get what they were going for, but why not just have them yellow like other Mario games?

These are things that just really bug me, and it does hurt my eyes looking at them, especially when they happen so fast. Geno Blast's could definitely be toned down. It's a great move, but the rainbow effect does hurt to look at when it's flashing all at once. If they coloured it like Geno Beam, it would be easier on the eyes.

A lot of this just takes me out of the experience. I don't want to have to play this game in greyscale to continue playing like I do with the Marx battle and RR because the colours are way too flashy for my eyes.

Earthbound had this very same problem with it's moves. It's too over the top. Like, just look at this:
https://earthboundcentral.com/2013/05/mother-2-wii-u-animation-changes/

I think this could be resolved by having an alternate option for those with photosensitive epilepsy. Personally, I really like a lot of the rainbow effects, but I understand where you're coming from. for me, one of the big offenders is corona.

 

[Deleted member]

I think this could be resolved by having an alternate option for those with photosensitive epilepsy. Personally, I really like a lot of the rainbow effects, but I understand where you're coming from. for me, one of the big offenders is corona.

Exactly. That's why I proposed a romhack. The point of it is that it's optional, I'm not expecting these changes to be in the re-release of SMRPG if it does ever end up on SNES Online. I do understand that people like the rainbow effects, but personally they're just hard to look at and it really does affect my experience.
And yeah, Corona is an issue. Basically any move that has that strobe effect has got to be either slowed, or removed entirely.

 

[Franco Geno]

Good morning everyone, how is it going fellow Genobros?

 

[OffBi]

Good morning everyone, how is it going fellow Genobros?

Nothing much

 

[Franco Geno]

Nothing much

Same, just talking with you my dudes

 

[egaddmario]

So, this is just my own theory, but I believe Geno would get his own icon, as would a playable Waluigi. The only reason I feel this way is because of a weird precedent with Wario. It just feels weird if 3 of the 4 "Mario Bros" used the mushroom and Wario used his W. For that reason, I think if Waluigi became playable, he would use the upside down L. In the same vein, I could see Geno getting a shooting star or maybe his heart and music notes as a symbol to differential him from the Mario series, as he's a third-party Mario character. That way, they could leave their spirits and assist trophy, respectively, as is and just make them new additions.

 

[Dynamic Worlok]

So, this is just my own theory, but I believe Geno would get his own icon, as would a playable Waluigi. The only reason I feel this way is because of a weird precedent with Wario. It just feels weird if 3 of the 4 "Mario Bros" used the mushroom and Wario used his W. For that reason, I think if Waluigi became playable, he would use the upside down L. In the same vein, I could see Geno getting a shooting star or maybe his heart and music notes as a symbol to differential him from the Mario series, as he's a third-party Mario character. That way, they could leave their spirits and assist trophy, respectively, as is and just make them new additions.

Wario makes sense, as he, like yoshi, has his own series of spin off games in the Mario Canon. Thus warranting his own logo. Geno, however does not, and would almost certainly come with the Mario logo.
Considering waluigi almost exclusively appears in Mario party (the genre, not the series) games, I think it's fair to guess that he'd have the mushroom logo, too. Or, failing that, the wario logo

 

[Tonberry2k]

'Agent From Above'.

"Serves a Higher Authority."

 

[Kevinhend]

I think both Geno and Waluigi would have the mushroom icon, I just think they'd have unique / different victory music.
With Geno getting a special song unique to him (like Rosalina) and Waluigi getting the one Bowser has.

 

[wynn728]

I've been giving some thought to the whole "they might be holding off geno's mii costume to release later on" issue, and I wanted to weigh in with my two cents.
Let's look at the details:
-Joker indeed did not come with Jacky or Akira, which they did indeed save to release with terry, since they're both fighting game characters.

Going by this, it stands to reason that they might wait to release Geno with a JRPG Char-
View attachment 253675
Oh...

Let's be honest, even given the jacky and akira situation, it still made zero sense to not release it with Hero as it's:
1.) The same genre and style of game (Turn-based JRPG)
2.) The same parent company (Square-Enix) (And no, I don't subscribe to that whole "This was only for the enix side of square-enix, theory)

The only other situation I could see them holding off release of geno in this manner is if they release him with another mario character. So let's watch out and see if waluigi gets un-snowglobed.

Now I know what you're all thinking: "But Dyna, if you think them holding off on geno's costume means he's getting upgraded, surely that also means you think Chocobo is likely to be upgraded as well"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA INCORRECT! There's absolutely no way in hell that the bird is getting a playable incarnation before any of the absolute wealth of protagonists and antagonists in the Final Fantasy series. There's no way it's getting in before even sephiroth. You can quote me on this, and if I'm wrong, I'll eat crow and apologize.

Now I know what else you're all thinking:
"But Dyna, what if they just release him with a different square character?"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I mean, maybe... But it would still make absolutely zero sense to not just release it with hero. Unless there was somehow some weird rights issue with obtaining the costume by that point, which I doubt, considering how Sakurai noted just how easy square was to work with.

The only real issue I foresee is if Waluigi gets un-snowglobed and they drop geno with him, being as they're both mario characters. Which is absolutely a possibility, but not one I'm putting too much stock in.

Anyhow, that's my post, take it as you will.

Or maybe Sakurai and Square Enix only wanted Dragon Quest content attach to Hero's release.

Look back at all three showcases (and somewhat Joker's trailer)
You had Banjo's moves shown off with Mario and a test battle between Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, then ended with a bunch of random Mii Costume
Terry's moves were shown off with Ryu and went over all of Classic Mode that had many different characters, then ended with Mii Costume that weren't all from Fatal Fury (Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting, King of Fighters, and Virtua Fighter)
Joker's video ended with Mii Costumes from Persona and Sonic.
Hero tested his moves out against Hero and a test match against Hero, then ended with Mii Costume from the Dragon Quest series.

Looking at this pattern (which is kind of important since these were made very close together) it seems like Hero should've tested his moves out against Cloud, since bother are main JRPG series from Square Enix. Sakurai even mention it was a little hard to test out Hero's moves against Hero because of the shield, so for convinces Cloud would've been a good character to use, especially for the crossover theme.

It's not unlikely that Square Enix asked for Hero's showcase to only feature the Dragon Quest series as much as possible. We have seen that Square Enix is really strict with a lot of their IPs, with no original artwork to be used for Cloud's Spirit and how limited the music is from both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest in Smash Bros. Hero was put in definitely with the idea of promoting Dragon Quest XI S and the series as a whole in the west (which is why it was shown at E3 and why they kept mention Smash Bros anytime they brought up DQXIS) so it make sense that they would only want Hero and Dragon Quest be the sole focus in his showcase video.

 

[Dynamic Worlok]

Or maybe Sakurai and Square Enix only wanted Dragon Quest content attach to Hero's release.

Look back at all three showcases (and somewhat Joker's trailer)
You had Banjo's moves shown off with Mario and a test battle between Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, then ended with a bunch of random Mii Costume
Terry's moves were shown off with Ryu and went over all of Classic Mode that had many different characters, then ended with Mii Costume that weren't all from Fatal Fury (Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting, King of Fighters, and Virtua Fighter)
Joker's video ended with Mii Costumes from Persona and Sonic.
Hero tested his moves out against Hero and a test match against Hero, then ended with Mii Costume from the Dragon Quest series.

Looking at this pattern (which is kind of important since these were made very close together) it seems like Hero should've tested his moves out against Cloud, since bother are main JRPG series from Square Enix. Sakurai even mention it was a little hard to test out Hero's moves against Hero because of the shield, so for convinces Cloud would've been a good character to use, especially for the crossover theme.

It's not unlikely that Square Enix asked for Hero's showcase to only feature the Dragon Quest series as much as possible. We have seen that Square Enix is really strict with a lot of their IPs, with no original artwork to be used for Cloud's Spirit and how limited the music is from both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest in Smash Bros. Hero was put in definitely with the idea of promoting Dragon Quest XI S and the series as a whole in the west (which is why it was shown at E3 and why they kept mention Smash Bros anytime they brought up DQXIS) so it make sense that they would only want Hero and Dragon Quest be the sole focus in his showcase video.

I'll grant you that's a fair possibility, but only that until we know more. And I'm not saying my points make him a guarantee by any stretch, but I do still think it's quite suspicious. Ultimately, I don't think square really gets to control what sakurai chooses to showcase in his game, he likely approached them with the costumes HE wanted to feature. And if we go by the assumption (very important to note that it is an assumption) that they had initially planned only one fighters pass, and had stuck to only one fighters pass, then geno absolutely would have come with hero. I mean, when it comes to showcasing Dragon quest, you already have it taking center stage with it's playable character(s) and majority of mii costumes. The average layperson who doesn't know much about any of our smash bubble stuff isn't gonna be like "Why weren't they showing more of that blue character though?" they're gonna be like "oh hey, Dragon quest looks pretty neat"

And as an added note. just because a pattern exists, doesn't necessarily mean that pattern will continue or that it means anything terribly significant beyond our theories. And this goes for my theories too, I realize (because I know it will be brought up)

 

[Firox]

So did anyone else see that LaxChris video talking about a supposed leak that says we're getting a general Nintendo Direct on Dec 31st? It claims that we're going to see some more footage of Breath of the Wild 2 along with some other upcoming games. Then it will end with the smash reveal of KOS-MOS who will be accompanied by "the DOOM and Geno mii costumes".

I'm calling total BS. DOOM is Bethseda and Geno is SE. Why the hell would those companies have their costumes come with a BAMCO rep when they could have released Geno with Hero? Also, why on New Years? Having a Direct on that day seems really weird. Why not wait until the first solid week of January when everyone is back from vacation? This just sounds like some mouth breather's attempt to sweep Cacomallow under the rug. Not buying it.

 

[wynn728]

I'll grant you that's a fair possibility, but only that until we know more. And I'm not saying my points make him a guarantee by any stretch, but I do still think it's quite suspicious. Ultimately, I don't think square really gets to control what sakurai chooses to showcase in his game, he likely approached them with the costumes HE wanted to feature. And if we go by the assumption (very important to note that it is an assumption) that they had initially planned only one fighters pass, and had stuck to only one fighters pass, then geno absolutely would have come with hero. I mean, when it comes to showcasing Dragon quest, you already have it taking center stage with it's playable character(s) and majority of mii costumes. The average layperson who doesn't know much about any of our smash bubble stuff isn't gonna be like "Why weren't they showing more of that blue character though?" they're gonna be like "oh hey, Dragon quest looks pretty neat"

And as an added note. just because a pattern exists, doesn't necessarily mean that pattern will continue or that it means anything terribly significant beyond our theories. And this goes for my theories too, I realize (because I know it will be brought up)

While Square Enix definitely didn't have control over the showcase they did have to sign off on a lot of it with negotiations. Each party had to come to an agreement with their demands, and most likely when Sakurai was telling SE about how they were going to show off the character is where they suggest to only have it be Dragon Quest characters. We seen that other companies do play a major role on how decisions are made, such how there couldn't be any graphic fatalities in Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, so the same could happen here with SE. Another scenario could be that Sakurai Enix only authorize for Geno to be a Spirit rather than a Mii Costume for Ultimate. We heard that Sakurai had difficulty on getting characters back (most likely pointing towards Cloud) and ever third party costume was removed, so it's going to be hard to tell what Square Enix was allowing. Chances are they never authorized for Geno to come back and want all efforts on Dragon Quest, or maybe Sakurai had plans for Geno. There's a lot of moving parts in this and it's hard to say that each person involve have always made smart decisions.