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GimR Presents: Cloud Trailer In-Depth Analysis


Just over a week ago, the announcement of Final Fantasy's Cloud coming to Smash 4 took the world by storm. Most were expecting the winner of the Smash Ballot, and many were not expecting another third party representative to come so soon after Ryu's release. But what really made Cloud's announcement for many was his incredible trailer. From the iconic opening to the FF7 references, the trailer brought the hype for everybody. But for those in the competitive community, Cloud's trailer showed off many of his moves, and gave a very good look as to how he will play.

At the surface, Cloud seems like another generic swordfighter similar to Ike, with his unique Limit Break ability. But there's more than meets the eye. That's why VGBC | GimR is here to break down Cloud's trailer little by little to see his approximated frame data, possible strategies, and more!

 

Comments

Very in-depth analysis. He pointed out a few things even I failed to notice, despite having watched the trailer over a hundred times.
 
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I wonder if Cloud will lose the Limit charge if he waits too long or gets hit too much--just how Little Mac loses his KO punch if he waits too long.
 
Who did The portuguese subtítles for this video? It's really good. (interesting fact: there are non-automatic Portuguese and Spanish subtitles available)

Amazing video btw.

Edit: [The guy who made the subs is in the credits, :{P]
 
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Can we please wait until the character is released to start dissecting his move set? Seriously, this video just seems like a desperate attempt to get views. I don't want guesses as to what his moves are and what his frame data will be, I want concrete facts.
 
Can we please wait until the character is released to start dissecting his move set? Seriously, this video just seems like a desperate attempt to get views. I don't want guesses as to what his moves are and what his frame data will be, I want concrete facts.
That's the sm4sh community for ya. Really impatient. On another note, why dafuq do people keep mentioning cloud in brawl taunts? Like ni gga we already know. You don't have to repeat everything.
 
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I made my own follow up analysis for anyone interested. Covers a couple of other frame data related things that GimR missed as well as some other fine details in the trailer.

 
While nice to do, the only issue is thinking what was in the trailer is that the drama data or traits might change from what we see and the release.

Limit Break: Nintendo saw PM Lucario and said, "Shoot, that's a good idea."
Not likely.

They more likely tried ideas with limit break overall and this one stuck.
 
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**** son. I didn't know a staple fighting game mechanism was exclusive to P:M lucario. PMDT really wrote the book, huh.
While this mechanism is present in other fighting games, Nintendo seems to have taken ideas from Project M in the past. Nintendo wrote the Book of Smash, but the PMDT edited it and refined it to make it a masterpiece.
 
Props to GimR for looking into the trailer and giving us only moderately informed folks an idea of what uses Cloud's attacks look like they'll have. I gotta say I'm a little worried his moves'll be a little too slow and his nair too heavy on end lag for the surprisingly middling range he has for a swordsman (looks like he holds the Buster Sword close to him for a lot of attacks), but he also has some interesting tools in his dtilt, dsmash, uair, two spikes, and of course, his whole Limit meter.

I wonder what his niche'll be? A more defensive swordfighter with anti-air and anti-projectile-camp tools?
 
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I'm hoping so much for Cloud to be competitively viable. As a Zelda main, seeing one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite series represented is a blessing, meaning that I might have a backup that'll actually stick that I could win with.

Things to consider about his playstyle:
He has a lot of range, heavy-hitting attacks, good priority, moderate startup, slow endlag, and a laggy projectile with a big hitbox.

Thinking about all of this, I'm going to consider him a character heavy on proper spacing, with moderate zoning abilities, a good punish game, and somewhat gimmick-reliant due to Limit Breaks.

He seems like he won't be as straightforward as a lot of the other characters, but with the basic plan to get the enemy out safely and charge his Limit. I don't doubt his strength outside of his Limit Breaks, but I'm wondering what kind of buffs he'll get with them outside of knockback (so far we've seen increased distance, bigger hitboxes, and perhaps intangibility).
 
Can we please wait until the character is released to start dissecting his move set? Seriously, this video just seems like a desperate attempt to get views. I don't want guesses as to what his moves are and what his frame data will be, I want concrete facts.
Agreed. I'm all for seeing what's to come but any analysis video based on content that isn't even out yet is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. For all we know, the actual frame data can be drastically changed from what we see in the analysis once it's released.
 
personally I think its awesome how far alogn Cloud has been developed and that he wasn't leaked out like Ryu and so many others. Makes me wonder if the leaks were intentional in some way? "Well we know people are gonna read the files so lets give them something to chew on while we work on something to BLOW THIER MINDS!"
 
Near the end of the video it says "I could be wrong about so me of this stuff". Kind of a funny typo but great analysis! I can't wait for Cloud to be released.
 
That's the sm4sh community for ya. Really impatient. On another note, why dafuq do people keep mentioning cloud in brawl taunts? Like ni gga we already know. You don't have to repeat everything.
Agreed. I'm all for seeing what's to come but any analysis video based on content that isn't even out yet is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. For all we know, the actual frame data can be drastically changed from what we see in the analysis once it's released.
That's expecting a little bit too much of the internet in general tbh.

I surely doubt this is a "smash 4" community thing. Hypothetically, If it was melee/brawl/64 or hell even some other game series at all we would still have people doing speculation on every small thing they can and content producers know that this brings in the views and the KA-CHING so it will keep on being perpetuated forever.

All in all, there isn't really any way you can realistically pin this problem to a particular community or even wait for it to not happen just by asking lol
 
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Can we just talk a minute about that production quality?
I looked so clean! Well done GimR, you've earned yourself a sub.
 
I'm hoping so much for Cloud to be competitively viable. As a Zelda main, seeing one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite series represented is a blessing, meaning that I might have a backup that'll actually stick that I could win with.

Things to consider about his playstyle:
He has a lot of range, heavy-hitting attacks, good priority, moderate startup, slow endlag, and a laggy projectile with a big hitbox.

Thinking about all of this, I'm going to consider him a character heavy on proper spacing, with moderate zoning abilities, a good punish game, and somewhat gimmick-reliant due to Limit Breaks.

He seems like he won't be as straightforward as a lot of the other characters, but with the basic plan to get the enemy out safely and charge his Limit. I don't doubt his strength outside of his Limit Breaks, but I'm wondering what kind of buffs he'll get with them outside of knockback (so far we've seen increased distance, bigger hitboxes, and perhaps intangibility).
Hella late but don't worry too much. It's REALLY hard to be worth nothing on a competitive level, I'd argue the only characters you can't use are like, the ABSOLUTE worst so....

that being said he looks decent and honestly I think, going by what we know, he'll be above average.
 
awesome analysis man! cloud looks like a potential top tier character! i can't wait until he comes out in december! do you guys think he could be a shiek counter???
 
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