So, now that we're all confident that Joker will be fully revealed soon, I wanna share my own moveset concept before it becones irrelevant.
I've seen a few concepts that use SP mechanics or puppet fighters, and while the latter sounds really cool, none of them really sat right with me. Granted, my concept isn't fully developed like theirs, but I've been brainstorming it for a while. Like, a long while. Before we knew who Joker was, since it was orignally meant for Yu Narukami.
I hope you don't mind if I just dump it here.
I've seen a few concepts that use SP mechanics or puppet fighters, and while the latter sounds really cool, none of them really sat right with me. Granted, my concept isn't fully developed like theirs, but I've been brainstorming it for a while. Like, a long while. Before we knew who Joker was, since it was orignally meant for Yu Narukami.
I hope you don't mind if I just dump it here.
A key aspect of Persona 5's gameplay is exploiting enemy weaknesses, either by changing Persona or utilizing your party members' Skills. To reflect this, Joker's moveset is based around adaptability.
Joker has the ability to change Personas with his Down B. Each Persona gives him a unique set of special moves, replacing his Neutral B, Side B, and Up B. Unlike Pokemon Trainer, Joker's standard attacks do not change.
To account for his wide variety of Specials, Joker's normals are a bit on the average side, like Mario. He's not too fast or slow, and he doesn't particularly excel in the air or on the ground. Though his dagger gives him a disjoint, its hitbox isn't big enough for effective zoning. However, he does have a lot of options.
He has both a three-hit jab (resembling his attack animation in P5) and a rapid jab (where he pulls out his gun and shoots very short-ranged bullets in front of him), as is common among newcomers with rapid jabs. His dash attack can quickly punish opponents, and acts as a combo starter. His up tilt is a good anti-air, although it's endlag makes it ineffective for combos. I'd go into more detail here, but it's all I have. Ideally, these moves are designed to function alongside his specials, with some normals confirming into specials and vice versa.
Each of his Personas are meant to encourage a specific playstyle, and give him more options that counterpick specific character types, like rushdowns or heavyweights.
Arsene, his default, makes for a good zoner.
Jack Frost, his second, plays defensively and generally relies on baiting and punishing.
Matador, his last, encourages aggressive play and gives him numerous movement options.
Arsene and Jack Frost are obvious picks, but I don't know if Matador is entirely appropiate. I wanted at least one of his Personas to be kinda weird.
Arsene B: Eiha. A chargeable pseudo-projectile. Activating the move produces a burst of energy in front of Joker. The first state, Eiha, only produces one burst of energy. The second, Eiga, produces a second burst of energy adjacent to the first. When opponents are caught in the first energy burst, it has set knockback that leads into the second. The third and strongest state is Eigaon, which produces three energy bursts, each dealing more damage than the last. When used in midair, the energy burst does not follow Joker as he falls.
Arsene Side B: Mudo. Joker produces a reticle, which travels along the ground if the button is held. The reticle can be moved left and right. When released, "dark" energy rises from the ground, dealing more damage and knockback depending on how far away the reticle is from Joker.
Arsene Up B: Cleave. Arsene carries Joker by the collar and flies upward, cutting anyone who comes in contact with his wings. He flaps his wings three times before disappearing. It travels a decent amount of height, and can be angled slightly.
Jack Frost B: Mabufu. Jack Frost appears behind Joker and holds out his arms, unleashing a blizzard of ice in front of him. The ice is about as long as Charizard's flamethrower. Has some startup, but is somewhat hard to punish if it misses. This Skill is the version of Bufu that hits all enemies. This is reflected in Smash with its multihitting properties.
Jack Frost Side B: High Counter. A reflector move. Jack Frost summons a shield that resembles the Skill's animation from P5. The shield can be held for a while, until it's forced to be released like Pit's Down B. The move also has an initial hitbox.
Jack Frost Up B: Sonic Punch. Jack Frost and Joker jump straight up into the air with their fist raised. Its sweetspot is at the move's apex, while it's sourspot is on the initial hit. The move becomes active very quickly, but it doesn't travel very far and can't be angled.
Matador B: Psio. A weak projectile. Matador launches a small "pellet" of energy, which travels quickly across the stage. Joker can only shoot one at a time. At early percents, this could potentially be a combo starter.
Matador Side B: Swift Strike. Matador lunges forward, with Joker following his movements. Joker slashes upward with his dagger, and Matador immediately follows with a sword slash downward. The move can be slightly angled up and down, with the move's sweetspot launching upward when angled up, and slightly downward when angled down.
Matador Up B: Garudyne. Matador and Joker quickly spin in place, creating a tornado which carries them upward. Opponents caught in the tornado are hit mulitple times. The tornado travels very far and can easily be moved left and right. Resembles how Yosuke uses the move in Persona 4 Arena.
And you could probably guess his Final Smash is All Out Attack. The way I imagine it, it'd be an exact recreation of the original, visually. Joker summons Morgana, Ryuji, and Ann, who briefly appear in their cut-ins. The only difference between the original is that instead of bloodspurts, the opponents' silhouettes produce that red and black thunder effect that comes out when a fighter is KO'd that was introduced in Smash 4. When the move ends, it either launches the opponent or vaporizes them if they're over 100%.
Joker has the ability to change Personas with his Down B. Each Persona gives him a unique set of special moves, replacing his Neutral B, Side B, and Up B. Unlike Pokemon Trainer, Joker's standard attacks do not change.
To account for his wide variety of Specials, Joker's normals are a bit on the average side, like Mario. He's not too fast or slow, and he doesn't particularly excel in the air or on the ground. Though his dagger gives him a disjoint, its hitbox isn't big enough for effective zoning. However, he does have a lot of options.
He has both a three-hit jab (resembling his attack animation in P5) and a rapid jab (where he pulls out his gun and shoots very short-ranged bullets in front of him), as is common among newcomers with rapid jabs. His dash attack can quickly punish opponents, and acts as a combo starter. His up tilt is a good anti-air, although it's endlag makes it ineffective for combos. I'd go into more detail here, but it's all I have. Ideally, these moves are designed to function alongside his specials, with some normals confirming into specials and vice versa.
Each of his Personas are meant to encourage a specific playstyle, and give him more options that counterpick specific character types, like rushdowns or heavyweights.
Arsene, his default, makes for a good zoner.
Jack Frost, his second, plays defensively and generally relies on baiting and punishing.
Matador, his last, encourages aggressive play and gives him numerous movement options.
Arsene and Jack Frost are obvious picks, but I don't know if Matador is entirely appropiate. I wanted at least one of his Personas to be kinda weird.
Arsene B: Eiha. A chargeable pseudo-projectile. Activating the move produces a burst of energy in front of Joker. The first state, Eiha, only produces one burst of energy. The second, Eiga, produces a second burst of energy adjacent to the first. When opponents are caught in the first energy burst, it has set knockback that leads into the second. The third and strongest state is Eigaon, which produces three energy bursts, each dealing more damage than the last. When used in midair, the energy burst does not follow Joker as he falls.
Arsene Side B: Mudo. Joker produces a reticle, which travels along the ground if the button is held. The reticle can be moved left and right. When released, "dark" energy rises from the ground, dealing more damage and knockback depending on how far away the reticle is from Joker.
Arsene Up B: Cleave. Arsene carries Joker by the collar and flies upward, cutting anyone who comes in contact with his wings. He flaps his wings three times before disappearing. It travels a decent amount of height, and can be angled slightly.
Jack Frost B: Mabufu. Jack Frost appears behind Joker and holds out his arms, unleashing a blizzard of ice in front of him. The ice is about as long as Charizard's flamethrower. Has some startup, but is somewhat hard to punish if it misses. This Skill is the version of Bufu that hits all enemies. This is reflected in Smash with its multihitting properties.
Jack Frost Side B: High Counter. A reflector move. Jack Frost summons a shield that resembles the Skill's animation from P5. The shield can be held for a while, until it's forced to be released like Pit's Down B. The move also has an initial hitbox.
Jack Frost Up B: Sonic Punch. Jack Frost and Joker jump straight up into the air with their fist raised. Its sweetspot is at the move's apex, while it's sourspot is on the initial hit. The move becomes active very quickly, but it doesn't travel very far and can't be angled.
Matador B: Psio. A weak projectile. Matador launches a small "pellet" of energy, which travels quickly across the stage. Joker can only shoot one at a time. At early percents, this could potentially be a combo starter.
Matador Side B: Swift Strike. Matador lunges forward, with Joker following his movements. Joker slashes upward with his dagger, and Matador immediately follows with a sword slash downward. The move can be slightly angled up and down, with the move's sweetspot launching upward when angled up, and slightly downward when angled down.
Matador Up B: Garudyne. Matador and Joker quickly spin in place, creating a tornado which carries them upward. Opponents caught in the tornado are hit mulitple times. The tornado travels very far and can easily be moved left and right. Resembles how Yosuke uses the move in Persona 4 Arena.
And you could probably guess his Final Smash is All Out Attack. The way I imagine it, it'd be an exact recreation of the original, visually. Joker summons Morgana, Ryuji, and Ann, who briefly appear in their cut-ins. The only difference between the original is that instead of bloodspurts, the opponents' silhouettes produce that red and black thunder effect that comes out when a fighter is KO'd that was introduced in Smash 4. When the move ends, it either launches the opponent or vaporizes them if they're over 100%.
