There is no way that directional aerial dodging is a necessity in Brawl+. Although, I do support HAD, i think thats a highly ridiculous statement. We got along just fine without the directional ADs but heres why I think it has a chance to stay.
In regards to those who are deliberating about the consequences of Wavedashing and the HAD overall, I have a few points I'd like to discuss.
*I'd like to note that I am not a fan of the HAD because I want Wavedashing. I'd rather not have it at all but I like the other aspects it brings along with it*
1. Negatively Affecting Potential Brawl+ players.
One of the reasons people were against Wavedashing in the first place is that it negatively affect the casual gamers that would potentially try Brawl+. Well, if im not mistaken the whole point of Brawl+ was to make it as competitive as possible. There is no reason why a person would dismiss Brawl+ solely on the basis of Wavedashing, if you really think so, you are in denial and heres why. Look at melee for example, there were a plethora of "casual" gamers who played melee regardless of the wavedash. It didnt ruin their experience simply because they are "casual gamers." The inclusion of a wavedash in brawl+ would simply emulate this. The casual gamers would ignore the WD and the real competitive gamers would find someway to include it in their game.
2. Homogenizing Movement
My next argument goes to homogenizing movement. Yes, im not going to deny it, the inclusion of WDing does homogenize movement, to an extent. After playing a full night with the HAD, i found that WDing was merely situational and not a primary form of movement as it was in melee as i found the timer way too long for WD to get that extent which is a good thing. Dash Dancing/Canceling were still the primary forms of movement and the WD just added a way to space and *mind game* even further. Again why argue about homogenizing movement, when we have ATs such as wavegliding, boost smashes arent all of those homogenizing movements as well?
3. Nerfing the air game
How the HAD nerfs and breaks the air game is a mystery to me. The only thing that has changed is that you have a chance to perform a directional airdodge. Otherwise the airgame has not changed considering that you still have the BADs afterwards. Its also gives you that sense of when to use your airdodge since it does give you that time of lag until you can AD again or do anything for that matter. What matters most is that it does not take away from anything from the risk and reward system and simply adds another element to it.
4. Breaking the edge game.
I touched upon this subject a few pages ago but I'll go over it again. I see HADing as buffing both the offensive and defensive edge games.
Defense: The most contraversial factor in this debate is the "fourth jump" that HADing adds. Let me put this simply, sure the HAD gives you a little 'oomph' to help you get back on stage and another way to dodge an oncoming attacker but let me ask you this, as the person on offense isnt it your responsibility to predict where your opponent is going to be at all times? If you guess wrong that is your fault and it puts the person on defense in a more favorable position. In regards to recovery, the HAD allows you to space your recovery better which is a plus for recoveries like the space animals recoveries. Not to mention it gives recoveries like Links that little boost they so desperately need. Dont get me wrong, if you are hit near the horizontal bounderies of a stage, 9 times out of 10 you're still not coming back even with the extra "fourth jump." So does HAD break the defensive aspect of the edge game. No way.
Offense: On the other hand, if you succeed on pushing your opponent off the stage. You know full well you have that extra jump as well. This allows even more "chasing" off the stage and which buffs the offensive aspect of the game to new limits but not game breaking limits considering that if you whiff an attack, you have two options try to get back stage or take your opponent down with you. If you are the defensive person in this situation, thats your chance to retaliate and if your complaining that the offensive edge game is too much for you, then you shouldnt have gotten hit off the stage. Its as simple as that. So does HAD break the offensive aspect of the edge game. Again. No way. It only adds more reward for even more risk, which is something that everyone can agree is beneficial.
5. Wavelanding
This is the one aspect of the HADing that I am completely hooked on. If they found a way to remove Wavedashing and still keep Wavelanding then I would be all for that. Anyways, Wavelanding makes fighting with platforms alot more useful. More speed on platforms is always good as i thought the platform combat in this game was slow, not painfully slow, but slow enough to be a deterrent. I dont see how Wavelanding would contribute anything negative to the game overall and I welcome it.
Dont get me wrong. I do think the HAD has a very slim chance of getting into the final version but its a wonderful mechanic and I feel it should have a fighting chance whether how slim it may be.
And as I said before directional air dodging is no way, shape, or fashion a necessity but, it does give a player more options in both the offensive and defensive metagames and i can only see that as a plus to the overall gameplay.