MultiVersus General Discussion

[darkvortex]

Ignore this

 

[Fields - Ultimate's Great]

I think that's just the thing. It ISN'T a "priority."

It's a quick joke character that's entirely done with asset reuse, since it was a summon in the beta. So very few resources went into it.

That doesn't make him any less of a terrible inclusion, a horrible look for the game but okay.

 

[RileyXY1]

That doesn't make him any less of a terrible inclusion, a horrible look for the game but okay.

With the game's current reputation it's just not the right time to go forward with a joke character, especially when it's relaunching with only three newcomers.

 

[Fields - Ultimate's Great]

With the game's current reputation it's just not the right time to go forward with a joke character, especially when it's relaunching with only three newcomers.

Exactly this, even if it's "less" there's still going to be resources and money funneled into this character lmao. Wasted effort.

 

[RileyXY1]

Exactly this, even if it's "less" there's still going to be resources and money funneled into this character lmao. Wasted effort.

Especially when they're teasing the likes of Dexter and the PPGs who are characters who should be made available at launch.

 

[darkvortex]

Unsure, I just have heard names of whos being worked on. I assume that could be it with the select screen we saw today, I know of a character who fits alphabetically so I believe those 3 are probably launch with others happening later I guess?

— PapaGenos (@GenosPapa) May 16, 2024

 

[MBRedboy31]

Anyone else interested to see Banana Guard’s moveset? …Just me?

 

[Louie G.]

Especially when they're teasing the likes of Dexter and the PPGs who are characters who should be made available at launch.

Regardless of how I feel about the addition - frankly, I don't think it's a very good choice right now but I'm not losing sleep over it - this perspective isn't really taking into account the way Multiversus' model operates differently than Smash or NASB. Exciting characters like PPG and Dexter are valuable assets to keep people coming back to play the game throughout the season and update cycle.

Obviously you can disagree with the priorities but I can't say I really blame them for that. These Cartoon Network characters are obviously the ones getting people the most pumped up so trickling them out to keep players' eyes on the game, at least on paper, guarantees its longevity through the season and hopefully would put them on route for another season where they can add even more characters. Hopefully Johnny Bravo is also coming at launch and I think that'd get a lot of people to turn the other cheek on an addition they disagree with pretty quickly.

This release isn't about immediate gratification like its contemporaries, it's the promise of a continuous flow of new exciting content. So I'm not weighing who's available at launch and who isn't too heavily if we're probably getting three or four more characters over the following month.

 

[fogbadge]

Anyone else interested to see Banana Guard’s moveset? …Just me?

i am. i imagine it'll be something quite something

 

[Capybara Gaming]

If Plant is "insulting", you need thicker skin, to be honest.

I'm being facetious obviously but as someone who's wanted Waluigi since pre-Brawl, as well as characters like Takamaru and Isaac, it was like a slap in the face to get a joke character of that calibur before any of them

 

[darkvortex]

List found on reddit, missing some picks like Bane but

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

I'm being facetious obviously but as someone who's wanted Waluigi since pre-Brawl, as well as characters like Takamaru and Isaac, it was like a slap in the face to get a joke character of that calibur before any of them

I've wanted Waluigi among my top wanted fighters since Wario was revealed for Brawl.

I still died laughing over Plant and it become one of my most used characters in Ultimate in spite of Waluigi not making it.

Why? Because it was just that ridiculous and it's not like Plant not being there would mean Waluigi would be in its place. I chose to see the humor of the situation rather than take it as a personal attack to get worked up over.


And that's what I see here. Something so stupid and random that it's hilarious as ****.
There's a good chance that a character that would have me instantly sold on the game had been outright scrapped (Godzilla) based on old datamines. But I'm not going to treat the banana as something to personally be angry over just because it isn't Godzilla.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

This **** is bananas.


...



Don't judge me.

 

[AreJay25]

Seeing some people speculate that the "J" character could be Jason Voorhees.

And well, I mean...

... wouldn't be the first time he showed up in a WB published fighting game.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Seeing some people speculate that the "J" character could be Jason Voorhees.

And well, I mean...

... wouldn't be the first time he showed up in a WB published fighting game.

Isn't there some legal hell about Friday the 13th?

 

[PeridotGX]

I think that's just the thing. It ISN'T a "priority."

It's a quick joke character that's entirely done with asset reuse, since it was a summon in the beta. So very few resources went into it.

Would Banana Guard even be that easy to add? It seems like an "anti-clone", reusing a model but needing an entirely new set of animations. I don't know much about gamedev, but to me it sounds only barely easier than adding a fully new character.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Would Banana Guard even be that easy to add? It seems like an "anti-clone", reusing a model but needing an entirely new set of animations. I don't know much about gamedev, but to me it sounds only barely easier than adding a fully new character.

Preexisting models are just as helpful as preexisting animations. Like in Smash itself, it's being able to cut down on modeling rather than animating that helped Wolf get in late in Brawl's development.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Preexisting models are just as helpful as preexisting animations. Like in Smash itself, it's being able to cut down on modeling rather than animating that helped Wolf get in late in Brawl's development.

Yeah but I'm no game dev so don't quote me on that, but isn't creating a model, especially for a game with a very simple art style like MVS, by far the easiest part of game dev? Reusing animations make sense because this takes an insanely long time and in the context of Smash, creating a Wolf model was probably not that long, but the opposite (using a model and creating a moveset, animations, balancing, sound effects, voice acting) is just way longer right?

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Bananas aside. The PvE mode looks fantastic.

I got super excited when I saw target test.

 

[Faso115]

What bosses are you guys expecting?

 

[AreJay25]

Isn't there some legal hell about Friday the 13th?

Well, if it means anything, it was announced earlier today that they're expanding the franchise in new ways, including through games.

So, whatever legal issues may have plagued the series seems to have subsided. The timing is also... interesting.

 

[ivanlerma]

Some Smashboarders when Banana Guard was leaked as a fighter

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

List found on reddit, missing some picks like Bane but

Me if the character in between Jake & Joker isn't Johnny Bravo

Spoiler: Reaction

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Well, if it means anything, it was announced earlier today that they're expanding the franchise in new ways, including through games.

So, whatever legal issues may have plagued the series seems to have subsided. The timing is also... interesting.

Huh. Peculiar.

Shame this match up will probably not happen.

 

[SneakyLink]

There’s apparently a press release that outright confirms the character shown earlier today.

I’m trying to find it but I can’t locate anything.

Edit: Ok, so the source is the WB Press Site, but only for the UK and Ireland, and only if you have a login. If someone has a login for there, give it a try.

 

[Faso115]

Put me in the "quickly cobbled together character" conspiracy theory. Everything about nanner makes me think they kind threw him in as an extra character to have.

• Model was already made
• Unique enough that can fit the tank role to at least push that gimmick
• John Dimaggio is already here as jake and he also voices the banana guards so might as well make him pull double duty.
• The rather strange timeframe and the engine switch makes me think they made Banana Guard quickly to at least add an extra character.

Also watching the Papagenos video, where he mostly confirms that Banana Guard is one of the leaked characters from a source he has, he also said the other character will be well received by fans so i'm just going to say it's Johnny Bravo. Any other option and then his source is BS.

 

[SneakyLink]

Also watching the Papagenos video, where he mostly confirms that Banana Guard is one of the leaked characters from a source he has, he also said the other character will be well received by fans so i'm just going to say it's Johnny Bravo. Any other option and then his source is BS.

While I would 100% be hyped for Johnny Bravo (as would a few others who have posted here), hype is subjective and can vary by person.

Let's say it is Johnny Bravo. And let's say there are 1,000,000 people who play the game. Of that million, not everyone would be hyped to see Johnny Bravo.

It's a similar instance with Smash speculation, where someone's most wanted is another's least wanted (such as a lot of comments surrounding Steve's inclusion)

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

There’s apparently a press release that outright confirms the character shown earlier today.

I’m trying to find it but I can’t locate anything.

Edit: Ok, so the source is the WB Press Site, but only for the UK and Ireland, and only if you have a login. If someone has a login for there, give it a try.

I've done a bit of sleuthing through the MVS offical Discord, and I have located a screenshot from a Twitter thread. Obviously, screenshots are easily faked with Inspect Element, so don't think of this as gospel.

Unfortunately, I don't have a login for the press site, but I'm in Britain, so I'll try and register to see if I can get any further clarification. You're right on the WB Press Site though. I'll try and keep y'all posted on this front, though I do think it's likely that the press release will have been edited by now to remove this "error".

Yeah but I'm no game dev so don't quote me on that, but isn't creating a model, especially for a game with a very simple art style like MVS, by far the easiest part of game dev? Reusing animations make sense because this takes an insanely long time and in the context of Smash, creating a Wolf model was probably not that long, but the opposite (using a model and creating a moveset, animations, balancing, sound effects, voice acting) is just way longer right?

It heavily depends on the system you have within your actual creation process - and something to bear in mind is that even though art styles like MVS look simple, they're pretty complicated in practice, and a lot of work goes into them. Even something as simple as putting together the Banana Guard model probably would have taken some time, so the fact that it already exists and needs minimal tweaking is a big help when considering it's less work overall.

Obviously, you are right in that things like creating more animations, a moveset, balancing, handling SFX and VA and so forth is all time-consuming too. That said, having a starting point of any kind is better than nothing - if anything, having the assets for Banana Guard already to hand might have helped a lot with the creative process.

Put me in the "quickly cobbled together character" conspiracy theory. Everything about nanner makes me think they kind threw him in as an extra character to have.

• Model was already made
• Unique enough that can fit the tank role to at least push that gimmick
• John Dimaggio is already here as jake and he also voices the banana guards so might as well make him pull double duty.
• The rather strange timeframe and the engine switch makes me think they made Banana Guard quickly to at least add an extra character.

Also watching the Papagenos video, where he mostly confirms that Banana Guard is one of the leaked characters from a source he has, he also said the other character will be well received by fans so i'm just going to say it's Johnny Bravo. Any other option and then his source is BS.

Honestly, I think this makes sense. While I don't necessarily think Banana Guard would only have been added for these reasons, there's a lot of elements about their inclusion that just fits decently well together - especially the point you mention about the engine switch, which would have been a massive amount of work that's kind of difficult to present as a selling point to the average consumer. Therefore, adding any additional "marketable" content like this makes sense just so there's more stuff to present overall. This might not have been the thought process behind it, but if it was, it's a logical one.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

If this is what you're coming back with after a year? Don't bother coming back, I say. This is a live service game. It will not last forever. You need heavy hitters at launch, and this is the equivalent of a wet fart.

 

[Opossum]

If this is what you're coming back with after a year? Don't bother coming back, I say. This is a live service game. It will not last forever. You need heavy hitters at launch, and this is the equivalent of a wet fart.

I mean...that's what Joker and, presumably, Johnny Bravo are for. Retention would more so come from the POST relaunch characters, as those come one at a time. From a financial standpoint in a live service environment, this is the time to do something like Banana Guard.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

I mean...that's what Joker and, presumably, Johnny Bravo are for. Retention would more so come from the POST relaunch characters, as those come one at a time. From a financial standpoint in a live service environment, this is the time to do something like Banana Guard.

I respectfully disagree. WB's lineup has so many great picks and options that they could do a roster of 100+ and be nothing but bangers. I don't think this game needs a Piranha Plant. As for Johnny Bravo... I liked his show man but I don't think he's really got the star power to be a pick for relaunch. Like, his show isn't exactly remembered for being super amazing, moreso being a show we all kind of watched but maybe not all loved.

 

[LimeTH]

I don’t want to keep ragging on this game but yeah, you can’t get people excited for the big return by pumping them up for Powerpuff Girls and Dexter and then expect them to instead be okay with a cobbled together third string character from an already represented show that has about a dozen more heavily requested characters they could have used instead.

That said, is having Banana Guard as part of a package deal with two other characters better than if they had thrown him in by himself in the middle of a season? I actually can’t tell.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

The thing is, even as a joke character I think Banana guard is a fairly poor choice. WB's library is so huge, they could have gone crazy with the concept of joke character. Eric Andre, Master Shake, Mr. Mxyzptlk would have been genuinely funny and have way more moveset potential than just "banana with a lance". I get that Banana guard got the edge because of the model, but it's just very boring. The thing with other joke character like Plant in Smash or Gertie in Nasb is that at least they have creative moveset that no other character could have. But Banana guard have like, nothing to work with.

 

[Louie G.]

As for Johnny Bravo... I liked his show man but I don't think he's really got the star power to be a pick for relaunch. Like, his show isn't exactly remembered for being super amazing, moreso being a show we all kind of watched but maybe not all loved.

Will heavily disagree on this one. Johnny Bravo is absolutely one of the most beloved characters from CN's Cartoon Cartoon era and beyond. Not solely on the merit of his show, but just because Johnny is such a dynamic and fun character in his own right. He was one of the most frequent Cartoon Cartoon Fridays hosts and even hosted his own block. It's one of those instances where the main character kinda transcends the source material to establish themselves as an icon... and really, I think a lot of people will love to see him right now. CN doesn't seem to really know what to do with the series these days, or who it's for, so it'll feel especially nice to see him brought back into the limelight somehow.

I'd say he's gotta be somewhere on par with Dexter. PPG are obviously more popular, and I'm admittedly a bit confused why they aren't launch characters, but most people excited for these two characters are going to be pretty stoked to play as Johnny also. Myself included, these are the guys I want to see the most.

I mean, I don't disagree with your general sentiment about WB having a wealth of good options to launch with, I just don't like this dismissive attitude toward Johnny since he's a character that I particularly will be excited to play (if we're fortunate enough for this speculation to be true). Maybe there are technically bigger characters out there but I think a bold, less expected CN pick is something that will turn heads since those characters seem to be the most popular.

 

[Faso115]

Plus we are one character away from having that Johnny + Jack bromance we haven't seen since the CN City days

 

[PeridotGX]

I'm not going to lie, banana grunt is as close to an objectively bad choice you can get, but I think their strategy for relaunch makes sense. The character roster isn't perfect, but it's definitely one of the things that needed less work. The netcode, game speed, lack of offline modes, etc. were definitely worse issues - and what they seem to have spent the bulk of the downtime working on. And having a better foundation makes it substantially likelier we get more characters in the long run

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

The thing is, even as a joke character I think Banana guard is a fairly poor choice. WB's library is so huge, they could have gone crazy with the concept of joke character. Eric Andre, Master Shake, Mr. Mxyzptlk would have been genuinely funny and have way more moveset potential than just "banana with a lance". I get that Banana guard got the edge because of the model, but it's just very boring. The thing with other joke character like Plant in Smash or Gertie in Nasb is that at least they have creative moveset that no other character could have. But Banana guard have like, nothing to work with.

As much as I absolutely agree that Eric Andre would be a fantastic "joke character" I will point out one thing - pulling a "joke character" from DC's library tends to necessitate at least a baseline understanding of the source material, to understand why the funny man with the big head can fly, or why there's a giant milkshake on the roster. On the other hand, "banana" is an inherently funny word and the concept of "we have all these icons and also a banana with a spear" is inherently understandable to even the least familiar person with WB's catalogue

 

[Opossum]

I respectfully disagree. WB's lineup has so many great picks and options that they could do a roster of 100+ and be nothing but bangers. I don't think this game needs a Piranha Plant. As for Johnny Bravo... I liked his show man but I don't think he's really got the star power to be a pick for relaunch. Like, his show isn't exactly remembered for being super amazing, moreso being a show we all kind of watched but maybe not all loved.

I think of it the same way as I would other live service games, particularly gacha games.

To use Fire Emblem Heroes as an example, a lot of the lower-rung three star characters made for launch that they used to populate the gacha were less popular characters: ones like Barst from Shadow Dragon (I love Barst but let's be honest) or Azama from Fates, or Bartre from Binding Blade. These are characters that can't realistically carry a banner as well as other characters who could be added post-launch, so they get them out of the way at launch (or relaunch in this case) surrounded by a good selection of desirables.

Now, for Banana Guard specifically, it's obviously more subjective as far as whether they should do a joke character to begin with, but I personally see this more as a case of easy asset reuse more than anything. We know from leakers and insiders that one plan they had was to introduce a few echo-like characters to fill gaps between big releases (this is why Nubia and Pickle Rick seemingly got upgraded to fully playable according to dataminers) so this is likely a similar case (though in this case, it's model reuse instead of moveset reuse). It probably would've just been Joker and Johnny (presumably) had Banana Guard not been there and the bigger characters weren't launch ready yet, so Banana Guard was thrown in as a stop gap. According to PapaGenos this actually also happened with Marvin, where he was finished before season one of the beta, but was held off until they fell behind on releases so they had a stop gap.

And I definitely disagree on Johnny Bravo not being a big draw. Anecdotal, but honestly I see the show trend on Twitter more than a lot of other classic CN shows (though not as much as Powerpuff Girls specifically, admittedly, though much more than Dexter's Lab). It's a very well remembered classic, not something that's almost completely fallen by the wayside like, say, Cow and Chicken. That and he does pretty well on fan polls as well.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

I'm not going to lie, banana grunt is as close to an objectively bad choice you can get, but I think their strategy for relaunch makes sense. The character roster isn't perfect, but it's definitely one of the things that needed less work. The netcode, game speed, lack of offline modes, etc. were definitely worse issues - and what they seem to have spent the bulk of the downtime working on. And having a better foundation makes it substantially likelier we get more characters in the long run

Respectful disagree. All that other stuff is great but people do not come to crossover fighters, much less a live service one with a shaky future, for rollback netcode and event mode. They're here for the roster, and they need to be putting that best foot forward, and if they couldn't cobble together three banger characters prior to launch they shouldn't have come back yet

 

[Faso115]

Actually lol what if Banana Guard is a reskinned Pickle Rick.

Pickles and bananas have a similar shape. It's a theory, A DUMB THEORY

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Now that I've had time to process just how strange the Bananananananana man is...

1. This doesn't particularly bother me. Every cast needs it's weirdos, and the joke is a funny one.
2. Being sandwiched between two other fighters is the Banana Guard's best bet of being accepted. Launch is his time.
3. I will be bothered by his inclusion if one of two things happen. If content releases are slow, and I mean slow, he'll start to sting. If we get a ton of characters like the Banana Guard, I'll start to be annoyed.
4. I'm real curious as to what his moveset will be. I got like... Nothing.