Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Lionfranky]

Agreed. I could only see Sakurai adding Master Chief if he wanted to go the "icon of gaming" route, in this instance, being the face of Xbox, as it would certainly be a risk when it comes to Japan, a demographic they care more about. And I just personally don't see Sakurai picking characters in that way (and, I think Nintendo's picking the characters, so I find it even more unlikely, unless MCC for Switch is true and they want to have a connection there). If they do, it would be purely a pick for Western audiences, knowing that it would blow up big (bigger than Banjo & Kazooie, since they're often associated with their N64 games, whereas Halo is purely Xbox).

Though, I think that Master Chief has a higher chance than Minecraft--from a character perspective, there's more to Master Chief as a character than a Minecraft character. Though, I don't want to re-open that old debate, especially since I'd be fine if either one got in. My personal hope is for Crash, if there's a Western pick.

So do you agree that Master Chief has higher chance than at least Doom Slayer?

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Im all for a tales of character, Id just rather have Yuri, he seems more fun to play

 

[perfectchaos83]

Wanted to get this done before Byleth released, So I'll post my Fighter's Pass 1 Report card and my Vol 2 Predictions/Wishlist.

Spoiler: Volume 1 Report Card

Spoiler: Volume 2 Predictions/Wishlist

Let's see how accurate I get.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Okay, you guys can add additional 3rd party characters only from franchises already represented in Smash. Who do you choose? Only one from each.

Sonic: Dr Eggman/Robotnik
Metal Gear: Raiden
Megaman: Dr Wiley (Or maybe Zero instead)
Castlevania: Dracula
Pacman: Pinky, duh
Final Fantasy: No idea
Street Fighter: Guile
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Slime

Sonic: Tails
Metal Gear: Big Boss
Megaman: Roll
Castlevania: Shanoa
Pac Man: Ms. PacMan
Final Fantasy: Terra Branford
Street Fighter Chun-Li
Banjo-Kazooie: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Heroines
Bayonetta: Jeanne
Persona: Yu Narukami
SNK: Nakoruru

 

[Us3inMN]

Can I just have Doomguy? I don't care who else gets in, I just want him in.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Dante should be a Mii if Nero gets in and vice versa

It would be hilarious if they added Nero and Dante didn't even get a spirit...

...For about five seconds and then you'd be depressed because that would mean Capcom doesn't want to promote Dante anymore.

 

[P.Kat]

Im all for a tales of character, Id just rather have Yuri, he seems more fun to play

I don't know much about the Tales games (should get around to playing them), but if Yuri gets in, I want him to be able to fight with his dog, Repede. I'd love to see what combos Sakurai could give them both. Or at least an assist mechanic.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Can I just have Doomguy? I don't care who else gets in, I just want him in.

You will get Duke Nukem and you will like it.

 

[Jomosensual]

Made a Sony fighters pass for some fun. Would be pretty down for this to happen. 2 of my favorite games are repped, 2 iconic names, and then two fun and well known characters. Had a few tough cuts but so is life

 

[P.Kat]

Okay, you guys can add additional 3rd party characters only from franchises already represented in Smash. Who do you choose? Only one from each.

Sonic: Dr Eggman/Robotnik
Metal Gear: Raiden
Megaman: Dr Wiley (Or maybe Zero instead)
Castlevania: Dracula
Pacman: Pinky, duh
Final Fantasy: No idea
Street Fighter: Guile
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Slime

Sonic: Blaze the Cat
Metal Gear: Raiden
Megaman: Zero (MegaMan Zero)
Castlevania: Dracula
Pacman: Pinky
Final Fantasy: Terra Branford
Street Fighter: Chun-Li
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Heroines
SNK: Nakoruru
Persona: Yu Narukami

Made a Sony fighters pass for some fun. Would be pretty down for this to happen. 2 of my favorite games are repped, 2 iconic names, and then two fun and well known characters. Had a few tough cuts but so is life
View attachment 259944

This would basically be my Sony Fighter Pass. Just take out Aloy and Ellie, and swap in Kat and Sly Cooper.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

I'm going to be 100% honest, I am actually very surprised we didn't get the first character announcement yet. Tomorrow is the day we can preorder the Pass so it is strange that Sakurai is letting everyone go in COMPLETELY blind. That said, I do think a February Direct is a given. And I think it'll come super early in the month probably the 6th, and it'll give us our first peak. Early peak. A la Joker or Terry. And then the first character will be released in April.

I'm just guessing that after April we will also not get another reveal till E3 so... it's gonna be a wait, let me tell ya.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I don't know much about the takes games (should get around to playing them), but if Yuri gets in, I want him to be able to fight with his dog, Repede. I'd love to see what combos Sakurai could give them both. Or at least an assist mechanic.

It would be cool if he got one move with Repede.

 

[TheCJBrine]

Okay, you guys can add additional 3rd party characters only from franchises already represented in Smash. Who do you choose? Only one from each.

Sonic: Dr Eggman/Robotnik
Metal Gear: Raiden
Megaman: Dr Wiley (Or maybe Zero instead)
Castlevania: Dracula
Pacman: Pinky, duh
Final Fantasy: No idea
Street Fighter: Guile
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Slime

Sonic: Tails
Mega Man: Wood Man
Pac-Man: All four ghosts in one slot
Final Fantasy: Black Mage
Dragon Quest: Slime
Banjo-Kazooie: Gruntilda Winkybunion

 

[CosmicQuark]

So do you agree that Master Chief has higher chance than at least Doom Slayer?

Not sure, really. I think Master Chief would make more of a splash in the West, whereas Doom Slayer is more of a history of gaming character, particularly as Sakurai has noted Carmack being the father of FPS's and Doom has a large history with Nintendo. Can't really comment movewise, though, as I'm not familiar with the games. I could see it going either way with them. I don't think they would both get in, not because of superficial similarities, but because we may likely get few, if any, Western characters. If I had to be pushed, I'd say Doom has a higher chance, because of its longer history of Nintendo. It was my primary reason thinking if a Microsoft rep got in, it would be Banjo & Kazooie (taking out my clear bias as much as I could). While Joker clearly demonstrated their game doesn't have to be on Nintendo, I still consider that the exception rather than the rule.

EDIT:

I'm going to be 100% honest, I am actually very surprised we didn't get the first character announcement yet. Tomorrow is the day we can preorder the Pass so it is strange that Sakurai is letting everyone go in COMPLETELY blind. That said, I do think a February Direct is a given. And I think it'll come super early in the month probably the 6th, and it'll give us our first peak. Early peak. A la Joker or Terry. And then the first character will be released in April.

I'm just guessing that after April we will also not get another reveal till E3 so... it's gonna be a wait, let me tell ya.

I don't expect anything until E3, and even then it may not be ready by then. Since the characters will be released up until the end of 2021, there's a lot of time, and development only began just recently. While we could get a small tease like Joker, I also think they're not worried about taking a break from Smash announcements for the time being. While I'm not a fan of having a pass prior to releasing any information about specific characters, Sakurai's not a fan of that as well, but accepts the reality of how marketing works. I do think the January pre-order date is weird, though.

 

[Jomosensual]

This would basically be my Sony Fighter Pass. Just take out Aloy and Ellie, and swap in Kat and Sly Cooper.

Sly was one of my late cuts. I'm surprised I didn't think of Kat.

 

[Sysreq]

I'm going to be 100% honest, I am actually very surprised we didn't get the first character announcement yet. Tomorrow is the day we can preorder the Pass so it is strange that Sakurai is letting everyone go in COMPLETELY blind. That said, I do think a February Direct is a given. And I think it'll come super early in the month probably the 6th, and it'll give us our first peak. Early peak. A la Joker or Terry. And then the first character will be released in April.

I'm just guessing that after April we will also not get another reveal till E3 so... it's gonna be a wait, let me tell ya.

He did strongly urge us to only buy it if we were okay with not knowing the contents...

 

[Deleted member]

I'm going to be 100% honest, I am actually very surprised we didn't get the first character announcement yet. Tomorrow is the day we can preorder the Pass so it is strange that Sakurai is letting everyone go in COMPLETELY blind. That said, I do think a February Direct is a given. And I think it'll come super early in the month probably the 6th, and it'll give us our first peak. Early peak. A la Joker or Terry. And then the first character will be released in April.

I'm just guessing that after April we will also not get another reveal till E3 so... it's gonna be a wait, let me tell ya.

Wasn't it like the last pass wherein everyone went blind as well? I am talking about pre-release Ultimate era, before we even got our hands on the game at all. I mean, sure you had rumors of Hero bound during that time, and then we got Joker.

Depending on how the situation is handled, it could mean that we could get a hint on our first Vol.2 fighter somewhere around the Direct, assuming that we wouldn't even get a glimpse of gameplay soon. That being said, it's one of the reasons why I am betting on a datamine of some sort.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Wasn't it like the last pass wherein everyone went blind as well? I am talking about pre-release Ultimate era, before we even got our hands on the game at all. I mean, sure you had rumors of Hero bound during that time, and then we got Joker.

Depending on how the situation is handled, it could mean that we could get a hint on our first Vol.2 fighter somewhere around the Direct, assuming that we wouldn't even get a glimpse of gameplay soon. That being said, it's one of the reasons why I am betting on a datamine of some sort.

Fighter's Pass 1 was put up for preorder the day of Ultimate's release, the 7th, and by that point Joker was announced at the Game Awards so, we weren't QUITE going in blind with the last one.

 

[Deleted member]

Fighter's Pass 1 was put up for preorder the day of Ultimate's release, the 7th, and by that point Joker was announced at the Game Awards so, we weren't QUITE going in blind with the last one.

By going blind I clearly meant during the period between the actual DLC announcement and the game release.

 

[Ben Holt]

Fighter's Pass 1 was put up for preorder the day of Ultimate's release, the 7th, and by that point Joker was announced at the Game Awards so, we weren't QUITE going in blind with the last one.

Hey NSG, I feel bad saying this, but I feel like Ryu isn't as likely as we all thought.
Unfortunately, this also applies to Doom Slayer, but the recent comments from Bethesda give me hope that he'll come eventually if he's not already locked and under NDA.

 

[DaybreakHorizon]

Sakurai fully intended to keep Joker until February. Nintendo is the one who decided to reveal Joker at TGAs.

Unless Nintendo ****ery occurs again, we're in this for the long haul.

 

[Ben Holt]

Sakurai fully intended to keep Joker until February. Nintendo is the one who decided to reveal Joker at TGAs.

Unless Nintendo ****ery occurs again, we're in this for the long haul.

I'm a sheep that would buy stick man with a moveset because I intend to have the complete roster.
I'm sure Nintendo is counting on people like me to preorder.

 

[Deleted member]

Sakurai fully intended to keep Joker until February. Nintendo is the one who decided to reveal Joker at TGAs.

Unless Nintendo ****ery occurs again, we're in this for the long haul.

It sounds more like, "forced their hand" by me.

 

[shinhed-echi]

Okay, you guys can add additional 3rd party characters only from franchises already represented in Smash. Who do you choose? Only one from each.

Sonic: Metal Sonic
Metal Gear: Raiden
Megaman: Zero
Castlevania: Shanoa
Pacman: Ms.Pacman
Final Fantasy: Terra
Street Fighter: Chun-Li
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Heroine (Girl Erdrick from DQIII, Sofia from DQIV, Girl Celestrian from DQIX, and Anlucia from DQX) / Dragonlord / Zoma.

 

[Lionfranky]

Not sure, really. I think Master Chief would make more of a splash in the West, whereas Doom Slayer is more of a history of gaming character, particularly as Sakurai has noted Carmack being the father of FPS's and Doom has a large history with Nintendo. Can't really comment movewise, though, as I'm not familiar with the games. I could see it going either way with them. I don't think they would both get in, not because of superficial similarities, but because we may likely get few, if any, Western characters. If I had to be pushed, I'd say Doom has a higher chance, because of its longer history of Nintendo. It was my primary reason thinking if a Microsoft rep got in, it would be Banjo & Kazooie (taking out my clear bias as much as I could). While Joker clearly demonstrated their game doesn't have to be on Nintendo, I still consider that the exception rather than the rule.

Sakurai specifically praised Half-Life 2 along with Halo 2. Doom wasn't picked up by him like that. Sure, that comment on Carmack is a good sign, but that also includes Wolfenstein (Not saying Sakurai wasn't implying Doom more) But is history with Nintendo really big factor, considering little to non-existent popularity in Japan? There are a lot of franchises that have long history with Nintendo. That's not always the main factor. Cloud got in before Hero but Dragon Quest established JRPG and influenced Final Fantasy. Moreover, Cloud represented betrayal of Squaresoft back in the day. There is another difference. Microsoft already put its foot on Smash already. On the other hand, Bethesda/ID have not even if they sound very eager to put their hands on Smash.
If we factor Japanese market, Halo has higher chance.

 

[RaintheCriminalWhirlwind]

It would be hilarious if they added Nero and Dante didn't even get a spirit...

...For about five seconds and then you'd be depressed because that would mean Capcom doesn't want to promote Dante anymore.

If that happened, I'd be okay with it. I mean it kind of Fits in canon after DMC V

 

[Krankees]

Along with a Dante Sword Mii Fighter costume and a Doomguy Gunner Mii Fighter costume.

If that were to happen, I would first mourn the loss DMC fans as they didn't deserve the Mii costume treatment.

But then my hopes for another character would rise uncontrollably and I would be unstoppable emotionally and mentally.

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Not only is Byleth out tomorrow but its also Yusukes birthday tomorrow
View attachment 259929
Good things come in pairs

I do love Yusuke, and I love female Byleth...this is a win

Anyone else thinking we're not getting any Smash news til April Direct at the earliest?

E3 2020 at best

Sakurai fully intended to keep Joker until February. Nintendo is the one who decided to reveal Joker at TGAs.

Unless Nintendo ****ery occurs again, we're in this for the long haul.

honestly Nintendo revealing Joker at the Game Awards was a smart idea imo. Helped people get to know what to expect, and gave people time to learn about Persona (worked on me)

 

[MooMew64]

Sakurai fully intended to keep Joker until February. Nintendo is the one who decided to reveal Joker at TGAs.

Unless Nintendo ****ery occurs again, we're in this for the long haul.

We really gonna be here 'till E3, methinks.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I came up with a new game. What is your favorite song(s) in Ultimate. Only rule is that the song must be in Ultimate

Well, I just put every song in Ultimate that I like into a playlist.

 

[Sysreq]

>everyone bummed thinking we're waiting 'til E3
>implying we can't have a Smash Direct dedicated solely to revealing the next character like we just did with Byleth

 

[MooMew64]

>everyone bummed thinking we're waiting 'til E3
>implying we can't have a Smash Direct dedicated solely to revealing the next character like we just did with Byleth

Depends on the timing. E3 will assuredly have a character, which makes April and May timing tricky, and given comments from Sakurai I'd say it's safe to say the first General Direct of the year won't have one.

E3 just fits the best, IMO.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Made a Sony fighters pass for some fun. Would be pretty down for this to happen. 2 of my favorite games are repped, 2 iconic names, and then two fun and well known characters. Had a few tough cuts but so is life

A Sony pass with no Ratchet, no Jak, no Sly, and a bunch of boring humans...

...fun.

 

[Wiziliz]

Okay, you guys can add additional 3rd party characters only from franchises already represented in Smash. Who do you choose? Only one from each.

Metal Gear: Raiden
Sonic: Dr. Eggman
Mega Man: Proto Man
Pac-Man: Clyde
Street Fighter: Chun-Li
Final Fantasy: Sephiroth
Bayonetta: Enzo
Castlevania: Alucard
Persona: Yu
Dragon Quest: Slime
Banjo-Kazooie: Gruntilda
Fatal Fury: Geese

 

[Sysreq]

Depends on the timing. E3 will assuredly have a character, which makes April and May timing tricky, and given comments from Sakurai I'd say it's safe to say the first General Direct of the year won't have one.

E3 just fits the best, IMO.

E3 doesn't fit best IMO because it's 5 months of dead air. That also means 5 months of dev time. I hope we're getting a shadow drop at E3 if that's the case.

I want to bring up again (in general) that Dec 31, 2021 is not when FP2 is ending.

 

[MooMew64]

E3 doesn't fit best IMO because it's 5 months of dead air. That also means 5 months of dev time. I hope we're getting a shadow drop at E3 if that's the case.

I want to bring up again (in general) that Dec 31, 2021 is not when FP2 is ending.

It'll probably end in November.

I think people are gettin' ahead of themselves here when we have comments from the game's director telling us it's gonna be a while. I wouldn't be too shocked if we only saw two of those six this year.

 

[perfectchaos83]

It'll probably end in November.

I think people are gettin' ahead of themselves here when we have comments from the game's director telling us it's gonna be a while. I wouldn't be too shocked if we only saw two of those six this year.

The reason for the Dec 31 2021 placeholder is because of some Japanese law on Digital Distribution. I heavily doubt Volume 2 will go that far into 2021

 

[CosmicQuark]

Sakurai specifically praised Half-Life 2 along with Halo 2. Doom wasn't picked up by him like that. Sure, that comment on Carmack is a good sign, but that also includes Wolfenstein (Not saying Sakurai wasn't implying Doom more) But is history with Nintendo really big factor, considering little to non-existent popularity in Japan? There are a lot of franchises that have long history with Nintendo. That's not always the main factor. Cloud got in before Hero but Dragon Quest established JRPG and influenced Final Fantasy. Moreover, Cloud represented betrayal of Squaresoft back in the day. There is another difference. Microsoft already put its foot on Smash already. On the other hand, Bethesda/ID have not even if they sound very eager to put their hands on Smash.
If we factor Japanese market, Halo has higher chance.

I should preface this by saying I gave my thoughts if I were to be pushed on who was more likely--as I said, I'm fairly 50/50 on them.

I feel like they're both very comparable in terms of popularity in Japan--one could argue one is slightly more popular than the other (I've heard it go both ways), but in comparison to other candidates, they're both virtually non-existent there. I mentioned the history with Nintendo as a factor was in comparison to Halo. While the character of Cloud was less associated with Nintendo, Cloud was there to represent the franchise as a whole, which did have a history with Nintendo. In comparison to Doom, Halo as a series has no relationship to Nintendo currently, and there's only a theoretical connection with a possible MCC coming to Switch. That being said, even if it doesn't come to Switch, Master Chief is still very possible in Smash. I gave the example of Joker. That Nintendo went with Joker, rather than a character from Shin Megami Tensei, demonstrates a bigger deviation from having characters/series with strong ties to Nintendo.

Which is why I noted it as an exception. So, Master Chief could be that exception, and if he's in, I'd expect him to be the first or second character in the pack, as that surprise character. But I generally stray away from thinking of who that exception would be, rather there will be a surprise character. Could be Master Chief, could be Sora (since most dismiss him due to the Disney connection), could be an assist becoming playable, could be a character I'm not even considering at the moment. If asked if Master Chief is possible, I have no doubt it's possible, especially given Nintendo and Microsoft's growing relationship. It's when asked if it's likely, that I feel less confident about. I suspect there will be either no Western characters, or at most one, and there's plenty of candidates.

 

[Mamboo07]

Okay, you guys can add additional 3rd party characters only from franchises already represented in Smash. Who do you choose? Only one from each.

Sonic: Dr Eggman/Robotnik
Metal Gear: Raiden
Megaman: Dr Wiley (Or maybe Zero instead)
Castlevania: Dracula
Pacman: Pinky, duh
Final Fantasy: No idea
Street Fighter: Guile
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: Slime

Sonic: Dr. Eggman
Metal Gear: Liquid
Megaman: Bounce Man (From Mega Man 11.)
Castlevania: Death
Pacman: The Ghosts
Final Fantasy: Vivi Ornitier (His design is the chibi from World of Final Fantasy.)
Street Fighter: Chun-Li
Banjo: Gruntilda
Dragon Quest: A Slime
Bayonetta: Jeanne
SNK: Mai (I would cover her up.)

 

[MooMew64]

The reason for the Dec 31 2021 placeholder is because of some Japanese law on Digital Distribution. I heavily doubt Volume 2 will go that far into 2021

That'd be great if that's how it works out, but right now, I'm speculating with what info we have. I'm personally not holding my breath for any kind of big Smash Bros. news anytime soon.

If it happens sooner, awesome! But there's nothing to indicate that right now, so I'm personally super skeptical of any kind of February reveal.