Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Michael the Spikester]

At this point I think the most likely characters would be amongst a Resident Evil character, Crash, Tales character, and possibly Ryun Hayabusa. Nothing groundbreaking here, but mostly I just don’t think DOOM is likely at all personally.

As for overlooked characters I would echo potentially an Undertale character as much as I don’t personally care too much. I waaaant to say Story of Seasons but even I don’t think that’s likely. I guess my other real answer would be any first party character. The trend seems to be 3rd party characters, but I could absolutely see one first party tacked on at the end.

I would also throw Phoenix Wright and Doom Slayer up there as well with those four.

 

[N3ON]

You know which series people are sleeping on? When Namco comes up, discussion revolves around Tekken and Tales, and even Xenosaga and Klonoa - but rarely ever does Dark Souls get brought up. That's kinda strange, considering it's bigger than all those series, bar Tekken, it's pretty active and global, it targets seemingly the desired DLC demo, and it's not without its Nintendo connections.

The drawback is the lack of clear choice - whether the Chosen Undead, or Solaire, or... Artorias... (maybe not that last one). But sometimes third-parties get chosen based more on series than character, so it's not a dealbreaker.

Just strange that people don't seem to acknowledge it.

 

[StormC]

You know which series people are sleeping on? When Namco comes up, discussion revolves around Tekken and Tales, and even Xenosaga and Klonoa - but rarely ever does Dark Souls get brought up. That's kinda strange, considering it's bigger than all those series, bar Tekken, it's pretty active and global, it targets seemingly the desired DLC demo, and it's not without its Nintendo connections.

The drawback is the lack of clear choice - whether the Chosen Undead, or Solaire, or... Artorias... (maybe not that last one). But sometimes third-parties get chosen based more on series than character, so it's not a dealbreaker.

Just strange that people don't seem to acknowledge it.

I just have a hard time imagining them selling DLC as "look, it's the guy you played as in Dark Souls!" Even the Heroes at least have iconic, immediately recognizable designs. It's not really a character-heavy series that lends itself to that sort of Smash fighter. Don't see them picking Solaire either.

 

[N3ON]

I just have a hard time imagining them selling DLC as "look, it's the guy you played as in Dark Souls!" Even the Heroes at least have iconic, immediately recognizable designs. It's not really a character-heavy series that lends itself to that sort of Smash fighter. Don't see them picking Solaire either.

They trust the recognizability of Solaire enough to make him an amiibo.

 

[StormC]

They trust the recognizability of Solaire enough to make him an amiibo.

He's recognizable but he's an NPC in an action RPG. If they didn't pick Slime over Hero, I don't see them picking Solaire.

 

[Idon]

He's recognizable but he's an NPC in an action RPG. If they didn't pick Slime over Hero, I don't see them picking Solaire.

If they go on choosing a DS character, I can see them going the Hero Route and having Solaire as an alt with some special voicelines. After all Solaire doesn't differ much from the standard Chosen outside of maybe a bigger emphasis on miracles.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

To describe Ryu Hayabusa's stealth...

Naruto is still better at it. And I mean the character. Yeah.

That said, Ryu Hayabusa sounds like a really fun option~

 

[Deleted member]

You know which series people are sleeping on? When Namco comes up, discussion revolves around Tekken and Tales, and even Xenosaga and Klonoa - but rarely ever does Dark Souls get brought up. That's kinda strange, considering it's bigger than all those series, bar Tekken, it's pretty active and global, it targets seemingly the desired DLC demo, and it's not without its Nintendo connections.

The drawback is the lack of clear choice - whether the Chosen Undead, or Solaire, or... Artorias... (maybe not that last one). But sometimes third-parties get chosen based more on series than character, so it's not a dealbreaker.

Just strange that people don't seem to acknowledge it.

The way I see it, Dark Souls' combat style would be hard to fit in a Smash setting, perhaps even harder than Tekken for that matter. Dark Souls' combat has usually been about preserving your stamina while dodging and striking at the right moment. A lot of people really love that sort of challenge which is why it's so popular to begin with, but it's probably even more challenging for Sakurai to think of a way to put a Dark Souls character in Smash while at the same time staying faithful to the series, pleasing FromSoftware, and most importantly being fun.

If any of you have any ideas as to a possible moveset for a Dark Souls character that isn't a boss and stays faithful to the series, I'm certainly interested in seeing it. For now, I'm imagining the Chosen Undead or Solaire being a character where every move is super punishable.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Although I'm still predicting Lloyd Irving and an RE rep (Jill or Leon) being the final two. At this rate given this guys predictions on GameFaqs having been right so far withit wouldn't surprise me if he's right about Lloyd and Crash being the final two.

 

[Ura]

Well, North America is definitely the largest market, so it provided the most sales, but per capita I have heard, anecdotally - mind you, that Golden Sun is the most popular both in Europe, and also seemingly in Latin America. The few Smash polls conducted regionally tend to back this up, but I don't have any on hand, unfortunately. Plus he gets a different name in basically every language... so that's fun to keep track of.

Following those two general regions I guess the US & Canada would be next, with Japan trailing noticeably behind. Though not to the extent he won't show up on popularity polls there, he'd just be lower.

(Sorry Aus & NZ & everyone else, no idea about you lot)

Well as a Canuck, I absolutely adore this series. Dunno much about the franchise's popularity here but yeah. Hope the series becomes popular worldwide one day.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

So I’m starting to see Lloyd Irving show up a lot in predictions.

I’m not too well versed in the Tales series and only know of the character from smash speculation, can anybody tell why they think he’s so likely? Not trying to be facetious, I’m genuinely curious.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

So I’m starting to see Lloyd Irving show up a lot in predictions.

I’m not too well versed in the Tales series and only know of the character from smash speculation, can anybody tell why they think he’s so likely? Not trying to be factious, I’m genuinely curious.

For one I recall its relatively very popular in Japan to the point I hear it has its own theme park.

Also Sakurai said something around the lines of how Lloyd represented GameCube of some sort. Can't exactly remember how it was said though.

 

[N3ON]

He's recognizable but he's an NPC in an action RPG. If they didn't pick Slime over Hero, I don't see them picking Solaire.

Perhaps, but they might've picked Slime over the Hero if the Hero wasn't recognizable enough, because Slime still was. You're right in that Dark Souls is not character heavy, which differs it from most series in Smash. To that end, since Smash is character based, and that's what it seems to look for, it stands to reason they could go with the only widely known character from that series.

Smash doesn't tend to go for NPCs first, but NPCs don't tend to be the sole addition synonymous with the series. So in that respect it would be different, sure, but in the respect of going with the most recognizable and popular, that'd keep the status quo. I guess where we differ is that I don't think shifting that focus inherently invalidates the potential.

I mean it certainly wouldn't surprise me if we rounded out Ultimate with just the Rathalos and no accompanying playable Hunter.

 

[lordvaati]

My 7th question
Who's the Most likely EA rep for smash dlc

I know back in the day many joked and said things like John Madden, but if we were serious Commander Shepard would be the top choice from ElectroArts.

 

[TheYungLink]

I thought the reason we weren't discussing Dark Souls when it came to Bandai Namco was because, unless I'm wrong, Bandai Namco doesn't actually own the IP, only the publishing rights.

So if a Dark Souls character got in, it wouldn't affect "company reps" of that's something you apparently care about.

 

[N3ON]

I thought the reason we weren't discussing Dark Souls when it came to Bandai Namco was because, unless I'm wrong, Bandai Namco doesn't actually own the IP, only the publishing rights.

So if a Dark Souls character got in, it wouldn't affect "company reps" of that's something you apparently care about.

Nope, Dark Souls is Namco's IP. I don't put stock in the idea of some deliberate rubberbanding that will keep the third-parties all more or less level, but if Dark Souls did get in, it would bump the Namco count up to two all the same.

 

[Nquoid]

Quite funny to see a lot of people listing characters as being slept on who are in my personal top 5 most likely (Ryu Hayabusa, Lloyd Irving, Leon Kennedy, Heihachi and in a distant fifth Doomguy).

Although if you look at a lot of ballots, the only one that shows up on them frequently in a top position is Doomguy. But I do wish we had more reason to discuss Amaterasu and KOS-MOS, both from companies with bigger IP that's more likely to get in, but both feel like really natural fits.

 

[Deleted member]

Quite funny to see a lot of people listing characters as being slept on who are in my personal top 5 most likely (Ryu Hayabusa, Lloyd Irving, Leon Kennedy, Heihachi and in a distant fifth Doomguy).

Although if you look at a lot of ballots, the only one that shows up on them frequently in a top position is Doomguy. But I do wish we had more reason to discuss Amaterasu and KOS-MOS, both from companies with bigger IP that's more likely to get in, but both feel like really natural fits.

KOS-MOS is one of those characters that has quite a fanbase as I can see she has a lot of figures over the years, she is playable in a lot of crossover games (and is a guest in XB2) plus she is part of the Xeno series just like Shulk and Rex. She covers an interesting niche if I so myself but I dunno how well she will fare against other Namco series.

 

[osby]

So I’m starting to see Lloyd Irving show up a lot in predictions.

I’m not too well versed in the Tales series and only know of the character from smash speculation, can anybody tell why they think he’s so likely? Not trying to be facetious, I’m genuinely curious.

Tales is generally regarded as one of the biggest RPGs around and Lloyd had his game in GameCube, making him very popular among core fanbase.

Even if he isn't the most popular character among Tales character, he got a Mii costume and Sakurai mentioned seeing him as the obvious choice from the series.

 

[StormC]

KOS-MOS is one of those characters that has quite a fanbase as I can see she has a lot of figures over the years, she is playable in a lot of crossover games (and is a guest in XB2) plus she is part of the Xeno series just like Shulk and Rex. She covers an interesting niche if I so myself but I dunno how well she will fare against other Namco series.

I think the issue with KOS-MOS is... Xenosaga is on the obscure side of things. Yes, KOS-MOS is a recognizable character that appears in a lot of crossovers, but the series itself not as much. In a way she's pretty similar to Morrigan in that regard. To me, they are selling the Fighters Pass with the franchise in mind as well as the character, and I feel like Xenosaga is kind of niche in that regard.

 

[ze9]

Kos-mos is not happening.
I think the possible choices for a Namco character boil down to Tekken, Dark Souls and Tales of.
Personally I think Heihachi would be fine and Dark Souls would be dope. Not too big on Lloyd since he fights with swords, but at least he has been requested, and for a long time at that.

...Eh. They're all fine. Whatever.
Doomguy, please.

 

[TheYungLink]

Nope, Dark Souls is Namco's IP. I don't put stock in the idea of some deliberate rubberbanding that will keep the third-parties all more or less level, but if Dark Souls did get in, it would bump the Namco count up to two all the same.

Whenever I tried to research it, I would never get a clear answer, but vaguely came to the conclusion that they only own the publishing rights.

Thanks for linking that interview that concretely confirms the ownership! Now I can put Dark Souls up there with Tales, Xenosaga, Tekken, and its various other non-Pac-Man arcade games like Valkyrie or Mappy that would be really cool to get characters from, haha.

 

[Deleted member]

You know which series people are sleeping on? When Namco comes up, discussion revolves around Tekken and Tales, and even Xenosaga and Klonoa - but rarely ever does Dark Souls get brought up. That's kinda strange, considering it's bigger than all those series, bar Tekken, it's pretty active and global, it targets seemingly the desired DLC demo, and it's not without its Nintendo connections.

The drawback is the lack of clear choice - whether the Chosen Undead, or Solaire, or... Artorias... (maybe not that last one). But sometimes third-parties get chosen based more on series than character, so it's not a dealbreaker.

Just strange that people don't seem to acknowledge it.

Dark Souls gets talked a lot on 4chan. Big fan of the series and I think it'd be cool in Smash, especially as a Namco rep. However, it suffers from the exact problem you mentioned (which is a similar problem Monster Hunter has, but to a lesser degree), that because you have player created characters, you can't exactly pin down an "iconic" character for the series. Especially since all 3 Souls game are rather loosely connected to each other, with no real recurring characters in any of them. Solaire could be argued to be the most "iconic" due to the online memes, but within the games, he's not ALL too significant really. Artorias is probably the most lore dense character, and probably the most significant within the franchise, and would have the most interesting moveset as well, being a boss character and all. But since you only ever see him in the DLC, he's not exactly iconic.

If I were to choose a Namco rep personally, I'd choose something from Dark Souls, either Chosen Undead (with skins for the Ashen one as a 2nd costume), or Artorias. I'd say the franchise most definitely deserves it when you judge its impact within the gaming industry, it deserves it far more than the other Bamco IP, at least imo. That said, imma ride the Mai + Doomguy boat till the end, even though it'll likely not go anywhere, but I just feel that would be the best way to close out the roster, with two very unexpected picks, both large gaming icons, and both from companies that are important to gaming as a whole. They would both also be very fun to play. Whereas I have my doubts on a Souls character really being all that fun. I think Monster Hunter would do the same thing a Souls character would, in terms of playstyle, being "slow and methodical" but would do it much better, as MH is far more over-the-top. Too bad the devs have already declared they don't want MH in fighting games (MvCI was done against their wishes).

 

[Dukemon]

I know back in the day many joked and said things like John Madden, but if we were serious Commander Shepard would be the top choice from ElectroArts.

No, it would be Grimm Reaper from The Sims series with dark wings.

 

[Nquoid]

This got uploaded a week ago and is currently unlisted. Looks like he's coming soon

Shame 78 days was wrong, but I kind of figure that the average day between characters will end up being 78 days or thereabouts when all is said and done.

 

[Deleted member]

This got uploaded a week ago and is currently unlisted. Looks like he's coming soon

Shame 78 days was wrong, but I kind of figure that the average day between characters will end up being 78 days or thereabouts when all is said and done.

Hopefully the moment arrives pretty soon.

 

[SKX31]

I know back in the day many joked and said things like John Madden, but if we were serious Commander Shepard would be the top choice from ElectroArts.

I think the topic of EA does deserve at least some discussion, if not just answering the question of "Why is EA not even discussed when Nintendo already deals with a microtransaction happy company in Konami?" I don't think the answer's as crystal clear as it seems, even though the obvious answer's part of it. You know, EA's business model of "games-as-service", heavy focus on repackaging into something "new" and the somewhat casual ignoring of established characters. I'm not so sure EA's controversies really play a major part when Snake / "Everyone was here" was unveiled for Ultimate just months after Metal Gear Survive released and died.

The obvious answer plays into a couple big factors: First, EA's games are generally not aimed at Japan. Second, their non-sports characters have niches that can much more easily be filled by other choices. Shepard happens to share some on-the-surface similarities with Doomguy and Master Chief (being sci fi soldiers) for example, so the latter two will likely take priority in such a contest. Third, EA might just be plain too much hassle for Sakurai to deal with. Wouldn't surprise me when EA doesn't have the warmest of relations with the console makers and as a general rule tends to stick for itself - no matter how much hate they get.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

This got uploaded a week ago and is currently unlisted. Looks like he's coming soon

Shame 78 days was wrong, but I kind of figure that the average day between characters will end up being 78 days or thereabouts when all is said and done.

I take it this is just the trailer that gets attatched to the Switch news bulletin.

 

[Megadoomer]

My 7th question
Who's the Most likely EA rep for smash dlc

Commander Shepard from Mass Effect? I'm not sure; it's not like EA has a ton of immediately recognizable franchises that they fully own which would work well in Smash. The main EA games that come to mind for me are licensed games, sports titles, The Sims, and Mass Effect.

 

[Deleted member]

Commander Shepard from Mass Effect? I'm not sure; it's not like EA has a ton of immediately recognizable franchises that they fully own which would work well in Smash. The main EA games that come to mind for me are licensed games, sports titles, The Sims, and Mass Effect.

Dead Space and American McGuee’s (or McGeez’s?) Alice are also worth to mention from them.

 

[Dukemon]

Dead Space is actually dead.

 

[-crump-]

This got uploaded a week ago and is currently unlisted. Looks like he's coming soon

Shame 78 days was wrong, but I kind of figure that the average day between characters will end up being 78 days or thereabouts when all is said and done.

This makes me even more sure that Hero won’t come out this month. When April came around the Joker trailer switched to “Coming Soon”; the fact that this unlisted promotional trailer still says “Summer 2019” wouldn’t make much sense if he was releasing soon.

 

[hustler713]

Is it really? Golden Sun tends to sell better in North America than it does Europe.

Then again, I have heard from a lot of Europeans about their love for the game. I would say both regions are very supportive for the series. I just wish Japan would be one of them.

I was looking it up after reading your post and your right. To my surprise. I've read somewhere that Europe was the most successful place for Golden sun, but as it seems it was America.
I've read somewhere that the series is definitely remembered in Japan, but it has much more competition with a lot of other jrpg franchises beeing big over there, I believe.

 

[Dust319]

-There's no support threads for any character from Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors. It's only been until recently that we've been discussing the possibility of Musou representation in Smash.

I’ve discussed the fact that I don’t think any of them qualify as purely video game characters. The other problem is there is definitely not just one character that would represent the entirety of the series.

For Dynasty Warriors:
Zhao Yun is in the openings and the box art, but isn’t particularly impactful to the story, and the force he is a part of is not the ultimate victor historically.

Lu Bu is the most notable warrior of the age but is only a significant threat for part of the story, and doesn’t always get his own story arc.

Cao Cao is a bit of both, but doesn’t actually live through the end of the campaign.

Sims Yi story wise is the best choice, but his fighting style — either fan or horsewhip— isn’t exactly iconic for the series.

Samurai Warriors has a similar problem with Yukimura being recognizable but not heavily impactful and Ieyasu Tokugawa being impactful but a bit of an odd move set.

In a board meeting, this wouldn’t be discussed at length though. If they suggested Dynasty or Samurai Warriors then asked “which character,” they’d probably drop the idea.


On a different note, if Koei Tecmo didn’t want to do Ryu Hayabusa, I could see Ayane as a dark horse candidate. She’s part of the Dead or Alive series, but has also appeared in Ninja Gaiden and the Warriors Orochi series.

 

[UberPyro64]

I’ve discussed the fact that I don’t think any of them qualify as purely video game characters. The other problem is there is definitely not just one character that would represent the entirety of the series.

For Dynasty Warriors:
Zhao Yun is in the openings and the box art, but isn’t particularly impactful to the story, and the force he is a part of is not the ultimate victor historically.

Lu Bu is the most notable warrior of the age but is only a significant threat for part of the story, and doesn’t always get his own story arc.

Cao Cao is a bit of both, but doesn’t actually live through the end of the campaign.

Sims Yi story wise is the best choice, but his fighting style — either fan or horsewhip— isn’t exactly iconic for the series.

Samurai Warriors has a similar problem with Yukimura being recognizable but not heavily impactful and Ieyasu Tokugawa being impactful but a bit of an odd move set.

In a board meeting, this wouldn’t be discussed at length though. If they suggested Dynasty or Samurai Warriors then asked “which character,” they’d probably drop the idea.


On a different note, if Koei Tecmo didn’t want to do Ryu Hayabusa, I could see Ayane as a dark horse candidate. She’s part of the Dead or Alive series, but has also appeared in Ninja Gaiden and the Warriors Orochi series.

It's not their say of what character gets in. If Nintendo and Sakurai want Ryu Hayabusa, but Koei Tecmo doesn't want to give the rights, then they get no one.

 

[Daeyrat]

This makes me even more sure that Hero won’t come out this month. When April came around the Joker trailer switched to “Coming Soon”; the fact that this unlisted promotional trailer still says “Summer 2019” wouldn’t make much sense if he was releasing soon.

But the video is from june

 

[Deleted member]

If this was a MCU movie featuring Spider-Man, Tom Holland could have already leaked Hero’s release date or something like that.

But sadly for me, this isn’t the MCU... and it will be harder to get a leak for Hero’s release date.

 

[Nquoid]

This got uploaded a week ago and is currently unlisted. Looks like he's coming soon

Shame 78 days was wrong, but I kind of figure that the average day between characters will end up being 78 days or thereabouts when all is said and done.

So there's also a Banjo 30 second ad meaning the Hero ad might not mean much. But the last time when they uploaded the ad for Joker it was done the day before the character dropped.

I'd guess we might get something in the next week or two. Puts it exactly 3 months post Joker

 

[Deleted member]

I’ve discussed the fact that I don’t think any of them qualify as purely video game characters. The other problem is there is definitely not just one character that would represent the entirety of the series.

For Dynasty Warriors:
Zhao Yun is in the openings and the box art, but isn’t particularly impactful to the story, and the force he is a part of is not the ultimate victor historically.

Lu Bu is the most notable warrior of the age but is only a significant threat for part of the story, and doesn’t always get his own story arc.

Cao Cao is a bit of both, but doesn’t actually live through the end of the campaign.

Sims Yi story wise is the best choice, but his fighting style — either fan or horsewhip— isn’t exactly iconic for the series.

Samurai Warriors has a similar problem with Yukimura being recognizable but not heavily impactful and Ieyasu Tokugawa being impactful but a bit of an odd move set.

In a board meeting, this wouldn’t be discussed at length though. If they suggested Dynasty or Samurai Warriors then asked “which character,” they’d probably drop the idea.

Again, if licensing these characters is a big hassle, then I could see why there wouldn't be Musou representation. However, I don't really think that was ever the case when Koei-Tecmo put a couple of characters from both Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors in Warriors All Stars. Omega Force's version of these characters are far more of a video game character than Goku and Iron Man are.

On the topic of the story, I never really looked at story as a key factor for a character's inclusion unless the characters themselves are spoiler heavy. If that were the case, Pokemon Trainer would've been in Smash before Pikachu. I'd wager choosing which character to best represent Musou games wouldn't be too hard either and would go down to either Zhao Yun, Yukimura Sanada, or both of them with 1 being an Echo since they're considered to be the main heroes of their respective series.

 

[Icedragonadam]

Someone on Gamefaqs said there was a maintenance date was added on Monday, that seems like a good release date if they are coinciding it with Dragon Quest Builders 2.