Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Puyo Puyo was reskinned in the West...

Key word being was. This is no longer the case, and it's popular enough to get multiple crossovers with Tetris. Both of which were localized.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

About Kiryu, Nagoshi said in early 2019 about Kiryu in Smash: " If he (Sakurai) asked I’d say yes, but I don't think he wants them!" in a IGN interview. While I don't think it's happening, he would be open to it. Maybe he don't want Kiryu in Tekken because the fight are more realistic.

 

[Guynamednelson]

But still, they didn't care enough to translate the Puyo Puyo game on the SNES Online service.

If they didn't give a **** they would've have localized Puyo Puyo Tetris, including hiring English voice actors. Do you even do all the research before defaulting to "beep boop must doubt everything"?

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

But still, they didn't care enough to translate the Puyo Puyo game on the SNES Online service.

I wouldn't put much stock into that. Nintendo doesn't profit off of it because it's a Sega game, and they're technically not even selling it in the first place. To put that into perspective, the game they did translate (Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light) is getting a full release rather than a placement on Nintendo Switch Online.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

But it's almost entirely Japan-centric. I don't think that they would add a character that appeals only to Japan.

Wasn't Fire Emblem and Dragon Quest also formerly Japan-centric? Hmmm...

 

[clearandsweet]

Seems like it is either Sakura, Arle, a Yakuza character that isn't Kiryu or a second Sonic rep after Kiryu's deconfirm for Sega rep.

 

[Slime Master]

Friendly reminder that several DQ games were not localized until the remakes, or in the case of some spinoffs, never localized. Aside from maybe not being quite as huge in Japan, I don't really see how Puyo Puyo's situation is different.

 

[Staarih]

I also don't think that a third pass is happening.

Genuine question: is there anything you think is going to happen?
Since it looks like you're just shooting everything down haha.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Who?

also may wanna add some text to that post so the mods don’t think it’s image only spam

 

[cashregister9]

I completely forgot about Selvaria, She would be really cool.

 

[TCT~Phantom]

Besides, Sakurai already announced that this is it, and the CSS can only support 4 more characters after all FP2 characters.

Or they could, you know, change it? Like how they managed to fit characters onto the 3DS version or managed to fit more stages in this game? This argument is real weak. People literally were saying that FP1 might be it exactly because of the stage select screen, and look where we are now.

I have said it once and I will say it again, the only thing stopping more Ultimate DLC is whether or not Sakurai wants to keep working on this game. I personally feel if this is the last pass, we might get 1-2 more bonus fighters afterwords, but I think that a third pass is not out of the cards yet.

The main reason is the fact this is going gangbusters in terms of sales. The game has sold over 21 million units, with likely more happening during the holidays. Assuming a low bar of only 10% of the install base (or to make it simpler, 2 Million to round down) bought FP2 itself as a whole, that would be 60,000,000 dollars made. That does not factor in either people who bought only one fighter, mii costumes, development costs, or licensing costs, but I think the point still stands. This is selling very well and makes Nintendo a ton of money.

The key wording I have seen that makes people think this might be the end is vague. To me, it seems like it leaves the door open to both more DLC and an end to it if Sakurai wishes it. I doubt Nintendo will do more without Sakurai, but the amount of money on the table is truly something to consider.

 

[SKX31]

What about Kiryu and Majima in Project X Zone 2? I haven’t gotten that far in it, so I don’t really know what kinds of enemies are common, but at the very least the two of them are beating up a bee lady in this video. So I guess PXZ2 could count as an exception, but the question would become whether Smash could be counted as one too

PXZ 2's main villainess is Reiji / Xiaomu's main enemy (temporary ally back in PXZ 1), and she's the one who ropes in Sigma, Bison and other bad guys / gals into her scheme. Oh and said villainess continually appear throughout the story.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure he would've known about that.

Allow me to introduce you to my aesthetic:

Hornet vs. Pepsi Man is the true dream matchup.

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

The only Sega character I can see now is a second rep for Sonic, which I don't think is gonna happen.

And why not? Sonic is one of the biggest franchises in the world and I'd argue deserves to have a second rep more than any other third party franchise. The only evidence I've seen for it not happening is "it hasn't happened yet" which just seems like a fan-rule to me. That doesn't mean it won't happen and they could easily go for something like that.

And the rule has happened before, with Ken and Richter and while both were Echo Fighters, Ken was only an echo fighter in name and is mostly entirely different from Ryu.

 

[clearandsweet]

I completely forgot about Selvaria, She would be really cool.

Valkyria Chronicles added to Smash, Monkey's paw curls, "Edy takes the stage!" playable Edy, no skins no alts, no one else. Spirits are Hans and Ragnarok

PXZ 2's main villainess is Reiji / Xiaomu's main enemy (temporary ally back in PXZ 1), and she's the one who ropes in Sigma, Bison and other bad guys / gals into her scheme. Oh and said villainess continually appear throughout the story.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure he would've known about that.



Allow me to introduce you to my aesthetic:

Hornet vs. Pepsi Man is the true dream matchup.

We don't give SEGA enough credit. They've done some really ****ing dumb things that are really ****ing awesome.

 

[SharkLord]

Puyo puyo was changed to Kirby's Avalanche on Snes and Dr. Robotniks Mean Bean Machine on Genesis.

Of course... OF COURSE!

DOCTOR ROBOTNIK PINGASES INTO BATTLE

 

[Arcanir]

No, pretty sure he was chosen because of his recognizability to western players. They specifically talked about it.

To back this up, it was in this interview that it was said:

• After Erdrick and Eleven, the hero of Dragon Quest VIII was decided as he was popular overseas. However, popularity wasn’t the only factor, as then the hero of Dragon Quest V would be included. But that Hero wasn’t known for using swords, but rather staffs. In the end, it came down to either the hero of Dragon Quest I or Dragon Quest IV, but as there wasn’t a unified image for Dragon Quest I’s main character across media, IV was decided upon.

That doesn't mean Eight should be used as an excuse, but it is true that the character was chosen primarily off of his overseas presence.

 

[Koopaul]

If Birdo just removed the flutter, had an egg shoot instead of egg throw, and used Dedede's suck instead of Yoshi's tongue, then she would work completely fine. This would make her simpler than Ken, who is an 'echo.'

I don't understand the hostility. Echo is an incredibly loose term. We have from Daisy to Ken. Meanwhile, Pichu, Dr Mario, Young Link, and Toon Link, are not echoes, simply because they got a numbered entry long ago.

Please tell me then, based on all of this, what is an echo?

My hostility comes from the fact that people underestimate how much work and thought and care goes into making fighters. How people act like its simple to do what they think is possible. I will break things down into three parts.

1. You cannot simply tack on a move from another fighter and have it work for multiple reasons. You'd have to completely reanimate, readjust, and re-rig animations. It's not so easy to slap Dedede's suck onto Birdo's model. Have you seen hacks where they take animation from one fighter and apply it another? It's easier when fighters have a similar anatomy like Ganondorf and Falcon, or Chrom and Roy/Ike. But a big round penguin and a dinosaur?

2. Something everyone should know is that Smash Bros fighters are a coherent picture. Every attack, their run speed, their jump height, their weight, etc etc etc. These things do not exist in a vacuum. They are all designed to work with one another hand-in-hand. Things like launch angles are adjusted based on a fighter's speed and jump so that they can follow up with another attack. Dr. Mario doesn't jump like Mario does so his attacks have to be balanced accordingly. It's not so simple to remove Yoshi's Flutter Jump and think that those same aerial attacks would still work the way they were designed to work. As someone who plays as Yoshi I am aware of how beneficial the momentum of the flutter is to his aerial attacks. Take that away and you have an imbalance.

3. If you want to know what an echo fighter is, simply put: they're fighters that are similar enough that they can be balanced side-by-side. Look at the balancing patches. Whenever Peach receives a change so does Daisy. This even applies to Ryu and Ken for the most part. But this is not the same with Dr. Mario, or Pichu, or Young Link, etc.

I think Birdo could be a Young Link style clone of Yoshi. But things would have to be reanimated and readjusted in ways that go beyond the other echoes. And every update she'd have to be balanced separately. She would NOT be an echo fighter.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I think Birdo could be a Young Link style clone of Yoshi. But things would have to be reanimated and readjusted in ways that go beyond the other echoes. And every update she'd have to be balanced separately. She would NOT be an echo fighter.

I still disagree here. The only two moves that Yoshi does that Birdo 100% cannot do are his grab, and Egg Lay. The grab can simply be reanimated (she wouldn't be the first character with a silly grab range), and Egg Lay is a pretty easy move to replace, as it's not all that useful to Yoshi in the first place. So long as a slow moving projectile that opponents can just grab right out of the air (or something, it doesn't have to be that specifically) doesn't make her that much more powerful than Yoshi, she still fits the requirements for an Echo Fighter.

EDIT: I do agree that getting rid of the Flutter Jump is more problematic than one would expect. 'Cuz like, how she gonna recover?

 

[pupNapoleon]

But it's almost entirely Japan-centric. I don't think that they would add a character that appeals only to Japan.

I've never played Puyo Puyo and barely have researched Sakura Wars. (Actually, I have played Puyo, but not enough to have even seen Arle in it). That said- both characters appeal to me. I want to get some kind of character that feels, even just the slightest bit, like a 'magical girl' type. While neither are exactly this, and I don't see Lip happening, Puyo or Sakura would be quite fine by me. Puyo's sales, presence on the switch, and the lack of the puzzle genre, also make this a notch up for me.

 

[Iko MattOrr]

EDIT: I do agree that getting rid of the Flutter Jump is more problematic than one would expect. 'Cuz like, how she gonna recover?

I'm sorry but when it comes to Birdo's recovery, any answer that's not this

is a wrong answer

 

[pupNapoleon]

I'm sorry but when it comes to Birdo's recovery, any answer that's not this

is a wrong answer

Very true- and a portion of the coding already exists in Villager and Lloyd.

I still disagree here. The only two moves that Yoshi does that Birdo 100% cannot do are his grab, and Egg Lay. The grab can simply be reanimated (she wouldn't be the first character with a silly grab range), and Egg Lay is a pretty easy move to replace, as it's not all that useful to Yoshi in the first place. So long as a slow moving projectile that opponents can just grab right out of the air (or something, it doesn't have to be that specifically) doesn't make her that much more powerful than Yoshi, she still fits the requirements for an Echo Fighter.

EDIT: I do agree that getting rid of the Flutter Jump is more problematic than one would expect. 'Cuz like, how she gonna recover?

I'm not even sure that Birdo would
1- require a huge change in grab; she cant lay the egg, but she could easily suck in the opponent.
2- maybe she can flutter. We don't actually know much about Birdo. We have never played as her in a platformer. Whatever species the Yoshi and Birdo came from, perhaps all of them can flutter. Or even if not, it's not as if Daisy can float, yet... she does in this game. Sakurai takes liberties from what is established. Hell, sometimes he sets the precedent. Jigglypuff never floated in the anime before Smash came out, her movement was made by Sakurai based on her being a balloon, and then later the anime took this note and applied it to her (and a really tough Wigglytuff from some season).

My hostility comes from the fact that people underestimate how much work and thought and care goes into making fighters. How people act like its simple to do what they think is possible. I will break things down into three parts.

1. You cannot simply tack on a move from another fighter and have it work for multiple reasons. You'd have to completely reanimate, readjust, and re-rig animations. It's not so easy to slap Dedede's suck onto Birdo's model. Have you seen hacks where they take animation from one fighter and apply it another? It's easier when fighters have a similar anatomy like Ganondorf and Falcon, or Chrom and Roy/Ike. But a big round penguin and a dinosaur?

2. Something everyone should know is that Smash Bros fighters are a coherent picture. Every attack, their run speed, their jump height, their weight, etc etc etc. These things do not exist in a vacuum. They are all designed to work with one another hand-in-hand. Things like launch angles are adjusted based on a fighter's speed and jump so that they can follow up with another attack. Dr. Mario doesn't jump like Mario does so his attacks have to be balanced accordingly. It's not so simple to remove Yoshi's Flutter Jump and think that those same aerial attacks would still work the way they were designed to work. As someone who plays as Yoshi I am aware of how beneficial the momentum of the flutter is to his aerial attacks. Take that away and you have an imbalance.

3. If you want to know what an echo fighter is, simply put: they're fighters that are similar enough that they can be balanced side-by-side. Look at the balancing patches. Whenever Peach receives a change so does Daisy. This even applies to Ryu and Ken for the most part. But this is not the same with Dr. Mario, or Pichu, or Young Link, etc.

I think Birdo could be a Young Link style clone of Yoshi. But things would have to be reanimated and readjusted in ways that go beyond the other echoes. And every update she'd have to be balanced separately. She would NOT be an echo fighter.

We know that when Young Link, Falco, Pichu, Ganondorf, Dr Mario, and Roy were added, they were echoes. Sure, they may have evolved since then (or not), but we were told that they were added because they could utilize the mechanics already established, and that all six took less work than one original fighter. Sure- it does take some work to reuse a mechanic from another fighter, but Birdo and Dedede are closer in size than Young Link to Link- they just have different hitboxes. I think you are blowing out of the water what we have already seen happen in Smash, time and time again. Not to mention, if Ken is an echo, that means he is balanced against Ryu. I believe that he easily could be. There isn't a reason that the Birdo that has been described could not be balanced against Yoshi.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

ayyyy valkyria Chronicles lets get it

 

[DarthEnderX]

Um...

You don't need great worldwide popularity.

Sorry, but this is a different tier.

Hero and Terry are less popular in the west, but Arle and Sakura Wars are almost completely unknown.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

maybe she can flutter. We don't actually know much about Birdo. We have never played as her in a platformer. Whatever species the Yoshi and Birdo came from, perhaps all of them can flutter.

Birdo has been depicted flying before. Granted it was in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! so it might not be acurate, but yeah, I don't think it'd be too far fetched to say that she can Flutter Jump.

Sorry, but this is a different tier.

Hero and Terry are less popular in the west, but Arle and Sakura Wars are almost completely unknown.

Eh, I dunno. I feel like Puyo Puyo is one of those games you've at least heard the name of.

I'm at least confident that it's more well known than anything Terry's been in, at least in the U.S.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Nintendo America changed their Twitter PFP to an Age of Calamity pic. Think we’re due for some announcements soon, at least an AOC direct or something?

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Nintendo America changed their Twitter PFP to an Age of Calamity pic. Think we’re due for some announcements soon, at least an AOC direct or something?

It's almost as if they changed their PFP to promote the game that is coming next week.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

It's almost as if they changed their PFP to promote the game that is coming next week.

To be fair there is plenty of stuff that hasn’t been touched upon for that game

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

To be fair there is plenty of stuff that hasn’t been touched upon for that game

Probably because the game's full of plot twists and spoilers.

 

[RileyXY1]

Birdo has been depicted flying before. Granted it was in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! so it might not be acurate, but yeah, I don't think it'd be too far fetched to say that she can Flutter Jump.


Eh, I dunno. I feel like Puyo Puyo is one of those games you've at least heard the name of.

I'm at least confident that it's more well known than anything Terry's been in, at least in the U.S.

SNK is huge in Latin America.

 

[pupNapoleon]

With that said, I'd love to see a Heroes rep added because it's the holy trinity of what could piss off Smash fans; mobile rep, gacha rep and Fire Emblem

The only mobile rep I want to see is Angry Birds- and I think they actually should be in. It's an enormous franchise, one of the most popularly known games by a general audience, and has spawned two movies as well as multiple tv series.

"how to make Birdo a Yoshi echo 101"

• replace egg lay with a reskinned version of K.Rool's blunderbuss.
• change grab to look like she's visually inhaling air, and grabs them normally (there's probably a character who can have that animation ripped from)
• re-skin up b to be fired out of mouth, functionally identical

there we go.

I'm a few pages back catching up, but the upB couldnt just be functionally identical- Birdo is known for one thing, shooting eggs, and they don't have even the slightest physics of the egg throw.
But that aside, sure.

SNK is huge in Latin America.

Just some anecdotal- I'd never heard of SNK until the leak of it for Smash. I absolutely had/have heard of Puyo Puyo.
That said, I do recognize many of SNK's games, but I wouldn't have even known it was more than one series.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Nintendo America changed their Twitter PFP to an Age of Calamity pic. Think we’re due for some announcements soon, at least an AOC direct or something?

NoEuro, NoCanada has pikmin
NoUK, DE has pokemon

This means nothing

 

[Cutie Gwen]

A second Sonic character shouldn't happen because Sakurai is a coward who wouldn't add Blaze or Omega change my mind

 

[SpectreJordan]

They could do something for Hyrule Warriors AOC this month.

Maybe mostly just reuse the BOTW spirits in the base game, but also have one or two new ones, like Impa.

Nah, they’re waiting for when Mipha/Impa are reveale

Actually Though I have another Question, that could be Important

You know how Apparently Minecraft was leakbait for Banjo (at First), but then eventually we got Steve, and he was only leakbait since at the time even though Steve was talked about for 5 Years, it was unknown if it could be done until FP2 was greenlit. Well there is possibly another Scenraio like this

So you guys remember the Seven Squares Leak, back when the Rumors of a 2nd Square Character were surfacing (and before it was confirmed to be Hero)? It had Seven Characters on it

Luminary
Erdrick
Slime
Sora
Geno
Sephiroth
Crono

Luminary and Erdrick are Playable, and Slime is Featured in Hero's Taunts and also on the Stage and is also a Spirit

What do you guys think Happened to the Other 4 Characters on this list. Geno is Already a Spirit, but has Missing Mii costume, and If Rumors are true, Sora was actually sought after, but it ended up not working out

Crono and Sephirioth are a Mystery

I’ve said this before but I think Sephiroth would be a really huge reveal. He’s one of the most iconic game villains ever; only behind Bowser, Ganon & maybe Eggman. If there’s a Smash trailer where a single black feather falls to the ground, people are going to lose their minds.

Pretty much sums it up, imo. They'll either go all the way, or they won't even bother. They wouldn't settle for nor allow anything else.

With how Disney is, it's a miracle that the classic that is Who Framed Roger Rabbit ever happened.

Roger Rabbit was made during the dark age of animation. Animated movies were flopping left & right. TV animation was largely just low budget shows to sell toys. None of the animation companies were in a position to be picky.

The back to back success of Roger Rabbit followed by The Little Mermaid is what ushered in animation behind popular again.

Do we know how much money the deal for Hero and Banjo costed? I'd imagine the latter wouldn't have been too expensive, and with what I'd imagine a decent portion of the money generated from FP1's income going into FP2, a character like Crash, MH, or especially Ryu is in my eyes absolutely possible.

Sora, Kratos or Chief on the other hand... while bigger than Steve, I don't think the Nintendo would get much in return for all the cash they'd pay for said characters.

I don’t necessarily think Chief would cost a lot. With how easy Microsoft was to work with, I imagine the licensing fees weren’t too high. Chief in Smash would be a situation where both parties get their backs scratched too, since it would be good advertising for the Series X & Halo: Infinite. So Microsoft might not charge too much for that reason; the long term benefits of Master Chief in Smash would outweigh the temporary benefit of the licensing fee.

I mean, ARMS sold over 2 million copies and Min Min is one of the most popular characters from that game, so the idea that she would sell well isn’t exactly unbelievable even if “nobody asked for her in Smash”. I mean, we are not exactly talking about Goku from Yuyuki, but a character with an already decent audience outside the context of Smash. There is legitimacy to the “Smash bubble” argument.

At the very least, this won’t discourage the idea of more first-party DLC if a third pass were to be hypothetically greenlit.

If we get another pass, I think Akira Howard & Ring Fit Adventurer are locks. They’re in a similar situation as Min-Min/Arms where I think Sakurai/Nintendo wanted to see if they were successful before making them fighters.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I'm a few pages back catching up, but the upB couldnt just be functionally identical- Birdo is known for one thing, shooting eggs, and they don't have even the slightest physics of the egg throw.

Actually, you could easily do that. It'd be more of a callback to the Mario Kart series, but it wouldn't not make sense for her to throw them. As for her normal means of attack, that's what I'd replace Egg Lay with, but it's not required. I mean, it's not like Dark Samus has any of her signature attacks in her moveset.

Not ideal, but we're talking Echo Fighters here.

 

[Koopaul]

I'm not even sure that Birdo would
1- require a huge change in grab; she cant lay the egg, but she could easily suck in the opponent.
2- maybe she can flutter. We don't actually know much about Birdo. We have never played as her in a platformer. Whatever species the Yoshi and Birdo came from, perhaps all of them can flutter. Or even if not, it's not as if Daisy can float, yet... she does in this game. Sakurai takes liberties from what is established. Hell, sometimes he sets the precedent. Jigglypuff never floated in the anime before Smash came out, her movement was made by Sakurai based on her being a balloon, and then later the anime took this note and applied it to her (and a really tough Wigglytuff from some season).

We know that when Young Link, Falco, Pichu, Ganondorf, Dr Mario, and Roy were added, they were echoes. Sure, they may have evolved since then (or not), but we were told that they were added because they could utilize the mechanics already established, and that all six took less work than one original fighter. Sure- it does take some work to reuse a mechanic from another fighter, but Birdo and Dedede are closer in size than Young Link to Link- they just have different hitboxes. I think you are blowing out of the water what we have already seen happen in Smash, time and time again. Not to mention, if Ken is an echo, that means he is balanced against Ryu. I believe that he easily could be. There isn't a reason that the Birdo that has been described could not be balanced against Yoshi.

I think I should make it clear that I do think it would be easy to make Birdo based off of Yoshi. But I still think it would be more work than the average echo thus she would be classified as something different.

I also don't think they would use suction for her grabs. Suction in Smash is a different element from grabbing and doesn't effect sheilds the same. It uses the same programming as pushing (like Mario's FLUDD) and it's for that reason that Luigi uses a plunger instead of sucking up his opponent when grabbing. Birdo would have to grab with her hands or by glomping the opponent with her shnoz.

And I absolutely believe that if Birdo jumped differently than Yoshi she would have to be completely rebalanced Dr. Mario style. How Yoshi jumps is a huge part of who Yoshi is. Birdo would play significantly different from Yoshi if she did not flutter.

 

[3BitSaurus]

I know jack about Sakura Wars, so I'd love some input on this:

Way I see it... its chances aren't as good as the frequent mentions would make it out to be. A quick search told me that only two games in the entire series came to the west (if someone could confirm this, it would be appreciated).

I'm curious if someone can bring more information about the topic. I've heard from people here why they think it would be a good choice, but not why people think it's likely.

 

[SharkLord]

If we get another pass, I think Akira Howard & Ring Fit Adventurer are locks. They’re in a similar situation as Min-Min/Arms where I think Sakurai/Nintendo wanted to see if they were successful before making them fighters.

If we're arguing semantics, the Astral Chain protagonist isn't Akira; That's their twin. They start out fairly similar, but they start diverging very early on.

Spoiler: Astral Chain Spoilers

At first, you get the Sword Legion and Akira gets the Arrow Legion. However, the heroes lose control of the Legions fairly quickly, with you being the only one to regain control. You start collecting all the Legions and using them together while Akira is stuck with nothing. This is followed by them getting near-fatally stabbed by Jena and is put out of commission for a while, until they come back with dark armor and an upgraded Raven Legion. Then it turns out they were cloned to create the Raven Corps, causing them to have an existential crisis, and THEN they get absorbed into Noah, forcing them to sacrifice themselves to let you finish it off.

Long story short, I could see them as an Echo or even a semiclone, but Akira and Astral Chain protagonist are separate characters. I mostly refer to them as Legionis in the vein of Inkling or Villager, but Officer Howard works too.

 

[metalhydra273]

I know jack about Sakura Wars, so I'd love some input on this:

Way I see it... its chances aren't as good as the frequent mentions would make it out to be. A quick search told me that only two games in the entire series came to the west (if someone could confirm this, it would be appreciated).

I'm curious if someone can bring more information about the topic. I've heard from people here why they think it would be a good choice, but not why people think it's likely.

Yeah I'm in the same boat. I get that it has appeal and all that, but so do most games. I can see how it could work but not sure why it would be a probable choice over games/franchises currently on the rise.

 

[SharkLord]

I know jack about Sakura Wars, so I'd love some input on this:

Way I see it... its chances aren't as good as the frequent mentions would make it out to be. A quick search told me that only two games in the entire series came to the west (if someone could confirm this, it would be appreciated).

I'm curious if someone can bring more information about the topic. I've heard from people here why they think it would be a good choice, but not why people think it's likely.

From my limited knowledge, Sakura Wars is HUGE in Japan and surprising popular in other East Asian countries, but that's both a blessing and a curse, since it doesn't have the same level of cultural significance in the West. Personally, I think it all hinges on whether or not Nintendo's aiming for a character that appeals to Japan specifically. If yes, she's a frontrunner. If not... Tough luck.

But hey, at the very least she's got more going for her than, say, Takamaru

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

If we're arguing semantics, the Astral Chain protagonist isn't Akira; That's their twin. They start out fairly similar, but they start diverging very early on.

Spoiler: Astral Chain Spoilers

At first, you get the Sword Legion and Akira gets the Arrow Legion. However, the heroes lose control of the Legions fairly quickly, with you being the only one to regain control. You start collecting all the Legions and using them together while Akira is stuck with nothing. This is followed by them getting near-fatally stabbed by Jena and is put out of commission for a while, until they come back with dark armor and an upgraded Raven Legion. Then it turns out they were cloned to create the Raven Corps, causing them to have an existential crisis, and THEN they get absorbed into Noah, forcing them to sacrifice themselves to let you finish it off.

Long story short, I could see them as an Echo or even a semiclone, but Akira and Astral Chain protagonist are separate characters. I mostly refer to them as Legionis in the vein of Inkling or Villager, but Officer Howard works too.

I don't think it's that much of a stretch to call the protagonist Akira. Both the male and female character can be the twin, and the player character, while nameless, can still be called Akira if you so desire.