Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[krokotopia101]

I also found these movesets for the Barista Dog as a Rhythm Heaven rep. I'll go now.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

I think Japanese characters are more suited to my tastes.

 

[Vycoul]

Here's My 10th Question
I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

I still greatly prefer characters from Japanese games.
Banjo & Kazooie were the only characters from a Western series that I wanted.

 

[TheGuv]

Do Monokuma and Phoenix Wright count as videogame characters?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Do Monokuma and Phoenix Wright count as videogame characters?

yeah, Danganronpa and Ace Attorney started as video games

 

[Door Key Pig]

Sometimes I stay up late at night pondering one of life's biggest questions...

"Why were the Chorus Kids still not in Smash Ultimate?"

 

[Wunderwaft]

Do Monokuma and Phoenix Wright count as videogame characters?

Err yes they do. Visual Novels are video games despite what some snarky nerds might say about it.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

Sometimes I stay up late at night pondering one of life's biggest questions...

"Why were the Chorus Kids still not in Smash Ultimate?"

Maybe Sakurai couldn’t come up with a move set for them that he liked.

 

[shinhed-echi]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

Considering I already got my most wanted japanese game character, I’m going to go with western.

The characters:

Mike Jones (StarTropics) not made BY the west, but FOR the west.

Doomguy

Battletoads. Not a slight chance in hell, but I think they’re cool, and they’re green like Xbox reps should be. (Sorry master chief!)

Earthworm Jim.

Hellscream or any Orc Hero from the Warcraft series. Savage and unique. Warcraft (2) was one of my childhood favorite games. Although I’m more of a human campaign guy, I want an Orc for 4 reasons.
1) Axe wielder
2) Orcs have a slight edge in protagonism for some reason (their story is more interesting imo)
3) Another heavyweight.
4) Green.
Also maybe 5) he might bring a RTS gimmick to the mix?

 

[Sari]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

Japanese.

Aside from Crash I can't really think of that many Western-made characters that I would really want.

 

[StormC]

Sometimes I stay up late at night pondering one of life's biggest questions...

"Why were the Chorus Kids still not in Smash Ultimate?"

The more relevant question is why weren't they in Smash 4 when we have evidence that they were being planned.

Maybe Sakurai tried to make a rhythm-based moveset work but found it unfeasible. And then with Ultimate, with only a few unique newcomers, he prioritized characters with either legacy or recent successful games. Rhythm Heaven slipped through the cracks. I'm shocked it doesn't have at least an AT though.

 

[TheYungLink]

Rhythm Heaven, alongside Style Savvy, is probably the biggest casual Nintendo series without a playable character in Smash. I agree with the hypothesis that basing a moveset around rhythm, like the gameplay of Rhythm Heaven itself, is something that Sakurai still hasn't completely wrapped his head around. My guess is that, more than anything, he wants to get a Rhythm Heaven character's central mechanics right before doing anything else.

I'd say that he does want to put them in, because Rhythm Heaven has the most Spirits from a non playable first party series, and plenty of songs ripped from the games are in Smash Ultimate.

 

[ganondorf_22]

Do you think the Target dog mascot might make it in?

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

We need Party Phil to represent the Wii Party series. The first game sold over 9.3 million copies and the sequel on the Wii U sold over 1.5 million copies.

The Wii Party series has sold more than the Rhythm Heaven, Golden Sun, Advance Wars and Arms series combined.

 

[ES. Dinah]

Sorry if it came off that way but I just wanted to know why people want to see this character and if they had any reasons as to why KOS-MOS would come to smash ultimate. Just because I don't understand the draw of the character doesn't mean its a bad choice it just means someone needs to educate me as to why KOS-MOS is a good choice for smash.

Have you ever stopped by my KOS-MOS support thread? Seriously calling out her as a stupid pick is seriously silly when it shows you just wanted to crap on the character without doing any research.

 

[N3ON]

Have you ever stopped by my KOS-MOS support thread? Seriously calling out her as a stupid pick is seriously silly when it shows you just wanted to crap on the character without doing any research.

It really doesn't take a lot of research to understand why KOS-MOS's chances are marginal at best. Maybe she'd stand a shot if Namco were given as many spots as in one of their own crossovers... or Monolith were the ones calling the shots.

When you're a character of mediocre popularity from a long-inactive, fairly niche, probably dead series, you lack the means to stand out. That's a bummer, because KOS-MOS is cool, but it is what it is...

 

[perfectchaos83]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

Japanese characters fit my tastes better. Never really had a desire for western characters in Smash unless you really want to count K. Rool. I just don't really think western characters fit the aesthetic for smash.

 

[Deleted member]

It really doesn't take a lot of research to understand why KOS-MOS's chances are marginal at best. Maybe she'd stand a shot if Namco were given as many spots as in one of their own crossovers... or Monolith were the ones calling the shots.

When you're a character of mediocre popularity from a long-inactive, fairly niche, probably dead series, you lack the means to stand out. That's a bummer, because KOS-MOS is cool, but it is what it is...

There's a few characters that fit that definition and they still get supported plus while Xenosaga is finished she still gets to appear in crossovers including Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and still gets merchandise (figures) which is a way better position than most characters from dead or finished franchises.

I don't think that ****ting on characters from series we see with little to no chances is good for the fanbase on the long run, especially because I can guarantee you most people have a character they see with little to no chances. After all, some of the fanbases here tend to pick on other fanbases they see as a threat regularly.

 

[DarthEnderX]

what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

My wishlist is all Japanese games, so...that.

 

[N3ON]

There's a few characters that fit that definition and they still get supported plus while Xenosaga is finished she still gets to appear in crossovers including Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and still gets merchandise (figures) which is a way better position than most characters from dead or finished franchises.

I don't think that ****ting on characters from series we see with little to no chances is good for the fanbase on the long run, especially because I can guarantee you most people have a character they see with little to no chances. After all, some of the fanbases here tend to pick on other fanbases they see as a threat regularly.

Support her all you want - but don't confuse a small contingent of fans as anything more than a small voice in a crowded room. Not to say it can't get bigger, but as it stands right now, it's certainly nowhere near the top of the heap. Which is where it would need to rest to compensate for her series being niche and long dormant.

And if you're comparing her only to other characters from dead/finished franchises... yeah, I guess she comes out looking good. But the thing is, her actual competition are either very popular characters, very active characters, or both. Occasional cameos driven by past projects and merch aren't going to move the needle much.

"Dumb" is a bit of an abrasive term, I wouldn't use it, but choosing her as DLC, at the current juncture, does seem questionable given all the alternatives.

 

[Deleted member]

Support her all you want - but don't confuse a small contingent of fans as anything more than a small voice in a crowded room. Not to say it can't get bigger, but as it stands right now, it's certainly nowhere near the top of the heap. Which is where it would need to rest to compensate for her series being niche and long dormant.

And if you're comparing her only to other characters from dead/finished franchises... yeah, I guess she comes out looking good. But the thing is, her actual competition are either very popular characters, very active characters, or both. Occasional cameos driven by past projects and merch aren't going to move the needle much.

"Dumb" is a bit of an abrasive term, I wouldn't use it, but choosing her as DLC, at the current juncture, does seem questionable given all the alternatives.

Every character has something going on for them, I don't really think there's an actual questionable choice if thats what you think.

My original post mentioning her was entertaining combination of characters in a non-serious manner, the dude comes abrassive enough and I tell him that.

I like a lot of characters in the game and what I don't like its people telling me that certain choices are dumb, after all, I feel that a lot of the speculation gets stale from people downplaying other characters. As a DQ fan, it was really annoying to have a lot of people ****ting on the Heroes due to lack of popularity. And this was coming from some of the characters with a lot of popularity.

And I mean just like popularity got a few characters in, there were other factors that help other characters so who knows? Maybe we'll end up complaining about the last two picks because they won't make any sense whatsoever.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

I want an equal amount of characters between the two. But if I had to choose, I’ll go with western characters since the roster is already so predominantly Japanese. Some diversity in Smash’s representation of gaming would be nice.

Master Chief, Crash, Doom Slayer, Dixie Kong, Frisk, Minecraft Steve, Rayman, Shovel Knight, Scorpion/Sub-Zero, Lara Croft & Joanna Dark would all be really cool.

I would love to see some Sony characters too like Kratos, Nathan Drake or Ratchet & Clank but that’ll never happen.

 

[BitBitio]

Sadly, I think we’re not going to get anymore first party reps because of the pattern they’re doing.
Also, I really just want first party reps, so if rather see Japanese if that’s what it takes to get Bandana Dee and Skull Kid get in.

 

[SirCamp]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

This is an interesting question, but perhaps strangely I'd prefer the focus remain on Japanese characters for the most part. I say this for two reasons. Selfishly most of the series that I enjoy are Japanese in origin and I connect much less with Western characters. Characters like Doom Guy and Master Chief do less than nothing for me despite how heavily requested they can be. And secondly I think it aligns better with what I think Smash Bros should be as a series. Which is to say a crossover of Nintendo characters and those with close ties to Nintendo (note that I didn't say this is what it actually is, just what I think it should be and what I think it started as).

Also I've got my Banjo, so getting more Western characters is kind of meh to me. Well apart from Dixie. But I've already accepted that she isn't happening for now.

 

[StormC]

Outside of cereal mascot platformers I don't play very many western games so I'm fine with future Smash games being primarily with Japanese characters.

 

[Nemuresu]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

Japanese. Western characters are cool and all, but there's more from Japan that I'd love to see.

 

[PeridotGX]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

Japan, because that is the company that most of the 1st parties come from. Among 3rd parties, I don't care. They should be included based on more than just the country they orignate from

 

[RileyXY1]

I think that it is highly possible that Banjo & Kazooie aren't the only Western made character in the Fighter Pass.

 

[Deleted member]

Here's My 10th Question

I know this is really unfair since we just got a 4th western made character(Banjo-Kazooie) but what country do you prefer to see more video game characters from
1:Japanese Made characters or
2:western Made characters

Like both but lean more on Japanese ones. Would be cool if we got Lara Croft or Adam Jensen in the game.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

to answer my 10 question well if I to chose witch country it's Japanese since there's still a lot of characters I would like to see in smash(Dante, Jill Valentine, Professor Layton) although I wouldn't mind some characters from the west(Master Chief, Rayman, Dovahkiin,).

now for my 11th question

11th Question(kinda similar to my 4th Question)
Which GTA Character would you prefer to be a playable charater in smash
1:Claude (Grand Theft Auto 3)
2:Tommy Vercetti(Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
3:CJ(Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
4:Niko Bellic(Grand Theft Auto 4)
5:Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, Trevor Philips(Grand Theft Auto V)

 

[HyruleHero]

Have you ever stopped by my KOS-MOS support thread? Seriously calling out her as a stupid pick is seriously silly when it shows you just wanted to crap on the character without doing any research.

I really didn't mean for it to come out that way, I went back and changed the wording of the post. I was just genuinely curious as to why I was seeing this characters name pop up everywhere. I've been playing video games for a good portion of my life and I mostly consider characters that don't hit the mainstream as viable options for DLC however this could just be my life experience that never had me pick up a game with KOS-MOS in it.
Again I apologize for making it seem like I'm hating on this character.

 

[Deleted member]

to answer my 10 question well if I to chose witch country it's Japanese since there's still a lot of characters I would like to see in smash(Dante, Jill Valentine, Professor Layton) although I wouldn't mind some characters from the west(Master Chief, Rayman, Dovahkiin,).

now for my 11th question

11th Question(kinda similar to my 4th Question)
Which GTA Character would you prefer to be a playable charater in smash
1:Claude (Grand Theft Auto 3)
2:Tommy Vercetti(Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
3:CJ(Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
4:Niko Bellic(Grand Theft Auto 4)
5:Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, Trevor Philips(Grand Theft Auto V)

CJ just because that's whom I like the most as well as being from my favorite GTA. Would be fun as well if there was a mechanic that affected his appearance during battle like standing on a place or eating many food items make him fatter and slower but with increased defense, while running a lot and being aggressive makes him more fit and more like a glass canon.

 

[SirCamp]

Okay, I didn't get too many responses regarding my question about Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons (which I will refer to only as Story of Seasons from now on in this post for clarity), but the responses that I did get seem to indicate that it is a series people generally are aware of but that has a fairly small player base. Which is sort of what I expected.

In any case, conspiracy theory time!

So! I have successfully convinced myself that a Story of Seasons character, most likely Pete, is more likely than most would think. Especially given the almost total lack of discussion about the possibility. My reasoning is as follows:

1. Story of Seasons began as a series, back when it was known as Harvest Moon in the West, on the SNES back in 1996. Since then 23/26 titles in the series have released on Nintendo consoles. The majority of which released only on Nintendo consoles. All of this to say that Story of Seasons is a very long running series that originated in Japan, created a new genre of game, and is a series which has very strong ties to Nintendo.

2. Now, if you've been paying attention, we are seeing a lot of Story of Seasons content or adjacent content on the Switch. First I'd like to point out that Stardew Valley came out in 2016 and by all accounts became a mega hit as far as indie games are concerned. This is relevant because I believe, I think reasonably so, that Stardew's success has sort of galvanized the industry a bit in terms of recognizing the demand for games like it. Like say Story of Seasons, the series of games that literally inspired Stardew. Stardew was recently pretty early on in the Switch's lifespan and was given a fair amount of screen time in the Nindies Direct. How as far as actual Story of Seasons content? Well if you recall way back when they released an infographic of games in development for Switch all the way back on initial release, Story of Seasons was present. The whole point of this infographic was to cement that the Switch, unlike the Wii U, was going to have support in the years to come. And Story of Seasons was relevant enough to showcase here. Note that we still haven't seen this title. However, we HAVE seen Rune Factory 4 Remaster showcased prominently alongside an announcement for Rune Factory 5 being in development (note that Rune Factory is a spin off of Story of Seasons, also published by Marvelous). This is significant both because this acts as a sort of revival of the Rune Factory IP, but also because they showed a teaser for a game. Not even a smidge of gameplay. This does not happen often. And now, the most recent example is that we have both the Doraemon Story of Seasons game released and the announcement of the remake of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. That's a lot out of Marvelous already and all of it is Switch/Nintendo exclusive. Note we have also gotten Little Dragon Cafe, which got a fair amount of coverage by Nintendo and was made by the creator of Story of Seasons.

3. This point is a little convoluted but, just bear with me for a moment. Story of Seasons as a series/IP has had a bit of a rough time recently what with the company previously in charge of the games localization has commandeered the name Harvest Moon and is now making terrible shovelware versions of Story of Seasons using the name Harvest Moon in hopes of capitalizing on name recognition alone. This is why the IP is known as Story of Seasons in the West now, in case you weren't aware already (it has always been known as Bokujo Monogatari in Japan). So where am I going with this you might ask? On the face of things this might imply that there is a confusion in branding in the eyes of the Western public and that this might devalue the series in some way. I'd posit that Nintendo and Marvelous were in a bit of an interesting position around the time of the Switch's release. Story of Seasons is one of Nintendo's longest running third party games. Third party titles of course being something Nintendo was in dire need of at the time in order to secure faith in the long term viability of the system. Story of Seasons on the other hand was/is in the middle of an identity crisis in terms of branding/consumer awareness in the West and could use a boost in terms of marketing/sales. What better avenue to do so than Smash? This would act as critical outreach to the more general Nintendo gaming public about the series and specifically that it now goes by Story of Seasons, while also helping to secure or possibly even save a third party series that Nintendo very much needs. If Nintendo does nothing and let's the series fall into obscurity (I'm being a bit melodramatic here lol but still) they stand to lose a series of games that a solid fanbase going forward.

4. Beyond ALL of the above points, Story of Seasons also offers gameplay that is fairly unique compared to all series represented in Smash so far with the lone exception being Animal Crossing. And while this is a hunch, I would not be the least bit surprised to find out that Story of Seasons influenced the creation of Animal Crossing at all. But again that is just speculation on my part and certainly the focus of the games are clearly very different. This is notable both because it would potentially attract a different audience to Smash than other characters already on the fighters pass and also because it would (hopefully) lead to an interesting moveset. If we assume that part of the point of the Fighters Pass is to attract more and different players this could be important.

5. While Story of Seasons is not the most wildly popular of game series (though as Stardew has shown I think it is more popular than many might think), particularly amongst core gamers, the series has undeniable charm, stamina, and importance to the overall gaming industry. It created a genre all its own, what more is there to say really?

6. And of course most importantly, what vegetable is most iconic to the series Story of Seasons? That's right, the turnip. The very same vegetable that already exists in Smash Bros thanks to one Princess Peach. It was meant to be!

For real though, I think there are some interesting points here. Story of Seasons is long standing, Japanese, and has very close ties to Nintendo. It offers something unique. It has recently been fairly heavily marketed by Nintendo themselves, and in the case of Rune Factory 5 somewhat inexplicably. There is the potential for a mutually beneficial relationship for Marvelous and Nintendo moving forward, regarding the series and its futue on Nintendo consoles. The genre itself is experiencing a boom (Stardew Valley, Re:Legend, My Time at Portia, and Yonder with many other indie titles to boot). And not insignificantly it would provide for a surprise character pick that would actually make some sense despite being very much slept on. And in an environment where almost every possible character pick has been picked over and dissected by the Smash fanbase. And assuming this factors in at all, it would provide an interesting balance to the fighters pass in terms of which audiences each character appeals to. Also we all know how much Sakurai loves a left field pick.

At one point I thought Story of Seasons might have been a thing of the past, but now the series is stronger than ever, its future and the future of its spinoff Rune Factory seemingly secured on the Switch. Given all of the above I think the return to roots with the Friends of Mineral Town remake, and more specifically to one of the most recognizable faces in the series, might not be a coincidence. Note that Pete has many a time shown up in those ridiculous dream rosters that people used to make back in the day. You know back when Banjo would also be listed because that could never happen, right?

So all of that said my predictions for the final two DLC slots are Pete and Leon/Jill. It's happening guys!

And if you take nothing else from this post, just take this as a lesson on the extent to which someone can convince themselves that something they want to happen will happen if they simply believe hard enough. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Edit - it has come to my attention in the farmer/story of seasons rep thread that a video was recently posted on the topic (largely what I just went over) but it does include one thing I didn't realize which is the Story of Seasons and Nintendo have actually done crossovers already. Very interesting.

 

[Sari]

to answer my 10 question well if I to chose witch country it's Japanese since there's still a lot of characters I would like to see in smash(Dante, Jill Valentine, Professor Layton) although I wouldn't mind some characters from the west(Master Chief, Rayman, Dovahkiin,).

now for my 11th question

11th Question(kinda similar to my 4th Question)
Which GTA Character would you prefer to be a playable charater in smash
1:Claude (Grand Theft Auto 3)
2:Tommy Vercetti(Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
3:CJ(Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
4:Niko Bellic(Grand Theft Auto 4)
5:Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, Trevor Philips(Grand Theft Auto V)

Definitely CJ. San Andreas had a ton of RPG elements that could be incorporated into CJ very well. Tommy and Niko would also be cool but since their voice actors had falling outs with Rockstar we'll probably never see them again.

 

[Ridrool64]

Late to question 10, but since Arle is a Japanese character, yeah. Though honestly, after her, I'd probably be more down for Western characters. Joining the CJ hype train, if only because of memes.

 

[Deleted member]

Support her all you want - but don't confuse a small contingent of fans as anything more than a small voice in a crowded room. Not to say it can't get bigger, but as it stands right now, it's certainly nowhere near the top of the heap. Which is where it would need to rest to compensate for her series being niche and long dormant.

And if you're comparing her only to other characters from dead/finished franchises... yeah, I guess she comes out looking good. But the thing is, her actual competition are either very popular characters, very active characters, or both. Occasional cameos driven by past projects and merch aren't going to move the needle much.

"Dumb" is a bit of an abrasive term, I wouldn't use it, but choosing her as DLC, at the current juncture, does seem questionable given all the alternatives.

I also want to add that the biggest point in favor of KOS-MOS that people like to bring up is “well, she’s in a lot of crossovers” but Mai Shiranui has the exact same point in her favor, x100 considering she’s appeared in over 80 games, making her one of the most cameoed characters in gaming, and is significantly more popular, especially in Asia.

I don't even really think Mai’s chances of getting in are really all that great unless Nintendo is willing to bump up the age rating on the game, considering her claim to fame is literally being a sex icon, but I do feel her odds are significantly higher than other female fighters people like to bring up, most notably: KOS-MOS, Nakoruru, and Kasumi (DOA). Which are comparatively more frequently discussed picks among Smash fans.

Pretty much just echoing what you said about “there being better alternatives,” KOS-MOS isn’t iconic enough to be worth a shot, and there are characters who get her highlight points, but do it better.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Okay, I didn't get too many responses regarding my question about Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons (which I will refer to only as Story of Seasons from now on in this post for clarity), but the responses that I did get seem to indicate that it is a series people generally are aware of but that has a fairly small player base. Which is sort of what I expected.

In any case, conspiracy theory time!

So! I have successfully convinced myself that a Story of Seasons character, most likely Pete, is more likely than most would think. Especially given the almost total lack of discussion about the possibility. My reasoning is as follows:

1. Story of Seasons began as a series, back when it was known as Harvest Moon in the West, on the SNES back in 1996. Since then 23/26 titles in the series have released on Nintendo consoles. The majority of which released only on Nintendo consoles. All of this to say that Story of Seasons is a very long running series that originated in Japan, created a new genre of game, and is a series which has very strong ties to Nintendo.

2. Now, if you've been paying attention, we are seeing a lot of Story of Seasons content or adjacent content on the Switch. First I'd like to point out that Stardew Valley came out in 2016 and by all accounts became a mega hit as far as indie games are concerned. This is relevant because I believe, I think reasonably so, that Stardew's success has sort of galvanized the industry a bit in terms of recognizing the demand for games like it. Like say Story of Seasons, the series of games that literally inspired Stardew. Stardew was recently pretty early on in the Switch's lifespan and was given a fair amount of screen time in the Nindies Direct. How as far as actual Story of Seasons content? Well if you recall way back when they released an infographic of games in development for Switch all the way back on initial release, Story of Seasons was present. The whole point of this infographic was to cement that the Switch, unlike the Wii U, was going to have support in the years to come. And Story of Seasons was relevant enough to showcase here. Note that we still haven't seen this title. However, we HAVE seen Rune Factory 4 Remaster showcased prominently alongside an announcement for Rune Factory 5 being in development (note that Rune Factory is a spin off of Story of Seasons, also published by Marvelous). This is significant both because this acts as a sort of revival of the Rune Factory IP, but also because they showed a teaser for a game. Not even a smidge of gameplay. This does not happen often. And now, the most recent example is that we have both the Doraemon Story of Seasons game released and the announcement of the remake of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. That's a lot out of Marvelous already and all of it is Switch/Nintendo exclusive. Note we have also gotten Little Dragon Cafe, which got a fair amount of coverage by Nintendo and was made by the creator of Story of Seasons.

3. This point is a little convoluted but, just bear with me for a moment. Story of Seasons as a series/IP has had a bit of a rough time recently what with the company previously in charge of the games localization has commandeered the name Harvest Moon and is now making terrible shovelware versions of Story of Seasons using the name Harvest Moon in hopes of capitalizing on name recognition alone. This is why the IP is known as Story of Seasons in the West now, in case you weren't aware already (it has always been known as Bokujo Monogatari in Japan). So where am I going with this you might ask? On the face of things this might imply that there is a confusion in branding in the eyes of the Western public and that this might devalue the series in some way. I'd posit that Nintendo and Marvelous were in a bit of an interesting position around the time of the Switch's release. Story of Seasons is one of Nintendo's longest running third party games. Third party titles of course being something Nintendo was in dire need of at the time in order to secure faith in the long term viability of the system. Story of Seasons on the other hand was/is in the middle of an identity crisis in terms of branding/consumer awareness in the West and could use a boost in terms of marketing/sales. What better avenue to do so than Smash? This would act as critical outreach to the more general Nintendo gaming public about the series and specifically that it now goes by Story of Seasons, while also helping to secure or possibly even save a third party series that Nintendo very much needs. If Nintendo does nothing and let's the series fall into obscurity (I'm being a bit melodramatic here lol but still) they stand to lose a series of games that a solid fanbase going forward.

4. Beyond ALL of the above points, Story of Seasons also offers gameplay that is fairly unique compared to all series represented in Smash so far with the lone exception being Animal Crossing. And while this is a hunch, I would not be the least bit surprised to find out that Story of Seasons influenced the creation of Animal Crossing at all. But again that is just speculation on my part and certainly the focus of the games are clearly very different. This is notable both because it would potentially attract a different audience to Smash than other characters already on the fighters pass and also because it would (hopefully) lead to an interesting moveset. If we assume that part of the point of the Fighters Pass is to attract more and different players this could be important.

5. While Story of Seasons is not the most wildly popular of game series (though as Stardew has shown I think it is more popular than many might think), particularly amongst core gamers, the series has undeniable charm, stamina, and importance to the overall gaming industry. It created a genre all its own, what more is there to say really?

6. And of course most importantly, what vegetable is most iconic to the series Story of Seasons? That's right, the turnip. The very same vegetable that already exists in Smash Bros thanks to one Princess Peach. It was meant to be!

For real though, I think there are some interesting points here. Story of Seasons is long standing, Japanese, and has very close ties to Nintendo. It offers something unique. It has recently been fairly heavily marketed by Nintendo themselves, and in the case of Rune Factory 5 somewhat inexplicably. There is the potential for a mutually beneficial relationship for Marvelous and Nintendo moving forward, regarding the series and its futue on Nintendo consoles. The genre itself is experiencing a boom (Stardew Valley, Re:Legend, My Time at Portia, and Yonder with many other indie titles to boot). And not insignificantly it would provide for a surprise character pick that would actually make some sense despite being very much slept on. And in an environment where almost every possible character pick has been picked over and dissected by the Smash fanbase. And assuming this factors in at all, it would provide an interesting balance to the fighters pass in terms of which audiences each character appeals to. Also we all know how much Sakurai loves a left field pick.

At one point I thought Story of Seasons might have been a thing of the past, but now the series is stronger than ever, its future and the future of its spinoff Rune Factory seemingly secured on the Switch. Given all of the above I think the return to roots with the Friends of Mineral Town remake, and more specifically to one of the most recognizable faces in the series, might not be a coincidence. Note that Pete has many a time shown up in those ridiculous dream rosters that people used to make back in the day. You know back when Banjo would also be listed because that could never happen, right?

So all of that said my predictions for the final two DLC slots are Pete and Leon/Jill. It's happening guys!

And if you take nothing else from this post, just take this as a lesson on the extent to which someone can convince themselves that something they want to happen will happen if they simply believe hard enough. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Edit - it has come to my attention in the farmer/story of seasons rep thread that a video was recently posted on the topic (largely what I just went over) but it does include one thing I didn't realize which is the Story of Seasons and Nintendo have actually done crossovers already. Very interesting.

Wait, Story of Seasons is Harvest Moon? What the ****! Why did they change the title? Harvest Moon is so much better.

 

[Idon]

Wait, Story of Seasons is Harvest Moon? What the ****! Why did they change the title? Harvest Moon is so much better.

It's... a long story, but basically they don't own that name anymore.

 

[SirCamp]

Wait, Story of Seasons is Harvest Moon? What the ****! Why did they change the title? Harvest Moon is so much better.

Legal issues. It wasn't their choice. They began localizing their own games through their own company XSeed. But their previous localization company owns the rights the name Harvest Moon in the West, so they legally can't call their titles Harvest Moon over here. So any new games coming out called Harvest Moon actually have no connection to the Harvest Moon games published by Marvelous, and are instead made by Natsume (also they are terrible, don't buy them). But the games called Story of Seasons are actually the same IP as the old Harvest Moon titles and are made by Marvelous, despite having a different name.

 

[LightKnight]

Answering question 10, the vast majority of characters I want are of Japanese origin from just a few different franchises so I suppose I'd go with option 1 because of that. Though, there are a couple western characters like Master Chief or Spyro that I'd like to see.