I honestly think the Spirits are better in the long run. All they really need to do is give descriptions to them.
Although if I could add a couple additional options aside from descriptions, one would allow you to do Spirits without the absurd power difference. Just an option for Smash Battles to only apply the main bonuses from Spirits(like Increased Jump, Increased Movement, Metal Killer, etc) with no Power involved. The other would be adding an Alternate Color editor and when you do the Spirit Battles, the character's colors match that of the Spirit.
You mean like a 'Spirit Battle creator' of sorts? Because I'd have a couple in mind I'd like to make...
Honestly if nothing else I'd even appreciate shorter, direct blurbs. Something like say:
"X: From Y, a game about Z. X is (insert a couple character details/backstories/whatever)."
Even something like that would go a long way in just....giving a basic idea of who these characters are. Sure, for characters from the more famous series' we do live in an age of fan wikis (I doubt anyone's gonna have much trouble figuring out who, say, Sigurd is on their own), but some of Ultimate's spirits go deep - like, the deepest the series has ever gone - and for those I think it's still helpful to give at least a quick rundown on who the **** Num Diddly is (I say that lovingly Num Diddly plz don't hurt me)
I feel the exact same way. I was sitting there wondering what exactly was the deal with folks like Num Diddly, Looksley, Magkid, Li'l Blue, and Prince Saruno.
I like spirits more because they aren't just ripped from the latest game on the console. The trophies from Brawl, 3DS and Wii U felt lazy because of it.
So, it's not just me that's been thinking that. It's kind of disappointing though. Heck, the Kirby trophies from Brawl? The majority of them were taken from Kirby GCN (which was cancelled). Although, it at least tells us that copy abilities like Needle and Sleep Kirby were going to be in the game, as well as characters like Kracko and Dyna Blade, so there is that.
What I like about spirits is that they allow for more characters and series to be represented in-game
Like, my boy Ryuuta over there would not be acknowledged if it was just trophies lol
Oh, definitely. If I may say so, nearly a decade after their games were released, I have to agree that none of the Ouendan or EBA (nor their female counterparts) would be featured in Smash in any way. Not to mention characters like Warrior Mech Gauss.
A second Sonic character, Arle Nadja or both.
It’s obviously hard for me not to show my bias on this - just look at my pfp. But Puyo Puyo is the kind of genre defining classic series that Smash loves to pay homage, and it is handily the second biggest Sega series overall. I suppose on a worldwide scale this isn’t as visible, but in Japan it’s been said
Puyo has better brand recognition than Sonic himself. It baffles me we don’t have a Mii Costume or a few spirits by now.
I think people may be jumping the gun a bit on Yakuza. Call it a gut feeling, I suppose. I do truly think Kiryu (or Ichiban at this point… I might even prefer him now) would be a great choice, preferably after the two I mentioned IMO, although would also probably be more of a DLC equipped choice compared to the more humble or insular feeling of the former two. Essentially I think Sega will receive something new in base and I believe Kiryu would just have to wait his turn in that instance. Yakuza / Like a Dragon is on the rise… somewhat comparable to Persona before it, but I dunno. Maybe!
It's not far-fetched to say that where the rest of the world has Sonic as SEGA's mascot, SEGA of Japan's mascot (especially these days) is Carbuncle, Suketoudara, and the Puyos themselves, right?
RE: Spirits/Trophies discussion
Spirits are such an obvious rehash of Brawl's Stickers, but with their own mode dedicated to them. Trophies were cut in Ultimate when the two coexisted just fine in Brawl...
Look, I get that there were constraints and that they had to quickly slap together a singleplayer mode after spending the vast majority of their time and resources to characters/stages, but it never felt okay to trade 3D models for PNG's that you can just Google lol. Even though most models in Brawl and especially 4 were reused from other games, the brand new posing and descriptions made them worth it to me.
Maybe it's just me being an artist. I loved being able to zoom into characters and see all their little details by rotating them or changing the lighting. Spirits are just... there. I don't love the gameplay attached to them either, so the "at least they have gameplay functionality!" means nothing to me.
I also really enjoyed the subtle lore implications of trophies. The idea that the fighters are just figurines at the hands of an imaginative child always resonated with me. Especially at the end of Classic mode, when you get the trophy cutscene, it felt like the child was putting down their figurines when playtime is over.
Man, I miss Trophies...
I feel the same. I actually had a bit of fun gazing at the character's 3D model and seeing just what details might be hidden on the characters that we couldn't normally see in their official render.
I've also been a fan of Smash's lore regarding trophies too. The characters actually being a product of a child's imagination and all. As weird as it may be, I'm actually REALLY glad that Sora's reveal trailer (of all things) showed us that Smash's concept of Trophies isn't ENTIRELY retired.
If nothing else, I even found it quite fascinating that said reveal even went the extra mile to (finally) confirm to us that alternate skin characters like Alph, Leaf, the Koopalings and the gender-based alts. all apparently have their own dedicated trophy as well, and are NOT tied to their 'base' character, like I had presumed.
Still, that DOES make me wonder... exactly how many toys does this kid have in their house??? I mean, given Sakurai's claim that Spirits are the disembodied souls of characters who are normally trophies, and then you consider the amount across Smash's history + the characters who were Spirits in Ultimate...
