But...wasn't Ultimate their opportunity to make a new game with a ton of recycled assets? And why do you keep saying it'd be a "waste" when you can always go back to Ultimate if you want certain characters?
Honestly I'm wishing more and more that they went with the "Special" subtitle everywhere. At least then people would understand this game is just a special occasion, and not TEH ULTIMATEST GAEM THAT MUST BE PORTED FOREVAR!!!!1111ONE
Well first it wasn't always treated like the reused asset game it is today thanks to Sakurai's own admission of such. At the beginning it was absolutely NOT marketed like a port and the fandom at-large had a very negative reaction to anybody that believed (and rightfully they've been vindicated) as such. Only after the game was a success and in the middle of its DLC was Sakurai more willing to admit this. Second it's because it's significantly more realized than Smash 4 was while also still having plenty of room to expand. Actually because of its marketing and success, it's seen as an even bigger opportunity than Smash 4 ever could have been. Smash 4 wasn't like a dozen or so stages away from having Everywhere is Here. Smash 4 didn't have Everyone is Here. Nobody cared about the Wii U so the netcode didn't matter. Reworks weren't talked about. The separated modes between the Wii U/3DS were seen as a feature not a bug and so on and so forth.
To address your other point about it not being a waste because we can play Ultimate I believe that's a non-sequitur. It makes no difference whether we can play Ultimate in regards to arguments in favor of an "enhanced port" of Ultimate.
While you're entitled to your opinion and I respect that we differ I still don't appreciate the insinuation that I've some spastic, crazed, and/or entitled person simply because I think wanting to retain EiH for another entry is preferable to cuts. In the post you quoted I admitted that they can't just port Ultimate forever. I don't see the harm in one more go-around is all. I think I've explained multiple times the strengths in that design philosophy and I've maintained my position quite respectfully.
I enjoy reading opinions that differ as long as they're detailed. I appreciate the chance to argue my side against the other to the best of both of our abilities.
It seems pretty unlikely they'd do a port with a big AAA budget like that. It's a huge business risk to put a ton of money into trying to resell something that is fundamentally the same game as before.
"All these years available until a Switch successor in the interim": time is not on your side if you're wanting a port. More time just means the engine and graphics of Ult will look even more dated and less likely to carry over well to a new game.
Ideally it would fundamentally not be the same game anymore. Stage Builder would be a massive buff with the additions of the likes of BTT and BTP to that mode plus new tools. Rollback netcode, an arsenal of new characters. You could even change the name away from the Ultimate DX we all use to talk about it. It doesn't have to be called Ultimate DX. If it was such a huge business risk then I guess Nintendo likes to take huge business risks because not only have they done it for Smash 4 to Ultimate but they did for MK8 DX, Pokken Tournament DX, New Super Mario Bros DX and yes BOTW2.
Nintendo doesn't really compete in graphics though either. I'd imagine the developers would do whatever they did from 4 to Ultimate. One issue I've had is with most of the cast's fur and hair. They could all use a bit of an improvement in that area specifically. It's not that important though. What they have if functional. If that improvement was possible I'd welcome it as a great addition to the "graphics" of the game. I'm guessing a Switch successor console could theoretically be powerful enough to usher in these improvements.
Also Smash isn't about cutting-edge graphics. They kind of went for that with Brawl and they haven't really tried it again since. Actually the developers have stated publicly that because of the inclusion of "cartoony" characters that the entire cast has to be sort of cartoonified to look natural among them.
BOTW is not a good comparison because in the RPG genre you can use the same engine to deliver an entirely new full-length story experience and it is much easier in that genre to add significant new gameplay mechanics on top of the engine. For a fighting game like Smash, any new story/adventure mode they could add would be side-content at best and it is hard to introduce significant new core mechanics without creating a workload and balancing nightmare. But mainly it's that RPGs are much more story-centric and so two games on the same console with the same engine is much more desirable to do.
I don't see how it's any different really. After all the point at which they're starting is supposedly the most balanced Smash yet. Just maintain the philosophy they used going into Ultimate in regards to balancing if it's working so well. What they could add to an Ultimate DX isn't limited to modes either. Costumes, new characters, new stages, rollback netcode, new attacks, reworks, new special Smash, advanced rules and so on. The sky is the limit hence Sora Unlimited haha have to.
It's a given that games of different genres have different hurdles in development but that doesn't mean they're impossible or not worth the work. I think I've shown that Nintendo has used this design philosophy before and they're potential solutions to any developmental/marketing obstacle. You just have to plan it out.
I could see Nintendo not wanting to use the Ultimate DX moniker for the reasons you've stated. So give it a brand new name. You say there's hurdles in development well give Sakurai a bigger team/budget like he's kind of implying he wants. EiH would be impossible to do with a new engine/game started from the ground up? Then port it again but give the team more time this time (Ultimate was in development for like 2 and half years) with the aforementioned bigger team and budget. Is it worth it to put money into this game again and what about the licensing issues? Do a double-release strategy like you did in Smash 4 except this time it's one super game on one platform instead of the same game on two different platforms.
Nice idea, but probably not worth it from the developer's perspective. Most likely this would take too much work to balance properly and would come at a risk of alienating casuals. Like, imagine going to someone else's place to play the game only to find out that it's at a completely different pace and mechanical feel. Homogeneity of gameplay is more conducive to people actually getting together to compete against each other.
I mostly agree with this but for anybody still interested in this idea look at this! THIS is what's still possible with Ultimate as it exists today and this was just done by passionate modders. I'd love to have these all introduced as toggleable options in an Ultimate DX's advanced rules settings.
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As has already been stated, it might not even be workable on the next console. But even if it is workable, maybe they still want to do something new and quite possibly better. "Not broken, why fix" is not really a great attitude to have for developing any new game anyway.
I think an Ultimate DX can do borderline anything a new ground up entry could and there as some major things like retaining EiH that only an Ultimate DX can do. I think it's fair to believe an Ultimate DX can be just as new and better.
EiH could end up being a parallel, where fans focus so much on everyone getting their single most favorite character back that they stop caring about actually making a well-designed game with a roster selection that is as fair as is practically possible.
I think the fact that Ultimate didn't live up to all of its potential leaves the room for a more well-designed game. That's what myself and most others on here are advocating for. A more fully-realized Ultimate. If we're being honest the Ultimate Smash has some major pitfalls holding it back. I simply hope a new game could allow for the developers to open up the game to these possibilities.