I'm sure this is a tired out topic, but since I haven't seen it directly discussed yet since coming back - what is everybody feeling about the direction of the roster for the next game? In the broadest sense, what do you expect/want from the next game?
I said earlier that I kinda just wanted them to expand on Ultimate again, but now that it's been a couple years I've started to feel the opposite. Let Ultimate be the "end of an era" and have the next game feel totally fresh. However, I don't necessarily find a total reboot all that appealing either. Ultimate's core gameplay was great and while it could be fun to have a tighter, more competitive experience that completely reimagines every character, I wouldn't want to waste too many resources on reinventing something that's already really good, especially if it results in a significantly smaller roster. Smash is one of the few video games where "quantity over quality" is actually a justified mindset.
I feel like I'd want something in the middle. A character selection roughly the size of Ultimate (preferably a bit bigger) that cuts maybe 15-20% of the roster, while having more than enough newcomers to make fans happy. The topic of cuts is no fun and it's hard to talk about it without feeling like we're kind of arbitrarily picking on certain characters. Like why cut Dr. Mario and Dark Samus when they are easy clones to transfer from game to game? Why cut Incineroar and Piranha Plant when they were
just added and have totally unique movesets? Why cut Sheik or Falco when they are fan favorites that have been around since Melee? But I think the reality is 1. You don't want to devalue Ultimate by just having every single character return again. "Everyone is Here" was the whole point and it would make the game retroactively lamer if they just did it again and 2. One of Ultimate's biggest flaws in my opinion was how bloated certain series felt. Like Byleth might have been more well-received if we didn't already have the last three main FE protagonists and 4 different Marths on the roster.
I think a good mission statement for the roster of Smash 6 would to try and reach the same quantity of Ultimate's roster, while totally ditching echo fighters and semi-echoes. Either rework the current echoes, or cut them. Kinda like how Melee to Brawl wasn't a massive character increase, but it greatly cut the number of clones down and to this day I feel like it has one of the most "balanced" rosters in terms of series representation and character variety. However, as strange as it sounds, we'd probably want to cut more than
just the clones. Again you want Ultimate to have some things that are unique to it and ripping off the band aid by leaving out certain unique characters, maybe even some series staples, is an effective way of making the next game feel totally new.
She’s a one off from a game that isn’t even in the 3 most popular in the series.
here we go
Cut toon link cut young link cut sheik cut ganondorf
Newcomers: ganondorf, rauru,midna, impa
I also debated adding skull kid but if ganondorf retains his oot look it’s fine.
yes that many newcomers but it needs it, it’s one of the biggest series of all time and half the roster is clones.
I honestly love this and it kinda plays into my point. Zelda could desperately use more unique characters and in a strange way I think three Zelda newcomers would be made
even more exciting if certain characters are left behind. I think I would do a similar thing with Pokemon, FE and Mario. Give us a good handful of newcomers alongside a good handful of cuts to make the selection feel fresh.