Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[UserKev]

I'm impressed by Goemon (Mystic Ninja) as of recent. Would love to see him.

 

[ninjahmos]

I may have said this before, but honestly... Goemon would be perfect for Smash.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

Diddy in Ultimate doesn't even use his tail on any attacks. They can just nix the tail from the skeleton and it basically affects nothing

I’ll keep posting this until people remember edge attacks exist.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

It was said in the Palutena's guidance conversation said he didn't have an Aether recovery move, which is true. His animation for Aether in the games did not have him leaping up in the air like Ike's does. They obviously changed it to be similar in Ultimate anyways.

It's not technically Aether, but he does do a similar move in this cutscene:

Spoiler

people remember edge attacks exist.

He also uses it for his rapid-jab.
looks up rapid-jab
Wait. Where's his is it?
looks further
THEY REMOVED IT?!?
...
Shows how much I use this character.


EDIT: Assuming they decided to add her from the beginning, they could easily change the animation to not have the tail either for both of them, or for Dixie Kong specifically.

 

[Oracle Link]

Regardless of how you want the next installement to be.
Do you think it would make more buisness sense to do a Ultimate Deluxe or a Smash 6?
I want the next installement to be a Smash 6, but i think a Ultimate Deluxe would sell loads better, so it makes more sense for a buisness prespective.

From a buisness perspective they should just keep rereleasing ultimate with more characters and other features lumped on!

 

[CannonStreak]

From a buisness perspective they should just keep rereleasing ultimate with more characters and other features lumped on!

Sounds good, except that probably would take more work than one would think each time that is done.

 

[Gorgonzales]

He also uses it for his rapid-jab.
looks up rapid-jab
Wait. Where is it?

"WHERE IS IT??"

"What?"
"DIDDY KONG'S RAPID JAB!!"

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

It's fair not to be excited about those things, but your initial statement was something along the lines of "Nintendo doesn't care about DKC". Nintendo funneling money into all of these DK-related side hustles, even if it's not what you want, completely negates that point. There are dozens of Nintendo series that would kill to see that level of merchandising and mainstream visibility, and DK is one of a few that Nintendo has this level of confidence in. A theme park is a BIG DEAL and is a massive expense. It's very shortsighted to see that and somehow just exclude it from the conversation about how healthy an IP is. Donkey Kong is getting that before Zelda, Pokemon and Animal Crossing.

DKC will get a new game eventually. At this point, I understand why people are squirming around in their seats about it. But the obvious answer has always been right in front of us, that Metroid Prime 4 is in development hell and Retro Studios has been trusted with the DKC license for the last few titles. Perhaps a shakeup is in order for DKC to be passed over to Nintendo in-house, or another studio in the meantime, but I presume it may not be top priority because Tropical Freeze is already available on the current hardware where most people would be playing it for the first time. I'm curious what comes next from here but I don't think Nintendo would put this much trust in the Donkey Kong brand if they had no further plans to continue the series.

Now whether or not any of these things will influence Smash, I have no clue. My point is just that DKC is still a brand Nintendo values. Obviously in the context of Smash Bros, it's largely going to be actual new games that play a role in shaping roster discussion and additional representation. Without much forward mobility on that front I can understand being hesitant about new DKC content, personally my hopes aren't too high for it.

I don't want to sound pedantic, and don't take this as me wanting to "win" the argument with a gotcha!, but them not caring about DKC (as in, the videogame series) is different from them not caring about the DK property as a whole - particularly in the context of Smash, since it's 99,9% focused on videogame content, but also in general I feel.

Of course they care about DK. There's not many videogame characters as iconic as him. He's always going to get plushies, gadgets and cameos, and with Nintendo wanting to expand into theme parks and toy stuff it makes sense that he'd be one of the first properties to get dragged in, in part also due to his association with Mario, which is one thing I feel people really overlook. Sure, DK has a theme park - but it's a branch of Mario's park. He has a Lego set, and that's also in conjuction with Mario. He appears in the Mario movie and in most Mario videogames, but that's just him, DK the character. The other elements feel ancillary to DK. There's the jungle, the bananas, and a bunch of other Kongs who are there to ground DK in an universe of his own while he's still mostly treated as a Mario character. I mean, even K. Rool, after his triumphing comeback in Smash, has not been included in any DK product.
But DKC the videogame series is not just DK. It's also the other characters, the gameplay and the soundtrack.
That is one property they have not cared about in a long time.

tl;dr, I feel like people give too much credit to the idea that Nintendo milking DK as a character is going to inevitably lead to a resurgence of DKC as a series. DK getting those products as a Mario-associated property might very well just be part of Nintendo's strategy of branching out beyond videogames. There's no need for DKC to get new games in order for that to happen; in fact, in the middle of all this grand expansion there's no new game in sight.
If they cared so much, they would have found a developer in... 10 years. That's a really long time.

 

[Perkilator]

On the topic of non-Mii Fighter costumes:

Even if Smash does eventually do the concept of buying/earning costumes for characters other than the Mii Fighters, it should be restricted to unlocking them through gameplay or buying them with in-game currency (preferably with nothing resembling microtransactions attached).

 

[Golden Icarus]

Saw people talking about Square characters getting cut for the next game - do people really think that they're at that high of a risk?

Even if Square's a difficult company to negotiate with and Cloud really was at risk of being cut for Ultimate, clearly they have proven to be pretty damn good partners to Nintendo since then. Not only that, but they are deep into Smash now. Both Square and Nintendo have all the incentive in the world to make sure those characters make it to the next game. Haggling for the return of Cloud, plus the addition of three new characters as DLC sounds much more difficult than just asking to return the same four characters again with minimal changes.

And there is no way they'd only return one or two of them. Cloud is Mr. JRPG himself and Dragon Quest is the third biggest gaming franchise in Japan. Those would be huge losses for Smash.

So everyone's like "okay then let's cut Sephiroth. He doesn't represent his own series, so it'll be fine." Again BRUH. What video game character could even possibly fill that Sephiroth sized hole in the roster? Maybe the most popular villain in all of gaming - certainly the most popular JRPG villain. You gonna add Kefka? Magus? Dr. Eggman? If we're already bringing back Cloud, then why on Earth would we let Sephiroth go, especially with FF7 remake happening. I guess maybe they'll just rerelease him as DLC, but I'm sure Sakurai would fight to make sure we don't have to pay for the same characters again. If anything, I'm more inclined to expect three more Square characters as DLC once again on top of the veterans.

I'll concede that Sora might have unique circumstances that makes him more difficult to return, but he's also the most requested Smash character in history. Again, LOTS of incentive to make sure we don't lose him.

And I am not saying this in the context of an Ultimate Deluxe, but even a reboot that cuts 20+ characters. All four Square characters in Smash would be glaring omissions if they were to get cut. Anything can happen of course, but personally I'm expecting to see all of them again and probably Crono and 2B as DLC.

 

[7NATOR]

Do Mii Costumes really increase characters' chances for the next Smash game?

I think it increases the chances of a character having a Presence in the game in some form, but not necessarily playable though

Inkling, King K.Rool, Isabelle, and Chrom got the playable treatment after being introduced as Costumes, though the latter 2 already had a presence in Smash 4 in NPC Roles

But in contrast, Black Knight, Akira, Zero, Proto Man, Knuckles, Ashley, and Takamaru either became NPCs or stayed as NPC's. Monster Hunter counts into this as well with Rathalos

I think when it comes to 3rd Party costumes specifically, I actually think it might decrease the chances of them being playable, at least in the Base game, Though it depends how close the Planning of characters for the Next Smash and Ultimate's DLC Coincide. Because 3rd party characters require licensing, I think there's inherently more effort put into their costumes, which is like a consolation playable role for characters that couldn't become actual playable characters

Which is why I don't think we'll get Bomberman, Cuphead, Sans, Any Bethesda character, Dante, Shantae in the base game at least.

I think for older DLC Costumes like Geno, and Lloyd, there may be leg room because they are returning from a previous game and weren't specifically made new for Ultimate when they didn't have to

How do you guys feel about 2B from Nier: Automata getting as DLC in the next installament?

I'd would be shocked if she didn't get in as Playable in the next game. I think she's got to be among the most Iconic characters in gaming from recent decades, and she's popular in both the West and Japan. Yoko Taro also wants her in Smash (as long as he gets money though). The only thing I could see getting in the way is if the new Nier game has a protagonist that turns out to be more Iconic than 2B herself

But Probably as DLC, not only because of Square Licensing (as well as past history with 2B Specifically in Crossovers), but because her moveset I think lends itself to DLC Development

 

[Ivander]

On the topic of non-Mii Fighter costumes:

I wouldn't mind them being microtransactions if they are close to Mii Fighter costume prices. Like I don't see them being 75/99 cents like Mii Costumes, but if they were 1.99 or 2.50, I wouldn't have any issue. But then again, any price under 5 dollars would look good in comparison to most games with character costume/skins nowadays, especially the ones that have the gall to have people pay between 40 to 80 dollars for one skin.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Saw people talking about Square characters getting cut for the next game - do people really think that they're at that high of a risk?

Even if Square's a difficult company to negotiate with and Cloud really was at risk of being cut for Ultimate, clearly they have proven to be pretty damn good partners to Nintendo since then. Not only that, but they are deep into Smash now. Both Square and Nintendo have all the incentive in the world to make sure those characters make it to the next game. Haggling for the return of Cloud, plus the addition of three new characters as DLC sounds much more difficult than just asking to return the same four characters again with minimal changes.

And there is no way they'd only return one or two of them. Cloud is Mr. JRPG himself and Dragon Quest is the third biggest gaming franchise in Japan. Those would be huge losses for Smash.

So everyone's like "okay then let's cut Sephiroth. He doesn't represent his own series, so it'll be fine." Again BRUH. What video game character could even possibly fill that Sephiroth sized hole in the roster? Maybe the most popular villain in all of gaming - certainly the most popular JRPG villain. You gonna add Kefka? Magus? Dr. Eggman? If we're already bringing back Cloud, then why on Earth would we let Sephiroth go, especially with FF7 remake happening. I guess maybe they'll just rerelease him as DLC, but I'm sure Sakurai would fight to make sure we don't have to pay for the same characters again. If anything, I'm more inclined to expect three more Square characters as DLC once again on top of the veterans.

I'll concede that Sora might have unique circumstances that makes him more difficult to return, but he's also the most requested Smash character in history. Again, LOTS of incentive to make sure we don't lose him.

And I am not saying this in the context of an Ultimate Deluxe, but even a reboot that cuts 20+ characters. All four Square characters in Smash would be glaring omissions if they were to get cut. Anything can happen of course, but personally I'm expecting to see all of them again and probably Crono and 2B as DLC.

I think Hero is highly likely be cut, but then be DLC real quick just because of the licensing costs for a couple MIDI files. Other than that I'd imagine that any cuts will be because of what's feasible. Sakurai has said they can't really do Ultimate's Roster numbers again, and unless things have changed (or something), there would have to be some pretty heavy hitting cuts to have a smaller roster size + a good handful of newcomers. Will these be to big Smash veterans? Big name 3rd partys? I honestly have no idea.

 

[Perkilator]

Regardless of the direction of the next Smash game, I feel like Ultimate sold well enough to justify more of a budget for the next game in general.

 

[dream1ng]

Regardless of the direction of the next Smash game, I feel like Ultimate sold well enough to justify more of a budget for the next game in general.

The key factor that determines the level of Smash's success is the system's install base.

They can increase the budget (though it's already probably pretty high for a Nintendo game) but the game's performance will live and die by the system. Well, it won't die, it's Smash, but assuming Switch 2 falls short of Switch's numbers, Smash 6 probably will reflect that as well, in comparison to Ultimate.

If Smash's budget increases, it will probably be due to increased licensing and keeping a full ongoing team (Studio S) salaried across the years of DLC. Not because higher budget = more sales.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

One thing that I'd bet on for newcomers is at least one from the "it has potential" crowd. Series that could or are starting to kick off like Metroid, Pikmin, Astral Chain, and Ring Fit Adventure.

What kinds of characters do you think might pop up from these kinds of series?

 

[SPEN18]

Regardless of the direction of the next Smash game, I feel like Ultimate sold well enough to justify more of a budget for the next game in general.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. Getting a lot of sales with one budget doesn't guarantee that increasing the budget will push those sales up enough for a net gain. Because obviously in the limit, increasing the budget will eventually lead to losses rather than gains, because your install base and number of interested consumers is finite. Though knowing in advance you have a high floor on the sales decreases the risk of increasing the budget.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

If they make a deluxe edition I think on top of having all the content from the original game they really should make all the DLC characters (and any new characters) recruitable in World of Light the same way base game characters are. I think the best way to do that is to add a new area where you can unlock them, this area can feature new spirit battles that were added through DLC as well as brand new ones, and maybe a new boss to top it off.

 

[7NATOR]

I mean, I want to imagine that the budget for the Next Smash increases because of the Increased sales Smash Ultimate compared to the rest of the games in the series

And not just of Smash, but all of Nintendo's I.P's, Including Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Zelda, Mario, etc, as well as Switch Console itself, the Movies (especially with Mario), Theme park, etc

Smash Ultimate was able to be made off the backs of the 3DS and the Wii U, and Combining both the sales of Wii U games and 3DS, those were pretty decent sales, but they weren't Switch Numbers.

Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Smash as an example went from being High Sellers on their respective consoles in the Wii U and 3DS Era to being among the Top Sellers in Gaming History in the Switch era

For the Switch 2, I think they want to make sure the games exclusive to the Switch 2, will be such killer apps that they will of course sell systems to people that already have a Switch, never mind people that might be new to Nintendo (Especially if more 3rd party support is possible thanks to the increased power of this new Switch)

So I think the Switch 2 will have the most Expensive to make Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Mario, Zelda, and of course Smash, because these aren't just high selling games, these are System Seller games. They already allowed Increased Budgeting and Development cycles for Mario Wonder and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. I think for games that are meant to sell Systems, they want to go all out

 

[dream1ng]

Saw people talking about Square characters getting cut for the next game - do people really think that they're at that high of a risk?

Even if Square's a difficult company to negotiate with and Cloud really was at risk of being cut for Ultimate, clearly they have proven to be pretty damn good partners to Nintendo since then. Not only that, but they are deep into Smash now. Both Square and Nintendo have all the incentive in the world to make sure those characters make it to the next game. Haggling for the return of Cloud, plus the addition of three new characters as DLC sounds much more difficult than just asking to return the same four characters again with minimal changes.

And there is no way they'd only return one or two of them. Cloud is Mr. JRPG himself and Dragon Quest is the third biggest gaming franchise in Japan. Those would be huge losses for Smash.

So everyone's like "okay then let's cut Sephiroth. He doesn't represent his own series, so it'll be fine." Again BRUH. What video game character could even possibly fill that Sephiroth sized hole in the roster? Maybe the most popular villain in all of gaming - certainly the most popular JRPG villain. You gonna add Kefka? Magus? Dr. Eggman? If we're already bringing back Cloud, then why on Earth would we let Sephiroth go, especially with FF7 remake happening. I guess maybe they'll just rerelease him as DLC, but I'm sure Sakurai would fight to make sure we don't have to pay for the same characters again. If anything, I'm more inclined to expect three more Square characters as DLC once again on top of the veterans.

I'll concede that Sora might have unique circumstances that makes him more difficult to return, but he's also the most requested Smash character in history. Again, LOTS of incentive to make sure we don't lose him.

And I am not saying this in the context of an Ultimate Deluxe, but even a reboot that cuts 20+ characters. All four Square characters in Smash would be glaring omissions if they were to get cut. Anything can happen of course, but personally I'm expecting to see all of them again and probably Crono and 2B as DLC.

Well the argument isn't whether a character has merit to stay, it's where they'll stack up priority-wise if and when the roster rebuilds. And to that end you can make an argument for literally every third-party to stay because they're all pretty qualified. Which is why they were chosen in the first place.

But there will be some cuts among the third-parties, so long as this isn't simply building off Ultimate.

It's a question of resources and the reality that it seems unlikely four characters from the same company would stick around if they have to reboot the roster, given they'll be paying consideration to all the other companies, potential newcomers from Square, and just the higher-priority newcomers in general.

The next Smash will have glaring omissions. But many omissions will, ironically, seem less glaring when there's dozens of them. Like, perhaps they cut Sephiroth, but Cloud is still there, and they also cut, for example, Joker and Terry and Kazuya and Snake. And like 30 first parties. He's still Sephiroth, but the volume of cuts and the reduced size of the roster will make any individual cut stand out less in the face of a pretty different roster holistically.

It's less about the third-party company's willingness than it is Nintendo's prerogative. And it's less about the character's qualifications than it is their priority.

 

[Ivander]

One thing that I'd bet on for newcomers is at least one from the "it has potential" crowd. Series that could or are starting to kick off like Metroid, Pikmin, Astral Chain, and Ring Fit Adventure.

What kinds of characters do you think might pop up from these kinds of series?

Ring Fit Adventure is probably the most likely to get a character. Not only was Ring Fit Adventure a big seller, but they could easily use the Wii Fit Trainer as a base for the Ring Fit Trainer. Metroid and Pikmin will more than likely get new content from Metroid Dread and Pikmin 4, but whether it includes new characters is another story. Both Raven Beak for Metroid and the Pikmin 4 Captain and Oatchi for Pikmin are notable choices.

Astral Chain I feel is going to be the 50/50. And if they do want a character, assuming Akira Howard is the most likely candidate, Akira has the Legion, putting them in a boat similar to what they wanted to do with Rex and Pyra/Mythra. Though the Smash team could simplify them similar to Bayonetta where they comes out for certain attacks before disappearing shortly.
But that aside, to me, Astral Chain certainly has the "Crosswalk" vibe where it can either successfully get in Smash like Xenoblade managed to or miss out like Golden Sun and Rhythm Heaven.

 

[SPEN18]

One thing that I'd bet on for newcomers is at least one from the "it has potential" crowd. Series that could or are starting to kick off like Metroid, Pikmin, Astral Chain, and Ring Fit Adventure.

What kinds of characters do you think might pop up from these kinds of series?

Raven Beak would be awesome but lack of obvious future beyond Dread probably hurts his chances. I'd love a further differentiated Dark Samus, but we're pretty fortunate to have DS to begin with so I don't expect much.

Pikmin I am increasingly thinking is likely to get a newcomer; it might get squeezed out priority-wise depending on the number of slots but Miyamoto has seemed pretty motivated to make Pikmin successful, and the series returned in a big way with 4. After playing enough of the game, you realize Oatchi is basically just as important to the gameplay and plot as the captain themselves; he's the lead candidate IMO, though it would be interesting to consider some other option like, perhaps, Louie (?).

Chain and Ring Fit are both possible, but I think Ring Fit is much more likely because of the sales. Astral Chain success-wise is more on-par with a lot of other series that got passed over if they didn't have optimal timing, which I don't think Chain is likely to have. If either gets a sequel then they become instantly more likely.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

As long as Nintendo plans on prominently featuring Dixie Kong in future projects I do think she will eventually get added to Smash, and considering she recently got a Lego figure, made a cameo in the Mario movie, and was featured in promotional art for the Donkey Kong Country Super Nintendo World expansion, I think she does have a future.

 

[dream1ng]

Pretty skeptical on a Metroid newcomer given we just got two, the series is now at a volume where it's pretty well represented, and that at this point you'd be adding a far less recurring if not one-off character; it's not like there's a conspicuous absence currently.

As for who we'd get from RFA and Astral Chain, those both seem pretty obvious.

I guess Pikmin could get Oatchi, if Sakurai thinks the character would work. Doesn't seem like a character we'd get if we again have a reduced base, though. Even if it's not as reduced as Ultimate. Personally I think Pikmin lends itself more to an echo.

 

[Perkilator]

One thing that I'd bet on for newcomers is at least one from the "it has potential" crowd. Series that could or are starting to kick off like Metroid, Pikmin, Astral Chain, and Ring Fit Adventure.

What kinds of characters do you think might pop up from these kinds of series?

• Metroid: Either Raven Beak or E.M.M.I. as newcomers from Dread, though Sakurai may figure that E.M.M.I. would work better as a stage hazard and/or Assist Trophy
• Pikmin: Oatchi could be a potentially unique fighter, working in tandem with the default avatar (I forgot her name)
• Astral Chain: I could see Officer Howard working similar to Joker, using their default Legion for some attacks
• Ring Fit Adventure: While they could hypothetically use Wii Fit Trainer as a base, the Ring Fit Trainee has plenty of material to work as a fully unique newcomer. Dragaux could also be a boss as well.

 

[dream1ng]

I think an Astral Chain character is going to happen because I think the sequel is already underway, and fairly far in development. I think we'll see it early in the Switch 2's lineup.

Perhaps that means the character won't be base, but I'm confident they'll be there at some point.

 

[SPEN18]

Personally I think Pikmin lends itself more to an echo.

Honestly, even if they were going to do another captain instead of Oatchi, it would be extremely underwhelming if it was just an echo-level clone. There's enough material that hasn't been tapped into with the different Pikmin types to do something legitimately different from Olimar.

 

[dream1ng]

Honestly, even if they were going to do another captain instead of Oatchi, it would be extremely underwhelming if it was just an echo-level clone. There's enough material that hasn't been tapped into with the different Pikmin types to do something legitimately different from Olimar.

Yup. Same with all clones, really.

But clones are chosen based on whether they could be similar, not based on if they can't be different.

 

[SPEN18]

I think an Astral Chain character is going to happen because I think the sequel is already underway, and fairly far in development. I think we'll see it early in the Switch 2's lineup.

Perhaps that means the character won't be base, but I'm confident they'll be there at some point.

It could be, but I wouldn't be so confident. It's a multiplat developer that seemingly does mostly one-off projects aside from Bayonetta...

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

It’s a shame Ravenbeak is seemingly a one off character, he’s so cool

 

[dream1ng]

It could be, but I wouldn't be so confident. It's a multiplat developer that seemingly does mostly one-off projects aside from Bayonetta...

That's because those one-offs are almost never actually successful commercially. Astral Chain, like Bayonetta, was.

Didn't Kamiya envision a whole universe for W101? It just never happened because the game kept bombing. They're not averse to sequels, they just rarely have the opportunity from a business or publisher standpoint.

 

[Ivander]

It’s a shame Ravenbeak is seemingly a one off character, he’s so cool

Samus has his blood/DNA in her. While I doubt Raven Beak will enter the antagonist spotlight again, I can certainly see him appearing in visions/glimpses/hallucinations/etc and as mentioned, he could certainly be brought back as a clone much like Ridley.

 

[SPEN18]

That's because those one-offs are almost never actually successful commercially. Astral Chain, like Bayonetta, was.

Didn't Kamiya envision a whole universe for W101? It just never happened because the game kept bombing. They're not averse to sequels, they just rarely have the opportunity from a business or publisher standpoint.

That's fair and I thought of that as well, but again it's a multiplat developer and a lot of games of similar success don't get sequels. I just wouldn't count those chickens before they hatch, or however the saying goes.

 

[BritishGuy54]

One thing that I'd bet on for newcomers is at least one from the "it has potential" crowd. Series that could or are starting to kick off like Metroid, Pikmin, Astral Chain, and Ring Fit Adventure.

What kinds of characters do you think might pop up from these kinds of series?

Metroid: We’re at a pretty good point right now. I can see Samus and Ridley returning, and maybe Dark Samus.

Pikmin: Oatchi could be an AT. But I don’t see a completely new character hap

Astral Chain: It could possibly miss out, or get in. I think it could get in if we get a second game on the way, and in the chance Bayonetta gets cut, I think they’d be a decent consolation.

Ring Fit: Probably the biggest new IP so far. But probably won’t hold as much weight as say, Inkling did for Ultimate. I think it will end up being the mid-point hype cycle character revealed, rather than the big first character.

I’d also add a few extras to the ‘it has potential’ crowd.

Animal Crossing: Has the size and prominence. Maybe a clone or semi-clone gets in.

Xenoblade: Has more potential than most realise. I can see a scenario where it double dips next game.

Splatoon: I have questions surrounding the ink mechanic for a new character. I’m not 100% on board, but if Sakurai can make it work, that’s great.

After looking at many newcomer choices, I have come to the conclusion that sword-fighters have the most potential character wise. The Smash Reddit/Twitter community is not ready for this take.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Wii Fit Trainer wouldn't make for a good base for Ring & Ring Fit Trainee. I mean, the concept of fighting with fitness is the same, but all of the actual exorcises would be different since Wii Fit Trainer focused on yoga and Ring Fit Trainee is centered around a Pilates ring that lets him throw energy punches, kicks, and tackles among other things.

Also, I think Min Min will stick around and might even bring an Echo Fighter with her assuming ARMS 2 is a Switch 2 launch title.

I’d also add a few extras to the ‘it has potential’ crowd.

Animal Crossing: Has the size and prominence. Maybe a clone or semi-clone gets in.

Xenoblade: Has more potential than most realise. I can see a scenario where it double dips next game.

Splatoon: I have questions surrounding the ink mechanic for a new character. I’m not 100% on board, but if Sakurai can make it work, that’s great.

Honestly, I considered these franchises to already be flourishing. I'm confident they'll get quite a bit in the next game, even if its not fighters specifically.

 

[Gorgonzales]

One thing that I'd bet on for newcomers is at least one from the "it has potential" crowd. Series that could or are starting to kick off like Metroid, Pikmin, Astral Chain, and Ring Fit Adventure.

What kinds of characters do you think might pop up from these kinds of series?

Louie and Oatchi have enough potential to be totally unique characters.
That being said... I have very little faith in the Smash team to fully realize them, judging by how they treat Olimar and the Pikmin series as a whole in Smash.

It's one of those cases where the potential is definitely there, but the characters are at a disadvantage because they belong to (what feels like) one of the few series in Smash where the developers are actively biased against it, like Sonic. Granted, it's not as extreme as Sonic's case, but to me Pikmin feels like it's only around in Smash because it has to be there.

 

[Perkilator]

I'm expecting to get flak for this, but Chuggaaconroy has posted an update to the situation, which provides the more full account / truth of the whole situation. I implore to at least read through this a bit.

Hey, everybody.

Google Doc Link: https://t.co/mkuytnK5Ww

Or keep reading here. pic.twitter.com/Zou1J1GNGq

— Chuggaaconroy (@chuggaaconroy) April 16, 2024

It is important, as it gives context on each of the victims, and especially Masae, Emily and Lawly which are the two main people in the situation.

While I appreciate giving an update on the situation, this isn't necessarily the appropriate thread for this.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Saw people talking about Square characters getting cut for the next game - do people really think that they're at that high of a risk?

Even if Square's a difficult company to negotiate with and Cloud really was at risk of being cut for Ultimate, clearly they have proven to be pretty damn good partners to Nintendo since then. Not only that, but they are deep into Smash now. Both Square and Nintendo have all the incentive in the world to make sure those characters make it to the next game. Haggling for the return of Cloud, plus the addition of three new characters as DLC sounds much more difficult than just asking to return the same four characters again with minimal changes.

And there is no way they'd only return one or two of them. Cloud is Mr. JRPG himself and Dragon Quest is the third biggest gaming franchise in Japan. Those would be huge losses for Smash.

So everyone's like "okay then let's cut Sephiroth. He doesn't represent his own series, so it'll be fine." Again BRUH. What video game character could even possibly fill that Sephiroth sized hole in the roster? Maybe the most popular villain in all of gaming - certainly the most popular JRPG villain. You gonna add Kefka? Magus? Dr. Eggman? If we're already bringing back Cloud, then why on Earth would we let Sephiroth go, especially with FF7 remake happening. I guess maybe they'll just rerelease him as DLC, but I'm sure Sakurai would fight to make sure we don't have to pay for the same characters again. If anything, I'm more inclined to expect three more Square characters as DLC once again on top of the veterans.

I'll concede that Sora might have unique circumstances that makes him more difficult to return, but he's also the most requested Smash character in history. Again, LOTS of incentive to make sure we don't lose him.

And I am not saying this in the context of an Ultimate Deluxe, but even a reboot that cuts 20+ characters. All four Square characters in Smash would be glaring omissions if they were to get cut. Anything can happen of course, but personally I'm expecting to see all of them again and probably Crono and 2B as DLC.

I think the safest one is Dragon Quest just because of it's cultural impact on Japan.

 

[Michele]

While I appreciate giving an update on the situation, this isn't necessarily the appropriate thread for this.

Really? Oh... ugh. Goddamn, sorry. I can't take down the post now, I'd have wished to place it elsewhere; I remember there being a big talk about it.
Can any mod please delete my post? Facepalming to myself.

 

[dream1ng]

That's fair and I thought of that as well, but again it's a multiplat developer and a lot of games of similar success don't get sequels. I just wouldn't count those chickens before they hatch, or however the saying goes.

It's true that I'm presuming something speculative. I just feel fairly confident it'll happen. Because all I'm really saying is I believe a successful game (for their standards) is getting a sequel. Games of similar performance levels from other devs don't always get sequels, but I think Platinum 1) is totally open to making more from the IP and 2) is in a position where their success is elusive enough that when it happens they're not going to spurn it.

I mean, they're taking investments and open to buyers. Their viability is tenuous. Getting contracted to make their own IP is a pretty good situation for them.

You're raising them being a multiplat developer, but unless Square has called them up to make more Nier, that... doesn't really mean anything. It's not like they're finding success on those other platforms. It's not like they treat their Nintendo IP as "lesser". They wanted to make more of W101 so badly they straight up got the IP from Nintendo. Which is pretty unprecedented.