Reasoning
Most of the first parties I chose are pretty self-explanatory so I'm only going to address the ones I feel I need to.
Noah and Mio + Off the Hook
Xenoblade and Splatoon get
two newcomers each? Yes.
Both have grown to be pretty big deals (Splatoon especially,) so I don't think granting them two newcomers in one go really needs that much justification. Splatoon is an "A-lister" juggernaut for Nintendo now and Xenoblade is a pretty comfortable "B-lister" that's still growing too. I'm treating this no different than Mario, Pokémon or Kirby getting multiple reps back in Melee and Brawl. Plus, with
getting moved to DLC the Xenoblade headcount hasn't really changed just yet.
As for the actual choices, I think they speak for themselves too. It's more so the fact that these series got to double dip in base that I figured would raise eyebrows.
Chun Li - It's Chun Li.
2B
From Soul Calibur to Granblue to Nikke, 2B continues to pop up in plenty of crossovers, and Yoko Taro has already expressed interest in Smash.
Now knowing that Yoko Taro is okay with putting her in just about anything and modifying her portrayal as needed,
plus her existing frequency of crossovers compared to other Sqaure Enix characters/properties, I think she makes the most sense, not only as an SE character but as a base roster character.
Given the seemingly more lax nature surrounding Nier, I think there's a better shot of adding 2B with a more standard amount of content over repeating the diet FF offerings with Cloud in Smash 4 and Ultimate.
That's also why I moved Cloud, Sephy, and Hero to DLC. They can come later and with more substantial content compared to what they'd likely get as base game characters.
Ryu Hayabusa
I think Koei Tecmo is long overdue for a spot in Smash and Ninja Gaiden has a legacy as one of the classics. While not as active anymore, Ryu is still an iconic and beloved character right alongside the likes of Mega Man and Simon who are in somewhat similar boats as far as their franchise activity goes.
Miis
So, I did cut the Miis from base game, but honestly, I think you could hold them off for a free update not unlike what they did with Stage Builder. They're worth having around but not absolutely integral compared to proper characters imo. I think people would be pretty accepting about waiting for Miis knowing they'll be coming down the pipeline eventually.
DLC
I sorted the cut characters into DLC packs just for the heck of it.
They're color coded for the desired release year which groups the Packs into the bigger Passes. Red being the game's first year, gray for the second and orange for the third.
The fifth character in each pack is a bonus echo fighter, either based on a character being introduced in the same pack or from a character already on the roster.
Obviously, I don't know what the actual development costs/pricing would be like, but I used Ultimate's fighter passes as a point of reference.
Fighters Pass 2 was 29.99 with 6 new fighters, 6 new stages and an assortment of music (varying by pack.)
Assuming there's a good chunk of assets that can be reused for veterans the idea here (for the first two passes at least) is 8 veterans, 4 first party newcomers (so no third-party licensing hoops or costs) and 3 bonus echoes. So, 15 characters per pass at ideally the same or similar price tag as Ultimate's Fighter Pass 2 (with my third pass being the equivalent price of Ultimate's Fighter Pass 1 at 24.99.)
Given the sheer number of characters, the stages and music are a bit tricky, but I would think trying to hit 4 stages per pass would be acceptable. The priority would be given to new series or games that lack content.
So, Pass 1 for example would add a returning stage for the Ice Climbers since they were left out of base, plus new stages for Ring Fit, Excite Bike and Golden Sun. Pass 2 also has a returning series through ARMS, but only one new series, so there'd be another two returning stages from repped series that may have lost a stage(s.)
Is that a worthwhile value for the player? Is it too much content dev side? I'm not entirely certain and I know that's an opinion that'll vary wildly from person to person, but for me at least, I'd be okay with something along these lines.
As for the characters themselves, I think they're all pretty fair choices. Popular old faces and new blood alike though there's still plenty of good picks I didn't get to. For one, there's still no non-Triforce Zelda newcomer. I also wanted to include more retro and smaller series like Famicom Detective Club, Starfy, Advance Wars, Chibi-Robo, Style Savvy, Ever Oasis, etc.
And the remaining third-party vets I didn't really organize any particular way. I was going to do packs for third party series or maybe even passes based on companies, but I got lazy.
