I don't have much of a problem with gimmicks, it makes it so that there's more thinking involved. Also, I wouldn't really call Villager overly "complex". Aside from pocket and maybe Fair/Bair, he's a pretty standard character with an alternate coat of paint.
Pretty much this. I think Quillion is getting confused between "reference-heavy movesets" and "character-specific gimmicks". I guess it is true that some of Villager's attacks, like the bowling ball and the slingshot, seem like something that could be mistaken for a special, but for the most part, it just seems to be aesthetics. Plus, for what it's worth, Villager was considered but turned down for Brawl, so maybe the wacky, reference-laden kit was the only way they figured Villager could be worth including.
Honestly, I don't mind cramming in a ton of references. I certainly wouldn't mind more characters with more old-fashioned, simple movesets, but I only have a problem when people stupidly claim that all the veterans need a "revamp" because they aren't referencing stuff, as if simple punches and kicks weren't possible in their home games.
I’m curious what you guys think of characters like Alph, Hero, and the Koopa Kids. Basically, entirely separate characters as alternate outfits rather than clones or echoes. I personally like the idea because it gives us a chance to see characters we never would have otherwise. Larry Koopa, for example, was never getting in on his own and I’ve always preferred the Koopa Kids to Bowser Jr.. I can understand why some might not agree though since those characters don’t get as much an opportunity to stand on their own.
On a related note, I have another question regarding clones and alts. In the event that a future Smash has to drastically cut down the roster and decides to remove derivative characters like Lucina, Roy, Chrom, Falco, and Wolf, would you prefer they were cut altogether or do you think it would be a good compromise to see them at least return as alts of Marth and Fox? The latter would cause them to lose a lot of their originality but I find it preferable to losing them altogether.
I'm not sure how I'd feel, but I doubt it'd ever happen anyway. If they were willing to demote already established, full-fledged characters into another character's alt, they would've done so already with Dr. Mario.
As for the alts we do have, I friggin' love the Koopalings. I've never been a big fan of Jr., so I wouldn't have been too excited about having him in Smash on his own, but having all 7 of the Koopalings as his alts was a major plus for me. And I totally anticipated getting Hero with alts of the protagonist from various entries in the Dragon Quest series (wasn't expecting there to only be 4 of them with 2 sets of colors each, though). I have yet to play Pikmin 3, so I can't really comment on Alph, though like many others, I can't help but feel he kinda got the short end of the stick. Granted, as White Frost pointed out before, you're playing with the Pikmin about as much as you're playing with the captains (which is especially evident in the Japanese version, where the Fighters are specifically called "Pikmin & Olimar" and "Pikmin & Alph", with the Pikmin even getting top-billing).
Incidentally, it seems like Ultimate has mostly stopped using alts as characters, instead just embracing Echoes. The only notable exceptions are the new gender-benders and Steve (though for the latter, it kinda works anyway since, in their home game, you can change skins but still have functionally the same character). As an aside, I really wish at least ONE of the Fire Emblem avatars used the female as the default (Corrin seems to be almost unanimously the popular choice in this regard), especially since the defaults get things like being on the Everyone Is Here art, and they're the only ones to get an Amiibo most of the time (though at least female Corrin lucked out there). The Dragon Quest III Hero should've been the default too, but I can
sorta understand their need to shill (but if he happens to return next Smash, I hope they change him to the default, especially since the Dragon Quest III Switch remake should be recent by then).
It has. Some games has a male and female Hero. Like IV. They're identical generally outside of their sex. Sometimes they have unique... not-so-wholesome costumes too. But that's not... that surprising. .-.;
Yeah, Dragon Quest is no stranger when it comes to fanservice aimed at pubescent boys. I mean, this is the series that pretty much invented the Puff-Puff (either that, or Toriyama's other work, Dragon Ball).
As for a female Hero, I would've liked at least one of the alts to be that (likely the DQ4 Hero, as the DQ3 Hero has a female alt but the male is too iconic to get rid of). In the next Smash, I'm not sure if they'd change the set-up they have now (supposedly, these 4 alts were specifically approved by Square Enix), though maybe they could add on a female alt if they don't strictly adhere to the 8 alts per Fighter again. I guess it's a bit complicated because the Dragon Quest series had so few games with a gender-selectable Hero, and aside from DQ3 and DQ4 (which would conflict with the male alts that already exist), I think the only games that allowed female protagonists were entries like DQ9, where you simply had full customization of your character, and the default female appears in very little promotional material.
That's the thing though, I want to spend more time learning through play rather than remembering what a move does and how to work it. And sure, you technically can learn the Smash 4-on characters' moves through play, but they feel so tedious learning them through that method, and pace-breaking having to pause and look at their in-game movelists.
You know, now that Classic Mode is specially catered to each character, maybe they should've designed it in a way where you'd be given particular obstacles where you HAVE to learn how to use some of their gimmicks. In fact, this was pretty much how the Break The Targets were meant to work in the first two games.
