Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Oddly, while everyone seems to love or hate the idea of the Engage mechanic based on it using characters that will never be fighters, I kind of think that the most likely Emblem they use is Marth, and just Marth.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Seeing Scream Tail talk, and as much as I'd like to see it as like an alt or an Echo (it's the most Jigglypuff's gotten in ages), I don't think it's very likely. Puff is already usually late in development due to its easy-to-build nature, so imagine building a brand new one with more limbs immediately afterward.

Sure, you could probably keep Puff's normals, Pound, and Rest, and even though it doesn't get Rollout you could still see it doing it, but you'd have to alter Sing in some way since Scream Tail is actually a poor singer compared to Jigglypuff. You could maybe go with the Hyper Voice custom from 4, but I'd imagine it'd have to have a new animation for it.

Also Scream Tail as an Echo just feels weird from a game design perspective because of how Scream Tail compares to Jigglypuff? Imagine a fighting game having a character, and then that exact character but with bigger stronger hitboxes and they're FASTER. Like at least Melee Doc was just the same speed as Mario, but Scream Tail? You can't really make it slower than Puff on the ground, and it wouldn't make sense to make it slower in the air or something as a trade off since Scream Tail can literally levitate lol

 

[Gengar84]

Oddly, while everyone seems to love or hate the idea of the Engage mechanic based on it using characters that will never be fighters, I kind of think that the most likely Emblem they use is Marth, and just Marth.

I know we have Robin and Chrom but it’s just weird to me for a character to summon an already playable character as part of their moveset. Chrom was added after the fact so it’s less strange feeling.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Also Scream Tail as an Echo just feels weird from a game design perspective because of how Scream Tail compares to Jigglypuff? Imagine a fighting game having a character, and then that exact character but with bigger stronger hitboxes and they're FASTER. Like at least Melee Doc was just the same speed as Mario, but Scream Tail? You can't really make it slower than Puff on the ground, and it wouldn't make sense to make it slower in the air or something as a trade off since Scream Tail can literally levitate lol

I just wouldn't make it stronger unless it needed it. It has more range due to being bigger, but it also is easier to hit, which is a pretty big nerf to an evasion based character that dies if you sneeze on it too hard. Those two traits alone are probably enough to balance it without making it too weird.

I know we have Robin and Chrom but it’s just weird to me for a character to summon an already playable character as part of their moveset. Chrom was added after the fact so it’s less strange feeling.

I don't think it would be too weird. Ignoring the fact that Emblems aren't the same entities as their...IRL? counterparts, Emblem Marth would be a glowey translucent version of the character who floats behind Alear in the background kinda like Arsene.

And then Alear Engages and Marth goes away for a bit while Alear wrecks house with Lodestar Rush or something.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Re: Alear

Don’t forget, Engage was supposed to release in 2020 for FE’s 30th anniversary, but that fell through because of COVID and so IntSys held onto the game for a couple years. It’s possible that Sakurai at least got a look of what Alear is like during that time, since he played an early version of Three Hosues for Byleth’s moveset.

This. Also, Sakurai and Intelligent Systems are close with each other. They actively discussed who to add as a newcomer for Brawl for example, it was Intelligent Systems who suggested Ike. I have no doubt Alear was discussed if development started that early. Which it probably did.

About Scream Tail? Echo or not, this is clone status. And significantly easier to realise than most other options. But I think Ceruledge is probably the likeliest prospect so far. That or Meowscarda. And am not even knowledgeable about Pokemon past Generation 4 or so.

Speaking of Gen 4, are the remakes any good?

 

[Perkilator]

Anyhoo, let me direct you guys to Delzethin’s Alear moveset just so at least one of you can see what he sees with this video.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

I just wouldn't make it stronger unless it needed it. It has more range due to being bigger, but it also is easier to hit, which is a pretty big nerf to an evasion based character that dies if you sneeze on it too hard. Those two traits alone are probably enough to balance it without making it too weird.

I mean I guess? It would just seem weird to me I guess because Scream Tail is described as having a "ferocious aggression", which makes me think less of just Jigglypuff but bigger and more "Jigglypuff but full on rushdown" lmao

 

[Schnee117]

The situation with FE and Engage is definitely prime time for them to do something different with the FE cast selection.
It's all lords from the latest games with Marth (the original protagonist) and Chrom (a very popular character that was perfect material to be an echo fighter).

So we can either go back to an older game and pick Lyn or Edelgard or we can look beyond Alear and towards the likes of Timerra and Yunaka. Alear would be neat, assuming they don't get ****ed over like Byleth did, but lets mix things up now yeah?

 

[Speed Weed]

No, I just know about a rumor today that a notable Dreamcast/Gamecube RPG from Sega has gotten a new trademark. Sure, trademarks being renewed is nothing new, but with Sega lately bringing back their old IPs, the possibility of that Dreamcast/Gamecube RPG getting a remaster or remake is not as unlikely as it was back then. So I just wanted to make sure your heart was alright if you had seen that rumor.

I wasn't that serious about that. See my explanation above.

Ah, okay I see lol. We'll have to see if it does eventuate - new trademarks from SEGA actually do usually tend to mean something, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Either way, some ppl here might know I've been rather critical of SEGA's new IP initiative for various reasons, but admittedly I would be very happy if Skies got something new. Even with all this news of old IPs being revived, I had still put Skies pretty firmly in the "not happening" camp, since although it'd fit in very well if they were aiming for fan-pleasers, it felt to me like too much of an "underdog" in SEGA's catalog, compared to the other announced/teased games which I felt had more mainstream nostalgia backing them - plus, it being an RPG meaning it's way more intensive to work on than something like Golden Axe. I'm also just happy that we could be getting something that breaks away from the overwhelming majority of teased stuff being Genesis-associated. My biggest hope is frankly just a rerelease, but knowing how rerelease-averse modern SEGA is, I don't know that I should count on that. We'll see!

 

[Perkilator]

Something I wanted to say regarding cuts:

Whoever gets cut in the next Smash game, you can still play as them in Ultimate since it’ll be backwards compatible with Switch 2.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

The situation with FE and Engage is definitely prime time for them to do something different with the FE cast selection.
It's all lords from the latest games with Marth (the original protagonist) and Chrom (a very popular character that was perfect material to be an echo fighter).

So we can either go back to an older game and pick Lyn or Edelgard or we can look beyond Alear and towards the likes of Timerra and Yunaka. Alear would be neat, assuming they don't get ****ed over like Byleth did, but lets mix things up now yeah?

I still feel like the most likely scenario is Alear with one or a couple of Emblems maybe or a stance change type thing since their promoted class can also use Arts along with a Somniel stage with a bunch of background cameos akin to Garreg Mach or Cloud Sea.

As much as I'd love someone like Timerra or Yunaka, IntSys has set up a pattern here for Smash picks and I don't expect them to break it any time soon lol

 

[WeirdChillFever]

So Engage is the first mainline Fire Emblem game I haven’t played since Path of Radiance. I know it has a summoning gimmick that lets you call upon spectral versions of past characters but people don’t seem too fond of that as a Smash moveset. If you put that aside, how does Alear fight in the game? Do they have an interesting moveset that could help them stand out from the other Fire Emblem characters without the summoning gimmick?

Arguably, not really? They do use martial arts the same way Byleth has the Arts in their promoted class, but bringing in Alear without taking advantage of the gameplay mechanics of Engage seems counterproductive and would guarantee another Corrin fiasco (who by the way should receive a major rework based on the actual usage of Divine Vein as a stage control method rather than just being the most fluid swordsman in the game.)

Oddly, while everyone seems to love or hate the idea of the Engage mechanic based on it using characters that will never be fighters, I kind of think that the most likely Emblem they use is Marth, and just Marth.

And this is the way to use it in my opinion: Focus on swordplay, bring in Emblem Marth as an Arsène type character to enhance his combos by using his Divine Speed skill to add more hits to Alear’s standards, like Sora’s Neutral Air, Forward Air and Forward Tilt are all multihits. This would also tie into the Chain Attack mechanic that Engage is known for, and has roots in the story of Engage since Marth and Alear is the main bond in the game.

Anyhoo, let me direct you guys to Delzethin’s Alear moveset just so at least one of you can see what he sees with this video.

I don’t hate Delzethin but I sure do hate this moveset. It’s just such an arbitrary parade of characters that it just becomes tacky.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Oddly, while everyone seems to love or hate the idea of the Engage mechanic based on it using characters that will never be fighters, I kind of think that the most likely Emblem they use is Marth, and just Marth.

Could be. Or they could go all in. I personally think they might opt for otherwise popular Emblems who are not so likely to be included by themselves. Like Sigurd and sadly, Lyn.

Marth alone despite Marth being the most likely returnee is kinda weird. How does that make sense? Even if the Emblems and the real characters aren't the same, you can just avoid it by simply not doing it.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Speaking of Gen 4, are the remakes any good?

If you like base Pokémon Diamond/Pearl but with an experience share you can't turn off (levels are not adjusted to account for the extra experience) and the Affection mechanic which uniquely does not have a cap on it's passive accumulation like it does in other titles so all of your Pokémon will start cheating for you, and a neat underground section that gives you access to Pokémon that weren't in the main story of the originals, a follow mechanic that doesn't really work, and an artstyle that's kinda inconsistent and does not flatter certain characters (like Cyrus)...Then yea.


Honestly it's probably fine, but it falls extremely flat in comparison to Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, should not have been so laser focused on being faithful to the originals since Platinum is generally seen as a fix for its predecessors rather than an enhancement, and contains a lot of the little issues that annoy modern Pokémon fans.

 

[MBRedboy31]

Something I wanted to say regarding cuts:

Whoever gets cut in the next Smash game, you can still play as them in Ultimate since it’ll be backwards compatible with Switch 2.

I feel like people’s main concern isn’t being able to play as the character in general in Smash on a Switch 2, though.

• Some see a character being in Smash as validating; it’s one of the most prestigious crossovers in gaming, so any character being playable is a big honor. As such, their character being cut is taking that validation away. It can feel like the devs are saying “Sorry, your favorite character wasn’t important enough to return!” It’s best for people to not associate theirselves with any pick that way, but I see why people see it that way.
• As a crossover, a big aspect of the game is having character being able to fight other character. If your favorite character is stuck in Ultimate and isn’t in the new game, they won’t be able to fight the new game’s newcomers.
• If the game has any notable new mechanics, your favorite cut character won’t get to interact with them. For example, if your favorite Melee character was one of the ones that was cut in Brawl, you didn’t get to see their Final Smash until they returned in Smash 4 or Ultimate.

 

[Gengar84]

If you like base Pokémon Diamond/Pearl but with an experience share you can't turn off (levels are not adjusted to account for the extra experience) and the Affection mechanic which uniquely does not have a cap on it's passive accumulation like it does in other titles so all of your Pokémon will start cheating for you, and a neat underground section that gives you access to Pokémon that weren't in the main story of the originals, a follow mechanic that doesn't really work, and an artstyle that's kinda inconsistent and does not flatter certain characters (like Cyrus)...Then yea.


Honestly it's probably fine, but it falls extremely flat in comparison to Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, should not have been so laser focused on being faithful to the originals since Platinum is generally seen as a fix for its predecessors, and contains a lot of the little issues that annoy modern Pokémon fans.

Honestly, I’d much rather play Platinum again than BD/SP. I personally think vanilla DPP’s graphics are much more appealing than BDSP’s too. I don’t really see the point in playing it personally.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Could be. Or they could go all in. I personally think they might opt for otherwise popular Emblems who are not so likely to be included by themselves. Like Sigurd and sadly, Lyn.

Marth alone despite Marth being the most likely returnee is kinda weird. How does that make sense? Even if the Emblems and the real characters aren't the same, you can just avoid it by simply not doing it.

IMO if we’re treating Alear as a vehicle to haphazardly shove beloved Fire Emblem lords into a Side Special then I personally would rather that they use Engage’s relevance to actually add one of the old lords like Lyn or Sigurd. Byleth using the weapons of their more beloved cast mates was already iffy, but to set the transparency slider to 80% on a Sigurd model and have him appear for a Side Special on an empty husk of a set feels unfair to basically anyone involved,

 

[fogbadge]

Speaking of Gen 4, are the remakes any good?

they're alright, but they're so faithful to the originals you'll probably find yourself having much the same experience

 

[Dukefire]

Something I wanted to say regarding cuts:

Whoever gets cut in the next Smash game, you can still play as them in Ultimate since it’ll be backwards compatible with Switch 2.

The question now is............what will the next smash bros have that may cause people to not play ultimate as much? (Other then new characters)

 

[Gengar84]

I feel like people’s main concern isn’t being able to play as the character in general in Smash on a Switch 2, though.

• Some see a character being in Smash as validating; it’s one of the most prestigious crossovers in gaming, so any character being playable is a big honor. As such, their character being cut is taking that validation away. It can feel like the devs are saying “Sorry, your favorite character wasn’t important enough to return!” It’s best for people to not associate theirselves with any pick that way, but I see why people see it that way.
• As a crossover, a big aspect of the game is having character being able to fight other character. If your favorite character is stuck in Ultimate and isn’t in the new game, they won’t be able to fight the new game’s newcomers.
• If the game has any notable new mechanics, your favorite cut character won’t get to interact with them. For example, if your favorite Melee character was one of the ones that was cut in Brawl, you didn’t get to see their Final Smash until they returned in Smash 4 or Ultimate.

Yeah, I agree with all these but especially number 2. Let’s say, hypothetically, I get Illidan in Smash 6 but lose Sephiroth. It would have been so cool to see that match up in Smash but now I can’t because Sephiroth was cut. That can apply to a ton of potentially fun match ups we’d lose out on.

 

[Golden Icarus]

My biggest issue with Alear using the Engage mechanic has nothing to do with the deconfirmation of fighters. I just think it’s genuinely the last thing I’d want to see from a new FE character.

We already saw with Corrin and Byleth that moveset potential isn’t the issue, it’s the fact that all these characters look the same and act the same. Just from aesthetics and personality, Alear feels like what you would get if you created a character by putting our current line up of already uninspiring FE fighters into a blender.

Corrin can turn into a dragon! Byleth has all the weapons we’ve been begging for and a whip sword! But that doesn’t matter because they still manage to look and feel like Marth clone number six. Personality matters a lot. Despite being a sword wielder, Ike’s personality and the fact that he’s a mercenary comes through in Smash and makes him stand out effortlessly, despite having a pretty straightforward moveset.

To me, giving Alear the most interesting moveset in the world will never dress up the fact that we’re still stuck getting the same character archetype added to Smash over and over from a franchise that has a ton of interesting and reoccurring archetypes. Where’s the tanky unit that we always get early on? Where’s the mystical female character that normally accompanies the main protagonist? Where’s a villain? Why is there no spear or axe wielder?

It’s not just that I want the FE lineup to feel unique, but with 8 characters it should at least kind of feel like an actual lineup of character archetypes you would expect to see in Fire Emblem. I’m still a little stunned a character as effortlessly unique and important as Azura was passed up for Corrin and all the interesting lords in Three Houses were passed up for Byleth. Alear is just another dime a dozen lord being chosen over other important characters that can better represent the actual variety that the series has to offer. That’s my frustration with the idea.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

This. Also, Sakurai and Intelligent Systems are close with each other. They actively discussed who to add as a newcomer for Brawl for example, it was Intelligent Systems who suggested Ike.

Incorrect.

There were two different sentences in the translation.

The first statement is that Sakurai and the team were aware that there was a new Fire Emblem in production for the Wii when the project for Brawl "was announced" in July 2005 (i.e. the project proposal) but they knew nothing about it or its characters so just set aside a "new Fire Emblem character" in the proposal.

The second statement was that the original developer requested that Ike "have a heavy feel despite his appearance", referring to his gameplay in Smash.


Nothing about Intelligent Systems suggesting Ike at all.
It's likely word got out that Ike would be returning in Radiant Dawn, which could have influenced Sakurai's decision to go with him while using the already released Path of Radiance as a reference point, but still.

 

[BuckleyTim]

Something I wanted to say regarding cuts:

Whoever gets cut in the next Smash game, you can still play as them in Ultimate since it’ll be backwards compatible with Switch 2.

To play smasher's advocate, I will say that it'll become a very lonely playground for anyone still holding out on ultimate when smash 6 drops. Smash 4 was kinda shoved aside for ultimate, and while granted that's partially due to the context of the two releases it doesn't really help that in general if we're talking official releases of fighting games... Then anything that isn't the most iconic nostalgia entries (sf2, Tekken 3) struggles to keep a long lasting scene after it's successors release (see sfv when sf6 came out, or mortal Kombat in general).

Granted, maybe a modding scene can develop further for ultimate like it did for brawl, but I feel like people are less ambitious in hacking their switch / future switch 2 than they are their wiis due to fear of getting online banned.

 

[Dinoman96]

Here's the exact info about Ike's inclusion in Brawl:

大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズＸ

Machine translation:

In July 2005, when the production of Super Smash Bros. Brawl was announced, it was revealed that a new Fire Emblem title was in development for the Wii. However, there was no information about the characters, so during the proposal stage, it was simply written as “someone from Fire Emblem.” Regarding Ike, the developers of the original game requested that he have a “heavy” feel, contrasting with his appearance. The goal was to create a bulky character wielding a large sword. His movements would be heavy, making his attacks easier to evade, but if they connected, they would deal significant damage.

In the original game, there were situations where he attacked distant enemies with something like a shockwave. However, we considered whether that aligned with the vision of Ike we were aiming for in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Additionally, when embodying a character's essence in the game—not in terms of personality but gameplay—there was a need to balance whether such elements would be acceptable. After consideration, we decided to omit that aspect. Ultimately, simply bringing over moves from the original game doesn’t necessarily bring out the character's essence, does it?

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Marth alone despite Marth being the most likely returnee is kinda weird. How does that make sense? Even if the Emblems and the real characters aren't the same, you can just avoid it by simply not doing it.

Not really. Emblem Marth is the main Emblem, and the one that's most associated with Alear. In gameplay, the fact that Emblems are basically just blue ghosts and he would likely be stapled to Alear's back most of the time would make it pretty difficult to confuse him with Marth the player character.

My biggest issue with Alear using the Engage mechanic has nothing to do with the deconfirmation of fighters. I just think it’s genuinely the last thing I’d want to see from a new FE character.

We already saw with Corrin and Byleth that moveset potential isn’t the issue, it’s the fact that all these characters look the same and act the same. Just from aesthetics and personality, Alear feels like what you would get if you created a character by putting our current line up of already uninspiring FE fighters into a blender.

Corrin can turn into a dragon! Byleth has all the weapons we’ve been begging for and a whip sword! But that doesn’t matter because they still manage to look and feel like Marth clone number six. Personality matters and lot. Despite being a sword wielder, Ike’s personality and the fact that he’s a mercenary comes through in Smash and makes him stand out effortlessly, despite having a pretty straightforward moveset.

To me, giving Alear the most interesting moveset in the world will never dress up the fact that we’re still stuck getting the same character archetype added to Smash over and over from a franchise that has a ton of interesting and reoccurring archetypes. Where’s the tanky unit that we always get early on? Where’s the mystical female character that normally accompanies the main protagonist? Where’s a villain? Why is there no spear or axe wielder?

It’s not just that I want the FE lineup to feel unique, but with 8 characters it should at least kind of feel like an actual lineup of characters archetypes you would expect to see in Fire Emblem. I’m still a little stunned a character as effortlessly unique and important as Azura was passed up for Corrin and all the interesting lords in Three Houses were passed up for Byleth. Alear is just another dime a dozen lord being chosen over other important characters that can better represent the actual variety that the series has to offer. That’s my frustration with the idea.

While I disagree on Byleth feeling at all like Marth, I can understand the sentiment, and it certainly doesn't help that they're already super highly associated with Marth, and their fighting style is pretty much just if Corrin and Marth had a baby as cool as it is to watch.

The main problem here is that Fire Emblem pretty much always gives their main characters a sword and used to lock them to just a sword. Characters that deviate from it tend to not be important enough to add over that main character. The only Engage character I would add is Alear because they're the main character and everyone else is just another friend that they meet during their story. Byleth is the natural pick for 3 Houses because they're the only one that players are guaranteed to have spent all their time with regardless of route choice. Corrin was the natural choice for Fates because the story revolves around them just like it does Alear.

There are important characters that you could add after the main heroes like Caeda, Tiki, Ryoma, Xander, The three house lords, Mechiah, etc. but because each new game usually throws out the cast of the previous games, Smash is stuck playing catchup and can't add more than one character per game unless its called Awakening and has characters that they can add as clones. So unfortunately, I think our options right now are Alear, Kirin, and Anna, of which Alear is really the only one that isn't super unlikely.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Smash 4 was kinda shoved aside for ultimate, and while granted that's partially due to the context of the two releases

I think that's really the only case where the Smash community truly abandoned a Smash game for good. You mentioned that Brawl still has its modding scene, plus it also still had people who clinged on to it for the sake of playing Subspace or as Lucas pre-DLC/Wolf/Snake/Ice Climbers/Pokemon Trainer.

And I shouldn't have to explain the deal with Melee.

 

[Ivander]

We could always get Veronica for a new Fire Emblem character. She is:

• A non-Avatar main character and is probably the most popular one in her origin game.
• A Magic user and potential Staff user
• A villain turned anti-hero turned hero(but can still represent villains by having her Book 1/2 version look be an alternate costume)
• Our first Fire Emblem Heroes character which is easily Nintendo's best selling non-Pokemon mobile title, even beating Mario Kart and Animal Crossing.
• Is the first FEHeroes character to outright appear in the non-mobile Fire Emblem series(appearing in Engage as a DLC Emblem).
• And can still have a part of the Summoning gimmick.

I'm just saying, she ticks a lot of the checkboxes for people wanting a notably different Fire Emblem character.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

We could always get Veronica for a new Fire Emblem character. She is:

• A non-Avatar main character and is probably the most popular one in her origin game.
• A Magic user and potential Staff user
• A villain turned anti-hero turned hero(but can still represent villains by having her Book 1/2 version look be an alternate costume)
• Our first Fire Emblem Heroes character which is easily Nintendo's best selling non-Pokemon mobile title, even beating Mario Kart and Animal Crossing.
• Is the first FEHeroes character to outright appear in the non-mobile Fire Emblem series(appearing in Engage as a DLC Emblem).
• And can still have a part of the Summoning gimmick.

I'm just saying, she ticks a lot of the checkboxes for people wanting a notably different Fire Emblem character.

She's ironically someone I feel is a darkhorse assuming Sakurai doesn't want to outright avoid adding a new Fire Emblem character in the base roster.

 

[ninjahmos]

And I shouldn't have to explain the deal with Melee.

Not only is Melee still being played to this day, but I think it's also been modded up quite a bit recently (look up the Akaneia Build and Turbo DX). They've even added a few characters from Brawl, including Wario and Sonic.

Someone even made a mod for Shadow to be playable in Melee to go along with Sonic. I can definitely see some moveset potential in here.

 

[Golden Icarus]

The main problem here is that Fire Emblem pretty much always gives their main characters a sword and used to lock them to just a sword. Characters that deviate from it tend to not be important enough to add over that main character. The only Engage character I would add is Alear because they're the main character and everyone else is just another friend that they meet during their story. Byleth is the natural pick for 3 Houses because they're the only one that players are guaranteed to have spent all their time with regardless of route choice. Corrin was the natural choice for Fates because the story revolves around them just like it does Alear.

There are important characters that you could add after the main heroes like Caeda, Tiki, Ryoma, Xander, The three house lords, Mechiah, etc. but because each new game usually throws out the cast of the previous games, Smash is stuck playing catchup and can't add more than one character per game unless its called Awakening and has characters that they can add as clones. So unfortunately, I think our options right now are Alear, Kirin, and Anna, of which Alear is really the only one that isn't super unlikely.

At the very least we did get Robin over Chrom explicitly because of Robin’s gameplay potential, so there’s at least one example of the main lord getting passed up for a smaller character. Though admittedly while secondary to Chrom, Robin’s importance in Awakening was certainly significant. But even then, Azura, Edelgard, Micaiah, etc. definitely had enough prominence to represent their game if Robin could. And we have Pyra / Mythra representing Xenoblade 2 who are in every way less important than Rex. It clearly isn’t a hard rule to always have the most important character represent a given game. Even if it’s preferred, they always make exceptions and I certainly wish they made more exceptions throughout FE character selection.

And I get not wanting to choose any specific Three Houses lord over another, but by that logic maybe we should have gotten the Kalos trainer instead of Greninja.

 

[SPEN18]

I mean, we don't really need a leak to tell us FE4 remake is coming at some point. There's not much reason to think they'll stop remaking older FE games and not much reason to think that FE4 would get skipped over. I'd be outright expecting it to come at some point even sans any leak. That said, remakes aren't usually prioritized for dedicated promotional reps in Smash, so I would consider Sigurd to be a pretty unlikely choice regardless.

 

[DarthEnderX]

The BIG console mascots need to be here first.

I musta missed the Namco console.

Edit: Nm, just realized he's supposed to be the Atari mascot.

 

[SPEN18]

Mechiah

I can now no longer stop picturing Iron Mageulis, the Paradox Form which is a futuristic android version of the classic Micaiah we knew and loved since we were kids

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

At the very least we did get Robin over Chrom explicitly because of Robin’s gameplay potential, so there’s at least one example of the main lord getting passed up for a smaller character. Though admittedly while secondary to Chrom, Robin’s importance in Awakening was certainly significant. But even then, Azura, Edelgard, Micaiah, etc. definitely had enough prominence to represent their game if Robin could. And we have Pyra / Mythra representing Xenoblade 2 who are in every way less important than Rex. It clearly isn’t a hard rule to always have the most important character represent a given game. Even if it’s preferred, they always make exceptions and I certainly wish they made more exceptions throughout FE character selection.

And I get not wanting to choose any specific Three Houses lord over another, but by that logic maybe we should have gotten the Kalos trainer instead of Greninja.

These exceptions really only come about when there's a bunch of characters that are integral to the plot, and the "main" one doesn't work for whatever reason. Sakurai didn't think on anything interesting to give Chrom so he went with his fellow protagonist Robin. Rex and Pyra didn't work, so between the two he went with the option that would be more interesting.

As far as the Galar trainer thing, I think the main reason why not to do that is 1, you don't want to just keep doing the Pokémon Trainer concept, 2, they literally couldn't do it in SSB4, and 3, that's 3 more newcomers each game, which becomes harder and harder to justify.

 

[Dukefire]

I can say that until Sakurai and Nintendo brings another Smash Bros announcement, Smash Speculation is running on stale energy that we managed to held onto as Ultimate completed its DLC lifecycle years ago. Not like it is bad, but ideas are kind of limited without the connection to bring in fresh ideas and excitement.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Seeing Scream Tail talk, and as much as I'd like to see it as like an alt or an Echo (it's the most Jigglypuff's gotten in ages), I don't think it's very likely. Puff is already usually late in development due to its easy-to-build nature, so imagine building a brand new one with more limbs immediately afterward.

Solution; replace Jigglypuff with Scream Tail :V

 

[Slartibartfast]

If they’re going to be announcing a new Smash Bros so soon, I feel like it kinda has to be an Ultimate “Deluxe.” Like, they made such a big deal about getting some of the larger requests into the game and highlighting that every single character is somebody’s favorite, so to throw that out the window just a few years later can sting. I don’t think they would be too quick to replace the Ultimate Smash game so quickly unless they could add onto it somehow. Maybe if they waited like, another console generation and Ultimate starts to feel “dated” or people get tired of it (like with Mario Kart 8) can they add a fresh coat of paint and make a proper new entry.

I was thinking about the gap between Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (2000) and MVC3 (2011) and how it made sense for there to be cuts in the roster because they created an entire new engine from the ground up. For context, MVC2 was essentially the Smash Ultimate of the Capcom Versus series, and included every character in the series up to that point. The decade-long hiatus until the next entry had people clamoring for a new one, and the wait paid off when they announced the series’ grand return. I think something similar should happen with Smash to get the best possible fan reception. Ultimate is simply too relevant at the moment, I think it would be wise for Nintendo to not release a completely new entry until 2028 at the earliest.

On an unrelated note, here are my top 5 most wanted character inclusions
1) Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes)
2) Kunio (River City)
3) Adol Christin (Ys)
4) Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
5) Bomberman (Bomberman)

 

[Gengar84]

If they’re going to be announcing a new Smash Bros so soon, I feel like it kinda has to be an Ultimate “Deluxe.” Like, they made such a big deal about getting some of the larger requests into the game and highlighting that every single character is somebody’s favorite, so to throw that out the window just a few years later can sting. I don’t think they would be too quick to replace the Ultimate Smash game so quickly unless they could add onto it somehow. Maybe if they waited like, another console generation and Ultimate starts to feel “dated” or people get tired of it (like with Mario Kart 8) can they add a fresh coat of paint and make a proper new entry.

I was thinking about the gap between Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (2000) and MVC3 (2011) and how it made sense for there to be cuts in the roster because they created an entire new engine from the ground up. For context, MVC2 was essentially the Smash Ultimate of the Capcom Versus series, and included every character in the series up to that point. The decade-long hiatus until the next entry had people clamoring for a new one, and the wait paid off when they announced the series’ grand return. I think something similar should happen with Smash to get the best possible fan reception. Ultimate is simply too relevant at the moment, I think it would be wise for Nintendo to not release a completely new entry until 2028 at the earliest.

On an unrelated note, here are my top 5 most wanted character inclusions
1) Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes)
2) Kunio (River City)
3) Adol Christin (Ys)
4) Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
5) Bomberman (Bomberman)

I never played the River City games until recently when I tried the River City Girls games and I really enjoyed them. Going off pure bias, I’d love to see Misako in Smash from the River City Girls games but I know she’s a long shot since it’s a spinoff series and Kunio is the much more obvious choice. I’d at least like to see some RSG music in Smash if Kunio gets in. Those games had great soundtracks and I thought a lot of songs were pretty funny.

 

[Nabbitfan730]

ack when characters were being decided for Ultimate Activision and Nintendo didn’t have the strongest of relationships, but now the Crash IP is owned by Microsoft who very much does have a strong relationship with Nintendo, and has been very eager about getting their characters in Smash. Yeah, there are other Microsoft characters worth considering, but we got 2 last time, and Crash is probably the most requested guest character in general at this point

You know that last 2 will also competing for the spots for Smash 6? They aren't guaranteed. If Nintendo and Microsoft wanted a stronger relationship i'm pretty sure Banjo, Chief and Steve would better to fit that bill than Crash.

Especially with the latter actually having real Japanese support that actually works in his favor

I agree even though I want both. The BIG console mascots need to be here first. I feel Crash Bandicoot seemed to be the Sony mascot for quite awhile and I've never been able to get rid of the thought of having the Xbox guy in the same game as the Sony guy along with the Nintendo, Sega, and Capcom guys. Master Chief and Crash are the 2 characters I really wanted to see in Ultimate to complete that vision.

Crash was never a mascot for Sony though, he was always owned by Universal which is why they were only 3 games until Sony and Naughty Dog lost license.

If you want a Playstation Mascot that actually represent Sony. Why not Ratchet and Clank? Actual Sony Mascot reps with Relevance, actual future that reps who Sony is today

Or Nathan, Kratos, Krack, Aloy, Abby or go old-school like Parapappa or Ape Escape. Would Diversify and stand from the cartoony picks from Nintendo, Sony, Capcom

 

[DarthEnderX]

On an unrelated note, here are my top 5 most wanted character inclusions
1) Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes)
2) Kunio (River City)
3) Adol Christin (Ys)
4) Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
5) Bomberman (Bomberman)

I like the cut of your jib, new guy!

My Top 5 Most Wanted: