If there's anything I'm hoping for the next Smash, it's more stages without a rep. Like, I'm open to characters regardless of whether they are Retro or Modern, but I'd love to see more stages from unrepresented games or series, since stages aren't the main highlight compared to characters, thus allowing some more freedom with them.
I feel like Horror Franchises would be the best for this. Five Nights at Freddy's, Silent Hill, Resident Evil (if they don't get a fighter) would be perfect for Stages. Horror Games are about their atmosphere after all. Dark Souls would also fit this if they not getting Playable character
That’s a lot of newcomers in base. What about any DLC newcomers? Not that I’m opposed to it
I could at the very least see Sora being forced to be DLC (a free pre order bonus for early adopters at least, then paid later, like this game’s Piranha Plant) and MAYBE Hero too, though Sugiyama’s passing may make getting the music easier.
Who do you have in mind for an indie playable character?
And I am curious as to how Ultimate would be “compatible” with this game. Would it unlock something extra?
I was thinking somewhere between 10-20 DLC Characters. with the DLC Development team, which is much smaller than the Base game Development team it seems to take about a year to develop 4-5 characters. So the amount of DLC would depend on how long Nintendo would like to spend on DLC, and if Sora being last minute is any indication, the Characters that are on the line for potential DLC (if they don't just save them for next game). There's also the factor of the Team getting smaller in between DLC Packs
For Indie Fighters, the main 3 I think would be Shovel Knight, Frisk and/or Kris, and Reimu. Hollow Knight also has to be up there as well, and I could also see Zagreus from Hades potentially (I saw a 4chan rumor about Tekken 8 that said Zagreus would be the Guest character since Harada really loved the game)
Shantae is cool, but for some I'm not feeling too hot on her being in Smash 6 still, and Same goes for Cuphead. I'd also love FNAF, but I think that would be a Stage (which I actually think would be perfect)
For being Compatible, Depending on how close to Ultimate Smash 6 is, I could see Ultimate getting some of the Gameplay and Balance features of Smash 6. This would also allow for those that still only have Ultimate to play Online with people that have Smash 6
I'm sorry but there's no way we have more than 20 newcomers in the base game. Smash 4 was the game with the most newcomer with 17 (counting the Mii as 3 characters and including 2 clones) and according to Sakurai that was already pushing the limits of what can be done. I really don't think they could do around 30, let alone 40, especially because the more big the roster, the more hard it is to only add 1 character (there's so much thing to balance), and that was probably one of the reason that Ultimate's pass 2 took so long.
Keep in mind that Smash 4 was also the game where the Dev team had to develop for 2 systems instead of the usual one, with one of those being the Portable 3DS. Along with the usual changes in terms of game structure of the gameplay and balance, they had to develop for 2 systems, and they also managed to add in modes for both versions, Custom Moves, and still have substantial Newcomer count like that
For me, it depends on if Smash 6 keeps the Structure of Ultimate in terms of the Gameplay and Balance department. Previous Smash games radically changed the gamefeel and the Balance of the game between each game. What I'm thinking is that since Ultimate is very Fine-tuned in the gameplay department, and the Balance is some of the best in Fighting games currently despite the amount of characters in the game, I'm thinking for once, they might not actually focus on Changing the gameplay too much
like I could see an Expansion on the Base gameplay of Ultimate, like adding in New Specials, more Mobility options, and quality of Life features, but I don't think they have to change Speed, Gravity, Hitstun, etc of the game like previous games did, or mess with the balance too much regarding the veterans
I think doing that would give more time to focus on Adding to Smash 6 in terms of content, which would include more Single Player, Stages, and important of all, Characters.
The Main Reason Ultimate did not have substantial new content in base game, in terms of Stages, Modes, and Newcomers, is that along with having to bring back every character in the series, they also Changed the Game feel like usual, to make the Gameplay more exciting, but they also put an emphasis on making this game the most balanced of them all. In comparison to Ultimate, the balance in Previous Smash games were wack, and for Smash 4 in Particular, even without Bayonetta and Cloud, Characters in Smash 4 tended to be one note in their gameplan and honestly kind of Degenerate. Ultimate made it to expand on all of the characters to make them more Dynamic in their options, and make everyone feel Powerful and have their niche. It's not perfect of course, but I think what they got in Ultimate, they shouldn't actually change too much
That's where I could see Smash 6 having a Newcomer count above 20. You also got to factor in potential echoes (which I still see being added in Smash 6), who are only being balanced against their Base character. I think 40 would be too much without DLC to make, but I could see the Base roster having a somewhere around 120 characters, 10 times that of the OG Smash 64
I've been thinking about it for a bit and I believe it's quite likely that the project plan for the next Smash Bros is gonna be finalized in 2023/2024. That should be around the time when the next Nintendo console will be revealed and Smash development usually goes full force a year or so before the console releases.
Nintendo knows how much of a system seller Smash is, so they want it to release within the first two years of the console's life. That's been the case for all Smash games since Melee, and I don't see it changing. We know from Furukawa that the Switch is in the middle of it's life cycle earlier this year, which could mean that we'll get the next console in 2024/2025.
We know from Sakurai that once the project plan has been finalized, they never deviate from it and change the roster, with exceptions happening to technical hardware issues like the Chorus Kids in 4 or one of the most popular requests delaying the game like Sonic in Brawl (but with the addition of DLC the latter becomes a moot point).
What I'm trying to get at is that it's likely we won't get any characters introduced after 2024 in the base roster of the next Smash game considering the project plan will already be finalized by then. The ONLY exception to this is Pokemon, where an obligatory future slot is placed for an unknown Pokemon game that will be decided later.
I agree with all of this, but I would actually say the Project Plan would be finished sometime in 2022, or actually even later in 2021
While the Project Plan of Ultimate was finalized in December 2015, Development didn't start until somepoint in 2016. That give Smash Ultimate a Development time of 2 years and some change, which is the usual time each Smash game has gotten in the past. Having the Project plan be finalized in 2023 or 2024 would put Smash 6 release at 2025-2027, which I really think would be too late. Then again, I also thinking the New console is coming around 2023-2024
But I think the Project Plan being finished either this year or 2022 would put Smash 6 on the right track to come out early in the New console's Lifecycle
