Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[SpecterFlower]

why bring up the fact that she’s from one game while suggesting they cut characters who’ve been in more than one and adding in more one offs?

Ocarina of time already has ganondorf

twilight princess has no rep
Kidna is more popular
Twilight princess is the third biggest Zelda game,

and sheik is still another form of Zelda. I’d rather a unqiue character from an unrepresented game who’s more popular than sheik.

we can’t keep on keeping everyone.

 

[chocolatejr9]

If anybody's in the mood to talk Sonic reps, it looks like Sega has taken a note from Nintendo's book:

You control your own path. Stay fearless! pic.twitter.com/CbHZ4cQ8Xt

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) April 9, 2024

 

[fogbadge]

Ocarina of time already has ganondorf

twilight princess has no rep
Kidna is more popular
Twilight princess is the third biggest Zelda game,

and sheik is still another form of Zelda. I’d rather a unqiue character from an unrepresented game who’s more popular than sheik.

i see you’re picking and choosing when your rule counts

 

[Gengar84]

Ocarina of time already has ganondorf

twilight princess has no rep
Kidna is more popular
Twilight princess is the third biggest Zelda game,

and sheik is still another form of Zelda. I’d rather a unqiue character from an unrepresented game who’s more popular than sheik.

I can understand that. I just really like Sheik so I want to keep her mostly for that reason. Technically, she’s not the same person as ALTTP Zelda since each incarnation is a different person. I view Ganondorf as more of a general series rep than OoT specifically since Ganon has been around since the beginning of the series and has appeared in several games since. Unlike Link and Zelda, I believe Ganon(dorf) is actually the same entity throughout the series.

 

[SpecterFlower]

i see you’re picking and choosing when your rule counts

Yes I am.

rules are meant to be broken.

I just think sheik is a bad rep, and a bad character to keep in around in general considering she’s a 100% smash oc with a new design and moveset created entirely for smash.

I can understand that. I just really like Sheik so I want to keep her mostly for that reason. Technically, she’s not the same person as ALTTP Zelda since each incarnation is a different person. I view Ganondorf as more of a general series rep than OoT specifically since Ganon has been around since the beginning of the series and has appeared in several games since. Unlike Link and Zelda, I believe Ganon(dorf) is actually the same entity throughout the series.

His first apperence was Oot, then windwaker, 4 sword adventure, twilight princess and tears of the kingdom

I would like to rep the capcom games but eh.

getting all the big 3d games except Windwaker is fine enough for me.

 

[Noipoi]

Cut ganondorf

Newcomers: ganondorf

erm...what the scallop?

 

[Golden Icarus]

I'm sure this is a tired out topic, but since I haven't seen it directly discussed yet since coming back - what is everybody feeling about the direction of the roster for the next game? In the broadest sense, what do you expect/want from the next game?

I said earlier that I kinda just wanted them to expand on Ultimate again, but now that it's been a couple years I've started to feel the opposite. Let Ultimate be the "end of an era" and have the next game feel totally fresh. However, I don't necessarily find a total reboot all that appealing either. Ultimate's core gameplay was great and while it could be fun to have a tighter, more competitive experience that completely reimagines every character, I wouldn't want to waste too many resources on reinventing something that's already really good, especially if it results in a significantly smaller roster. Smash is one of the few video games where "quantity over quality" is actually a justified mindset.

I feel like I'd want something in the middle. A character selection roughly the size of Ultimate (preferably a bit bigger) that cuts maybe 15-20% of the roster, while having more than enough newcomers to make fans happy. The topic of cuts is no fun and it's hard to talk about it without feeling like we're kind of arbitrarily picking on certain characters. Like why cut Dr. Mario and Dark Samus when they are easy clones to transfer from game to game? Why cut Incineroar and Piranha Plant when they were just added and have totally unique movesets? Why cut Sheik or Falco when they are fan favorites that have been around since Melee? But I think the reality is 1. You don't want to devalue Ultimate by just having every single character return again. "Everyone is Here" was the whole point and it would make the game retroactively lamer if they just did it again and 2. One of Ultimate's biggest flaws in my opinion was how bloated certain series felt. Like Byleth might have been more well-received if we didn't already have the last three main FE protagonists and 4 different Marths on the roster.

I think a good mission statement for the roster of Smash 6 would to try and reach the same quantity of Ultimate's roster, while totally ditching echo fighters and semi-echoes. Either rework the current echoes, or cut them. Kinda like how Melee to Brawl wasn't a massive character increase, but it greatly cut the number of clones down and to this day I feel like it has one of the most "balanced" rosters in terms of series representation and character variety. However, as strange as it sounds, we'd probably want to cut more than just the clones. Again you want Ultimate to have some things that are unique to it and ripping off the band aid by leaving out certain unique characters, maybe even some series staples, is an effective way of making the next game feel totally new.

She’s a one off from a game that isn’t even in the 3 most popular in the series.

here we go

Cut toon link cut young link cut sheik cut ganondorf

Newcomers: ganondorf, rauru,midna, impa
I also debated adding skull kid but if ganondorf retains his oot look it’s fine.

yes that many newcomers but it needs it, it’s one of the biggest series of all time and half the roster is clones.

I honestly love this and it kinda plays into my point. Zelda could desperately use more unique characters and in a strange way I think three Zelda newcomers would be made even more exciting if certain characters are left behind. I think I would do a similar thing with Pokemon, FE and Mario. Give us a good handful of newcomers alongside a good handful of cuts to make the selection feel fresh.

 

[fogbadge]

Yes I am.

rules are meant to be broken.

I just think sheik is a bad rep, and a bad character to keep in around in general considering she’s a 100% smash oc with a new design and moveset created entirely for smash.

His first apperence was Oot, then windwaker, 4 sword adventure, twilight princess and tears of the kingdom

I would like to rep the capcom games but eh.

getting all the big 3d games except Windwaker is fine enough for me.

ganondorf and ganon are the same character as much as shiek is Zelda

 

[SpecterFlower]

I honestly love this and it kinda plays into my point. Zelda could desperately use more unique characters and in a strange way I think three Zelda newcomers would be made even more exciting if certain characters are left behind. I think I would do a similar thing with Pokemon, FE and Mario. Give us a good handful of newcomers alongside a good handful of cuts to make the selection feel fresh.

I wouldn’t even know who to add for mario

actually I do, king boo, the main villain of Luigi’s mansion (this game sold like 13mil don’t sleep on it)

And a common mario boss.

cut Rosalina, bowser junior and pirahna plant, and add thwomp or something, I honestly really like that joke and it would be funny if they kept rotating random enemies out

 

[Noipoi]

I'm sure this is a tired out topic, but since I haven't seen it directly discussed yet since coming back - what is everybody feeling about the direction of the roster for the next game? In the broadest sense, what do you expect/want from the next game?

What I expect is for the next game to be "back to business" in a sense, continuing on from where Smash 4 left off after the whole Everyone Is Here celebration whoopty-doo.

A delicate balance between solid classic Nintendo characters, some exciting new third party characters, and a couple oddballs. What we've come to expect at this point.

In regards to what I want...just a few newcomers who vibe with me, and for at least a couple of my favorite characters to not be cut

 

[Gengar84]

I will say that this is one reason I was opposed to splitting Zelda/Sheik. I have a feeling we wouldn’t be seeing nearly as many people calling for Sheik’s removal if she was still a part of Zelda. I don’t remember people asking for Sheik to be cut in Brawl but I wasn’t really following speculation back then either.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

I must be the only one who likes having three Links.
Having at least two is warranted enough, I think. Big Link has changed a lot, there's definitely space for a character that offers the old style specials along with a faster, more combo-oriented version of his moveset. Plus Zelda has a ton of games, and while the main character is always a Link, they're all different in some ways.

And then Young Link and Toon Link don't really play much alike. Young Link in particular, in my opinion they really did a great job with him in Ultimate, it would be a shame to lose his moveset going forward. Plus the Zeldas I'm more attached to are always going to be Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, being able to play as that Link is great to me.
So maybe I just really like Young Link, lol. But ideally I'd like them to keep all three.

Toon Link in my opinion is the one who feels kinda undercooked, he's too slow and floaty to really fit the more agile playstyle reserved to "the other Link" and he ends up playing more kinda like regular Link but in a somewhat less interesting way imo.
With Young Link in the game already filling the smaller Link niche, though, Toon Link could use a rework that gives him some more items specifically from Wind Waker, like the Deku Leaf, the Grappling Hook and the Skull Hammer in place of his current specials (but bombs would have to stay, the Wind Waker explosion is too iconic).
Of course I'd also like some actually new Zelda characters, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having three Links.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

If anybody's in the mood to talk Sonic reps, it looks like Sega has taken a note from Nintendo's book:

You control your own path. Stay fearless! pic.twitter.com/CbHZ4cQ8Xt

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) April 9, 2024

Still not going to completely get my hopes up.

But ****, it would be nice to finally be able to play as Shadow in an official Smash....

 

[fogbadge]

I must be the only one who likes having three Links.

you’re not

 

[SpecterFlower]

I will say that this is one reason I was opposed to splitting Zelda/Sheik. I have a feeling we wouldn’t be seeing nearly as many people calling for Sheik’s removal if she was still a part of Zelda. I don’t remember people asking for Sheik to be cut in Brawl but I wasn’t really following speculation back then either.

I agree, especially with pythra and p trainer I think that it might be a good idea to look over, as it fleshe: out Zelda way more.


with the next game likely not being part of 4/ultimates dev I imagine adding old characters back will become a lot more different, I really dont want the series to become all your favourites plus 5 new guys.

having games each have a reason to be played is much nice that what happened with 4 and ultimate, theres just no reason to play 4, at all, except for like wooly world stage.

 

[Gengar84]

with the next game likely not being part of 4/ultimates dev I imagine adding old characters back will become a lot more different, I really dont want the series to become all your favourites plus 5 new guys.

having games each have a reason to be played is much nice that what happened with 4 and ultimate, theres just no reason to play 4, at all, except for like wooly world stage.

Honestly, I can deal with cuts if I like the additions at least as much. What I’m afraid of is Smash cutting all my favorite characters in exchange for a bunch I don’t really care much about.

 

[Golden Icarus]

I will say that this is one reason I was opposed to splitting Zelda/Sheik. I have a feeling we wouldn’t be seeing nearly as many people calling for Sheik’s removal if she was still a part of Zelda.

To be fair even if Sheik was cut in the next game, she'd almost definitely be highly requested for DLC and would probably just get readded in no time. But I really do feel that if the next base roster cut Sheik in favor of Impa, then it would let Impa shine that much more. I don't want Impa to copy Sheik's moveset whatsoever, but having a brand new sheikah in Smash using a bunch of cool new ninja abilities might feel even cooler if she's the only sheikah on the roster, ya feel me?

I wouldn’t even know who to add for mario

actually I do, king boo, the main villain of Luigi’s mansion (this game sold like 13mil don’t sleep on it)

And a common mario boss.

cut Rosalina, bowser junior and pirahna plant, and add thwomp or something, I honestly really like that joke and it would be funny if they kept rotating random enemies out

I'd personally go pretty generic and add both Toad and Waluigi. They're the last two characters that feel like they should already be there. I'd also like them to go the extra mile and totally declone Daisy. Give her a much more aggressive, sporty moveset and change her default costume be a sports getup.

But also I wouldn't want the Mario series to get too many cuts. It's the one series that feels like it really should be crazy overrepresented and I don't mind it constantly growing. Dr. Mario and Plant are the only ones I'd really consider picking on. Doc is pretty damn lucky to have been in three games and while I absolutely love Piranha Plant, I honestly wouldn't mind it being a novelty that only exists in Ultimate. I actually think a character like that is made more interesting when it doesn't appear in every game and instead when we go back to Ultimate twenty years from now we'll be like "holy **** remember Piranha Plant that's crazy!" And then when they do Everyone Is Here part two they'll finally bring it back and it will be the grandest return in ages.
I can't believe I'm romanticizing the idea of a character being cut and brought back decades from now...

having games each have a reason to be played is much nice that what happened with 4 and ultimate, theres just no reason to play 4, at all, except for like wooly world stage.

This is the problem I keep coming back to. Smash 4 was my favorite Smash by far when it came out and now it's the one game I never revisit. Ultimate overshadowed that game in every damn metric.

Honestly, I can deal with cuts if I like the additions at least as much. What I’m afraid of is Smash cutting all my favorite characters in exchange for a bunch I don’t really care much about.

Yeah cuts are a bit scary for that reason. I think that's why if the next game were to have a record number of cuts, then it ought to have a record number of newcomers as well. I think they could definitely do it right, especially with the prospect of DLC making cuts feel a lot less final.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Toon Link in my opinion is the one who feels kinda undercooked, he's too slow and floaty to really fit the more agile playstyle reserved to "the other Link" and he ends up playing more kinda like regular Link but in a somewhat less interesting way imo.
With Young Link in the game already filling the smaller Link niche, though, Toon Link could use a rework that gives him some more items specifically from Wind Waker, like the Deku Leaf, the Grappling Hook and the Skull Hammer in place of his current specials (but bombs would have to stay, the Wind Waker explosion is too iconic).

There's a reason I think Toon Link is more likely to be cut than Young Link, contrary to popular opinion.

Still, even within the realm of trying to preserve his general playstyle, there's still ways to give him new tools based on WW anyway. One of his custom up specials in 4 was supposed to be the Hurricane Spin, and the Skull Hammer can be used for his Smash attacks.

 

[Gengar84]

To be fair even if Sheik was cut in the next game, she'd almost definitely be highly requested for DLC and would probably just get readded in no time. But I really do feel that if the next base roster cut Sheik in favor of Impa, then it would let Impa shine that much more. I don't want Impa to copy Sheik's moveset whatsoever, but having a brand new sheikah in Smash using a bunch of cool new ninja abilities might feel even cooler if she's the only sheikah on the roster, ya feel me?

I'd personally go pretty generic and add both Toad and Waluigi. They're the last two characters that feel like they should already be there. I'd also like them to go the extra mile and totally declone Daisy. Give her a much more aggressive, sporty moveset and change her default costume be a sports getup.

But also I wouldn't want the Mario series to get too many cuts. It's the one series that feels like it really should be crazy overrepresented and I don't mind it constantly growing. Dr. Mario and Plant are the only ones I'd really consider picking on. Doc is pretty damn lucky to have been in three games and while I absolutely love Piranha Plant, I honestly wouldn't mind it being a novelty that only exists in Ultimate. I actually think a character like that is made more interesting when it doesn't appear in every game and instead when we go back to Ultimate twenty years from now we'll be like "holy **** remember Piranha Plant that's crazy!" And then when they do Everyone Is Here part two they'll finally bring it back and it will be the grandest return in ages.
I can't believe I'm romanticizing the idea of a character being cut and brought back decades from now...

This is the problem I keep coming back to. Smash 4 was my favorite Smash by far when it came out and now it's the one game I never revisit. Ultimate overshadowed that game in every damn metric.

Yeah cuts are a bit scary for that reason. I think that's why if the next game were to have a record number of cuts, then it ought to have a record number of newcomers as well. I think they could definitely do it right, especially with the prospect of DLC making cuts feel a lot less final.

Yeah I hear what you’re saying. My personal wish is that Impa is based on her Hyrule Warriors moveset and design. She and Sheik were able to co-exist in that game and played nothing alike even with Impa’s two whole movesets. If I’m being honest, HW is the only incarnation of the character I really loved so I’m mostly indifferent to her inclusion otherwise (though Skyward Sword’s Impa has a very similar visual design so I’ll take that).

 

[Kirbeh]

I'm sure this is a tired out topic, but since I haven't seen it directly discussed yet since coming back - what is everybody feeling about the direction of the roster for the next game? In the broadest sense, what do you expect/want from the next game?

I expect a continuation similar to what we usually get. There'll be some cuts due to the sheer roster size Ultimate left us at but I expect 6-10 newcomers to fill out the vacancies. I'm expecting a base roster of similar size or slightly smaller than Ultimate's.

What I want is a ground up reset that allows for major changes and additions to both characters and mechanics. I'd also want for a mostly new stage list, only keeping a handful from each previous entry.

Ideally a base roster of at least around Brawl's size (before taking clones into account, which I actually want plenty of), with an extra long DLC cycle that adds plenty more newcomers and brings back as many veterans as possible.

I'm pretty sure of my expectations and place my actual wanted scenario at an almost zero chance.

 

[SpecterFlower]

I'm sure this is a tired out topic, but since I haven't seen it directly discussed yet since coming back - what is everybody feeling about the direction of the roster for the next game? In the broadest sense, what do you expect/want from the next game?

I said earlier that I kinda just wanted them to expand on Ultimate again, but now that it's been a couple years I've started to feel the opposite. Let Ultimate be the "end of an era" and have the next game feel totally fresh. However, I don't necessarily find a total reboot all that appealing either. Ultimate's core gameplay was great and while it could be fun to have a tighter, more competitive experience that completely reimagines every character, I wouldn't want to waste too many resources on reinventing something that's already really good, especially if it results in a significantly smaller roster. Smash is one of the few video games where "quantity over quality" is actually a justified mindset.

I feel like I'd want something in the middle. A character selection roughly the size of Ultimate (preferably a bit bigger) that cuts maybe 15-20% of the roster, while having more than enough newcomers to make fans happy. The topic of cuts is no fun and it's hard to talk about it without feeling like we're kind of arbitrarily picking on certain characters. Like why cut Dr. Mario and Dark Samus when they are easy clones to transfer from game to game? Why cut Incineroar and Piranha Plant when they were just added and have totally unique movesets? Why cut Sheik or Falco when they are fan favorites that have been around since Melee? But I think the reality is 1. You don't want to devalue Ultimate by just having every single character return again. "Everyone is Here" was the whole point and it would make the game retroactively lamer if they just did it again and 2. One of Ultimate's biggest flaws in my opinion was how bloated certain series felt. Like Byleth might have been more well-received if we didn't already have the last three main FE protagonists and 4 different Marths on the roster.

I think a good mission statement for the roster of Smash 6 would to try and reach the same quantity of Ultimate's roster, while totally ditching echo fighters and semi-echoes. Either rework the current echoes, or cut them. Kinda like how Melee to Brawl wasn't a massive character increase, but it greatly cut the number of clones down and to this day I feel like it has one of the most "balanced" rosters in terms of series representation and character variety. However, as strange as it sounds, we'd probably want to cut more than just the clones. Again you want Ultimate to have some things that are unique to it and ripping off the band aid by leaving out certain unique characters, maybe even some series staples, is an effective way of making the next game feel totally new.

I honestly love this and it kinda plays into my point. Zelda could desperately use more unique characters and in a strange way I think three Zelda newcomers would be made even more exciting if certain characters are left behind. I think I would do a similar thing with Pokemon, FE and Mario. Give us a good handful of newcomers alongside a good handful of cuts to make the selection feel fresh.

thinking about it smash is like the only fighter left that does clone characters.

the general smash rosters feels very bloated I agree, i think 30% ish with like 15 newcomer + 5 entirely reworked characters would be nice

(mario, ganondorf, link, kirby, samus)

the 64 characters really stand out as basically having next to nothing from their actual series and mostly just punching and kicking.
yeah their old movesets are gone, but if you want that just play an old game.

 

[Golden Icarus]

God I would love a Kirby rework. He's one of my favorite video game characters, yet I don't even think about playing him. He's basically Smash's main character and deserves better. I'd like a Game & Watch/Villager-esque moveset where every damn tilt, aerial and smash attack is a unique reference to a different power-up. Also please buff Kirby's mobility. He feels so much more sluggish than he should.

 

[ScrubReborn]

I'm sure this is a tired out topic, but since I haven't seen it directly discussed yet since coming back - what is everybody feeling about the direction of the roster for the next game? In the broadest sense, what do you expect/want from the next game?

Somewhere between 50-60 characters (base game, not sure if that includes echos or not), and standard newcomer size (maybe 14 or 15), mix of contemporary/promotional characters and a few fan requests. So mostly just business as usual minus the obvious downsize. But I do feel Smash 6 might focus more on expansion of the current franchises rather than a lot of new ones since that's where a lot of the big (first party) fan requests are and people responded well to secondary third party reps in Ultimate, so a few more seem like good choices for base.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

Since characters are already numbered in Ultimate and Sakurai has already said that he'd like for the next game to top it, I'd just keep everyone who's in Ultimate and try to hit the 100 characters milestone in the next base game (alongside some gameplay tweaks). Then go even crazier for DLC.
With Sora being #82 that would mean 18 newcomers, a little too many perhaps... But eh, Smash 4 had 15 and the budget has to be bigger now...

 

[Golden Icarus]

I do feel Smash 6 might focus more on expansion of the current franchises rather than a lot of new ones since that's where a lot of the big fan requests are and people responded well to secondary third party reps in Ultimate.

I think I agree, as much as I so desperately want to see Golden Sun, Rhythm Heaven and so many more miscellaneous series added.

But more secondary third party reps is something I definitely want to see more of. I never thought they were off the table, but for some reason I didn’t really think about them all that much until Sephiroth - who was easily my favorite newcomer in Ultimate (which is saying something). Getting third party characters from brand new franchises is fun, but it’s so nice to add a little extra to the existing ones. Makes the third party characters feel less like guests and more like part of the family.

Eggman, Alucard and especially Chun-Li are all top picks for me now. Capcom might have a treasure trove of amazing characters they could add, but in my humble opinion none of them beat the first lady of fighting games.

 

[BuckleyTim]

I get why they'd do a "meet in the middle" approach regarding the roster, but man I'd be lying if I said that the game wouldn't live in the shadow of Ultimate for me. Like, if they're replicating 60-70 characters at the Switch 2's visual fidelity... there's no way way that game would be any more content-heavy than Ultimate, and Ultimate was already slimmed down at every point they could so they could focus entirely on having all the characters. It feels like what we'd get is a lot of returning characters that would look nicer but play (for better and for worse) exactly like their ultimate incarnations. Like at that point just do a full reboot so at least when characters like DK and Lucario obviously return there'd be reason to change them up...

...even in my hypothetical I don't expect them to actually go back to the drawing board with some of their less faithful/interesting adaptions, lol

 

[Perkilator]

Re: Direction of the next game’s roster

I want the roster to at least be around 60-ish at max, with a mix of fan favorites, personal Sakurai picks and wacky surprises; both among veterans and newcomers.

 

[ninjahmos]

It probably won't happen, but I think a Wario rework might be nice. They could base his moveset more off of the Wario Land games.

 

[dream1ng]

But I do feel Smash 6 might focus more on expansion of the current franchises rather than a lot of new ones since that's where a lot of the big fan requests are and people responded well to secondary third party reps in Ultimate.

wat

There's Waluigi, Geno, BWD, probably(?) Chun-Li, and a second Sonic character (which is far less useful than a specific character), but that's about it for big fan requests. I mean the promo series will eventually have popular candidates, but that's largely based on expectation.

Most of the popular requests come from new series. Not on the first-party side, that'd be mostly just Isaac atm, but Chief, Crash, Dante, Doom Slayer, Rayman, Monster Hunter, RE, Lloyd, any and all indies, characters like 2B and Arle as far as Japan is concerned, etc. are all new franchises.

 

[ScrubReborn]

wat

There's Waluigi, Geno, BWD, probably(?) Chun-Li, and a second Sonic character (which is far less useful than a specific character), but that's about it for big fan requests. I mean the promo series will eventually have popular candidates, but that's largely based on expectation.

Most of the popular requests come from new series. Not on the first-party side, that'd be mostly just Isaac atm, but Chief, Crash, Dante, Doom Slayer, Rayman, Monster Hunter, RE, Lloyd, any and all indies, characters like 2B and Arle as far as Japan is concerned, etc. are all new franchises.

True. "where a lot of the big fan requests are" was referring to first parties specifically but you're right too, there's gonna be plenty of new series. I would also like to clarify the idea of "expansion over new" was referring to the base game, I expect DLC to be where most of the characters/new 3rd party franchises you mentioned will show up with some exceptions.

 

[ninjahmos]

It probably won't happen, but I think a Wario rework might be nice. They could base his moveset more off of the Wario Land games.

Hopefully they'll at least add in more music from the Wario Land series. And Wario World.

 

[fogbadge]

How would you all feel if the newcomers in the next game were all 1st party? Still with 3rd party veterans

 

[Gengar84]

wat

There's Waluigi, Geno, BWD, probably(?) Chun-Li, and a second Sonic character (which is far less useful than a specific character), but that's about it for big fan requests. I mean the promo series will eventually have popular candidates, but that's largely based on expectation.

Most of the popular requests come from new series. Not on the first-party side, that'd be mostly just Isaac atm, but Chief, Crash, Dante, Doom Slayer, Rayman, Monster Hunter, RE, Lloyd, any and all indies, characters like 2B and Arle as far as Japan is concerned, etc. are all new franchises.

I’d say I want a lot more new series additions than additional characters from existing ones overall. There are still several characters I’d love to see as additional reps though. Here are just a few of them:

Gengar
Impa (HW)
Zero
Xemnas
Princess Garnet
Guile
Dixie Kong
Nia
The Black Knight
Knuckles
Medusa
Goombella
EMMI
Bugzzy

 

[dream1ng]

True. "where a lot of the big fan requests are" was referring to first parties specifically but you're right too.

Well... I just don't see a lot of first-parties that are big fan requests these days, anyway. Waluigi, BWD, maybe Isaac...

I think the ratio will probably be about the same as normal for first-party new series tbh. It's usually mostly existing series, because there aren't as many new notable series that pop up as there are remaining big characters from the big series.

If DK gets the rumored revival, that will help Dixie. But if Astral Chain gets the rumored sequel, that will help that character. Eventually a certain Pokemon/FE/Xenoblade character will become fairly popular due to expectation, but RFT will probably also be expected due to that game's success and the general lower bar of first-parties these days.

Though I guess excluding future IPs, the max first-party new series cap would probably be four: Golden Sun, Astral Chain, Ring Fit, and potentially the surprise character. And that's best-case scenario for new IP, imo. Others like RH aren't impossible, but they don't seem likely.

 

[Gengar84]

It’s probably too much to ask for but I’d love to see both Officer Howard and Jena Anderson in Smash. I love Jena’s design and she has several really cool transformations that could make for a fun moveset but I don’t see her getting in without Howard first.

Slight late game spoiler screenshot just to show off her cool design:

Spoiler

 

[Noipoi]

How would you all feel if the newcomers in the next game were all 1st party? Still with 3rd party veterans

Nah, wouldn't like that too much. It isn't 2001 anymore. 3rd Parties are rad, we need them along with the Nintendo characters to truly make Smash special.

 

[dream1ng]

How would you all feel if the newcomers in the next game were all 1st party? Still with 3rd party veterans

I've before lamented first-parties getting a bit lost in the shuffle as of late, but no new third-parties would be a fantastic way to disappoint the fanbase, the general audience, and be detrimental to the potential success of the game.

 

[cashregister9]

It’s probably too much to ask for but I’d love to see both Officer Howard and Jena Anderson in Smash. I love Jena’s design and she has several really cool transformations that could make for a fun moveset but I don’t see her getting in without Howard first.

Slight late game spoiler screenshot just to show off her cool design:

Spoiler

View attachment 387676

Officer Howard, Jena and even Kyle would all be great

Seriously look at this design it is so good

 

[DarthEnderX]

Because at the end of the day, that's all it boils down to. "Wouldn't it be cool if -thing I want- happened and -thing I don't want- didn't?"

Answer: Yes. It would be cool.

What if Nintendo never sold RARE to Microsoft 20+ years ago?

Nintendo didn't sell Rare. They never owned Rare. They just didn't buy Rare before Microsoft did.

What if the next Smash game had an Adventure Mode that combined elements of Melee's Adventure Mode, Subspace Emissary and World of Light?

It would be 2/3rds bad?

erm...what the scallop?

Is their meaning not obvious?

Cut Falcondorf and add a new unique Ganondorf.

 

[SilverRose_Zero]

How much do you guys think the Switch 2 (or whatever the next Nintendo console is called) will cost?

I'd estimate somewhere between $300-500.

Unreasonable price, I know, but hey, games have gotten more and more expensive.

Facts