Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone! If I'm to somehow make some semblance of a living off Youtube eventually, I need all the positive exposure I can get!
Have to say, I'm flattered by how many people say they're mesmerized by my voice, from this video and others.
I'm thinking of doing another video eventually, speculating which characters could still get into the base game, so keep checking up!
On that note, though...I'm not entirely convinced on Greninja or Blastoise. You see, the vast majority of the characters we'd have revealed so far haven't been the usual suspects. We've been getting a lot of fan favorites that rarely see the spotlight: Suicune, Weavile, Sceptile, Garchomp, Chandelure, et cetera. Even the more obligatory picks like Pikachu, Lucario and Charizard have also had popularity themselves! Furthermore, the dev team seems to be focusing on variety within each type and ensuring no two fighters feel similar. It's especially noticeable with the Fire types so far--two up close fighters contrasted with a mage and a chandelier ghost who focuses on distance attacks.
As it was with Smash 4, it seems to be more about uniqueness than it is about checking off boxes.
So for example, take a look at the three Fighting types we have so far. Lucario is the balanced all-rounder, with up close and ranged tools as well as some disjointed midrange attacks in the form of the Bone Rush variants. Machamp is a heavyweight bruiser who wants to slowly close the distance and pound on his opponents at close range. Blaziken is more focused on rushown, on getting in quickly and overwhelming whoever he's facing. So if we're taking a potential fourth Fighting type, a good pick would be a more agile bob-and-weave kind of fighter...or one with less conventional abilities.
In other words, focus less on the hitmons and more on Mienshao or the musketeers. And that's the reason I have doubts on Blastoise, whose popularity has fallen off a ways in the last couple generations and who wouldn't do much to stand out as a bulky Water type when Suicune already does that, with a defensive zoning playstyle and the second highest HP of any character revealed so far.
As for Greninja...ordinarily I would call Greninja a frontrunner. Arguably the most popular Water starter nowadays, and with speedster stats to help him stand out from the Water type we already have? But...it seems a little like they've given away Greninja's main powers and thematics already. Call me skeptical, but Sceptile's attacks and mannerisms feel very ninja-like in places, complete with actually having Substitute in his moveset when said move has never been associated with the Treecko line normally! Then there's Frogadier, who appears as an assist and uses Water Pulse...which takes the form of shuriken-like projectiles even though the move has never been interpreted that way before.
It's just...enough to make you wonder if they're working around the fact that Greninja isn't there, you know? Maybe he got passed on, for whatever reason. Maybe other Water types are more worth looking at. Could Braixen's inclusion open up a chance for Dewott, maybe?
Then again, it's all just speculation. I could end up dead wrong, myself...but that doesn't make talking about it any less fun when salt isn't being flung around.
