Poll: SSB4 Roster Size, What's it gonna be?

[Andinus]

With all the info we have up to this point, how many characters does everyone think (not hope) we are getting?

 

[MasterofMonster]

Going by that specific question, technically, everyone have to answer 'no clue'.

 

[The Nerd]

I think we'll get the low end of 45-50. I think saying over 50 is wishful thinking, but the direct made me reevaluate how many characters are in this game. I had originally thought 45 was a nice, likely number, but perhaps slightly too high. Post direct I'm increasing my count.

There are multiple reasons for this; first of all I had always considered movesets more than slots, and had assumed that Pokemon Trainer and ZSS were going to be cut. I had theorized that transformational characters might be too difficult on the 3DS, as I do not know what its memory is capable of, whether or not it could afford to keep more character models on the backburner. This dropped the number of Brawl's unique movesets to 35, meaning we would get 10 more new movesets. Well, I had predicted one of them would be Mewtwo. I had also predicted that Sheik would be cut in favour of Impa and Ike would be cut in favour of Chrom, both of which would inherit an updated version of their predecessor's movesets. This would have meant 12 'newcomers' with 10 new movesets, and I thought that was pretty reasonable. Ultimately I did not think they would have the capacity to add more than 10 movesets to Brawl's lineup.

However, having seen some of the newcomers and some of the changes to the veterans, I have been forced to reconsider my thinking. The move away from transforming characters as made the separate pieces FAR easier to balance in relation to each other. Along with this, many veterans and newcomers have had their strengths and weaknesses magnified, making the balance between characters easier to manage. Because I had only limited myself to 10 new movesets based on balancing difficulties, and said 10 was a minimum because any less would be too disappointing. With the perceived focus on making sure characters are more easily tuned and balanced, I now suspect more than ten is possible. Add to that the return of ZSS and I am definitely over 45 now, albeit not by much.

 

[Andinus]

Going by that specific question, technically, everyone have to answer 'no clue'.

I just thought if someone really had not really decided what they thought or did not wanna think about it.

 

[MasterofMonster]

I just thought if someone really had not really decided what they though or did not wanna think about it.

I know, I was just saying. ^^ It's just a matter of how you Word things. It doesn't really matter.

But anyways, I expect there to be 50, or extremely Close to 50.

 

[HipsandChips]

I was originally imagining something 45-48, but after the Charizard and Greninja reveal I'd have to imagine it would be at least 50. It's hard to explain, but something in my mind says "if there's room for these guys Sakurai must have a few more tricks up his sleeves for this one."
Plus it really seems like this installment more than they are throwing SO much content in. In terms of stages and items the new additions are expansive and incredibly varied. The stakes are high with Nintendo right now, so I'm going to say at least 50, no more than 52.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

My vote went to 44 or fewer. The more characters there are, the marginally more difficult it is for them to add the next one, which makes me doubt a massive expansion like Brawl had.

I reached my number by starting with Brawl's roster, subtracting the characters I think won't return, and multiplying by 1.25 since I suspect a fifth of the roster will be newcomers. That number was... 42.5. Guess we're going to get half a character ;]

 

[Andinus]

My vote went to 44 or fewer. The more characters there are, the marginally more difficult it is for them to add the next one, which makes me doubt a massive expansion like Brawl had.

I'm totally with you there.

 

[splat]

This is what I'm guessing:

Description | #
Amount of announced characters (as per April 13th) | 29
Amount of characters that will not be announced until after launch (based on Brawl's number) | 12
Amount of characters I anticipate will be announced at E3 2014 (based on E3 2013) | 3+
Amount of characters I think will be announced in the period between April 13th and E3 | 2
-- | --
Total | 46+

 

[Reader]

I may be optimistic, but I believe we might get more than fifty characters. Brawl had 39- characters, and seven/six characters, who were scrapped during the development. This means, that Brawl was intended to have about 45-characters. Considering the fact, that this game has been in development longer than Brawl, doesn't have subspace emissary nor cut-scenes and Namco-Bandai are helping them, I don't see what's holding them back. And we shouldn't forget the possibility of DLC in Smash bros.

 

[Strevo]

I voted 45 to 49 with a strong bending towards 49, as someone already mentioned there is no subspace emissary to worry about anymore. But I won't mind if there are even more characters. The only issue would be balancing them around, but I think Sakurai with the aid of the Namco-Bandai team already did a splendid job so far so we won't get another MetaKnight hopefully.

Aslong as Adventure mode is back I am set with whatever I get It's smashbros afterall.

 

[KokiriKory]

If everyone from Brawl but Snake, Squirtle and Ivysaur returns, that would mean 6 more characters = 49. That or anything less.

50 or more is...believable, but I'd say odds are in the former's favor.

 

[TerraRizerKing]

I believe around 40-45. Sakurai is ambitious about this game and looking at the current state of the game, it seems he has room for so much more. Not long ago Sakurai said he wont have an enormous roster and many characters from previous titles wouldnt make it so we shall see.

 

[MasterofMonster]

I do Think Namco-Bandai helping with balancing, as well as generally helping to make the game, will give us more newcomers than most expects.

But, we will know this summer, so the wait isn't that long no more.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

44 and below seems like a good estimate. It's definitely not going to be much of an increase from Brawl. Maybe E3 will change my mind on this.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I think there's a decent chance we could hit 50, but it would depend on how smoothly development of the game went.

I'm not making any assumptions about what will happen, seeing Greninja confirmed as playable has taught me to expect the unexpected.

Right now I'm along the lines of....

Pessimistic: 45-47
Neutral: 48-50
Optimistic: 51-52

 

[dezeray112]

I would say in between the 40-50 mark for me.

 

[Andinus]

I voted 45 to 49 with a strong bending towards 49, as someone already mentioned there is no subspace emissary to worry about anymore. But I won't mind if there are even more characters. The only issue would be balancing them around, but I think Sakurai with the aid of the Namco-Bandai team already did a splendid job so far so we won't get another MetaKnight hopefully.

Aslong as Adventure mode is back I am set with whatever I get It's smashbros afterall.

I'm more along the lines of not having another Pichu.

 

[DaDavid]

46/47 Sounds about right to me. There's not too many cuts I find likely, and Sakurai has already stated his aversion to cuts (albeit with a preemptive apology if they had to happen) so I don't think we should expect more than a few if any. I also think 10 new characters is pretty much the minimum they could add to shake the roster up a noticeable amount.

So take Brawl's roster of 39, add the 6 newcomers so far to get 45, subtract the 2 other PT Pokemon to get down to 43, and add the 4 newcomers I think are likely left to be shown, and there you go: 47.

 

[Smash G]

50 or more. Though I know I'm being... optimistic. I wouldn't say 50 or more has a good chance. But it's possible.

Brawl had 39. +11 Newcomers is not impossible. Gets hard if there are too many cuts though. All I can do is hope!

 

[slicesabre]

I'm going with the popular opinion of 45-50. More than 50 feels like it might be overload, IMO.

 

[spader13]

I feel like 49 gives them a nice layout, 5 rows, 10 columns once you add in random. This number lets them keep most/all the Brawl characters while still adding in a nice amount of newcomers.

 

[Super Flygon]

I would love to see 45-49 characters. 50 or more would be nice, but I don't know if we'll get that much. I'm definitely thinking some where close though, specifically 47-49 characters.

 

[Souless_shadow]

I think the roster will be somewhere between 48-50 characters. I really don't expect that many cuts from brawl.

 

[Andinus]

44 and below seems like a good estimate. It's definitely not going to be much of an increase from Brawl. Maybe E3 will change my mind on this.

Yeah, I think we will get a better idea based on how many character reveals we see between now and release.

 

[Pazzo.]

This is what I'm guessing:

Description | #
Amount of announced characters (as per April 13th) | 29
Amount of characters that will not be announced until after launch (based on Brawl's number) | 12
Amount of characters I anticipate will be announced at E3 2014 (based on E3 2013) | 3+
Amount of characters I think will be announced in the period between April 13th and E3 | 2
-- | --
Total | 46+

Nice Table. I didn't know you could do that here.

Anyway, my opinion lines up with this guy. 45-50ish characters.

 

[Khao]

Going by that specific question, technically, everyone have to answer 'no clue'.

Oh, we do have lots of clues, whether or not they're relevant to anything and if we're correct in our decision to follow them is a completely different deal. =P

Anyway, I'm expecting somewhere around 45, I'll be dissapointed by less, but I'm not expecting much more than that, 50 would be a huge surprise to me.

The 64 game had 12.

Melee had 26.

Brawl had 39.

So I'm seeing forty-something as a pretty safe bet.

 

[TheTuninator]

I say 50+.

Melee added 14 characters, Brawl 18. Even assuming 3-4 Brawl vets are cut, 44-45 total gives us only 9-10 newcomers. We've already seen 6, with 2 or 3 more likely to be revealed before release, and more hidden.

SSB4 is shaping up to be bigger and better than Melee and Brawl in nearly every area. I see no reason to expect the roster count to buck the trend.

 

[Spazzy_D]

It really depends on if semi-clones beyond Toon Link are still going to exist. I went with 45-49, as I think we should be getting at least 6 more characters then we had in Brawl.

 

[Luigi#1]

I voted 45-50. Honestly, I don't think more than 14 newcomers will be added. And I'd say 4 cuts. 14-4=10. 39+10=49. And That is what I call the max.

 

[Deleted member]

I have no clue really.
A comfortable position is 45-49 characters, but I can see maybe 50 or more. It just depends on how many newcomers are added and how many cuts there are.

 

[Wyoming]

In least than a year after the E3 trailer we already have 29 characters revealed, already more than Melee in its entirety...

I'll be optimistic and say 50+.

 

[pandajedi]

My prediction has been 44 on the dot- a 9*5 grid with one spot for Random. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[Jellyfish4102]

I think you guys are underestimating the amount of cuts we'll get. Snake, ROB, Lucas, Wolf, Ike, Squirtle, and Ivysaur all are likely to be cut. That brings Brawl's 39 down to 32. Add in the 6 newcomers we have so far and you get 38. We'll probably get two to three more newcomers. That puts our total around 40.

 

[LancerStaff]

I think you guys are underestimating the amount of cuts we'll get. Snake, ROB, Lucas, Wolf, Ike, Squirtle, and Ivysaur all are likely to be cut. That brings Brawl's 39 down to 32. Add in the 6 newcomers we have so far and you get 38. We'll probably get two to three more newcomers. That puts our total around 40.

ROB is as likely to get cut as G&W was from Melee to Brawl. Lucas is in the same place as Falco was too. Cuts just aren't all that likely now that we only have two clones remotely close to Melee's clones.

 

[RIDLEY is too SMALL]

I think it will be closer to 45 than to 40 or 50. 44-48 is my guess.

50+ just isn't going to happen. Sakurai has already stated in an interview that a roster with 50 characters would be too difficult to balance. The 3DS version of the game (which has the exact same roster as the Wii U one) is being released this summer. That means there probably isn't much time for many more newcomer reveals.

Also, I doubt there will be unannounced newcomers by the time the game launches. Mega Man, Sonic, Toon Link, Lucario, Marth, Luigi, Rosalina, and Greninja seem (at least to me) to be unlockable. If so, then it means that several unlockable newcomers have been revealed before launch. Either that or every character is available from the start. Either way, I think we will know about all of the newcomers by the time the game comes out.

I think it's realistic to expect no more than 3 newcomers at E3. Suppose the 3DS game is released late summer, like in August, and we get an April Direct and a post-E3 July/August Direct, in addition to E3 (that's being very generous), and we get a newcomer for each one. That's 5 newcomers, which is a lot considering the game is launching in a few months. Suppose another character is revealed at launch to bring the total to 6 more newcomers.

We have 29 characters confirmed so far. Add a very optimistic 6 newcomers in 6 months (assuming the game launches in late summer, which, again, is being very generous) and that's 35. A lot of veterans will be returning, but there will be a few cuts as well. I think the absolute max number of characters we'll be getting is 48, and to expect anything more would be unrealistic.

It seems like a lot of people upped their expectations for the roster size after the Smash direct, but I don't see why. Charizard appears to be replacing Pokémon trainer, so that slot hasn't changed (if anything, it suggests that Squirtle and Ivysaur have been cut, decreasing the roster). Greninja may not have been predicted by everyone, but he is filling the slot of the new Pokémon character that we all knew we were getting. Sheik and ZSS being separated from Zelda and Samus doesn't change anything except for whether you consider Brawl to have 35 characters or 39 characters. Semantics.

When it comes down to it, we've got 29 confirmed, plus an optimistic 6 newcomers, plus most (but not all) of the remaining veterans. I think the roster number will be hovering around 45-ish. Expecting 50+ will most likely lead to disappointment. The same exact thing happened with Brawl--everyone thought we would be getting 5-10 more characters than we actually got.

Apologies for the giant wall of text. I have a paper to write and I'm procrastinating.

 

[Tornado_Man]

Tbh I think we'll have less than Brawl. Would be a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong though.

 

[DaDavid]

Tbh I think we'll have less than Brawl. Would be a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong though.

That would require some major cuts. 39 in Brawl, so even if it's literally one less than that, that only leaves us...9 characters to be revealed?

 

[Kevandre]

I'm really thinking 48-52. Somewhere in there depending on DLC. Sakurai clearly wants to demonstrate the Wii U's power and I honestly doubt at this time that there are any cuts (From Brawl, at least. I don't see Mewtwo or Roy coming back as much as I'd love that). Yes, Squirtle and Ivysaur included.

 

[Andinus]

I think you guys are underestimating the amount of cuts we'll get. Snake, ROB, Lucas, Wolf, Ike, Squirtle, and Ivysaur all are likely to be cut. That brings Brawl's 39 down to 32. Add in the 6 newcomers we have so far and you get 38. We'll probably get two to three more newcomers. That puts our total around 40.

I've been predicting 5-8 cuts as well. And there are at least 4 I'd be kinda shocked to see come back, those being snake, wolf, ivysaur, and squirtle, with the other 4 possible to be chopped being, Lucas, Ike, ROB,and Game and Watch.

I know people wanna be optimistic about cuts, with melee seeing 5 cuts, you can't out rule the possibity of losing a fair amount of characters.