Greninja Satisfaction: 85%
I've always loved Greninja. From the moment I saw him in the leak before X and Y launched, I knew he'd be my starter Pokemon of the sixth generation. I'm not a ninja fanboy or anything, but I think they can be pretty cool, and Greninja is cool to the max--his tongue-scarf is an amazing bit of design work in my eyes. Greninja also continues what I see as a long legacy of excellent water type starters, and I'm proud to say that he was my fifth water starter in six generations of playing Pokemon (sorry Swampert... Sceptile's just so much better). I'd go as far to say that Greninja is probably my favorite Pokemon from Gen VI, with a possible exception of Aegislash.
As much as I love him, I do have slight amount of misgiving about seeing him in Smash. He really isn't as much of an All-Star as some of the others. I don't know whether it's because I stopped watching the anime and stuff back in Sinnoh, but I really don't feel I have enough exposure to him to really think he belongs in a Smash Bros. title. This is a similar feeling to what I get when I look at Rosalina. Overall, this is a very minor complaint, but it does keep me from being entirely satisfied.
The thing that hurts my satisfaction even more is his moveset. Mega Man's moveset is a nostalgia overload; Villager abuses hammerspace enough to be both zany and utterly brilliant; Little Mac really captures the feel of a boxer and plays in very definitive manner; Rosalina has the most interesting moveset in the history of the series. What does Greninja have? Honestly, not much stands out to me. His signature Water Shruiken is there, but it doesn't look like it brings much to the table; as much as I am obsessed with his substitute attack, it appears to just be a basic counter. Many of his attacks are just pretty basic water moves. All in all, I'd say he lines up with the Wii Fit Trainer in terms of moveset rather than the other gems we're getting.
Even with my nitpicks about his moveset and unworthiness, my like for the character and the
surprise really are what make me satisfied here. Yes, the surprise is something I view as something great about him. I've said in the past that I like roster surprises, but I've come off as a hypocrite because I've decried the major surprise character in this game--the Wii Fit Trainer. I've always viewed her as a bad surprise because I see her as little more than a troll character who didn't have anybody who wanted her or even liked her before her inclusion. Greninja is a good surprise because he is a well-liked Pokemon who was a very rare but present request.
Rosalina is technically a good surprise by my definition, but I was so enthusiastic about pretty much every other Mario candidate (Toad, Junior, Waluigi, even Geno) that seeing the one that I didn't have any interest in was a let-down.
I will admit that Greninja wasn't a character had put too much thought into. Had I rated him, he'd have been somewhere from between a 1% and a 3.33% in chance, so I would be waaaaay off the mark. Even so, I'm not quite as surprised as you may think; although I included Brawl Pokemon + Mewtwo on my Ferbruary and March rosters, I noted on both that I thought a Pokemon shake-up seemed pretty likely because of Game Freak and the relative dearth of information we'd seen at that point. I concluded by saying that Brawl Pokemon + Mewtwo had a lot going for them, and it would just be impossible to predict what the shakeup would be with any accuracy. The three main candidates I had seen for the job were Zoroark, Victini, and Meowth, but it looks like that didn't pan out, eh?
How does Greninja affect different characters? Well, it does seem to send the message that long-term importance isn't as important as recency and promotion.. but that's misleading. I'd argue that his confirmation only affects the chances of other Pokemon. I still see Jigglypuff as a near shoo-in (~90% chance), but I really don't see more than one other Pokemon after her, and I'd say that spot probably exists. I'd argue that Mewtwo outcompetes Squirtle, Ivysaur, Pichu, and any potential newcomer for that last slot; if anything, the Direct raises his chances by showing us the Pokemon Trainer's split and his no-show in the Pokeball showcase.
This one?
Okay, I've had Miiverse rate Palutena, Mewtwo, Ridley, K Rool, Ghirahim, and Bandana Dee.
I didn't ask them for want.
Only chance. Scores will be coming soon. I'll ask for other characters later.
EDIT: Actually, I'll ask for Chrom too. But then that will be it.
Miiverse's very platform makes hosting a RTC game there impossible. Its userbase... makes it a bad idea, anyway. It's nearly impossible to start an intelligent conversation there; either the post gets dropped out too quickly or little kids hijack your post.
So @
Groose
you got any clue as to when we'll start nominations again? After the next rating of previous satisfaction? Cause we can't get enough satisfaction.
There's a certain mystical cat I'd like to rate, one that will need one especially after the Direct.
I'd like to go through with Paulkagebein's idea of rating the characters at the top of the chance charts before getting back to the groove of things. Nothing is near final yet; I'll be thinking deeper on things tomorrow when I have more time and a rested mind.
DAY OVER
Foe's Greninja fainted! Mewtwo gained 9,001 experience!
