Rate Their Chances - Smash Ultimate Edition! Day 672: Five Most Likely First and Third Parties for Smash 6, and Final Goodbyes

[zferolie]

Actually I take everything I said back. This direct was saved by big **** Wario

god Wario has the most accurate golf outfit in the game

 

[Phoenix Douchebag]

I do have a prediction, i think we are gonna see the death of Monster Hunter AND Lloyd Irving in Pyra's showcase video.

Lloyd is a Sword Wielding JRPG protag, and MH is a sword wielding character from a Action Role Playing series makes me believe they could easily be brought back in this Costume Pack alongside some Xenoblade costumes (it helps we already have costume of two notable Xenoblade 2 characters, Rex and Nia) like Elma.

 

[ProfPeanut]

From our perspective, if they do not and characters with Mii Costumes (DLC or not) are just as on the table/alive as any other, then why wasn't it Rex? At least with Spring Man there's the whole "nobody is truly the protagonist" thing and the dev request X-factor.

While I hope that I don't start using this DLC as confirmation bias for my frankly-unfounded dislike of Rex, Rex is just...not cool, IMO. Not as cool as the superpowered swordswomen that he shares the spotlight with. It's similar to asking why Robin over Chrom, or perhaps why Pikachu over Pokemon Trainer - if you only had one space, would you really want to favor the plainer option?

On the other hand, they had time to make Mythra her own character. So that suggests (personally) that Rex is really uncool in their eyes to be less desirable than doing a double-duty job for this DLC spot. But at least he gets to show up in a more engaged fashion than Chrom did in Smash 4.

 

[zferolie]

I do have a prediction, i think we are gonna see the death of Monster Hunter AND Lloyd Irving in Pyra's showcase video.

Lloyd is a Sword Wielding JRPG protag, and MH is a sword wielding character from a Action Role Playing series makes me believe they could easily be brought back in this Costume Pack alongside some Xenoblade costumes (it helps we already have costume of two notable Xenoblade 2 characters, Rex and Nia) like Elma.

I strongly feel this way as well. We will most likely also get a KOS-MOS Mii Gunner suit as well, which while I would love her as playable I still welcome it.

I think really Crash is the only really Likelyu character still in the running, but who else?

 

[SharkLord]

Dumb question: is the Crei Mos rumor the one that had Chun Li on it?

Bit late, but Crei-Mos is (Well, was) Crash, Reimu, KOS-MOS. The one that could lead to Chun-Li also had Lloyd and/or Yuri.

 

[Phoenix Douchebag]

I strongly feel this way as well. We will most likely also get a KOS-MOS Mii Gunner suit as well, which while I would love her as playable I still welcome it.

I think really Crash is the only really Likely character still in the running, but who else?

I disagree on Crash. I think his chances weren't really that great in hindsight. He has a lot of merit as an inclusion, but i think the timing was against him, with his revival starting After the Smash Ultimate project went into motion. Plus i think Crash is the character you reveal as one of the earliest ones, not the last one (and i KNOW that Crash will not be the last reveal, that's for sure) so i don't see him happening now.

I know E3 will be a thing, and a character will likely be revealed around that time, but im banking my money on someone like, Haybusa or Arle instead, due to them coming from companies already helping with Smash and thus making negotiations easier, plus i don't think Ryu Hayabausa has to be a character that "carries" the Pass like Crash could have (i feel if Crash was in, he would have been announced in the VGAs)

I don't think any "big" third party character stands that much of a chance now, we are now at the point where we are likely getting "nicher" third parties instead. Im more interested if we get another Nintendo character, because i have a little more optimism with Bandanna Dee.

Congrats on Pyra and Mythra BTW.

 

[warpenguin55]

Reactions
Prya's Inclusion: **** YEAH! I thought it would be Rex & Pyra, but doing a Prya/Mythra swap is cool with me. And here I was thinking that there wasn't much left to add from Xenoblade. I wonder what we'll get in the spirit board and music.

Other stuff:
There were a lot of games I might be interested in, but IDK if I'll actually get them or not. Octopath Traveler 2 Triangle Project looks cool, but if I want to see a Salt Iron war, I could just play LoL(Iron is the lowest LoL rank btw). Famicom detective club is a maybe. I'll probably look into Monster Hunter Rise and Ninja Gaiden.

Overall, I'd say it's a decent direct. I'm just happy to have them back.

Noms: LoL rep x5

 

[TCT~Phantom]

So real quick, what has changed for me in speculation from Pyra?

To be honest, not much. I basically considered Rex the most sensible Xenoblade rep and was predicting him. But getting Pyra, while very surprising, does go in line with my thinking. RN I am still betting on Hayabusa and Crash for obvious reasons, with some sleeper picks being Adol, Arle, and Sol Badguy.

What we can get from this honestly is Mii costumes are a death knell for this game. Rex was in a weird spot since he was sort of DLC, but was available day 1. I think this confirms what a lot of us were thinking that DLC mii costumes are the end of the road. Sorry Travis, maybe next game.

Outside of that, who is helped/hurt by Pyra theoretically?

• Umm... I will be blunt, I am more skeptical of first parties right now. Yes I know the pass might wind down. But at the end of the day, that does not mean as much when E3 is right around the corner. It doesn't help that the number of first parties of note that are not hurt by a spirit event basically only includes Waluigi, Isaac, Bandana Dee, Rhythm Heaven, and I guess Dixie Kong. I am not confident in any of those being brutally honest.The other thing is that DLC at least as we have seen naturally favors third parties. I highly doubt we will get an even 50 50 split for first parties.
• Well the 4chan rumor and 5chan rumors are dead. While those were just rumors, neither seem viable. The Chun Li Tales one still technically is alive though.
• Outside of that...I think not much has changed. As I alluded to, Rex was generally considered a pretty likely choice at the end of the day post Min Min. I know when we get around to FP remaining predictions after we see more of Pyra I will still be rocking a similar write up.

Onto the direct itself...

• Fall Guys on Switch is cute. Its a good bit of fun even if the hype died down.
• I was in a call with a friend from home who spent the Outer Wilds section gushing about how good it is, so play it.
• Famicon Detective Club surprised me, I doubted that would ever come over here. Who knows, if it does not sell terribly maybe Sakurai will revisit the Ayumi concept he had a while back.
• Samurai Warriors 5 is a Warriors game. If you like those, cool
• Legend of Mana looks cute
• We got a new Mario RPG...the monkeys paw made it golf. At least this one looks really cool. Guess this was what Camelot was working on. Sorry Isaac fans...
• Monster Hunter Rise still looks sice
• Octopath Traveler Tactics looks pretty fun, but the saltiron war is stupid and I will not shut up about how dumb that sounds
• SS HD would have been more hype if it was not leaked like half a year ago
• Splatoon 3 is neat I guess
• Ninja Gaiden looks cool
• Pokemon danganronpa is weird and idk if i like it. idk why I got a bad vibe
• SaGa might be fun
• NMH 3 is my jam and the highlight of the direct for me

So seems ok, but it really looks like Nintendo is saving the bigger guns for a later direct. The only thing surprising is that Crash 4 wasn't in there, but they did get the trailer to put on their youtube so idk. Other than that, relatively low key. Ironically i expected more ports lol. Wish we got something more for Zelda's anniversary and DKs, but Nintendo is likely saving that for May and June...

 

[SharkLord]

Alright, I'm gonna go a bit more in-depth now

Pyra and Mythra

• I had a feeling that would be Smash. I also thought of a sequel or DLC, but I've been trained to just expect Smash now,
• Blades without a Driver. That was a shocker, for sure. It'll be pretty odd not having Rex working alongside them outside of the Final Smash (And maybe a couple taunts?).
• Gameplay-wise, they look pretty cool. Swordfighters are my jam, and it's nice to have some more female fighters, too. The stance-swapping also looks pretty fun as well.
• Crei-Mos is officially dead. I want Reimu a lot, but her chances don't hinge on an anonymous rumor, it would've been irritating to have to deal with it constantly being brought up. Glad that's over with.
• 99% chance any other Xeno reps are dead. That would mean Elma, KOS-MOS, Fiora, Melia, and Lora, among others.
• If I had a nickel for every time the main main character got the shaft in this pass, I'd have two nickels. It's not much, but it's weird that it happened twice. Regardless, this doesn't really help characters that have a major existing role already.
• Guess Smash isn't afraid of retreading broken patterns. Kinda doubt it'd happen back-to-back, but maybe we'll see more Western fighters, indies, and repeat third-parties down the line.
• We... Sorta called this fighter? On one hand, we weren't expecting the Aegis to go solo, but I highly doubt there was anyone who was expecting Rex to not come with them. I'm listing this as a partial win for the speculation scene like with Byleth; We had the right idea, but it didn't happen in the way we expected.

Everything Else

• Famicom Detective Club sounds extra funny now because not only is it not on the Famicom anymore, it's also been ported to the West, so if anything it should at least be the NES Detective Club over in the English speaking world. Might check it out.
• I was one of those who put stock in the Golden Sun trademark, so the Mario Golf announcement was... Kind of an oof moment. I'm not extremely invested in Isaac like others are, but it is kinda disappointing.
• Neon White looks pretty cool aesthetic-wise, partially because I have a somewhat similar game idea. First-person games aren't something I'm used to, but I think I'll give it a shot.
• Not that interested in Miitopia, but the horse has me in shambles. MAN
• Triangle Strategy looks pretty cool. Still, the name Saltiron War is hilarious, partially because of the modern definition of "salt."
• Knockout City doesn't interest me that much, but the trailer is actually pretty good. It's fun to see people from different franchises just casually messing around together.
• Oh hey, Ninja Gaiden. Guess I'll die, 10000 times in a row.
• Huh, Skyward Sword HD. Might try and get back into Zelda with that.
• And lastly, Splatoon 3. Guess I'll have to go through Octo Expansion in anticipation. Also, welcome to the apocalypse, Marina. Hope you like leather.

 

[Jomosensual]

Direct Reactions

Not a bad direct but overall I'm a little bummed because I didn't really see anything I plan on buying here. Oh well, can't win them all I suppose.

No real reaction to the Pyra trailer, as I went to the bathroom thinking it was a new Xenoblade game announcement. My hype rankings are as follows though

Joker
Sephiroth
Byleth
Min Min
Steve
Pyra/Mythra
Hero
Banjo
Terry


Winners:
Not a lot of people honestly? I don't think Pyra/Mythra really helped anyone else's chances as much as she did kill them

Losers:
Mii Costumes - The fact this wasn't Rex sends a very clear message in my opinion, and it's that Mii Costumes deconfirm. Otherwise, why wouldn't it just be Rex? Sakurai didn't make it a secret he wanted Rex in the game so to not get him but get the other protag feels like a message.

KOS MOS and Elma - Pretty obvious here. Elma is very dead because Xenoblade. KOS MOS was already dead because of the Harada quote but I really doubt we go Xenoblade and then Xenosaga in the same pass

Other 1st parties - This isn't as much due to Pyra as it is what else we saw in the direct. It seems like there's no major 1st party titles in the "shill" window as we currently know it. No release date for BOTW2 still and Splatoon isn't until next year. Those 2 felt like huge front runners for that. No Kirby either. Only Mario Golf really shows up there but the obvious rep for that(Waluigi) feels like he's done already as an AT.

Also, Lloyd and Monster Hunter feel as good as dead too and we're just waiting on confirmation now.



Takes on everything else quick
Ninja Gaiden might get a buy if I really want to get a new Switch game. Unsure if I'll like it a ton but it might be worth trying
I wasn't convinced Triangle Strategy wasn't actually Octopath for a bit.
Never even thought about Splatoon getting a 3rd game. That's pretty cool though and it didn't really have the vibe I thought it would have.


EDIT: Forgot to give a satisfaction number. Ill call it a 60%

 

[Deleted member]

Direct Reactions

Pyra and Mythra reveal

I can't say I'm as excited as a lot of people are with how long they've been waiting for XC2 to get a Challenger Pack. I kinda just went on this site and twitter to see what most people were reacting while the trailer was going off and pretty much everyone was WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and whatnot like how I expected it to be. The best thing about them is the fact they're essentially a 2 for the price of 1 type of deal for a Challenger Pack, so that's a positive.

Now the big takeaway is that they shattered my prediction for Billy and Jimmy. I was thinking they'd be in Smash with Jimmy as the Echo Fighter of Billy, but with Pyra and Mythra being in Smash as separate characters, that pretty much kicks the bucket for the idea I have for Double Dragon. They could still make it as it's a classic series and reps a genre currently not in Smash through a playable fighter, and it's not like Mythra is an Echo Fighter either. However, the novelty of a 2 in 1 Fighter Pack has now been given, and I don't think Nintendo are going to do that again for the same Pass. As for my other predictions, a Dynasty Warriors character is still in contention despite the recent 2 characters wielding weapons, and a Gen 8 Pokemon are becoming more questionable as more characters get revealed not to be a Pokemon.

Now onto the other announcements that I want to talk about:

-Fall Guys getting announced here and not on an Indie World presentation surprised me.
-Samurai Warriors 5 got revealed and is taking a completely different direction from previous games from the new cell shaded art style to the seemingly major focus on Nobunaga and Mitsuhide. I'm super intrigued with this and can't wait to see more info on it.
-I'd also like to add that a Warriors game was announced worldwide instead of it being regional which is very surprising to me as Samurai Warriors isn't as big as Dynasty Warriors, and the latter also has a new game coming out sooner than the former. It really makes me think...
-Mario Golf Super Rush looks fun, especially that Speedrun mode. I can only hope it's as fun as it looks.
-Despite me not knowing anything about the series yet, No More Heroes 3 looks great, and I'm super curious on the 1st Person Horror part that was shown off.
-Neon White was the most intriguing game in the entire Direct. An FPS card game? I don't even play card games, but I'm interested.
-DC Super Hero Girls made me realize I watched too much MLP to the point I can't listen to Tara Strong without thinking it's Twilight Sparkle.
-Miitopia getting rereleased is great. Now I have to make a ****load of random Miis for this.
-Project Triangle Strategy is such a WIP name, and I'm super surprised at how much time they gave to this announcement.
-World's End Club at first just made me go What's so different about this from Danganrompa even when I don't know Danganrompa all that well up until it was revealed to be something completely different afterwards and I went wow.
-Hades getting a Physical release is huge. This actually makes me really hope Zagreus is 1 of the final 2 DLC characters.
-Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is finally revealed. This certainly gives people more of a reason to believe Hayabusa could be in Smash as 1 of the final 2 DLC characters in Vol 2.
-Also worth noting Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 are the sigma versions in the collection, and they're completely different from the original versions.
-I lol'd when Aonuma said there was no news on BOTW 2 after saying people seeing him are probably thrilled about BOTW news. That was the funniest part of the entire Direct.
-Interesting controls for Skyward Sword.
-Splatoon 3's logo just came out of nowhere. They were just playing ambient drumming and the logo just pops in like that.

Overall, the absence of a proper Direct left some people disappointed in the end result of its return, but I'm quite satisfied. There may have been games I wasn't so interested in like all the EA games shown off, but they did have some things that caught my eye.

Also the previous noms I have went to a Concept that got confirmed, so Ima give all of them to Zagreus.

 

[NintenZ]

Yeah haha looks like if I continue participating I'm not going to be nomming a Xenoblade character concept anymore cause hey it happened lol

Honestly as I said before, I literally would've taken anyone and I would've been just fine, I think Pyra and Mythra are probably the best choices you could've gone with since they're extremely popular and marketable characters that even people not into Xenoblade know about, and their game is the best-selling as well so they make a lot of sense and are pretty justified.

Not much else to say but I think it all ties together quite nicely.

 

[DanganZilla5]

Alright, now that I've calmed down I'm gonna do my direct reactions.

Here are my thoughts:

• Pyra/Mythra
  • This does make sense considering that these two are more popular than Rex and they are the ones with more abilities. It's going to take a while to get used to seeing them fight without Rex, but overall they seem really cool.
  • This is another win for first party representation as Xenoblade deserved another rep, in fact we now have 3 Xeno characters because Pyra and Mythra are labeled as 79-80 on the website. It's always nice seeing less represented series get more content.
  • More Xenoblade music! I've already listened to some songs from Xenoblade 2 and it's a kickass soundtrack.
  • Overall, they are not one of my most wanted, in fact I have yet to play Xenoblade 2, but I am just happy that I was somewhat spot-on with my prediction that we would get a Xenoblade 2 character and they look very interesting. I might pick up the game.
• Famicom Detective Club
  • This was a very pleasant surprise. I read up on these games and I've heard nothing but good things about them. I'm a fan of murder mysteries (Ace Attorney and Danganronpa fan here!) so I have wanted to try out this series but a localization seemed like a pipe dream. Now, I get to try them out and I'm so stoked.
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma trilogy
  • As a fan of the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy, I'm hyped for this. This trilogy looks so cool and it seems to retain the fast gameplay that I love about the NES games. I'm so glad the leak panned out.
• Plants vs Zombies
  • I'm not a big fan of these types of online multiplayer shooters but I adore Plants vs Zombies so I might check this out.

Most of the other announcements didn't blow me away though. MH Rise and NMH 3 were nice to see, but they were games we already knew about and they didn't show too much new stuff. I was interested in the Capcom arcade compilation until I found out that most of the games were individual purchases which turned me off. Most of the other stuff I didn't care about. I was thinking about maybe getting Skyward Sword but I heard it's the full $60 which I'm going to say no to since I'm not a Zelda fan in the first place. That game from the Danganronpa team looked interesting at first but then it turns out it's more of a road trip game than a straight up death game. I appreciate trying out something different, but this doesn't look like it's for me.

Overall, this direct gets a 7/10 from me. A decent presentation but I was honestly expecting more (We got a lot of Capcom content, but no Ace Attorney which was disappointing). There were some things that got me hyped, but a lot of the announcements weren't for me.

 

[GoodGrief741]

GoodGrief's belated reactions

Let's start with Smash, because, well, that's what the Direct started with!

I don't think Pyra and Mythra should be playable characters by themselves. It feels wrong. Like having, I dunno, Atreus as a solo fighter. So I think this was a bad call. That aside, I'm really tired of trailers that fake you out with what character it's going to be. Like, really really tired. P/M's trailer featured Rex more than it featured them. Plus this puts Rex in the unbelievably ****ty situation of only being able to become a fighter if these two get cut because there's no way they can coexist, and yeah... not a fan. The trailer was also pretty boring. Best part of it was Shulk, by far. As for moveset, it's far too early to tell. Pyra looks uninspired, but Mythra might be interesting. Again, we'll see.

As for the rest of the Direct, I was disappointed. Though that was moreso because I had hyped myself up. It was an alright Direct. Didn't live up to expectations created by its length, or the time that had lapsed since the last one. It really didn't need to be 50 minutes, there was a lot of boring filler like that Plants vs. Zombies game and whatever that EA game that had characters that weren't in the game making jokes was.

It's also pretty clear that Nintendo's 2021 is pretty weak, or at least the first half. Which confuses me because they've put out no big in-house games since Animal Crossing and yet their big announcement was Splatoon for 2022? One has to wonder what the hell they're doing, though maybe the plan is that Pokemon will carry them this year (perish the thought...) Also surprising: no mention of Zelda's anniversary! But they didn't even show BotW2 so they're probably holding that and all the ports (bar SS weirdly enough) for sometime else - its Japanese anniversary is... tomorrow, but that leaves July/August (its American release date is unknown) and November. Or just any random month I guess.

So, yeah, games! My big games of the night were indubitably the Famicom Detective Club remakes, Project Triangle Strategy (what a great name), and Splatoon 3. Famicom Detective Club getting localized is a huge deal for me, and the games look absolutely gorgeous. Visual novels and detective fiction are my jam, so this is great news. Octopath Traveler was my GotY 2018 so I'm very excited to see a new project already coming out. Plus it looks like they're adding a lot of cool **** like a darker narrative, choices that affect the narrative, and apparently all the characters vote on them? As a D&D player and DM, the idea of a party of characters quarreling and potentially breaking up because of their decisions is automatically intriguing. And of course, the beautiful HD-2D style, more of that please. Finally, Splatoon 3. Team Chaos caused the apocalypse. The new setting looks rad, the new weapons look rad, the potential for the plot post-Octo Expansion and Team Chaos is insane, and frankly I'm just surprised we got a sequel so soon. I expected Splatoon to be your typical Nintendo "once per console" franchises. Hyped for this one.

The other games I'm looking forward to:
Legend of Mana - I don't remember which one this is but great spritework on lovely painted backgrounds is a great look and, well, it's a Mana game. It's probably good.
Mario Golf: Super Rush - AKA the game that killed Golden Sun. But if Golden Sun had to die, at least it's for a game that looks pretty fun! Speed Golf is genius, and Camelot going back to their roots with a story mode and RPG elements is exciting.
No More Heroes III - Release date! Yay! It's no news but NMH looks like the coolest **** soon to hit the Switch.
Miitopia - I missed out on this one on the 3DS, but it looked pretty good back then and still looks pretty good now. If the price is right I'll check it out.
World's End Club - Uchikoshi? Sign me up, that dude's a mad genius. Don't know what this one's about, a friend told me it's already out on Apple Arcade, but I'll play it on Switch I guess. 10-person tandem bike, that's funny.
Ninja Gaiden Master Collection - We all knew this was coming but it's still nice to see it confirmed.
SaGa Frontier - I kinda tuned out on this one because I was explaining what SaGa is to my friends. But it's SaGa!
Skyward Sword HD - I love Skyward Sword. I don't care what anyone says. It's fun. It has a great story. It has Ghirahim. More precise motion controls are good to see, that's probably the way I'd play it but it's cool to have the option to play without 'em. Might pick it up.

As for my predictions, I actually got some stuff right! Skyward Sword HD, Animal Crossing DLC (obvious), Splatoon 3, Famicom Detective Club, GnG Resurrection, Arcade Stadium, Bravely Default 2, MH Rise, Octopath Traveler 2 (kinda), NMH 3, and the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. Though for someone who threw out every game he could think of, I got a lot fewer things right than I expected. Ah well.

All the confirmation shenanigans coming soon

 

[Perkilator]

Thoughts:

• I’m actually hyped for Pyra/Mythra, despite having no real connection to Xenoblade
• I‘m glad Skyward Sword is getting an HD remaster
• Mario Golf Super Rush is a hilariously fun concept (let’s just hope the game itself isn’t super rushed ba dum ts)
• I‘m so happy that the two FDC remakes are getting localized!
• PvZ was something I wasn‘t expecting because EA lol but I’ll take it

The rest, I didn’t really care about, but not bad for the first Direct in over a year! 7/10

 

[chocolatejr9]

GoodGrief's belated reactions

Let's start with Smash, because, well, that's what the Direct started with!

I don't think Pyra and Mythra should be playable characters by themselves. It feels wrong. Like having, I dunno, Atreus as a solo fighter. So I think this was a bad call. That aside, I'm really tired of trailers that fake you out with what character it's going to be. Like, really really tired. P/M's trailer featured Rex more than it featured them. Plus this puts Rex in the unbelievably ****ty situation of only being able to become a fighter if these two get cut because there's no way they can coexist, and yeah... not a fan. The trailer was also pretty boring. Best part of it was Shulk, by far. As for moveset, it's far too early to tell. Pyra looks uninspired, but Mythra might be interesting. Again, we'll see.

As for the rest of the Direct, I was disappointed. Though that was moreso because I had hyped myself up. It was an alright Direct. Didn't live up to expectations created by its length, or the time that had lapsed since the last one. It really didn't need to be 50 minutes, there was a lot of boring filler like that Plants vs. Zombies game and whatever that EA game that had characters that weren't in the game making jokes was.

It's also pretty clear that Nintendo's 2021 is pretty weak, or at least the first half. Which confuses me because they've put out no big in-house games since Animal Crossing and yet their big announcement was Splatoon for 2022? One has to wonder what the hell they're doing, though maybe the plan is that Pokemon will carry them this year (perish the thought...) Also surprising: no mention of Zelda's anniversary! But they didn't even show BotW2 so they're probably holding that and all the ports (bar SS weirdly enough) for sometime else - its Japanese anniversary is... tomorrow, but that leaves July/August (its American release date is unknown) and November. Or just any random month I guess.

So, yeah, games! My big games of the night were indubitably the Famicom Detective Club remakes, Project Triangle Strategy (what a great name), and Splatoon 3. Famicom Detective Club getting localized is a huge deal for me, and the games look absolutely gorgeous. Visual novels and detective fiction are my jam, so this is great news. Octopath Traveler was my GotY 2018 so I'm very excited to see a new project already coming out. Plus it looks like they're adding a lot of cool **** like a darker narrative, choices that affect the narrative, and apparently all the characters vote on them? As a D&D player and DM, the idea of a party of characters quarreling and potentially breaking up because of their decisions is automatically intriguing. And of course, the beautiful HD-2D style, more of that please. Finally, Splatoon 3. Team Chaos caused the apocalypse. The new setting looks rad, the new weapons look rad, the potential for the plot post-Octo Expansion and Team Chaos is insane, and frankly I'm just surprised we got a sequel so soon. I expected Splatoon to be your typical Nintendo "once per console" franchises. Hyped for this one.

The other games I'm looking forward to:
Legend of Mana - I don't remember which one this is but great spritework on lovely painted backgrounds is a great look and, well, it's a Mana game. It's probably good.
Mario Golf: Super Rush - AKA the game that killed Golden Sun. But if Golden Sun had to die, at least it's for a game that looks pretty fun! Speed Golf is genius, and Camelot going back to their roots with a story mode and RPG elements is exciting.
No More Heroes III - Release date! Yay! It's no news but NMH looks like the coolest **** soon to hit the Switch.
Miitopia - I missed out on this one on the 3DS, but it looked pretty good back then and still looks pretty good now. If the price is right I'll check it out.
World's End Club - Uchikoshi? Sign me up, that dude's a mad genius. Don't know what this one's about, a friend told me it's already out on Apple Arcade, but I'll play it on Switch I guess. 10-person tandem bike, that's funny.
Ninja Gaiden Master Collection - We all knew this was coming but it's still nice to see it confirmed.
SaGa Frontier - I kinda tuned out on this one because I was explaining what SaGa is to my friends. But it's SaGa!
Skyward Sword HD - I love Skyward Sword. I don't care what anyone says. It's fun. It has a great story. It has Ghirahim. More precise motion controls are good to see, that's probably the way I'd play it but it's cool to have the option to play without 'em. Might pick it up.

As for my predictions, I actually got some stuff right! Skyward Sword HD, Animal Crossing DLC (obvious), Splatoon 3, Famicom Detective Club, GnG Resurrection, Arcade Stadium, Bravely Default 2, MH Rise, Octopath Traveler 2 (kinda), NMH 3, and the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy. Though for someone who threw out every game he could think of, I got a lot fewer things right than I expected. Ah well.

Noms go to Agent 47. All the confirmation shenanigans coming soon

For what it's worth, I can think of a way for Rex to be playable without removing Pyra/Mythra, though it would require a late game spoiler...

 

[GoodGrief741]

Confirmed

Pyra
Mythra
Funnily enough, we never rated either of them, sans Rex, for DLC. We did for the base game, and there were noms for them that we're purged. However, every Rex rating presumed he came with at least Pyra. Still, this makes them the second and third fighters that hadn't been rated at the time of their announcement, after Joker, who was announced days before his scheduled rating. (Unless you count the Luminary, Solo and Eight, but we had rated Erdrick)

Concept: Any new Xenoblade character
33.38% Chance - 69.33% Want
100 noms

Concept: A Challenger Pack with 2 Fighters 150 noms

Disconfirmed

Rex
I. 5.95% Chance - 38.08% Want
II. 17.52% Chance - 50.95% Want
III. 56.35% Chance - 63.54% Want
IV. 56.96% Chance - 59.00% Want
V. 36.67% Chance - 57.88% Want
He's a taunt, and he's a Final Smash, so it's pretty safe to say he's dead.
Rex looks like he missed out on his chance, not only for Ultimate but for good. Xenoblade 3 will probably happen before the next game, and even if he doesn't he needs to come up with a moveset that doesn't rely on his 2 most iconic Blades. Ouch.

Soft disconfirmed

Elma
I. 20.41% Chance - 48.84% Want
II. 6.48% Chance - 51.18% Want
III. 11.21% Chance - 61.57% Want
5 noms
Unless you're expecting three fighters from Xenoblade in one Pass, she's not happening.

Lora (I don't know if she shows up on the stage, if she does then let me know and I'll move her to the other section)
5.01% Chance - 45.63% Want

KOS-MOS
I. 8.87% Chance - 35.24% Want
II. 6.17% Chance - 39.51% Want
III. 12.46% Chance - 51.65% Want
I personally don't think that anything's changed for her as she isn't a Xenoblade character, however I've seen a lot of her fans say that she would get in if Monolith got to choose a character and, well, it's obvious that road's closed now.

Concept: KOS-MOS with T-elos alt
5 noms

Not looking good

Characters with DLC Mii Costumes
Rex didn't get in but his Blades did. Could this have something to do with his Mii Costume? I think most people already see these as disconfirmations but I feel it's still worth pointing out.

Characters with base game Mii Costumes (and Assist Trophies?)
However, what's interesting is that as Rex is a pre-order bonus for DLC, he was decided during base game. Couple that with Spring Man not being the ARMS rep, does that mean that all base game Mii Costumes are out of the equation? Since most Assist Trophies have Mii Costumes, that would mean they're out as well.

Noms will be out soon, but I wanted to get this out

 

[Sari]

February 2021 Direct Reactions

Alright so I'll start with elephant in the room: Pyra & Mythra.

Full disclaimer: Rex was the #1 character I was most expecting to be playable (gave him a 93% chance the last time we rated him) as well as one of my Top 3 most wanted. As stated in my last want rating for Rex in the link I just posted, I loved Xenoblade 2 but wasn't too much of a fan of Rex himself as odd as that sounds. I found him to be a standard anime hero with cheesy quotes, and if the choice was purely up to me I would've added Morag/Brighid. Still though, I really wanted Rex since he'd be repping a game that I adored and I thought there was an insane amount of potential with the blade system and how Pyra/Mythra would fight alongside Rex.

Needless to say, I was really surprised and confused to see the splash tag appear for Pyra and not Rex. I don't think I've ever had this many varied thoughts on a character so I'll try to post about them all here.

I'll start with the negative feelings I have about this. I don't know how else to explain this so I'll just come out with it... I really feel like the character should've been Rex & Pyra/Mythra. Not having Rex playable just feels so... weird... it's like if Astral Chain's rep was just the Legion and not Officer Howard, or if instead of Kat & Ana we just got Ana. This isn't really an ARMS case where you could argue that someone else is the main character: Rex is the undisputable main character of Xenoblade 2 and the only one that you can control at all times. You can play as other party members, but Pyra/Mythra aren't among them and even then the other party members often drop in and out during the story. Chapter 7 spoilers: Even Pyra/Mythra are absent for 1 out of the 10 chapters in the game, which further cements Rex having a greater presence than them. Pretty much the only instances Pyra/Mythra fight on their own in Xenoblade 2 are during the special moves and a few cutscenes, but even then they're still fighting in rhythm with Rex in both cases. All of this, as well as my desire to see how the two of them would fight simultaneously in battle, is why I wish it were Rex.

...Now with that out of my system, I'll list the reasons why I'm really glad Pyra/Mythra got in:

• Xenoblade is an up-and-coming series that has done so well over the past few years that I think it definitely deserved a second character. In general, I just really love seeing Nintendo series with low (or no) amount of characters get some well deserved representation.
• As mentioned before, I really enjoyed Xenoblade 2 and think it deserves a lot of content in Smash. The Cloud Sea stage is close to what I've wanted to see, plus we're guaranteed to get some amazing music tracks.
• I do like Pyra and Mythra as characters moreso than Rex, so there probably is a benefit to freely being able to play as them as opposed to them being tacked onto another character's moveset.
• One worst case scenario that I had for Xenoblade 2 representation would be if Rex got in just by himself and didn't incorporate Pyra/Mythra outside of a final smash. I'm glad this did not happen.
• After actually watching the trailer now, I do think they look really fun and it does seem faithful to the blade switching aspect of Xenoblade 2.

Overall, I'm really happy about this and would probably give them a 93% satisfaction based on their inclusion alone, but that is subject to change once we see them in action. As of right now, Pyra/Mythra is the most hype FP2 character for me as well as the third most hyped newcomer in Ultimate after Terry and Isabelle.

--------------------

Other reactions from the Direct:

• Fall Guys: I never played this game so I think I'll enjoy it. But dang does this feel 6 months too late.
• Outer Wilds: This game looks really cool. I like games with time limit mechanics (like Majora's Mask and Dead Rising) so this seems like a game I'll really enjoy exploring around.
• Famicom Detective Club: One of the highlights of the Direct for me. I've never played the original games but I've been really wanting to get into more visual novel games.
• Mario Golf Super Rush: I've never really been into sports games (let alone golf in general), but this looks really fun. The speed golf mode looks super chaotic in a good way.
• Crossover World's End Club: Seems a lot like Danganronpa which should be interesting.
• Ninja Gaiden Collection: Not much to say other than that I might check this out.
• Age of Calamity DLC: Interested on who the new characters could be since there aren't that many BotW characters left aside from the two scientists and Kass. Either way, I don't usually purchase DLC for these types of games so I'll probably skip this.
• Skyward Sword: Probably won't buy since it's $60 and SS is probably my least favorite 3D game in the series, though I do like how the motion controls aren't necessary anymore.
• Splatoon 3: I thought this was a Fallout trailer at first lol. I like what they're doing with the series but I still haven't picked up Splatoon 2 so I might sit this one out.

The only faults I had with the Direct were the lack of BotW2 and there being no Attorney announcements (I was expecting something because of all the leaks). Aside from that, pretty good Direct. I'll give it an 8.5/10.

 

[Dreamking]

I frowned as soon as soon as I realized that we were seeing a Smash trailer. I'm glad for those who wanted her, but I am not one of them. I enjoy getting new stages though, On average, I play as the DLC characters more than many of the base game roster. However, none are those that were on my wanted list. There has yet to be a character that caused me to jump and down with excitement. Ryu Hayabusa is a character that I have even the slightest desire to see who also has chance of being in. I can only hope that since the Sigma trilogy is getting released in June, he might get in since June sounds about right for CP10.

I think it'd have been really interesting if Ayumi Tachibana had been the character revealed since it would have been a great segue into Famicom Detective Club being announced.


The only news bits I was excited about was the Mario update for Animal Crossing and the remastered version of Miitopia.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Well, it looks like there's been a mistake! The day hasn't changed, so there's no noms to count yet. Predictions and reactions all count as one day.

Which means that a lot of you are giving noms twice. If you're one of these people, could you please edit them out of one of your posts? Would make my job easier. If not, I guess I'll count the first 20 you give - or, if there's few people, just ask to clarify as I sometimes do.

However, if you were nominating something that was confirmed or disconfirmed, here's your chance to salvage those noms! Tagging NintenZ and @Velveeta Dream since you two are the ones I remember.

 

[Deleted member]

Here’s my direct reactions:

• Pyra and Mythra
  • At first I was like is this Smash or a Xenoblade 2 expansion? But I realized pretty quickly it was Smash. Having the intro be done in XC2 was pretty nostalgic and well done; vastly preferable to a CG intro.
  • I expected Rex to join Pyra at FD but I wasn’t too surprised to see her solo.
  • Some people might take the trailer as a jab to Rex like Chrom in Robin’s trailer but that seems misplaced. A win for Rex is a win for Pyra; they’re a team after all. Super happy with how things turned out. Rex would’ve been nice if he was fully playable but I have a hunch Sakurai couldn’t faithfully realize the Blade system from XC2 so he went the Torna route instead.
  • Rex’s commentary was so cute throughout; I loved how wholesome he was about everything! It’s one of the reasons why I like him so much, plus I’m apart of the 1% who actually like his voice lol.
  • Finally getting a proper stance change character is really cool. I think they’ll be top tier just because they can swap between fast frame data and powerful finishers on the fly. Very excited to play them.
  • The last bit with Shulk had me fangirling so hard. Yeah I was screaming for the entire trailer, but the end was the culmination of years of training of everything a fan of XC1 & 2 could ask for with the Land of Challenge callback.
  • Most wanted character with the best trailer yet? I’m 100000% satisfied and hyped.
  • Also Skye Bennett is the best as usual so that’s the cherry on top.
• The rest
  • Skyward Sword HD is... disappointing. $60 for a game that should’ve been in a $40 collection, and on top of that it doesn’t even look different from the Wii version.
  • No BotW2 news is unsurprising but disappointing nonetheless. Fingers crossed it drops for the holidays but I won’t get my hopes up.
  • Age of Calamity DLC was a given but they didn't even show anything off so who cares.
  • Splatoon 3 looks great! I couldn’t get into Splatoon 2, mostly because I suck at shooters, but Splatoon: Fallout edition is exciting for fans of the series.
  • Unexpectedly, Samurai Warriors 5 is something I might pick up when it goes on sale. I do like Warriors games but damn does this one look amazing. Also why are Nobunaga and Mitsuhide so hot.
  • Triangle Strategy, while a poor name, is definitely on my radar. I loved Octopath and an SRPG with meaningful story branches, a turn timeline, and high ground + backstab bonuses is something up my alley. I need to play the demo though so I can’t go in depth.
  • I dropped Animal Crossing but the Warp Pipe is a big deal for folks who haven’t.
  • Fall Guys on Switch fits like a glove, albeit after its popularity has died down.
  • Mario Golf looked surprisingly good? Just bum rushing holes in the speed mode looked really fun even though I find golf to be one of the most boring sports out there.
  • Ninja Gaiden tentatively interests me.
  • Everything else I either forgot or don't care enough about.

Overall a solid Direct. For me it's an 11/10 simply for having Pyra, but for others I can see why it'd be disappointing. I'm mostly surprised that their big announcement of Splatoon 3 was for 2022, despite the Direct supposedly being about the first half of 2021. I kind of expected the closer to be a big first party IP getting a new title for the summer, like Mario Kart, Kirby, or even Fire Emblem. I guess that means Nintendo's holiday season is either stacked... or just packed with full price Zelda ports.

 

[jamesster445]

Pyra reactions
+ More Xenoblade content which is something I wanted.
- There are so many cool elements to XB2's battle system thanks to the Blade and Driver mechanics. But because we got a Pyra without Rex, the most interesting elements of a potential XB2 fighter are gone. What we got instead looks mechanically uninspired. Its surprisingly basic.
+/- Rex fans coming to terms that they never wanted Rex for himself or even XB2 mechanics but solely because booba.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

"Man it's been half a year since we saw SMTV and Nocturne HD's been in Japan for nearly 6 months, there's no way they won't be shown off!"

Fall Guys: It's weird, you'd think this game died by how nobody talks about it anymore

Smash: I take it back, Rex's VA is just bad holy ****. At least this can't get any worse.

Monster Hunter: Never got in the franchise though I'd be super excited if I was a fan. Shame the gameplay isn't for me.

Mario Golf: Never cared about the sports games, but I'm pouring one out for people who insisted Camelot couldn't work on anything but a new Golden Sun.

NMHIII: Oof, the game looks pretty rough and they brought back the payments inbetween missions. Though the game looks hella fun as always and hey, they even removed a sex pest from the cast!

Famicom Detective Club: Wow this looks super ****ing choppy, but hey, might be worthwhi- 70 bucks are you ****ing kidding me?

Triangle Strategy: A scale talking about morality, ugh, finally, SMTV! Oh are you kidding me? Instead of SMT we get this... Actually cool looking game! I'll download the demo later but this could be very good.

DC Super Hero Girls: I hear the show's good but holy **** this trailer felt super patronizing, what the **** lmao

Splatoon 3: Finally, SMTV, it's a wasteland so it HAS to be SMTV, right? Oh... Neat that the game listened to the surprisingly huge queer fanbase by removing the gender binary from the customization, but I do not like this franchise and am bitter it's not SMTV.

Miitopia: Never cared for it, but that's pretty nea- oh it's more expensive than the 3ds version ever was.

Star Wars Hunters: Not a Star Wars fan, could not care less

Age of Calamity DLC: Did not buy AoC so I do not care, especially with the false advertising.

Skyward Sword HD: A remaster of a Wii game to tide people over for the highly anticipated Switch game for a franchise that has it's 35th anniversary, this would be fine, but if it was for the Prime Trilogy and a dull ass game. Even if the new normal controls aren't as awkward as they look, that doesn't change the biggest issues.

Outer Wilds: I really don't like the setting, though the idea of this being a mini Majora's Mask is neat

Neon White: This looked pretty interesting, not sure if I'd actually like it in terms of gameplay but I'm gonna keep an eye on it.

Knockout City: Jesus christ that was the cringiest ****ing trailer I've ever seen.

Capcom Arcade Stadium: If I get this it's only for Strider, so no thanks.

Ghosts n Goblins: Neat, I may not have seen the game properly as it was late but all the features seem really cool, not sure I'll get it though.

Plants VS Zombies: Genuinely forgot they made FPS games of this franchise, I'd care but my irls aren't into FPS games sobthe game has little for me to care about.

Samurai Warriors: I'm not a Musou fan so this was a collective meh from me.

Ninja Gaiden: Hell yeah this rules, sure, I'm not getting the Switch version, but this is gonna be fun.

World's End Club: Ok yeah I'm looking forward to this, a tad disappointed it's also a platformer but I'm a big enough fan of Zero Escape to give this **** a shot

 

[ProfPeanut]

More Anime Swords, Man!

Satisfactions: 75%
At the end of the day, a 2-in-1 character deal is a very great thing to get out of nowhere. So even if you don't care for the franchise, you're still getting potentially more bang out of your buck gameplay-wise than the typical DLC pack. Moveset-wise, they've got a some really flashy specials in their arsenal, and swapping between them as needed might make them a lot harder to master than your typical Ultimate newcomer. And appearance-wise, the changes to their outfits are a small, subtle but significant improvement to otherwise concerningly-distracting costumes.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has been a very anxious game ever since Smash 5 was announced, once being the speculation darling but otherwise was closing up shop on its own pop culture presence when this announcement came out. Similar to ARMS, it really seemed like it was one of those games that would only be relevant for one console generation, one that was just unlucky enough to not squeeze into the Smash Bros. roster of the time. And also similar to ARMS, Fighters Pass 2 seems pretty intent on giving such unlucky games the chance that they thought they'd missed! I don't think many people would argue that the Xenogames have become a big part of Nintendo's current game line-ups, or that they were fairly unrepresented in Ultimate besides a plethora of Spirits. So in other words, Pyra and Mythra would've potentially missed the Smash bus just like Byleth and Min Min once the next generation rolled around (for no other reason besides being released a few months too late to get into the design document), so it's good thing that they'd gotten a ticket after all.

I (would like to) think that no one really expected DLC#9 to follow up on the levels of hype that Sephiroth brought up, so seeing the DLC rebound back to where we were during the ARMS reveal is pretty welcome - brings speculation back to a more manageable level instead of everyone floating around with unrealistic expectations. But getting two such characters in this pass does bring up a new question - will the remaining two DLCs be third-parties, or will there be yet another tardy potential bus passenger in it? In fact, might the second half of Fighters Pass 2 play out similarly to its first half, or will it simply remain an unpredictable entity that too many people online have staked their happiness onto?


Speculation Winners: Underpreresented franchises (Bandana Waddle Dee, Eggman, Octoling)
- A lot of these DLCs so far have made a pretty good job at shoring up the representation holes that Ultimate has, but there's still a few more that can be thought of. Perhaps this is the end of the line on that front, of course, but maybe three could be a pattern at this point?

Speculation Losers: Xenogame candidates (KOS-MOS, Elma)
- To be fair, people would have accepted anyone if it meant more Xenoblade representation, so it's not like Rex and company weren't working towards a common cause. Well, with the exception of KOS-MOS, but she's got plenty of other cameos to fall back on anyway.

 

[NintenRob]

don't think Pyra and Mythra should be playable characters by themselves. It feels wrong. Like having, I dunno, Atreus as a solo fighter. So I think this was a bad call. That aside, I'm really tired of trailers that fake you out with what character it's going to be. Like, really really tired. P/M's trailer featured Rex more than it featured them. Plus this puts Rex in the unbelievably ****ty situation of only being able to become a fighter if these two get cut because there's no way they can coexist, and yeah... not a fan. The trailer was also pretty boring. Best part of it was Shulk, by far. As for moveset, it's far too early to tell. Pyra looks uninspired, but Mythra might be interesting. Again, we'll see

I do understand this sentiment, I thought it was weird too. But they do fight by themselves in cutscenes and in Torna DLC you can take direct control of Mythra and play as her (and expansion Rex is almost completely absent from, so it could be argued it gives the Aegis the leg up in notability). I think Sakurai probably thought it would be more interesting to switch characters instead of switching weapons.


I do still wish they had a more team based moveset but Rex and Pyra was just a case of too much to work with. It'd be difficult to juggle the affinity link, switching blades (even if just limiting to Pyra/Mythra), The Team Work, having the two characters on the field. I think it was just better from a gameplay perspective to just cut the fluff and give two characters who switch between each other more seamlessly.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Direct Satisfaction

Pyra and Mythra: I had no doubts at all that we were getting Rex and was honestly surprised to see his blades appear on his own. While tthey do represent Xenoblade 2 as a whole if you count Torna, it just feels...wrong not to have Rex there with them outside of a couple of moves. They do fight on their own in a couple of scenes, but he really didn't need to get Spring Man'd. He's the undisputed main character of his game, and while I never bothered to finish Xenoblade 2 (got through half of it but it just wasn't grabbing me enough to get me to continue it), I did really grow to like Rex as a character. Yeah, he's generic, but a good, FUN kind of generic! He's such a nice guy, why do people hate this guy? Aside from the awkward screaming his VA is genuinely good. People have way too much of a dub aversion these days. Speaking of nice, a pleasant difference was Rex's acceptance and wholesomeness of the whole thing, in stark contrast to the feel-bad OFFICIAL art Spring Man got after Min Min was revealed. Definitely a plus! Though, still, I feel bad for Rex, and while these two are fun I believe it really should've been Rex along with them.

The Good:

1. Awesome stage idea, glad to see Gramps again! Represents the titan aspect well, and the character cameos are fun! I was afraid they were going to go for Gormott, and while it is iconic, it would've retread way too much ground with Gaur Plains.
2. Several important Xenoblade 2 characters have no spirits, so this should fill the rest in! DUHGALL SPIRIT INCOMING!
3. This will make post-E3 speculation much more interesting.

The Bad:

1. Rex basically missed his chance in Smash for all of history.
2. The movesets don't look particularly inspired. We'll probably see more once the Sakurai Presents comes around but for right now, I think having her team up with Rex would've made for a much more interesting moveset since they could combine Rex and Pyra's unique moves.
3. Much more trivial, but Xenoblade got its' second rep before Pikmin D:

Not really much on either the good or bad side, just a valid but also meh and very expected reveal. I like the two but it feels wrong not to have Rex, and even then we've seen this reveal coming for months, So for me personally there wasn't much hype behind it. 5/10.


The Rest

Fall Guys: Not much to say, glad these guys are pushing on despite the big drop in popularity.
Triangle Tactics(?): Not too interested in the Square Enix style but I do applaud the new gameplay type.
Neon White: Looked kinda interesting, though some of the implications of this game, as a Christian, made me feel uncofortable.
Outer Wilds: Heard good things about this game.
Miitopia: Glad to see it ported to the Switch! I played through it on 3DS, and while the new content isn't enough to make me want to double dip, I do appreciate Nintendo giving these Mii games more of a chance! Especially given Nintendo's distancing from Miis as of late.
Knockout City: What the f*** was that? Felt like a poorly written Geico commercial. The Orc was funny but the rest was dull, and the typical "subversive badass princess" trope was annoying and extremely poorly utilized. The game itself does look kinda fun, though.
Splatoon 3: The new customization options are alright and I like how you can customize your little salmon buddy. Though given my experience with 2 and that toxic community I think I'll sit this one out... They chose a cool theme, though, I think Splatoon fans are in for a treat.
Ghosts n' Goblins: Glad to see Arthur back, the new game looked very faithful and added some cool modern effects to the retro aesthetic!
Famicom Detective Club: Looks alright, though not really much into horror or visual novels myself. Kinda turned off by that price as well. Also if we have to deal with several months of "I got a new game! I'M IN SMASH!" logic being used to claim that Ayumi is a lock, I'm going to flip a table.
NMHIII: Was that octopus on Acid?
Monster Hunter: The new trailer looked super cool! Still on the fence about it but I can see why people like the series!
Mario Golf: That speedrun golf mode looks fun as ****, I have to try it!
Squidward Sword HD: Honestly this game looks super fun and I never got around to playing it on the Wii so I'm gonna pick it up! Also Groose.

So a couple of things that piqued my interest but overall this direct felt very...mediocre. Not much in the way of first party titles and our big annoucement, despite the direct focusing on 2021 first half, focused on a 2022 release. What? I know they're probably saving the big guns for E3, but a little more first party content would've been good, and I wasn't really that interested in this direct's third party offerings. 3/10.

 

[SwitchButton]

Don't care about generic underage p*rn girls, because I'm not a creep. But it gives me total validation since it acts as proof that nobody has ever given a single crap about Rex. All those times people were trying to say that he was a good character that they liked? All just empty words. Just watch, when Xenoblade 3 comes people will SCREAM that the generic forgettable new main character just HAS to be in Smash. At least nobody even plays the generic anime Nintendo-owned characters on the online play so I will never have to look at that overly sexualized cringe.

Triangle Strategy looks awesome. Glad to see that the Octopath style games are going to continue since I was worried that the entire team was focused only on Bravely Default 2.

What's the point of Splatoon 3 when they could just add expansion passes to Splatoon 2? It looks like the same game to me IDK

Rest are ports. Who cares. If you ever feel the desire to buy third party games on switch just take that money and put it into the "BUILD A PC" jar instead.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

just take that money and put it into the "BUILD A PC" jar instead.

Or one could buy another console, too.

What's the point of Splatoon 3 when they could just add expansion passes to Splatoon 2? It looks like the same game to me IDK

That's an excellent point. Feels weird that they'd split 2 and 3's sales like that, even if it will have been 5 years.

 

[SwitchButton]

Or one could buy another console, too.

Or you could not waste your moneys on a machine you'll just return to gamestop in 5-6 years lol

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Or you could not waste your moneys on a machine you'll just return to gamestop in 5-6 years lol

And this is the kind of mentality this thread doesn't need, folks.

 

[NintenRob]

Or you could not waste your moneys on a machine you'll just return to gamestop in 5-6 years lol

Better than wasting money on something you'll need to be constantly upgrading and fearing an update that will potentially screw everything over.

And for the record. I still have my Wii, Wii U and 64 (gamecube is with a Brother because Wii is backwards compatible anyway)

 

[SwitchButton]

And this is the kind of mentality this thread doesn't need, folks.

Sounds like someone recently spend nearly 1K on a new home console he'll own for less then 10 years

Better than wasting money on something you'll need to be constantly upgrading and fearing an update that will potentially screw everything over.

Did you cool your PC's motherboard by pouring soda pop onto it or something cause that's the only way something this silly happens

 

[Cutie Gwen]

As objective as the Switch's inferiority is for multiplat games, I don't think this is the place for console wars

 

[Lyncario]

Direct reaction, now.

First of all, Pyra and Mythra. Back when Rex was rated, I said that they would be the best part of Rex joining Smash, and to this, Sakurai responded "I gotchu fam". I'm happy that they're in, and I must say that they look really fun to play.

Fall Guys, neat, but I already have it on my pc, so I don't care for it. Samurai Warriors 5 is neat, and Legend of Mana remaster is cool to have.

Mario Golf is in the "huh, kinda neat" for me, thuogh the speed mode really looks like they're trying to make it as chaotic as Mario Kart, and I like this idea a lot.

The Borderlands thing that was seen is a thing.

I'm hyped for Capcom's Arcade Stadium, since that's a collection of great games we'll get. I especialy like this because I like arcade style games, even If I did not play arcades a lot.

No More Heroes 3, that one was expected.

Neon White looks kinda cool, but it's also not my style, so I'll pass on that one.

Miitopia HD, that one is nice to have for sure, but I don't care all that much for it. Same for the Plants vs Zombie thingy thing.

DC Super Heroes Girls is just yet another cruel reminder that all the best super heroes cartoon got cancelled for inferior versions of varying qualities ranging from alright to beyond terrible.

The Mario items update for AC is nice, the warp pipes especialy feel like they will be an huge improvement for QoL.

Project Triangle is hype and I want to learn more about it.

Then Star Wars and Knock-out CIty, the first I don't care about, the second that I hated because of how annoying that trailer was.

But then we get Ninja Gaiden Trilogy HD, which means that Ryu Hayabusa is now confirmed, am I right? Anyway, it's cool to have. The news for AoC dlc is also good, though I don't think I'll take it.

Physical release for Hades is nice.

World's end club is cool to have, and I'm interested in what it will be, especialy since it looked like Danganronpa so much at the start.

Then Saga Frontiers, Apex Legends, and something else I don't care about, for me it was pre-finale filler, so moving on.

SKYWARD SWORD HD, AND IT LOOKS SO GOOD AND TTHE MUSIC IS SO GOOD! Yeah, I loved that anouncement. While some don't like it, I love it, and I'm hyped for it. Also we get Skyward Sword with regular controls, though I'm also tempted to get the new joycons for SSHD sand play it with them, since those joycons look so cool.

Also F for BotW2, but if I'm being realistic, it will get a trailer at E3 anyway, so it can wait a bit more.

And Splatoon 3, which is nice to see, even if I'm not nearly as hyped by it as some other people are, even if I still find it cool.


And so, the direct ends. Some found it underwehlming, but I personaly liked it a lot, even if it missed anouncements of games I really hoped to see there (AoCF, Nocturne HD, and SMTV). And for those complaining about the lack of big hits, we'll get E3 in 4 months, that's when the big stuff will be shown and when we'll get gameplay for Splatoon 3.

Edit: I forgot about Famicom Detective Club. It was nice to see an old Japan exclusive game getting not only remade but also localized, though it doesn't interest me too much personaly, even if it was still neat.

 

[waddledeeonredyoshi]

So reaction time.

-Pyra/Mythra took me by suprise and I'm interested in what Sakurai's reasoning will be for including them over Rex. Suspecting it has something to do with that Mii costume. Besides that, I'm not hyped for this one. I've expressed that XBC2 isn't a game for me and I will most likely skip over this pack. Doesn't help that I'm really concerned for my most wanted now. Hopefully, this won't count out first parties for the rest of the pass.
-Fall Guys is something I want to try. Hopefully this version still runs well and doesn't have some cheater problem. I'll keep an eye on this one.
-Got that Mario golf right tho. Will I give it a go? Who knows? Maybe. I skipped out on Aces, hopefully this one is more fun
-Miitopia got a friend of mine pretty excited. I haven't played the game myself but I'd likely just get the 3DS version since that one's probably cheaper.
-May or may not pick up that physical Hades release
-DC Superhero girls, PvZ and Knockout City we're all really whinceworthy or atleast their trailers were. Regardless, I won't give these games anymore attention.
-Ninja Gaiden Sigma trilogy is something I will consider. Get to know what all the Hayabusa Hype is about.
-Skyward Sword is something I already own on my Wii yet haven't picked up in years. Still despite the Switch remaster having it's improvements the pricetag will likely make me stick to my Wii copy. Edit: Ok so it is 60 bucks full price confirmed haha **** that
-I really wasn't expecting Splatoon 3. Was banking on them waiting till the next gen Nintendo system. Still looking forward to it since Splatoon 2 got kinda stale for me.
That's about everything I wasn't 100% neutral on.

Overall this Direct ended up being pretty middle of the road. After more than 500 days I was kinda expecting more. It turned out to be just another average Direct with what feels like a dozen RPG games, some weird filler titles and first-party announcements few and far between. Perhaps I'm just bitter at the lack of Kirby and SIlksong here.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Pyra/Myrthra
I’m gonna be honest, I’m not excited. Not because I haha hyped too big got hit by that schnasty first party it’s boogers if it’s not Sepiroth vibe. Speculation iconic game sales rep buzzword wise, they’re all good! Xenoblade 2 was one of the recency shill first party advertisement games often mentioned and for good reason, it truly is a big game that feels timeless if only because discourse for it keeps happening and to be honest I would‘ve been more disappointed if Shulk truly had to be the one holding down the Xenoblade fort for the lifespan of Smash Ultimate.

But having Pyra without Rex feels wrong.

Xenoblade 2 has a whole system of affinity, blade-driver interactions and whatever I haven’t played the game, but Pyra/Myrthra don’t do any of that. Instead, their movesets are based around stance-swapping. And that‘s cool! That’s a cool mechanic and something that really fits Smash, and as far as characters go they’re the ones that can pull it off.

The rest of the moveset however feels barebones because of it. The specials are flashy sword strikes and most of the other animations we’ve seen on our fair share of Fire Emblem swordsmen already, which is a shame considering the unique battle system the two could’ve had if they weren’t busy dunking funny chewsday man into the toilet.
It feels less like Xenoblade 2 because of it, and more like the characters of Pyra and Myrthra as a standalone thing, but their moveset appeal also doesn‘t feel like it justifies ditching Rex for the ride either, so overall it ends up feeling off.

That said, I can finally pass judgement on one of the biggest philosophical debates of our era: Myrthra is the best of the two, but Rex has the best design of the three.

As for the rest of the Direct, I was satsifed easily with the AoC DLC coming up. I got stuff in my backlog anyways so I’m not exactly in dire need of new games so far. Splatoon 3 on the horizon is hype, though the 2022 release date stings.

 

[Jomosensual]

Man it's been half a year since we saw SMTV and Nocturne HD's been in Japan for nearly 6 months, there's no way they won't be shown off!"

Laughs in Silksong

 

[YoshiandToad]

Direct Reaction:

Pyra/Mythra:
Worked out it was Smash immedietly and the second Rex said Pyra was missing it became obvious it was her not him. Kinda feel bad for Rex fans, this is a Chrom/Spring Man situation all over again. The trailer itself was largely uninteresting save for the end where Pyra meets Shulk and you can really tell Xenoblade's two mainline entries have art styles that don't quite gel together.

I don't really have a strong opinion on Pyra/Mythra as characters. They were fine in XBC2. I don't dislike their inclusion but Xenoblade is also one of the few first parties I don't really care much for overall. Hopefully this will lead to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 getting a physical reprint which could be good for the series.
Overall the Aegis girls look competent enough, although I'm worried their switch mechanic might lead to some funk.

Best part is Smash is becoming a meme of itself. The latest newcomer is literally an anime sword. That's ****ing hilarious to me.

Downside is I think we're done for first parties now, and as someone who was only really excited for more Nintendo newcomers, Ultimate has been a bit of a let down in that regard. We got some good ones on base(Ridley, K. Rool, Inkling, Isabelle and Chrom) but the only first party DLC character I've liked thus far is ironically the one most people hated the most; Byleth.

Hoping Smash 6 brings in Captain Toad, Impa/Vaati/Ganon/Tingle/Skull Kid/Midna/ANY Zelda fighter, Dixie Kong, Officer Howard, Paper Mario, Waluigi, Bandana Waddle Dee and hopefully a Pokemon that breaks the advertisement only clause Gamefreak seem to insist on.

Rest of the Direct (most excited for in green):
Fall Guys: The hype has died down for me, but I enjoyed watching streamers play this one. I may give it a go now it's coming to Switch. I'll admit when I saw the egg I got excited for a new Yoshi title, but ah well.
Outer Wilds: My girlfriend was interested but the strict time limit puts her off. Can't say I care.
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir/The Girl Who Stands Behind: Recently been getting into watching visual novels, this one actually has proper animations! Always wanted to give this a go, so now it's been updated and translated I am definitely going to pick these two up at some point. Not sure which first.
Samurai Warriors 5: As someone who loves a Nintendo Warriors title I'm excited. I don't know much about the Samurai Warriors subgenre having only just gotten into Dynasty Warriors last year. This ones a pick up when on sale for sure.
Legend of Mana: Skip for me. I'm not a fan of Square's JRPGs in general.
Monster Hunter Rise: Was sold on the last dedicated Direct. None of the new monsters blew me away but they all look neat enough. Would hunt. I do want that Apex Azuros though. Big monster badger boy.
Mario Golf Super Rush: I cannot believe I'm actually excited for a Mario Golf game for the first time ever.
Always been more into the Mario Tennis titles and even if you asked me for my top Mario sports titles you'd get Kart, Tennis, Strikers, Sports Mix, 3 on 3 Hoops, Sluggers and maybe even Mario + Sonic at the Olympic games before I'd even consider Golf. Usually I avoid these like the plague and was rolling my eyes at the standard golf and motion controls...
...until I saw everyone running around using power ups and playing together. Speed Golf looks amazing and might be the very thing the series needed to be exciting. Ironically despite my dislike of JRPGs, I like the story mode option too. Cannot believe Mario Golf is the exciting new title to me.
Tales from the Borderlands: This has been out on PC for a while and I'm struggling to care. I loved Borderlands 2, but I never felt like the story was the interesting part of the game. Skip.
Capcom Arcade Stadium: I like Capcom's modern home console games but I never cared about their arcade titles compared to Namco or Sega. We seem to have hundreds of these arcade pack things. Skip.
Stubbs the Zombie in rebel without a pulse: Alright I actually like the idea of this one...a reverse zombie shooter. I also can't imagine actually picking it up though and the cheesy subtitle instantly makes me think it's going to play badly. Probable skip.
No More Heroes 3: Ah, the big one for me. We knew about this but it's nice to get a release date. Gives me time to pick up and beat Travis Strikes Again before it comes out. Absolutely day one purchasing. Love this stupid series. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the whole aliens invading thing. I found it dumb in Saints Row 4, and I'm definitely leaning more towards it being a jump the shark moment for NMH too. Hopefully proved wrong.
Neon White: A little on the fence with getting this one. It does look like high octane fun and a new first person shooter is something I can get excited for. Not hugely keen on the art style but killing demons in heaven is a semi interesting concept too...leaning more towards picking up than not...only on sale. Maybe.
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power: This game isn't really aimed at me but it looks like it'd be fun for the demograph they're going after, albeit slightly cheaply made for something belonging to Warner Bros. It looks like a cross between an old MMO and a Hat in Time style platformer with Style Savvy elements. Looks fine but I'll be skipping
Plants Vs. Zombies Battle of the Neighbourhood: Looks enjoyable enough, but I'll probably not dip my toes into this one. Plus even though they're claiming you play to unlock everything it's EA and I don't trust them. Skip for me.
Miitopia: I missed this on 3DS. It does look fun but I'm kind of over Miis at this point. Likely skip.
Super Mario Themed items in Animal Crossing: WHERE THE **** IS THE TOAD OUTFIT NINTENDO?!? But seriously I like the Mario/Luigi/Wario outfits(could have given Peach a proper wig though) and the Warp Pipe is very cool. Just disappointing there's no Yoshi, Toad or Bowser costume options. Or even Waluigi or Daisy! Bit disappointing for me.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury: When this was shown I was excited because I thought DLC was planned, but nope. Another disappointment.
Project Triangle Strategy: I know friends who are very excited but it looks like Octopath Traveler crossed with Fire Emblem to me. I liked Three Houses, but it took up way too much of the Direct for me too and nothing I saw was exciting to me from the story to the visuals. Skip.
Star Wars Hunters: Didn't really show anything, and it's Star Wars. Skip for me.
Knock Out City: Trailer felt like an attempt to be hip about ten years ago. Worst of all the 'generic' characters in the interviews ended up being way more interesting looking than the actual game's characters. I have no clue how you **** up that bad. Clearly bandwagoning on the Fortnite trend and I'll be avoiding like the plague.
World's End Club: Audibly groaned when I first thought this was just Danganronpa with Gamefreak designed graphics, but when they ended their little 'killing game' facade, the plot became more interesting. Might actually pick this up.
Hades, Physical release: I'm one of the few dirty sinners that has yet to pick this up. I may actually nab the physical release.
Ninja Gaiden Master Collection: Well, Hayabusa is going to be seen as a lock. Will probably skip.
Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity: Expansion Pass: FINALLY. Here comes Robbie and Purah, two characters I was most excited to play as when the game originally arrived. I love the Sheikah gang in this game, and it was a bit disappointing ONLY Impa was playable from them. Seems to be coming with new scenarios and maybe a new campaign. Definite grab, absolutely loved Age of Calamity.
Bravely Default II: Again, a Square JRPG with turn based gameplay and yet another artstyle I cannot stand, I have no interest.
Ghost 'n Goblins Resurrection: Another Capcom arcade, skipping.
SaGa Frontier Remastered: ANOTHER Square JRPG means another skip.
Apex Legends: I haven't bought it yet, and I probably won't for Switch. It's fine, but it's hard to get super pumped about third party games everyone else has played for years. Had the same reaction to Overwatch's Switch launch. Anyone who wanted to play it will have bought it on another system by now.
Skyward Sword HD: I actually haven't played this title because I disliked Twilight Princess and heard this one was worse mechanically. Motion controls are a disaster, but if they do what they did with Wind Waker and remove the tedious Fi interruptions I may consider it. Too early to tell. RIP to a Zelda 3D All Stars I guess!
Splatoon 3: The big one, objectively. I liked Splatoon but I got my Switch too late to be involved with 2 properly. Hope this Inkling's design and 2's one are considered as alt outfits for Inkling in Smash's next title. I'm on the fence as to whether I'll grab this or not. I loved the first game for about two months, put it down to play something else and then quickly became overwhelmed by all the new items that I didn't understand that were added whilst I was away.

Overall:
5/30 titles excited me, and of those five, one was a release date for a game we didn't learn anything more about in No More Heroes 3, one was just more monsters introduced, and the other was an expansion pass for a Warriors title that didn't state outright but implied Robbie and Purah would be added to Age of Calamity leaving me only really excited for two new games.

NGL, could have been a better lineup for me, but I'm sure I'll be too busy playing 3D World, Rise, Famicom Detective Club and Travis Strikes Again(in order to get ready for NMH 3) to get too down before E3 rolls around.

 

[I.D.]

Don't care about generic underage p*rn girls, because I'm not a creep. But it gives me total validation since it acts as proof that nobody has ever given a single crap about Rex. All those times people were trying to say that he was a good character that they liked? All just empty words. Just watch, when Xenoblade 3 comes people will SCREAM that the generic forgettable new main character just HAS to be in Smash.

One of the most underrated qualities of Xenoblade 2 is its uncanny ability to turn people into unhinged messes for the entertainment of those around them

 

[NintenZ]

Well, it looks like there's been a mistake! The day hasn't changed, so there's no noms to count yet. Predictions and reactions all count as one day.

Which means that a lot of you are giving noms twice. If you're one of these people, could you please edit them out of one of your posts? Would make my job easier. If not, I guess I'll count the first 20 you give - or, if there's few people, just ask to clarify as I sometimes do.

However, if you were nominating something that was confirmed or disconfirmed, here's your chance to salvage those noms! Tagging NintenZ and @Velveeta Dream since you two are the ones I remember.

I see, I guess then I’ll give my nominations to Kaede then now that the Xenoblade concept has been rendered obsolete, hopefully that’ll work!