Welp
Looks like all DLC characters will be from games not represented in Smash.
Goodbye new Xenoblade reps, hello KOS-MOS.
The only thing I really see as a point against an XC2 rep from that comment is the "all of them will be unexpected" part, cuz an XC2 rep is among the more expected characters that Nintendo could choose, imo
AND by saying this quote and making us all drop Rex from our predictions, he's therefore LOWERING expectations, making Rex a character who isn't expected, therefore making him likely
Big brain thoughts
Lol, I like this perhaps overly optimistic approach.
...
Truth be told, the reveal of the first DLC and the game's release has forced a lot of conflicting thoughts into my head regarding Rex and Pyra's chances. There's plenty I've seen recently that could be argued for them and plenty that could be argued against that often comes from the same "evidence". But because I'm not too concerned with getting burned by disappointment and choose to hope when I can, while also recognizing the alternative possibilities...... I guess my opinion of their odds hasn't really changed that much when compared to more pessimistic minds.
I mean, there's only 4 "slots" left in this DLC package now, so there's that to consider... and I guess that objectively lowers their odds? Reggie's comment is kinda vague but does seem to indicate to expect the unexpected. Referencing Joker's inclusion, the implication people are latching onto is that this gives characters from franchises that aren't even necessarily popular on Nintendo consoles, but rather competitor consoles, an actual decent chance - a concept people were perhaps previously less open to. But what this really means to me, (if anything), depends on who we assume really called the shots here. Sakurai is lead dev but he claims Nintendo chose the DLC list, as I recall. Does that mean Nintendo gave him a shortlist and he picked the DLC, or did he give Nintendo a shortlist that they had to approve? It's likely some mix of both.
I made the earlier distinction because, one thing to remember is that Sakurai loved Persona as a game and mentioned it as inspiration in some design choices - like the FS character portrait thing. Likewise, he mentioned he loved XC2. So perhaps Joker's inclusion was largely Sakurai's choice (as you might expect) even as he said Nintendo finalized or had some strong influence on the choices. Maybe Nintendo simply agreed because Sakurai already had permission. Depending on how you look at it, the fact that we're getting a character from a game Sakurai loved could be a good sign for us since maybe that was a strong factor and could imply XC2's likelihood.
On the other hand, you can assume it was mainly Nintendo that approved a Persona character for other reasons, and that just broadens the potential competition as it's seen as a sign that Nintendo isn't sticking close to their own properties and anything is possible. Although, a couple posts ago I said the real trouble with guessing what the DLC will be is just the shear amount of possibilities really, and said Sakurai and Nintendo are mostly gonna do what they want. So in my mind this outcome and Reggie's comment about "surprising choices" isn't that unexpected. There was always a ton of potential candidates, so nothing's really changed. Also worth considering, in a more pessimistic point of view, even if Sakurai chose a Persona rep because he loved the game... if Nintendo as a whole made the final calls, they might've taken XC2 reps off the table early on and "forced" Sakurai to do the "compensation" as an alternative that he decided for himself even as he'd have enjoyed including the characters as DLC.
Yeah, that last part is pretty doom and gloom for us, heh... but it's just another possibility. Seems quite unlikely to me tho. Granted, the big money can be made off those "franchise characters" from non first party properties. I wouldn't say Joker is on a Cloud or Ryu level, but he represents a more recently very popular franchise and may well attract people to the Switch and Smash with his inclusion that aren't necessarily here otherwise. That's what's special about third party inclusions. Smash 4 seemed to agree what with half of it's DLC being characters that weren't 1st party. And yet, it still feels weird that Nintendo would say "no" to Sakurai about XC2 characters but yes to Persona.
TL;DR - I think we're right where we were before... just one less slot in this DLC pack. There's plenty of new information to process, but in the end we're just as ignorant as we've always been, lol. If our speculations are as good as a coin toss, may as well enjoy hoping for the best rather than getting worried about fearing the worst. Sure, one can temper their expectations to not get burned, but assuming the worst when it could easily go the other way just seems like a bummer of a time. As always, still cautiously optimistic.
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