Hey everyone: it's been quite a while. I apologize for my extended period of absence these last few months: I intend on being a lot more active on here especially in light of Smash Ultimate's recent reveal. While I can't say for sure on how this reveal affects Shantae in general, I'm not going to rule her out at all since she's fair game still and has not been deconfirmed by any means. It's all really up to what Sakurai thinks in the long run.
Here's a topic of discussion to help get something going after my long period of absence: how have you guys been enjoying the DLC for Half-Genie Hero if you've had the chance to play it? I still need to play through the game myself at some point, and I intend on doing this going into the summer.
Don't sweat it man, we all get busy sometimes. Good to see you on here again.
I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of E3 impressions on here. I am still... surprised Sakurai made having every single veteran in the game his main goal. Do we really need EVERY character back? I would much rather give new characters a chance to shine than grandfather characters like Young Link back into the game just because they got one appearance once. It is bad news for Shantae's chances, and also for every other potential newcomer's chances as well. All because apparently we just need to have the joke version of Pikachu back.
Let's look at some numbers to get a sense of what bringing back all the veterans might actually mean. I don't know how to make tables on here, so pardon the informal layout:
This is not including DLC.
_______________Roster increase________Newcomers________Previously cut
_____________from previous game_______________________veterans returning
Melee______________14___________________14_________________0
Brawl______________13____________________18_________________0
Smash 4____________12___________________17_________________1
Ultimate_____________?____________________3+_________________7
The roster increase from the previous game is surprisingly consistent across the franchise. If we expect Ultimate to stay in line with that roster increase, then we would be looking at 12-14 more characters than Smash 4 had. Since 10 of those are already accounted for, that would mean only 2-4 newcomers. On the other hand, if we are talking about a 12-14 increase over the Smash 4 roster with DLC included, then that number becomes 9-11 more newcomers in the base game. That would result in a total of 12-14 newcomers in Ultimate, which is also in the same ballpark as previous titles, albeit on the low end.
That is on the assumption that current trends continue with the next title. That is far from certain. Still, roughly 9-11 more characters (including echo fighters) seems like the most reasonable estimate. As little as 2-4 more is also a realistic scenario though.
I think the biggest hope now is for DLC. All of those numbers I looked at apply only to what we will get in the base game. Smash 4 had 7 DLC characters, and there are good reasons for thinking that Smash Ultimate will have more. First, due to the success of the Switch, Smash Ultimate will sell a lot more copies, and thus DLC for it will be a lot more lucrative than it was for Smash 4. Second, while development for Ultimate began only a couple years after Smash 4 released, it will probably be quite a bit longer before the next Smash starts development, meaning they have a much longer timeframe. Finally, there is a good chance that they used DLC for Smash 4 as a sort of trial run for Smash Ultimate DLC.
I can't predict how many DLC characters there will be for Smash Ultimate, but I think it will be more than the 7 we got for Smash 4. And necessarily, all of those DLC characters will be brand new.
Also
Yellowlord
you asked what our thoughts were about the Half Genie Hero DLC. I haven't played the costume pack, but I did play the Risky DLC and the friends DLC. It took me a little while and a few upgrades to get into it, but I thought the Risky gameplay was pretty fun. The Bolo/Sky/Rottytops gameplay was okay, but not as good. The main thing that hampered my enjoyment of the DLC is that it takes place on all the same levels again. By the time I finished Shantae's campaign, I had already played through all of those levels so many times that frankly, I was getting pretty tired of the same levels over and over. That's why I haven't picked up the last DLC pack, I just am not really interested in playing through Mermaid Falls for the millionth time. Don't expect much in the way of storytelling from the DLC either.
Boots as New Comers in Smash!