Shantae, the Half Genie Protector of Scuttle Town! (A Switch To A New WayForward)

[WingedSupernova]

Sly Cooper is playable in the game.

But the sad thing about the others you mention is that they've since moved on to be playable on Nintendo consoles and/or in Smash. Even Dante is leaving his exclusivity behind. Oh, and apparently Legends Of Dragoon too now that LaBeteNoire mentioned it. And since Sony apparently hates competition, even more so these days, the list of candidates they'd actually want to include will just continue to shrink.

One of these days I hope Sony bucks the trend of being petty over things they find competitive. They should focus on in-house development and treating their exclusive IPs with the same passion and love that Nintendo does, or they'll find themselves losing more than Crash and Spyro.

 

[12cheeper]

Though if he does get in, there is the potential Bayonetta OP complaint vibe with his stylish fighting of guns, swords, demonic weapons and abilities.

Any hack and slash character is gonna be like that.These types of games are designed around the player racking up ridiculously long combos to make them feel as powerful as possible which naturally carry over to their smash selves.It's a problem inherent in the genre itself moreso than any particular abilities Bayo has.

 

[KatKit]

Dante would be cool, too. Heck, his Rain Storm attack is already in the game (Joker's downward aerial neutral B).

Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds was a pretty mediocre game in my eyes. I can't speak for the multiplayer fighting game part where the game supposedly has it's roots in, but it handles the beat-em up parts poorly. Bad balance causes you to easily hit brick walls until you grind enough to make your character functional, and even then it takes far too long to kill anything but the lowliest mooks who come in the billions. And once you unlock your Phantom Breaker move, you can just spam it to win except against bosses, who fall to two plane cheese instead. Plus only four of the characters have an actual story mode.

Considering that game was niche as all heck, it's great just running into someone online who played it, haha. Though I'm sorry to hear it wasn't your cup of tea. Personally, I liked how fluid, over-the-top and fast-pace the combat felt. It seemed like an anime 2D fighting game similar to Guilty Gear/Blazblue. Complete with crazy aerial combos and chaining special moves together and everything. The general game plan was the same, but each character (excluding clones) felt unique (especially Kurisu from Steins Gate lol). I actually think it was less of a grind than Scott Pilgrim, and I liked that you got to try out a completely leveled up character on the first story mode stage. Co-op was nice, but that's typically how beat-em-ups are; more enjoyable in multiplayer.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

And in fairness, Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds is still way more fun than the forgettable fighter it's a spin-off to.

One of these days I hope Sony bucks the trend of being petty over things they find competitive. They should focus on in-house development and treating their exclusive IPs with the same passion and love that Nintendo does, or they'll find themselves losing more than Crash and Spyro.

Sly Cooper is playable in the game.

But the sad thing about the others you mention is that they've since moved on to be playable on Nintendo consoles and/or in Smash. Even Dante is leaving his exclusivity behind. Oh, and apparently Legends Of Dragoon too now that LaBeteNoire mentioned it. And since Sony apparently hates competition, even more so these days, the list of candidates they'd actually want to include will just continue to shrink.

Yeah, I mean. These guys are so paranoid over losing their mascots now that their acquisition of Insomniac will make sure that they and Ratchet and Clank will never leave.

If they don't announce anything to celebrate Ape Escape's 20th anniversary with a remake, then there's no hope for them.

 

[M00NFIRE94]

If the list going around Twitter can determine our next fighter, I'm not sure with Sora and Crash. One reason being Disney, the other Activision. You'd need a miracle to convince those guys.

Best case scenario: we get another Hero/Banjo type reveal with Lloyd Irving and Shantae.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

My views on this poll? Good lord, not again.

Spoiler

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Even worse, since it came from the Chans.

 

[Shadow Novus]

PushDustIn really is working overtime debunking stuff, huh.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate knowing the truth, but it's disheartening seeing Shantae rank so well on stuff that turns out to be void.

Oh well. At least we know Shantae is definitely not invisible (having a Spirit and being able to set your online icon to her has to count for something).

Also is anyone able to confirm? Apparently Wayforward and Matt have gone radio silent again whenever people bring up Shantae for Smash. Last time that happened it turned out Shantae was a spirit. Why avoid discourse this time?

 

[meleebrawler]

Considering that game was niche as all heck, it's great just running into someone online who played it, haha. Though I'm sorry to hear it wasn't your cup of tea. Personally, I liked how fluid, over-the-top and fast-pace the combat felt. It seemed like an anime 2D fighting game similar to Guilty Gear/Blazblue. Complete with crazy aerial combos and chaining special moves together and everything. The general game plan was the same, but each character (excluding clones) felt unique (especially Kurisu from Steins Gate lol). I actually think it was less of a grind than Scott Pilgrim, and I liked that you got to try out a completely leveled up character on the first story mode stage. Co-op was nice, but that's typically how beat-em-ups are; more enjoyable in multiplayer.

I used to think that way at first, but the more I played the more I realized the game doesn't really respect the effort you put into getting good at it. Yes, you can pull off big combos... but only after replaying the first real stage several times after White Mikoto kicks your butt several times, and even then dumping meter into performing them is usually a waste when you can go into overdrive instead and just button-mash away at something tough, or spam the screen-clearing Phantom Breaker move. And it's not hard at all to gain the meter to perform the move repeatedly when hitting crowds, plus normal combos tend to get interrupted by anyone you don't hit anyway. Bosses are the only enemies that require a semblance of strategy, and even then it's just "jump to different plane, wait for boss to come over without backup, hit a few times, repeat. Use overdrive for a bunch of damage to spice things up a bit". Then there are the late-game demon girls which are instead absolutely infuriating and cheap with their flying around, especially the ones throwing homing fireballs that regardless of whether you block or not, stun you just long enough for a second to hit you again and so on.

One moment in the second level I found particularly insulting was when an increasingly ridiculous number of aliens pour out of some trailers. It's not funny or clever in the slightest. It's just a beef gate punishing those who didn't grind enough with an extremely tedious battle at best.

 

[Dukefire]

Obvious one would to avoid the backlash of hype backfiring.

Possible one would be another discussion with Nintendo and Sakurai on Smash Ultimate somewhere during the Fighters Pass Mystery before more DLC characters are coming.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I dunno, everyone's too busy gushing over River City Girls, Smash is the last thing on most fans' minds right now. It's been ages since the spirit was revealed, that's more than enough time for people to cope.

 

[M00NFIRE94]

I dunno, everyone's too busy gushing over River City Girls, Smash is the last thing on most fans' minds right now.

Not me though unless they actually added online co-op T-T

 

[WingedSupernova]

I dunno, everyone's too busy gushing over River City Girls, Smash is the last thing on most fans' minds right now. It's been ages since the spirit was revealed, that's more than enough time for people to cope.

I'll be gushing when they ship my physical copy from Limited Run and I get a chance to play it. Also I haven't seen the hype die down at all. Every Smash related post I see on Twitter talking about a possible DLC character has at least one Shantae fan down in the comments, and the same can be said for YouTube. Shantae has more supporters than ever before.

 

[Ace C.R.O.S.S.]

Well, i bought Shantae Risky's Revenge on my 3ds...
And it's so good! Also the Soundtrack is on fire!

 

[LaBeteNoire]

Well, i bought Shantae Risky's Revenge on my 3ds...
And it's so good! Also the Soundtrack is on fire!

Glad you enjoyed yourself. The games only get better after that.

 

[SoupCanMafia]

And in fairness, Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds is still way more fun than the forgettable fighter it's a spin-off to.




Yeah, I mean. These guys are so paranoid over losing their mascots now that their acquisition of Insomniac will make sure that they and Ratchet and Clank will never leave.

If they don't announce anything to celebrate Ape Escape's 20th anniversary with a remake, then there's no hope for them.

Heh, that's actually quite sad. I don't think that even Nintendo in the 80's was that strict. They did try to stifle the competition by having exclusives, but when the Supreme Court ruled that as bullcrap, they let them do their own thing. And obviously, they were hard at work with censorship and localizations, though what American-based extension of a Japanese company wouldn't do that with entertainment exports in general? And nowadays, Nintendo's essentially a melting pot of most things, they allow nudity with some level of censorship, and they're fairly 3rd party/Indie friendly. Sony is a money zombie of its former glory, stumbling and trying to attach itself to whatever will make it more money. It doesn't have glory, but simple instincts.

PushDustIn really is working overtime debunking stuff, huh.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate knowing the truth, but it's disheartening seeing Shantae rank so well on stuff that turns out to be void.

Oh well. At least we know Shantae is definitely not invisible (having a Spirit and being able to set your online icon to her has to count for something).

Also is anyone able to confirm? Apparently Wayforward and Matt have gone radio silent again whenever people bring up Shantae for Smash. Last time that happened it turned out Shantae was a spirit. Why avoid discourse this time?

Honestly, it'll be impossible to stop fan hype. Once it generates enough momentum, it'll drive itself forward. And heaven forbid anything, YouTubers or 4Channers, do anything to truly stop it, if only to slow it down. Only Sakurai or WayForward can stop this hype train, though even then it will never truly stop until the terminal trip has come and pass.

 

[12cheeper]

Well, i bought Shantae Risky's Revenge on my 3ds...
And it's so good! Also the Soundtrack is on fire!

Yeah,Risky's revenge is pretty solid.Probably the best dsiware game that ever came out.It's definitely a massive improvement over the game boy color original in spite of its lack of content.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. The games only get better after that.

Not wrong.Pirates curse is legitimately the best game in the series and half genie hero mixes and matches elements from both RR and PC that results in a game that,while not quite as good as pirates curse, takes the basic framework of RR and improves upon it.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

In any case, even Toby Fox acknowledged Smash recently, right? A mostly reclusive artist is more outspoken than a darling indie company.

https://twitter.com/tobyfox?lang=fr

Something's rotten in Denmark, and I have no idea what it is. Mourning? NDA? WF being too busy? Who knows?

 

[meleebrawler]

I notice that River City Girls has some crass language to contrast Shantae's sex appeal as part of it's "mature flavour".

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I notice that River City Girls has some crass language to contrast Shantae's sex appeal as part of it's "mature flavour".

I mean, it's about rude delinquents. Kunio-tachi no Banka's translated rom has that too, so that's not surprising.

 

[zferolie]

Man it stinks having to wait for my physical eddition, but Its gonna be worth it. Got the collections version of it!

From what I remember, Darts from Legends of Dragoon was surprisingly far along in development and then just dropped.

why would they just drop someone that far into development? I really wish a place has all the info on what went wrong in this game in 1 location...

My views on this poll? Good lord, not again.

Spoiler

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Even worse, since it came from the Chans.

Seen this floating around. Shantae and Reimu high on a poll makes me happy, even if it turns out bogus...

 

[Shinuto]

PushDustIn really is working overtime debunking stuff, huh.
Don't get me wrong I appreciate knowing the truth, but it's disheartening seeing Shantae rank so well on stuff that turns out to be void.

Oh well. At least we know Shantae is definitely not invisible (having a Spirit and being able to set your online icon to her has to count for something).

Also is anyone able to confirm? Apparently Wayforward and Matt have gone radio silent again whenever people bring up Shantae for Smash. Last time that happened it turned out Shantae was a spirit. Why avoid discourse this time?

Wasn't it radio silence ever since the initial tweets about her spirit?

 

[Shadow Novus]

Wasn't it radio silence ever since the initial tweets about her spirit?

Well I remember Matt engaging after that and then there was the rally for DLC:

Hi all! I removed my previous tweet since the jokey "4 out of 5" hashtag was confusing to a lot of folks. Please keep showing your amazing fan support by using the usual (and more effective) hashtags! Thank you! pic.twitter.com/MUrgd5GryJ

— Matt Bozon (@MrBozon) November 3, 2018

but after that, nothing.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I think you guys might want to see this:

The Twitter poll is fake. It was photo shopped.

 

[zferolie]

I think you guys might want to see this:

The Twitter poll is fake. It was photo shopped.

Yeah its easy to shop these. Honestly, most polls could be faked.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Yeah its easy to shop these. Honestly, most polls could be faked.

I don't see the point in making a fake poll lol! Trolls really don't have a life.

 

[meleebrawler]

I don't see the point in making a fake poll lol! Trolls really don't have a life.

Is it not kind of flattering that people making fake polls for attention think putting Shantae high makes them more believable? Even if they mostly just eliminate now-included fighters from real ones.

I've been thinking, about how Smash reveal trailers end on a black screen with company credits. You know that reminds me of? The startup of GBC Shantae and the first appearance of the Wayforward logo. What if at the end of a theoretical Shantae reveal, she walks across the black void just as she did all the way back then?

 

[TJKBird]

I wouldn't look into WF being "radio silent" about Smash. WF has no reason to talk about Smash at this point in the game, they need to focus on marketing both River City Girls and Shantae and the Seven Sirens, they wouldn't want to pull attention away from these games by discussing Shantae's potential in Smash. Also chances are most fighters are already picked and Nintendo is already aware of Shantae's popularity due to the Smash Ballot, talking about her now wouldn't really do much good for them in any real capacity and it is better to focus on the games they do have coming out and garnering interest in them.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I've been thinking, about how Smash reveal trailers end on a black screen with company credits. You know that reminds me of? The startup of GBC Shantae and the first appearance of the Wayforward logo. What if at the end of a theoretical Shantae reveal, she walks across the black void just as she did all the way back then?

That would be epic.

 

[WingedSupernova]

I wouldn't look into WF being "radio silent" about Smash. WF has no reason to talk about Smash at this point in the game, they need to focus on marketing both River City Girls and Shantae and the Seven Sirens, they wouldn't want to pull attention away from these games by discussing Shantae's potential in Smash. Also chances are most fighters are already picked and Nintendo is already aware of Shantae's popularity due to the Smash Ballot, talking about her now wouldn't really do much good for them in any real capacity and it is better to focus on the games they do have coming out and garnering interest in them.

Bringing attention to that last part, River City Girls and Shantae 5 have both garnered loads of fans from what I've seen since Smash speculation began running rampant. Wayforward noticed the increase in popularity and in turn has provided tons of opportunities to experience what Shantae is as well as their other titles since then. Not only that, but the fact that they've garnered overseas collaborations with ArcSys and Trigger too has helped them become more recognizable to the Japanese audience as well, which is something not many indie developers have the privilege of saying.

 

[SoupCanMafia]

Bringing attention to that last part, River City Girls and Shantae 5 have both garnered loads of fans from what I've seen since Smash speculation began running rampant. Wayforward noticed the increase in popularity and in turn has provided tons of opportunities to experience what Shantae is as well as their other titles since then. Not only that, but the fact that they've garnered overseas collaborations with ArcSys and Trigger too has helped them become more recognizable to the Japanese audience as well, which is something not many indie developers have the privilege of saying.

Mind if I add onto that portion, too? Even Shovel Knight, despite being backed by Nintendo of Japan in his release over in the East, hasn't really made a splash there like he did in the Americas. That isn't to say that his presence is insignificant in Japan, but as of late, Shantae's been nailing her punches with precision and power and has been actively trying to become more recognizable, while Shovel Knight's been relatively safe with his lofty American placement.

 

[Deleted member]

Mind if I add onto that portion, too? Even Shovel Knight, despite being backed by Nintendo of Japan in his release over in the East, hasn't really made a splash there like he did in the Americas. That isn't to say that his presence is insignificant in Japan, but as of late, Shantae's been nailing her punches with precision and power and has been actively trying to become more recognizable, while Shovel Knight's been relatively safe with his lofty American placement.

I'd also like to add (and I know fully this is anecdoteal at best) I think the fervent flame that was SK a few years ago has largly calmed down. Nothing SK has done has lately pulled the amount of attention his original game did.

With all the SK news that does come out I feel the response is a resounding "oh neat"
Am I the only one that has felt this shift?
It's entirely possible I'm just crazy.

 

[Shinuto]

I'd also like to add (and I know fully this is anecdoteal at best) I think the fervent flame that was SK a few years ago has largly calmed down. Nothing SK has done has lately pulled the amount of attention his original game did.

With all the SK news that does come out I feel the response is a resounding "oh neat"
Am I the only one that has felt this shift?
It's entirely possible I'm just crazy.

Nah I feel that too.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

It's not just Smash responses. Compared to HGH, we still know very little about what material or plot that goes into Seven Sirens (that joke response about the key art having seven girls in it besides Shantae didn't help). Heck, we don't even know about the context that leads Shantae and gang there in the first place! Just Sky lounging on a chair. It's really weird to suddenly stop being so outspoken about things.

Spoiler

I'd also like to add (and I know fully this is anecdoteal at best) I think the fervent flame that was SK a few years ago has largly calmed down. Nothing SK has done has lately pulled the amount of attention his original game did.

With all the SK news that does come out I feel the response is a resounding "oh neat"
Am I the only one that has felt this shift?
It's entirely possible I'm just crazy.

In fairness, it took 5 years for the bonus DLC content to finally get finished. It'd be difficult for any fan movement to keep up its enthusiasm for that long without losing hope.

After going into YCG's not-Direct with rock-bottom expectations, I was actually pleasantly surprised by some things.

 

[zferolie]

So ot sounds like Sakurai plans to just keep making dlc fighters forever almost. Hes not working on any other games, and is happy just making foghters just to see how far he can push this limit

 

[M00NFIRE94]

Trying to decide on whether to get Blaster Master Zero just so I can play Shantae through the campaign. Can anyone confirm if she's just as fun playing on there as her games?

 

[Mikegamer0608]

So ot sounds like Sakurai plans to just keep making dlc fighters forever almost. Hes not working on any other games, and is happy just making foghters just to see how far he can push this limit

As long as Sakurai is happy then I'm happy just as long as he doesn't work himself to death.

 

[WingedSupernova]

So ot sounds like Sakurai plans to just keep making dlc fighters forever almost. Hes not working on any other games, and is happy just making foghters just to see how far he can push this limit

This is going to force me to rewrite a bit of the script for the video I was gonna make on Smash DLC, but the news makes me very happy.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Trying to decide on whether to get Blaster Master Zero just so I can play Shantae through the campaign. Can anyone confirm if she's just as fun playing on there as her games?

Basically, yeah. It's Blaster Master, so you can rarely go wrong with it, especially on the updated full version of the game.

 

[Dukefire]

This is the ULTIMATE package for Smash Bros as a whole. So its understandable that Sakurai wants to push it to the max since there will be NO OTHER GAME that will have this many game worlds all colliding in one place.

 

[meleebrawler]

This is the ULTIMATE package for Smash Bros as a whole. So its understandable that Sakurai wants to push it to the max since there will be NO OTHER GAME that will have this many game worlds all colliding in one place.

Project X Zone could if they allowed Nintendo universes to join...