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

[meleebrawler]

I think you could make a great story mode even without cutscenes. The characters could interact via dialog boxes, like the shopkeepers in World of Light. You could just have a big cutscene at the beginning and another at the end, like most platformers do.

The problem is that a big chunk of the cast are silent protagonists (), or at least can't speak in a language humans understand ((by game canon), and). You can give translations, but the kind of joke used for Kraid can only be done so much.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Well, I ended up playing Smash again recently, after a long time.

And I noticed a large amount of missing spirits.
There are a total of 12 missing Spirit Slots for me.
And strangely enough, they are all placed in-between the Fatal Fury Spirits and the Three Houses Spirits.

I know I am missing the Resident Evil spirits, which I believe were 4.
That still leaves 8 unknown spirits though.
Anyone know who these are?

 

[Megadoomer]

Well, I ended up playing Smash again recently, after a long time.

And I noticed a large amount of missing spirits.
There are a total of 12 missing Spirit Slots for me.
And strangely enough, they are all placed in-between the Fatal Fury Spirits and the Three Houses Spirits.

I know I am missing the Resident Evil spirits, which I believe were 4.
That still leaves 8 unknown spirits though.
Anyone know who these are?

Pokemon Sword and Shield - the starters, the version legendaries, Corviknight, and Morpeko (should be available with FP6)
Resident Evil - Wesker, Chris, Leon, and Jill (should be available with FP6)
Astral Chain - male and female protagonist, Kyle, and Lappy (should be available with FP7)

The only other spirit events since then were River City Ransom and Cuphead. If you have those, then you should be up-to-date once the seventh Fighters Pass character comes out. (unless you miss some between now and then)

 

[MeteoRain]

I was looking at mods and found this. Apparently the guy is not done with it yet.

 

[Planet Cool]

The problem is that a big chunk of the cast are silent protagonists (), or at least can't speak in a language humans understand ((by game canon), and). You can give translations, but the kind of joke used for Kraid can only be done so much.

There's some wiggle room. The entire Mario cast (including Mario himself) can talk in Fortune Street, Piranha Plants talk in Paper Mario, and the Kongs can talk in some of their games too, like DK64 and the GBA ports of the DKC trilogy. I think there's a line between characters that don't typically talk and characters that don't talk because that's part of their identity. Only Link, Kirby, Red, and the Pokemon would have to be silent, imo.

 

[smashkirby]

There's some wiggle room. The entire Mario cast (including Mario himself) can talk in Fortune Street, Piranha Plants talk in Paper Mario, and the Kongs can talk in some of their games too, like DK64 and the GBA ports of the DKC trilogy. I think there's a line between characters that don't typically talk and characters that don't talk because that's part of their identity. Only Link, Kirby, Red, and the Pokemon would have to be silent, imo.

I should probably mention that on various occasions, Kirby HAS been depicted as being able to talk (as in, in a way humans can understand). For as much as I quite enjoyed his anime series, one of the things I ended up DISLIKING about it was Sakurai's supposed 'edict' that Kirby was apparently not allowed to speak in it (Which is one of the things I feel REALLY hurt that show, as he almost techinally isn't the main character of his own show. What's more, his characterization kind of got affected by that for many years too, considering how in reality, he's a rather deceptively intelligent little guy, if not somewhat impulsive).

Honestly? I feel as if the 'silent protagonist' trope has been played out enough at this point, ESPECIALLY in regards to Nintendo's characters.

 

[LaBeteNoire]

I should probably mention that on various occasions, Kirby HAS been depicted as being able to talk (as in, in a way humans can understand). For as much as I quite enjoyed his anime series, one of the things I ended up DISLIKING about it was Sakurai's supposed 'edict' that Kirby was apparently not allowed to speak in it (Which is one of the things I feel REALLY hurt that show, as he almost techinally isn't the main character of his own show. What's more, his characterization kind of got affected by that for many years too, considering how in reality, he's a rather deceptively intelligent little guy, if not somewhat impulsive).

Honestly? I feel as if the 'silent protagonist' trope has been played out enough at this point, ESPECIALLY in regards to Nintendo's characters.

Honestly, I think people take it too literally. This might just be me, but when I played all these games, I never thought the characters were silent. I always interpenetrated it as "This character is me right now and since the developers don't know how I would respond they are leaving that part blank for me to fill in with whatever I like"

I mean, we know Link or Red talk because there are moments in the text that will say something like "you explain what happened to the professor" or "You tell them what you learned" Or whatever.

"Silent protagonist" never meant the character couldn't talk. It's a story telling device used to create immersion. The character doesn't actually say anything because their type of voice or the words they use might break your immersion, but in Universe they are saying whatever you as a player would be saying and the characters around respond to some degree of relevance.

 

[TOY the Gamer]

Honestly, I think people take it too literally. This might just be me, but when I played all these games, I never thought the characters were silent. I always interpenetrated it as "This character is me right now and since the developers don't know how I would respond they are leaving that part blank for me to fill in with whatever I like"

I mean, we know Link or Red talk because there are moments in the text that will say something like "you explain what happened to the professor" or "You tell them what you learned" Or whatever.

"Silent protagonist" never meant the character couldn't talk. It's a story telling device used to create immersion. The character doesn't actually say anything because their type of voice or the words they use might break your immersion, but in Universe they are saying whatever you as a player would be saying and the characters around respond to some degree of relevance.

I agree with his sentiment.

Link is capable of talking, especially if you consider the dialogue options in BOTW. He's just not a motormouth like someone such as Sonic is.

 

[ChadTR]

>Discussion: is Link capable of talking?

>Me: Yes...

Spoiler: ...but maybe it's not worth remembering XD

 

[meleebrawler]

Honestly, I think people take it too literally. This might just be me, but when I played all these games, I never thought the characters were silent. I always interpenetrated it as "This character is me right now and since the developers don't know how I would respond they are leaving that part blank for me to fill in with whatever I like"

I mean, we know Link or Red talk because there are moments in the text that will say something like "you explain what happened to the professor" or "You tell them what you learned" Or whatever.

"Silent protagonist" never meant the character couldn't talk. It's a story telling device used to create immersion. The character doesn't actually say anything because their type of voice or the words they use might break your immersion, but in Universe they are saying whatever you as a player would be saying and the characters around respond to some degree of relevance.

Interesting thing to note about about BOTW Link is that the Japanese version has all quest descriptions narrated in first person, ie by him. He is also much less blank than others with a more well-defined reason for his supposed silence than others, with amnesia and different circumstances handwaving uncharacteristic player behaviour. If there's ever gonna be a mainstream Link that will break silence, it's gonna be him.

 

[TOY the Gamer]

>Discussion: is Link capable of talking?

>Me: Yes...

Spoiler: ...but maybe it's not worth remembering XD

We weren't even talking about that. We were talking about how in BOTW it's implied that Link speaks from time to time.

 

[zferolie]

We weren't even talking about that. We were talking about how in BOTW it's implied that Link speaks from time to time.

If you read zeldas diary in hyrule castle, she outright says Link talks to her, but chooses not to talk much at all. It took some time fornhim to talk to her actually

 

[ChadTR]

We weren't even talking about that. We were talking about how in BOTW it's implied that Link speaks from time to time.

But... but... That was just a joke :'(

 

[RetrogamerMax]

About the silent protagonist topic, you guys have to kind of think about it this way: You're the protagonist! The protagonist doesn't talk because it is you and you are seeing and reacting towards other characters throughout the game through your perspective and actions. They don't talk because you're the protagonist and you're just seeing everyone elses' perspective of what's going on in the world of said game.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Yup, silent protagonists are not really silent.
The actual talking is supposed to be in your head.
You're meant to be creative and immerse yourself.

Sadly, it seems a lot of people lack creativity.
And thus they look at it at face value, with Link not uttering a word in-game and people somehow understanding him.

 

[GoldLiger]

Yup, silent protagonists are not really silent.
The actual talking is supposed to be in your head.
You're meant to be creative and immerse yourself.

Sadly, it seems a lot of people lack creativity.
And thus they look at it at face value, with Link not uttering a word in-game and people somehow understanding him.

Yeah a lot of people are easily fooled into believing Silent Protagonists are naturally mute or all the people in Hyrule/other worlds know sign language.

 

[Planet Cool]

Yup, silent protagonists are not really silent.
The actual talking is supposed to be in your head.
You're meant to be creative and immerse yourself.

Sadly, it seems a lot of people lack creativity.
And thus they look at it at face value, with Link not uttering a word in-game and people somehow understanding him.

But I think Link is supposed to be a man of few words, like Gordon Freeman. He's not a mute, but he's not a talker either. The biggest exceptions (besides CD-i and BotW Link, as already mentioned) are probably Wind Waker and Skyward Sword Link, whose dialogue options are always full of sass. "I'm a night-creeping rascal," anyone?

 

[kazoka122]

Changing the subject real quick, if Shantae is in this pack, do you think she is number 2 or 3? The reason why I doubt she's 4-6, is because it would probably be 2021 by then and her game would of been at least a year old .

 

[zferolie]

Changing the subject real quick, if Shantae is in this pack, do you think she is number 2 or 3? The reason why I doubt she's 4-6, is because it would probably be 2021 by then and her game would of been at least a year old .

Hmmmm if they planned Shantae to promote seven sirens, then her being closer to it is more likely, but bylthe came out a bit after their game...

 

[WingedSupernova]

Hmmmm if they planned Shantae to promote seven sirens, then her being closer to it is more likely, but bylthe came out a bit after their game...

I think the reason Byleth came out a bit after is because Sakurai knew people wouldn't be happy with Byleth. He gave people a large enough time frame to play Three Houses so they'd be more familiar with the character and hopefully less angry.

I feel like Shantae could be 2 or 3, but she would make sense to close the pass as well considering all the other popular characters that have already made it in. The four characters I see at the top of polls and wish lists consistently are Sora, Steve, Geno, and Shantae. I personally believe Shantae has the best shot out of those 4. I don't think Nintendo will be able to negotiate with Disney for Sora, I don't think Microsoft will get another character, and it's possible Nintendo will overlook Geno due to how niche he is. If Sakurai were choosing I'd say Geno would be a shoe in, but with Nintendo choosing I'm not so sure.

Nintendo has the "We Love Indies!" image to promote, since they make focused nindie Directs and even do crazy crossovers like Cadance of Hyrule with trusted indie studios. Shantae has huge fan demand and is a long running legacy series for Nintendo. It's a no-brainer to me, honestly.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Changing the subject real quick, if Shantae is in this pack, do you think she is number 2 or 3? The reason why I doubt she's 4-6, is because it would probably be 2021 by then and her game would of been at least a year old .

If Shantae is in this last Pass I'm positive she is one of the first three fighters due to how close her announcement would be towards Seven Sirens. Most likely she will be a E3 reveal this June if she is in. If we don't see her by than it's mostly likely she isn't going to make it.

 

[LaBeteNoire]

If Shantae is in this last Pass I'm positive she is one of the first three fighters due to how close her announcement would be towards Seven Sirens. Most likely she will be a E3 reveal this June if she is in. If we don't see her by than it's mostly likely she isn't going to make it.

Shantae being an E3 announcement highly depends on who else is in the pass. As much as we love her, we need to remember that she isn't the biggest character in the eyes of all Smash fans. If Crash, Geno or Sora are in this pass, they will be the E3 announcement. We could always get two announcements at E3 like last year, but last year had two reveals because one was for Japan and the other was for the West since they didn't think both regions would be excited enough for either one.

None the less, if she is in this pass I imagine she must be in the first half to keep relevant with Seven Sirens. Then again we still have no real idea on when Sirens is releasing so it's possible anything could happen for now.

Anyway, there is talk of a Direct this week, so if we don't get an announcement of a direct today or tomorrow we will know those murmurs weren't true.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Shantae being an E3 announcement highly depends on who else is in the pass. As much as we love her, we need to remember that she isn't the biggest character in the eyes of all Smash fans. If Crash, Geno or Sora are in this pass, they will be the E3 announcement. We could always get two announcements at E3 like last year, but last year had two reveals because one was for Japan and the other was for the West since they didn't think both regions would be excited enough for either one.

None the less, if she is in this pass I imagine she must be in the first half to keep relevant with Seven Sirens. Then again we still have no real idea on when Sirens is releasing so it's possible anything could happen for now.

Anyway, there is talk of a Direct this week, so if we don't get an announcement of a direct today or tomorrow we will know those murmurs weren't true.

You got to remember that Palutena was the big E3 2014 Smash reveal instead of Pac-Man and they revealed him behind closed doors on the same night which doesn't make sense. If Palutena could be a E3 reveal than so can somebody like Shantae or Geno.

 

[zferolie]

I honestly can see shantae as the first even. If we get a direct this week or even if we get nothing till an indie direct, either could show shantae as the first. A popular request and promotes a spirit, a good way to start the pass.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I honestly can see shantae as the first even. If we get a direct this week or even if we get nothing till an indie direct, either could show shantae as the first. A popular request and promotes a spirit, a good way to start the pass.

If Shantae started the Pass I think I would faint. Imagine seeing her first and thinking: "OMG! If she is first who in the world are the other 5?!" She would make a bunch of people and myself hyped as hell.

 

[etnoika]

Shantae would be an amazing start to the FP2 for three reasons:

1) She breaks open the Indies rule. Which despite some of the big names being deconfirmed for Fighters so far would still raise a lot more speculation on who could be included.

2) She breaks open the Spirits rule, bringing back a whole ton of characters into the mix.

3) She would reaffirm everyone that, yes, they are continuing to use 3rd Party characters.

All these would bring back the fervor of the speculation back to the early days of the DLC announcements. And even if Nintendo is choosing I think they love the Fighter Speculation because it's all free publicity. I especially get the feeling they might wanna start off the pass with a strong 3rd party after the way people were disappointed with Byleth.

 

[Dukefire]

It would also let the Spirits deconfirm fan rule to finally fall

 

[zferolie]

Shantae would be an amazing start to the FP2 for three reasons:

1) She breaks open the Indies rule. Which despite some of the big names being deconfirmed for Fighters so far would still raise a lot more speculation on who could be included.

2) She breaks open the Spirits rule, bringing back a whole ton of characters into the mix.

3) She would reaffirm everyone that, yes, they are continuing to use 3rd Party characters.

All these would bring back the fervor of the speculation back to the early days of the DLC announcements. And even if Nintendo is choosing I think they love the Fighter Speculation because it's all free publicity. I especially get the feeling they might wanna start off the pass with a strong 3rd party after the way people were disappointed with Byleth.

Yes those reasons are some of the ones why i think she would be a great first pick. I feel the first one is going to be a big name or break many fan rules. They want to sell people on the pass, and this is a good way. Here is what i think the pass will go.

1. Shantae

2. Crash(reveal at e3)

3. Ryu Hayabusa

4. Reimu

5. Doomguy/2B/KOSMOS/Arle(revealed at e3)

6. Geno(big fan request to end the pass)

Reimu i admit is my personal choice woth Shantae, though shantae seems to be more likely, but reimu has a good shot too

 

[Dukefire]

The list of potential indies left:
Quote: don't know how Nicalas is still doing. So it might not happen.
Shantae: spirit, but still hopes for her
Reimu: known in the east, but not too much in the west. So, like the Banjo Kazooie and Hero effect if she gets in.
The Knight: Popular of its story, mechanics and design. Potential, but might end up as a Mii Costume depending on Nintendo and Sakurai
Ori: same reason as the Knight
Cadence: can enter with her being a actual fighter using a shovel after her recent crossover with the Zelda Universe.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

I personally expect at least one "Brand Deal" character in this second pass as well.
Like a Galar Pokemon or even yet another Fire Emblem character, if another Fire Emblem were to come out in these upcoming 2 years.

 

[kazoka122]

I honestly can see shantae as the first even. If we get a direct this week or even if we get nothing till an indie direct, either could show shantae as the first. A popular request and promotes a spirit, a good way to start the pass.

Nah I don't think she'll be first. Nintendo usually likes starting things with a huge bang. And as much as I support Shantae, she wouldn't be the bang they are looking for. This is why I see her as 2-3.

 

[Dukefire]

I think Fire Emblem is finished jumping the FP DLC. The only ones left are Pokemon SWSD, Metroid, and possibly Xenoblade.

 

[zferolie]

I personally expect at least one "Brand Deal" character in this second pass as well.
Like a Galar Pokemon or even yet another Fire Emblem character, if another Fire Emblem were to come out in these upcoming 2 years.

I can see a pokemom happening, but not a fire emblem again. Heck we may even get a xenoblade rep too. Honestly, my 4th or 5th spot could be replaced by one promotion pick

 

[Dukefire]

If we don't really get a Nintendo Direct this week. Then its on March with the Indies Direct following on April since they usually don't appear on the same month together

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Why Xenoblade or Metroid though?

And who knows what's gonna happen in these 2 years.
If another Fire Emblem is gonna come out within that time, I think you can bet Nintendo will use Smash to capitalize on it.

 

[Planet Cool]

You got to remember that Palutena was the big E3 2014 Smash reveal instead of Pac-Man and they revealed him behind closed doors on the same night which doesn't make sense. If Palutena could be a E3 reveal than so can somebody like Shantae or Geno.

God, that was so weird. And remember, it was Dark Pit's reveal, too. What a terrible, unhype choice for E3.

 

[zferolie]

Hopefully soon we will find out about smash, Shantae, or both.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[WingedSupernova]

Hopefully soon we will find out about smash, Shantae, or both.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Hopefully on Thursday, if Zippo is to be believed. (Was that his name? I don't actually remember anything other than ResetEra and a Mega Man picture.)

 

[zferolie]

Hopefully on Thursday, if Zippo is to be believed. (Was that his name? I don't actually remember anything other than ResetEra and a Mega Man picture.)

Yeah it was zippo. he is done leaking nintendo stuff now it seems. Nintendo is cracking down HARD on leakers, and pretty much all the big names are bowing out. Zippo also talked about a paper mario and metroid game coming, and i heard he think nintendo was not happy about that.

We should find out in less then 12 hours hopefully.

 

[Shinuto]

Uhhhhhhhh Warframe just got revealed to be getting a spirit in Smash?