Official Smash Ultimate Discussion

[Nazyrus]

Didn't we all agree that loz18 was a big poopy pants McGee and we're not gonna trust him?

Fine but don't shoot the messenger geez… Also if skull kid or isaac, both teased by him, come true, i would like to see what arguments people still come up with. Anyways i only shared that, deal with it however you guys want, no one is forcing you to believe it nor read it.

 

[PeridotGX]

So here's my new prediction roster. I kept the unique selection relatively low, but went all out on Echoes.

Bandana Dee is my most expected newcomer at the moment. He's popular globally, but especially in Japan, basically being an opposite Ridley. Moveset uses Spear and Parasol, FS is Megaton Punch. Revealed in a general direct in September

Lycanroc is my predicted Pokemon at this point. His moveset uses rocks and the FS is his Z-Move. Dusk is the default with a Midday alt, and revealed in an October brodcast simmilar to Robin in 4.

Issac and Geno are added for the same reason: Popularity. I've never played their games, so I don't know what they'd do. Both revealed in a November Smash direct.

Rayman is added both due to popularity and Ubisoft being so nice with Nintendo. Revealed in aformentioned November direct.

Skull Kid is the last newcomer revealed, a mere 3 days before the game releases. I have yet to play MM, so IDK what he does.

Now on to the Echoes, starting with my most insane idea.

Blaziken: Actually plausible in my eyes, though the least safe newcomer on the roster. He's a very popular Pokemon, which was only enhanced by the Ballot coinciding with ORAS. While not enough to be unique, it could be enough to be an echo, of which he fits over Falcon perfectly. Revealed with Lycanroc.

Impa: Again a decently popular Zelda character. Default design is SS, with HW being an alt. Revealed with Skull Kid.

Dixie: Too popular to be absent. Has DK's UP B, reskinned to be with her hair. Revealed in the September direct away from Dee

Shadow: Sonic echo with Mewtwo's Up B and Bayonetta's Down B. Revealed in November

Isabelle: The new fase of Animal Crossig, ideally unique but works well enough as an echo. Revealed in September with Dixie.

Ken: Training Wheels Ryu with no imputs. Revealed in November with Shadow.

Octoling: Pretty easy guess, uses Splatoon 2 design and weapons. Not origially planned, it was a personal request by the Splatoon 2 development team to coincide with the "Year of the Octoling". IDK when she's revealed.

10 uniques, 11 echoes. Maybe too many echoes but whatever.

 

[BlueMagician]

Why do people hate Dark Pit when he is actually relevant to Icarus' story, has a history, has character growth etc.

And here we are with Mario in a lab coat that contributes 0 to his series and ya'll are fine with that.

People love Dark Pit in his game and had a fair few requests for his inclusion, but the fair criticism is that he could be more different from Pit.

The unfair criticisms stem from people whining about Sakurai bias or whatever. And the people who won't let other people enjoy characters who are even the least bit moody.

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Even Palutena's Guidance was terrible compared to what it was based on. In a KI:U level the commentary and music accompany whatever's going on so each level feels really cohesive, and the dialogue is always based on the unique level hazards. In Smash it's just wacky characters having wacky conversations about wacky characters. Codecs worked because gathering intel on fighters naturally creates a contrast that's funny without being overtly silly.

Snake’s Codecs were great, but I prefer the Palutena’s Guidance a lot more. The fun conversations were like a taste of what Uprising would bring to the table and even added some extra details on what happened after the story ended (I also connect more with Pit than I do with Snake by a long shot, so that helps)...but agree to disagree

 

[CrusherMania1592]

Uhhh loz18 is speaking up again and he is dropping some very shady hints now…

https://twitter.com/loz183/status/1031714028010328069 skull kid or something about young link (?)…

https://twitter.com/loz183/status/1031716239205453825 it's vague as hell but earlier today he asked us "what have you heard?" and people started sharing him what we've read in fake leaks and such, or possible stuff like ken, shadow, etc. Then he tells us those two things…

https://twitter.com/loz183/status/1031720630855655426 (i don't think this has to do with smash tho)

This guy is thirsty for attention

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Why do people hate Dark Pit when he is actually relevant to Icarus' story, has a history, has character growth etc.

And here we are with Mario in a lab coat that contributes 0 to his series and ya'll are fine with that.

Not everybody played Uprising. Thus, that wouldn't matter to them in Smash. The fact Dark Pit plays almost identically to the point that you have two moves that literally feel like just a costume of Pit using it, instead of very slight differences(whether damage, knockback, or even aesthetic changes) annoys some.

Dr. Mario also plays a lot differently now. And also played more differently than Dark Pit did from Pit in the first place, even during Melee. So yeah, there's a reason he's held in higher regard. Because he feels at least unique enough to not be an alt costume. Dark Pit isn't even that far, and the thing keeping him from being an alt was simply "wouldn't use this Final Smash in 4" and "a few move ideas came up". He was low effort. So of course some would prefer larger effort clones.

On another note, among the Echoes introduced, they all have been literally different people. Dr. Mario was the only notable clone recreated since 4 that happens to be the same person too. The other clones like Young Link weren't really treated as some special addition like the last 3 were in Smash 4(as Lucina, Dark Pit, and Dr. Mario were last minute, and considering Richter was part of Simon's trailer, it's unlikely he was a last minute addition in development).

 

[DarkFalcon]

It's always been weird how heated Dark Pit discussions can get.

 

[ZephyrZ]

Alright, I've got time to kill so I'll go into detail about Dark Pit.

Yes, he's an edgy doppelgenger. Yes he's a trope. But you know what? KI:U is self aware about these things. Not only does Dark Pit actually capture the things people like about that trope (a rebellious rival that parallels the protagonist's abilities) but he also parodies it at the same time. Unlike Shadow, who you're supposed to take seriously all the time, Dark Pit is a character who you're supposed to be able to laugh at, even if you like him. Even the other characters don't take him seriously, as they frequently adress him by a goofy nickname. At one point, Hades even makes fun of him for being an edgy clone. That's actually a trend with Uprising characters - they're all just dumb fun.

As for him beimg an echo, I think he deserves that special treatmemt just so they can showcase his personality. It's important to me that he has different taunts and victory animations because it would make sense for him to be doing a goofy peace sign after winning a match.

And finally, about the victory theme...I also agree that its dumb that Ganondorf doesn't have a unique one. But I don't think its fair to hold that against Pittoo. That's like blaming Lucario that Mewtwo wasn't in Smash 4 at release. I really doubt it was just one or the other in both those cases.

 

[DraginHikari]

Complaining about Dark Pit, I feel like I'm back in 2014 again lol.

 

[Idon]

Listen loz, what's the point of a leaker who doesn't leak things and plants BS into their leaks?

 

[RandomAce]

Think you're getting somethin mixed up. People are fine with getting Dr. Mario back as he's a legacy character with nostalgia, but had he been a newcomer to Sm4sh mercy me the **** storm. Now, people certainly didn't want more Dr. Marios. As in more blatant clones taking up spots.

Let us make no mistake. In their very essence Echos started out as Alts. In a way they still are, Sakurai is just putting more effort into it.

Now that I think about it.

Dr. Mario did actually take a ****storm as well. Since he is from Melee a lot of people were screaming at how Sakurai bought back the doc but not Mewtwoz

I want to see what would happen Dr. Mario leaked as a newcomer alongside Dark Pit. The internet salt mine would double over this.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I think loz is someone you should keep your eyes on, but take what he says with a grain of salt, as they say.

He may get stuff wrong, but he has had actual information about the game.

 

[Deleted member]

When IGA was calling the shots he did an overhaul of a majority of the cast. Dracula, Alucard and Maria's new looks were bloody perfect, Richter's was alright and Simon was either really loved or really hated with the redhead design.

Judgement was a spinoff where they hired the artist of the Death Note/Hikaru no Go team to do all the art and..well yah know.
Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin were an attempt to go back to the anime esque aesthetic of Rondo, but fans missed IGA's artstyle so they brought it back with Order of Ecclesia.

When IGA left Konami rebooted the whole shebang with the Lords of Shadow games assisted by Kojima, which led to new looks there too.

And now we are here with Smash, with Simon rocking his NES cover/PC Chronicles look, Richter looking like he did in Rondo and Drac and Alucard sporting the updated designs from the Netflix series.

Alucard uses his SotN design, not the Netflix design.

 

[Dixie Kong]

If Loz does “leak” Banjo, he would be the second leaker to leak Microsoft content in Smash. (Vergeben leaking Minecraft)

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Alright, I've got time to kill so I'lk go into detail about Dark Pit.

Yes, he's an edgy doppelgenger. Yes he's a trope. But you know what? KI:U is self aware about these things. Not only does Dark Pit actually capture the things people like about that trope (a rebellious rival that parallels the protagonist's abilities) but he also parodies it at the same time. Unlike Shadow, who you're supposed to take seriously all the time, Dark Pit is a character who you're supposed to be able to laugh at, even if you like him. Even the other characters don't take him seriously, as they frequently adress him by a goofy nickname. At one point, Hades even makes fun of him for being an edgy clone. That's actually a trend with Uprising characters - they're all just dumb fun.

As for him beimg an echo, I think he deserves that special treatmemt just so they can showcase his personality. It's important to me that he has different taunts and victory animations because it would make sense for him to be doing a goofy peace sign after winning a match.

And finally, about the victory theme...I also agree that its dumb that Ganondorf doesn't have a unique one. But I don't think its fair to hold that against Pittoo. That's like blaming Lucario that Mewtwo wasn't in Smash 4 at release. I really doubt it was just one or the other in both those cases.

This reminds me...for an edgy person, Dark Pit has excellent taste in music

It's always been weird how heated Dark Pit discussions can get.

People don’t want to put respect in his name

 

[Zinith]

Alucard uses his SotN design, not the Netflix design.

Wonder how people would react if it was his Castlevania III design

 

[Wyoming]

What I gather from Smash fans is that a lot of them aren't modern Nintendo consumers - rather they are older fans that stay on Nintendo mostly due to Smash and in hopes their favorites franchises will get some attention again. That's where some of the hate for newer characters comes from.

Kiiiiiiind of guilty of this. The only new IP I've owned and played was Xenoblade. I played Pikmin 2 at a cousin's and enjoyed it for what it was, but never went my way to buy Pikmin 3. Animal Crossing, Splatoon, ARMS, Fire Emblem, Kid Icarus are all confusing and scary to me.

Dark Samus and Dark Pit share some rough similarities in concept but executed differently, but since Metroid is more cherished for us old geezers the salt hasn't been at all there.

 

[RandomAce]

I don’t even know what to say about Loz anymore.

First he didn’t want to be contributed to leaks and gave more substantial, but spoiler free information.

Now we’re literally playing 4chan guessing games at this point.

 

[CrusherMania1592]

So here's my new prediction roster. I kept the unique selection relatively low, but went all out on Echoes.

Bandana Dee is my most expected newcomer at the moment. He's popular globally, but especially in Japan, basically being an opposite Ridley. Moveset uses Spear and Parasol, FS is Megaton Punch. Revealed in a general direct in September

Lycanroc is my predicted Pokemon at this point. His moveset uses rocks and the FS is his Z-Move. Dusk is the default with a Midday alt, and revealed in an October brodcast simmilar to Robin in 4.

Issac and Geno are added for the same reason: Popularity. I've never played their games, so I don't know what they'd do. Both revealed in a November Smash direct.

Rayman is added both due to popularity and Ubisoft being so nice with Nintendo. Revealed in aformentioned November direct.

Skull Kid is the last newcomer revealed, a mere 3 days before the game releases. I have yet to play MM, so IDK what he does.

Now on to the Echoes, starting with my most insane idea.

Blaziken: Actually plausible in my eyes, though the least safe newcomer on the roster. He's a very popular Pokemon, which was only enhanced by the Ballot coinciding with ORAS. While not enough to be unique, it could be enough to be an echo, of which he fits over Falcon perfectly. Revealed with Lycanroc.

Impa: Again a decently popular Zelda character. Default design is SS, with HW being an alt. Revealed with Skull Kid.

Dixie: Too popular to be absent. Has DK's UP B, reskinned to be with her hair. Revealed in the September direct away from Dee

Shadow: Sonic echo with Mewtwo's Up B and Bayonetta's Down B. Revealed in November

Isabelle: The new fase of Animal Crossig, ideally unique but works well enough as an echo. Revealed in September with Dixie.

Ken: Training Wheels Ryu with no imputs. Revealed in November with Shadow.

Octoling: Pretty easy guess, uses Splatoon 2 design and weapons. Not origially planned, it was a personal request by the Splatoon 2 development team to coincide with the "Year of the Octoling". IDK when she's revealed.

10 uniques, 11 echoes. Maybe too many echoes but whatever.

I REALLY love the idea of Blaziken being an Echo for Falcon, but has Blaziken been deconfirmed yet?

 

[BlueMagician]

I also like Palutena’s Guidance (on the same level as the Codecs), but the English team got too carried away on some stuff so they're not as nice as the Japanese ones.

 

[Deleted member]

Wonder how people would react if it was his Castlevania III design

Probably just about as well as if Simon had used his crappy Death Note design.

 

[Thirdkoopa]

the thing about Dark Samus is it's more like a "finally jesus" when we've been clamoring for more Metroid characters for so long, meanwhile, Kid Icarus came out with one new game (with no signs of anymore) and on a list where adding supporting characters was... super low. Only Fire Emblem, Mario, Pokemon, and Kid Icarus received supporting characters - and some of them weren't even the characters people wanted.

Also re: Dr. Mario - He's still bringing awareness to the Mario puzzle part of the franchise. They did make a Dr. Luigi game, and iirc, it actually sold pretty decently.

I'll repeat this until my grave, but, Smash is a great franchise for marketing, not just putting in characters people already know or like.

 

[PeridotGX]

I REALLY love the idea of Blaziken being an Echo for Falcon, but has Blaziken been deconfirmed yet?

No. Kalos League is back, but they could easily remove him (he's just a minor background element)

 

[KMDP]

Does Dark Pit have a PHD?
I didn't think so.

Just gonna leave this here, before I go off to bed (I should have left more than 3 hours ago).

What I gather from Smash fans is that a lot of them aren't modern Nintendo consumers - rather they are older fans that stay on Nintendo mostly due to Smash and in hopes their favorites franchises will get some attention again. That's where some of the hate for newer characters comes from.

Kiiiiiiind of guilty of this. The only new IP I've owned and played was Xenoblade. I played Pikmin 2 at a cousin's and enjoyed it for what it was, but never went my way to buy Pikmin 3. Animal Crossing, Splatoon, ARMS, Fire Emblem, Kid Icarus are all confusing and scary to me.

Dark Samus and Dark Pit share some rough similarities in concept but executed differently, but since Metroid is more cherished for us old geezers the salt hasn't been at all there.

This might have a relation to that insider info about K. Rool, the Mii Costume and the Ballot.

Nintendo thought they had the fans' number about what they wanted, because they thought most of the fans were modern Nintendo consumers; little did they know that long-time Nintendo fans make up a huge portion of the fandom.

And with that, I bid you all adieu. Goodnight!

 

[Rhus]

I agree that Dark Pit had the assets to create a more novel moveset from using his weapons in Uprising - that is a valid criticism of Dark Pit.

Dark Pit is unique enough to warrant his own character but would never have gotten in with a unique moveset, it's a Dark Samus situation. It's why I think people being weirdly passionate about excluding him to be so strange. They gave him different victories, taunts, and voice over to express his different personality, similarly to how Dark Samus has new animations.

Dr. Mario was, in melee, basically a Dark Pit. Mario has since gained FLUDD, and Doc has a new Dair, but during his inception, he was the same I believe? Wasn't only his frame data/numbers different? (Fair didn't spike but eh)

Wait do people hate Lucina as much as Dark Pit?

 

[Dukeofdeath5]

I think loz is someone you should keep your eyes on, but take what he says with a grain of salt, as they say.

He may get stuff wrong, but he has had actual information about the game.

This reminds me of something. It may be extremely taboo to bring up, tbh I'm not entirely sure.

But who was that leaker that either leaked or predicted Wii Fitt Trainer?

 

[Luigi The President]

This reminds me of something. It may be extremely taboo to bring up, tbh I'm not entirely sure.

But who was that leaker that either leaked or predicted Wii Fitt Trainer?

Gematsu.

 

[Noipoi]

What I gather from Smash fans is that a lot of them aren't modern Nintendo consumers - rather they are older fans that stay on Nintendo mostly due to Smash and in hopes their favorites franchises will get some attention again. That's where some of the hate for newer characters comes from.

Kiiiiiiind of guilty of this. The only new IP I've owned and played was Xenoblade. I played Pikmin 2 at a cousin's and enjoyed it for what it was, but never went my way to buy Pikmin 3. Animal Crossing, Splatoon, ARMS, Fire Emblem, Kid Icarus are all confusing and scary to me.

Dark Samus and Dark Pit share some rough similarities in concept but executed differently, but since Metroid is more cherished for us old geezers the salt hasn't been at all there.

Not me mate. I'm all about modern Pokemon and Splatoon.
That's probably why K Rool and Ridley don't get me that hype but Inkling excites me greatly, I have no connection to the snes era.

 

[ZephyrZ]

Wait do people hate Lucina as much as Dark Pit?

Not quite, but if her name was "Girl Marth" I can garuntee you things would be different.

 

[Deleted member]

Not quite, but if her name was "Girl Marth" I can garuntee you things would be different.

I thought that's what "Lucina" translates to.

 

[Idon]

I agree that Dark Pit had the assets to create a more novel moveset from using his weapons in Uprising - that is a valid criticism of Dark Pit.

Dark Pit is unique enough to warrant his own character but would never have gotten in with a unique moveset, it's a Dark Samus situation. It's why I think people being weirdly passionate about excluding him to be so strange. They gave him different victories, taunts, and voice over to express his different personality, similarly to how Dark Samus has new animations.

Dr. Mario was, in melee, basically a Dark Pit. Mario has since gained FLUDD, and Doc has a new Dair, but during his inception, he was the same I believe? Wasn't only his frame data/numbers different? (Fair didn't spike but eh)

Wait do people hate Lucina as much as Dark Pit?

Slightly less so.
Her gimmick actually impacts a significant part of her gameplan and while she will play in the roughly the same playstyle, her lack of punishment for spacing poorly helps her in some mathups where spacing at the tip consistently is not always viable.

I wish they gave her Chrom's spinny slash as well to complete the whole father-daughter thing they had going at Arena Ferox, but I wish a lot of things.

Also helps with the stark raving mad Awakening fans who will take anything and everything.

 

[P.Kat]

Just gonna leave this here, before I go off to bed (I should have left more than 3 hours ago).

This might have a relation to that insider info about K. Rool, the Mii Costume and the Ballot.

Nintendo thought they had the fans' number about what they wanted, because they thought most of the fans were modern Nintendo consumers; little did they know that long-time Nintendo fans make up a huge portion of the fandom.

And with that, I bid you all adieu. Goodnight!

Goodnight

 

[Sharkarat]

Lucina's sword difference save her from beeing as disliked as Pitoo.

 

[DraginHikari]

I agree that Dark Pit had the assets to create a more novel moveset from using his weapons in Uprising - that is a valid criticism of Dark Pit.

Dark Pit is unique enough to warrant his own character but would never have gotten in with a unique moveset, it's a Dark Samus situation. It's why I think people being weirdly passionate about excluding him to be so strange. They gave him different victories, taunts, and voice over to express his different personality, similarly to how Dark Samus has new animations.

Dr. Mario was, in melee, basically a Dark Pit. Mario has since gained FLUDD, and Doc has a new Dair, but during his inception, he was the same I believe? Wasn't only his frame data/numbers different? (Fair didn't spike but eh)

Wait do people hate Lucina as much as Dark Pit?

Not in a general sense, I recall some salt from her being a Marth clone when originally revealed but she also is her own character with her own fanbase that supports her and being basically Marth without the tipper worked more or less as a clone at the time.

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Wait do people hate Lucina as much as Dark Pit?

I don’t know about now, but they hated her just as much back in the day

Only Fire Emblem, Mario, Pokemon, and Kid Icarus received supporting characters - and some of them weren't even the characters people wanted.

better not be one of those characters not wanted

Animal Crossing, Splatoon, ARMS, Fire Emblem, Kid Icarus are all confusing and scary to me.

Play Splatoon. Kid Icarus/Fire Emblem are understandable to have not played before (even though they’re not new series) and Anmal Crossing is a dark game...but Splatoon you must play to death (so much ****ing fun)

I also like Palutena’s Guidance (on the same level as the Codecs), but the English team got too carried away on some stuff so they're not as nice as the Japanese ones.

If only the Japanese version had Anthony Del Rio (English Pit)...but it makes up for their version of Uprising being inferior to the English version

Complaining about Dark Pit, I feel like I'm back in 2014 again lol.

The most talked about and hated echo in Smash history (the Roman Reigns of Echo Fighters)

 

[Rhus]

Slightly less so.
Her gimmick actually impacts a significant part of her gameplan and while she will play in the roughly the same playstyle, her lack of punishment for spacing poorly helps her in some mathups where spacing at the tip consistently is not always viable.

I wish they gave her Chrom's spinny slash as well to complete the whole father-daughter thing they had going at Arena Ferox, but I wish a lot of things.

I could say the same for Dark Pit though. You pick Dark Pit into the Rosalina MU to get rid of the Luma immediately. You pick him vs larger targets who focus on rushdown because his arrows are favourable in those exchanges and therefore relies on them more. Pit's arrows are better for characters with gimpable recoveries like Marth/Lucina, Falcon, Ganon, Mario/Doc. Dark Pit would have to rely on off stage edgeguarding when Pit can fire arrows safely due to their control.

Dark Pit's Ftilt can also jab lock in Sm4sh which can be used from a Dair footstool combo which Pit does not have.

They play different, even if only slightly.

 

[DarkFalcon]

Shifting the topic, seeing as how I saw Samus Returns music despite it releasing late 2017, it makes me believe we'll also have Splatoon 2 tracks. I saw 23 Splatoon tracks when it was listed in the direct. Hope we get Ebb and Flow.

 

[Dukeofdeath5]

Dark Pit is unique enough to warrant his own character but would never have gotten in with a unique moveset, it's a Dark Samus situation. It's why I think people being weirdly passionate about excluding him to be so strange.

Listen man I'm just gonna be 100 % straight with you.

Dark Pitt gets/got the hate because the idea of a Pitt but black and edgier came off very poorly to people unfamiliar with the series, which isn't a small number. Of the many reactions I saw of the character, he was mostly met with "WTFs". Not not to mention the fact he was a complete surprise.

Yes he's fleshed out, yes he has importance to the story, yes he has an arc, but at face value he is a color swapped Pitt.

D.Samus is a creepy alien with a cool look (which Sakurai put a lot of effort into capturing.)
Lucina had a lot of support behind her.
Dark Pitt is just a tough sell to those who don't know him. It's as simple as that.

 

[praline]

the thing about Dark Samus is it's more like a "finally jesus" when we've been clamoring for more Metroid characters for so long, meanwhile, Kid Icarus came out with one new game (with no signs of anymore) and on a list where adding supporting characters was... super low. Only Fire Emblem, Mario, Pokemon, and Kid Icarus received supporting characters - and some of them weren't even the characters people wanted.

Also re: Dr. Mario - He's still bringing awareness to the Mario puzzle part of the franchise. They did make a Dr. Luigi game, and iirc, it actually sold pretty decently.

I'll repeat this until my grave, but, Smash is a great franchise for marketing, not just putting in characters people already know or like.

Fire Emblem has no supporting characters. Every playable character is a main lord or lord equivalent...

 

[Ivander]

When IGA was calling the shots he did an overhaul of a majority of the cast. Dracula, Alucard and Maria's new looks were bloody perfect, Richter's was alright and Simon was either really loved or really hated with the redhead design.

Judgement was a spinoff where they hired the artist of the Death Note/Hikaru no Go team to do all the art and..well yah know.
Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin were an attempt to go back to the anime esque aesthetic of Rondo, but fans missed IGA's artstyle so they brought it back with Order of Ecclesia.

When IGA left Konami rebooted the whole shebang with the Lords of Shadow games assisted by Kojima, which led to new looks there too.

And now we are here with Smash, with Simon rocking his NES cover/PC Chronicles look, Richter looking like he did in Rondo and Drac and Alucard sporting the updated designs from the Netflix series.

Drac and Alucard use the Symphony designs, especially Dracula as Dracula in the Netflix series has black hair while SotN Dracula uses white hair. As for Richter's Rondo design, well, Harmony of Despair did remaster it earlier technically.

By the way, just saying Kojima when regarding Castlevania is actually somewhat misleading. The IGA style of Castlevania was done by Ayami Kojima. As much as it might be easy to mention Kojima regarding Lords of Shadow, there are actually 2 Kojimas regarding Castlevania history. Ayami who is responsible for the famous IGA artstyle and Hideo who assisted with Lords of Shadow.