Raw reactions: I loved every minute of this direct.
Ken + Incineroar look great in-game; I actually prefer Ken to Ryu in Street Fighter, so seeing him come with his variations from SFII Turbo intact is really satisfying, and Incineroar looks like he'll be great fun. The cinematic between them + Little Mac was fantastic, well animated and choreographed.
Seeing Trophies are indeed no longer a thing in Ultimate surprised me. Spirits make sense as their replacement, though I don't see myself letting them go unless I can get multiples of them, as I do want to collect all of them if possible. It'll be like having a comprehensive art gallery present, and I'm hoping we have a bunch of them in the game (seems all but certain).
Spirits Mode is quite intriguing to me, and I really love the RPG style of it. Probably one of my favorite parts of the entire direct, and I feel it is going to make for a great Single-Player mode.
Online stuff sounds promising, and I love the lobby that is featured when playing with friends. Being able to spectate is a wonderful feature, and I'm definitely going to make use of that feature once I start dabbling into the online.
I'm definitely purchasing the Fighters Pass, as I bought all of the DLC in Smash 4 except for the Mii Costumes, so I'm going to be very curious which five get added in. All will be unique fighters as well, so that has me quite excited!
Never expected Piranha Plant to be a playable character, and my goodness does it look like a blast. I'm definitely looking forward to using it once it drops in February, such a great WTF character in my opinion.
Also, that vocal arrangement of the main theme got me tearing up hard, it is
so good! Adventure Mode looks awesome, and I laughed so much when seeing Kirby as the sole survivor of the battle. Makes sense though as Kirby is canonically the strongest fighter in the roster.
A tad disappointed that there was no demo announcement, but I figure this direct plus the Treehouse footage and other gameplay footage that pops up will keep me busy until the game launches though.
Time to rewatch the direct many more times over the next several weeks lol
All in all, I'm more excited for Ultimate now than ever, and December 7th can't come fast enough for me.