Well, this was an interesting but solid Smash Ultimate Direct.
Not surprised with the Ken Echo and Incineroar as the new fighter reveal. Verge was pointing at them being playable, and they seemed more and more likely with each passing day.
I'm pretty happy for Ken! I've wanted him to be playable in Smash ever since Ryu was first leaked in Smash 4, mainly as an alternate costume of Ryu. With the reveal of Echo Fighters, I thought Ken would fit very well for that role, and here we go, he's finally in! Awesome! Not sure if I'll main him though since I still need to learn how to use Ryu properly, but it's pretty cool.
Incineroar is my least favorite of the Alola starters. I was rooting for Primarina since she's one of my favorite Pokemon and my favorite Alola starter, despite the fact her chances were looking pretty low compared to the other Alola starters. I wouldn't have minded Decidueye either since I like him too. Incineroar... well, I've warmed up to the Pokemon since S/M's release and started to like how expressive he is, but he just isn't an Alola Pokemon that I wanted. Still, I think he turned out pretty well in Smash. His model is on-point, and I like how we finally have a true wrestler in Smash with his inclusion. Congrats to the Incineorar fans that have been wanting him in Smash!
And it turns out Ken and Incineroar are the final newcomers prior to the game's launch. Damn. Looks like that box leak was right all along. Would've been nice to sneak in one more new fighter to reach the gold number of 75 prior to the game's launch, but oh well. It's still a pretty good roster.
It also meant the Grinch leak got completely deconfirmed. I was rather skeptical of that leak when it first popped up, and it looks like my skepticism turned out be right. Yeah, it just sounded like a too-good-to-be-true kind of leak.
Spirits seem to be an enhanced version of Stickers from Brawl. Not sure what to think about that right now, but in the context of the new Adventure mode, they might turn out to be more fun than I thought. Sucks that trophies aren't coming back, but I can understand why they're absent as Sakurai explained.
I like how you can customize the rules for online battles with random people instead of just friends. Looks like you can finally completely replicate the meta rules for online play! I'm still worried if lag will still be an issue, but it seems like Sakurai is aware about the issue by having the game making you face more local players online when choosing opponents. I still need to buy a wired LAN adapter, so I guess that's a potential Christmas gift to look forward to.
As for the Assist Trophies, Black Knight as a new AT is interesting. Nice that they brought his Heroes voice too. Same can be said for Adult Tiki. RIP Shadow, Isaac, and Spring Man though. Looks like Shadow is still locked to that AT role, Isaac was brought back only to be reconfirmed again, and it seems like we won't even be getting a new Arms rep for DLC with its mascot turned into an AT. Spring Man was one of my most wanted too, so his reconfirmation did sting a bit for me. Still, good to see we at least have Arms content in the game.
Oh hey, Yoshi'a new Final Smash is the stampede from Melee! I really like the reference!
New Mii Costumes are cool. I like Mii costumes, so I'm all in for their return.
DLC is confirmed! No surprise, but glad to see it's there. Nice to know 5 fighters are on the way as part of the Fighters pass. I hope Professor Layton is one of them! I also hope we'll get more DLC beyond those 5 fighters that are part of the upcoming pass (maybe another Fighters pass for 2020), but I'm prepared for the worst.
Piranha Plant is an actual newcomer? WOW, now THAT'S a shocker. Looks like he's the completely unexpected newcomer for this game. I honestly thought they were going to reveal Petey Piranha when the Piranha Plant showed up (I initially thought Piranha Plant would be an item), but what we got instead shocked me! It's going to be fun seeing all the reactions. I also like how its final Smash is a reference to Subspace Emissary with the way Petey Piranha comes into the battlefield and attacks with the cages.
I wonder whether or not Piranha Plant is among the 5 fighters part of the Fighter pass. I hope/don't think so. They said Piranha Plant is a free download, not something you have to pay for. They also didn't talk about a new stage with Piranha Plant's reveal.
The new adventure mode looks pretty cool so far! I wonder who this new enemy will be. Is it Taboo again, or maybe a different form of him? I got Taboo vibes seeing that orb in the middle and the wings, though they looked more angelic than the cyber-butterfly wings of Taboo. Seems like Shulk's vision wasn't enough to help most of the fighters escape those beams of light, but Kirby managed to escape like a badass (gotta love Sakurai's bias coming through by having the character he created being the one to escape it and be our starting hero for this adventure)! I don't see it having as engaging of a story as Subspace Emissary, but it still looks promising. Nice to see that it'll even bring back some Subspace bosses like Galleom.
Fun Direct overall. Looking forward to picking up the game next month!
