I mentioned the whole “they’re aiming for 100 Fighters” thing last week, except that I count the Koopalings, Alph, etc. We’re already over 90.
From what I’m reading, from Sakurai himself and from the Nintendo president, I feel reaffirmed in the belief that characters will
be from new companies, and/or new series.
I honestly think believing otherwise is setting up for disappointment. Literally, the president of the company spoke directly about it, and Sakurai again said he picks from a pool that Nintendo gives him.
The direction has been spoken to, by the guy (Furukawa) who leads the company in question. He spoke about the crossover and expanding the franchise. The first pass, which was characterized similarly, was all 3rd party.
Call it bias, but I really don’t think there’s a different way to read it. After this? I can’t see characters like Waluigi or Isaac getting upgrades. I don’t see Fire Emblem getting a new character either, despite how badly I want one. I do see more characters, like Crash, Dante, Leon or Jill, Heihachi, making their way in.
Could there be a first party newcomer? Sure. However, the only first party newcomer we’ve gotten for Smash was Corrin, as a promo pick. Everything else aside from vets (which there aren’t any more of) have been 3rd parties.
I need to write my article, lol. Nothing wrong with wanting 1st parties. There are some I want as well. But all this stuff seems incredibly similar to the first one, and I see it going the same direction.