[SPOILER ALERT] - The Sevens Squares. - A Square-Enix general support threads.

[StormC]

Something to note about that Famitsu reader poll is that it's from 2006. Things have changed then, so it'd be nice if we were able to get more accurate data.

The Japanese poll I linked for favorite FF character is from last year, so that aspect hasn't changed much. Cloud, Sephiroth, Tidus and Yuna were the most popular FF characters, and FFX and FFVII were the two highest scoring games in Famitsu's poll.

 

[Luigi The President]

Eh. It’s probably something along the lines of “leakers didn’t know about Joker, so why would they know about Erdrick”

Again while I do see the merit in that argument (since I am pretty much known as the skeptic around here), I do think there’s enough precedent to at least, to a certain degree, expect Erdrick

Definitely NOT enough to go all in, but enough to make him a frontrunner.

Psy: sips wine I am, perhaps...THE skeptic.
Ponycorn: looks at camera

 

[Fatmanonice]

Oh no



Oh NO



NOT AGAIN



I know history repeats itself but I didn't expect it to be that fast. We are now in a state of denying the words of leakers, insisting some kind of big brain leakbait trap has been set, claiming that Nintendo 'would have learned how to hide things better by now' (does [THE BOX] ring any bells?), and dismissing patterns because 'they don't really matter' (again, [THE BOX] rears its ugly face).

Just that fast we've come full circle and are in full-on doubt mode on every front for virtually no reason. I figured I made enough of a fool of myself that people would learn from my mistake, but here we are again.

Excuse me? I'm allowed to have doubts and have gone into my arguments in full. Don't parade me around in here like some village idiot for a cheap laugh.

 

[Luigi The President]

Oh no



Oh NO



NOT AGAIN



I know history repeats itself but I didn't expect it to be that fast. We are now in a state of denying the words of leakers, insisting some kind of big brain leakbait trap has been set, claiming that Nintendo 'would have learned how to hide things better by now' (does [THE BOX] ring any bells?), and dismissing patterns because 'they don't really matter' (again, [THE BOX] rears its ugly face).

Just that fast we've come full circle and are in full-on doubt mode on every front for virtually no reason. I figured I made enough of a fool of myself that people would learn from my mistake, but here we are again.

Chief I agree with the message but not exactly how it was delivered
I really have seen some pretty legit arguments against it being Erdrick

 

[PsySmasher]

Psy: sips wine I am, perhaps...THE skeptic.
Ponycorn: looks at camera

Buddy. Let’s get something straight...

I would NEVER drink wine, since I’m not of age just yet.

However, everything else is completely accurate and should be treated as such.

Oh no



Oh NO



NOT AGAIN



I know history repeats itself but I didn't expect it to be that fast. We are now in a state of denying the words of leakers, insisting some kind of big brain leakbait trap has been set, claiming that Nintendo 'would have learned how to hide things better by now' (does [THE BOX] ring any bells?), and dismissing patterns because 'they don't really matter' (again, [THE BOX] rears its ugly face).

Just that fast we've come full circle and are in full-on doubt mode on every front for virtually no reason. I figured I made enough of a fool of myself that people would learn from my mistake, but here we are again.

I get where you’re coming from but...

You could’ve delivered your message better.
Insulting people is the main way to turn people AGAINST you, regardless if they agree w/ your opinion or not.

 

[Teeb147]

Since there's been a lot of discussion about the Brave character in this thread, it can be nice to share some of the info you've found out:

https://smashboards.com/threads/brave-new-character-datamined.470443/

Just leaving it there for anyone to know about the thread and add to it.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I noticed somebody brought up Link as a zoner but what are some traits that Link has? He's fairly slow, can't jump super great, and is kind of heavy. To balance this, he has good long range options and great kill power. Long range projectile zoners usually have these kind of traits. If they're not slow and/or heavy, they're fast and light and Smash Ultimate only really has one fast projectile user that is above average speed that has multiple long range projectiles and that's Toon Link (Palutena's debatable given the nature of explosive flare and her rushdown nature). Brave stats are much more similar to mid range zoners like Duck Hunt and Pac-Man. Brave is average weight, average ground speed (but poor traction), good air speed, and really good fall speed so it's not likely that Brave is going to fight from far away but he's not fast enough to be a rush down character. Notice the air speed stats of everyone above Brave (1.14 so about the same as Sheik and Cloud):

http://kuroganehammer.com/Ultimate/AirSpeed

Notice how these characters are typically up close and personal. Swordsmen wise, you have Roy and Chrom who are also 19-22 characters faster than Brave and 11 characters lighter. You also have Mii Swordsman, who has multiple mid range projectiles. Mii Swordsman is also slower on the ground by a noticeable amount but almost exactly the same weight (101). That said, you have a midway between Link and Roy. Again, if the character is a swordsman, they're very atypical to the typical design of sword fighters.

 

[Deleted member]

Anyone know where I could find those datamine tweets? I'm planning to do my own research.

 

[Deleted member]

I noticed somebody brought up Link as a zoner but what are some traits that Link has? He's fairly slow, can't jump super great, and is kind of heavy. To balance this, he has good long range options and great kill power. Long range projectile zoners usually have these kind of traits. If they're not slow and/or heavy, they're fast and light and Smash Ultimate only really has one fast projectile user that is above average speed that has multiple long range projectiles and that's Toon Link (Palutena's debatable given the nature of explosive flare and her rushdown nature). Brave stats are much more similar to mid range zoners like Duck Hunt and Pac-Man. Brave is average weight, average ground speed (but poor traction), good air speed, and really good fall speed so it's not likely that Brave is going to fight from far away but he's not fast enough to be a rush down character. Notice the air speed stats of everyone above Brave (1.14 so about the same as Sheik and Cloud):

http://kuroganehammer.com/Ultimate/AirSpeed

Notice how these characters are typically up close and personal. Swordsmen wise, you have Roy and Chrom who are also 19-22 characters faster than Brave and 11 characters lighter. You also have Mii Swordsman, who has multiple mid range projectiles. Mii Swordsman is also slower on the ground by a noticeable amount but almost exactly the same weight (101). That said, you have a midway between Link and Roy. Again, if the character is a swordsman, they're very atypical to the typical design of sword fighters.

Thanks, thats a better explanation than just zoner.

 

[Fatmanonice]

Anyone know where I could find those datamine tweets? I'm planning to do my own research.

Here:

https://twitter.com/_Mizumi/status/1082674700810182657

And here:

https://twitter.com/_Mizumi/status/1080977290266324993

And here:

https://twitter.com/jam1garner/status/1080972311015145477

Here you go.

 

[Deleted member]

Here you go.

Thank you!

 

[LetterO]

Wait, I haven't looked at this thread in a while. TLDR, what makes it seem like it could be someone besides Erdrick? Apparently he shares stats with zoners or something?

 

[Xigger]

I noticed somebody brought up Link as a zoner but what are some traits that Link has? He's fairly slow, can't jump super great, and is kind of heavy. To balance this, he has good long range options and great kill power. Long range projectile zoners usually have these kind of traits. If they're not slow and/or heavy, they're fast and light and Smash Ultimate only really has one fast projectile user that is above average speed that has multiple long range projectiles and that's Toon Link (Palutena's debatable given the nature of explosive flare and her rushdown nature). Brave stats are much more similar to mid range zoners like Duck Hunt and Pac-Man. Brave is average weight, average ground speed (but poor traction), good air speed, and really good fall speed so it's not likely that Brave is going to fight from far away but he's not fast enough to be a rush down character. Notice the air speed stats of everyone above Brave (1.14 so about the same as Sheik and Cloud):

http://kuroganehammer.com/Ultimate/AirSpeed

Notice how these characters are typically up close and personal. Swordsmen wise, you have Roy and Chrom who are also 19-22 characters faster than Brave and 11 characters lighter. You also have Mii Swordsman, who has multiple mid range projectiles. Mii Swordsman is also slower on the ground by a noticeable amount but almost exactly the same weight (101). That said, you have a midway between Link and Roy. Again, if the character is a swordsman, they're very atypical to the typical design of sword fighters.

I love the dedication you put into this! So, since you know these stats very well, how do you think they fit the characters in this leak? I would say:

Good fit:

• Geno
• Sora
• Crono
• Slime

Bad fit:

• Sephiroth
• Erdrick
• Luminary

 

[Deleted member]

I love the dedication you put into this! So, since you know these stats very well, how do you think they fit the characters in this leak? I would say:

Good fit:

• Geno
• Sora
• Crono
• Slime

Bad fit:

• Sephiroth
• Erdrick
• Luminary

I really don't think it's possible to say whether it's a good fit or not for Erdrick. His movement abilities are completely left to interpretation, since all battles in DQ3 are in a first person perspective so you don't actually see him moving. Plus, it would potentially make sense for him to be a zoner with all of the magic at his disposal.

However, I do agree on the other two lol

 

[Captain Fun]

I love the dedication you put into this! So, since you know these stats very well, how do you think they fit the characters in this leak? I would say:

Good fit:

• Geno
• Sora
• Crono
• Slime

Bad fit:

• Sephiroth
• Erdrick
• Luminary

What would make Crono a good fit but not Erdrick or the Luminary?

 

[Xigger]

I really don't think it's possible to say whether it's a good fit or not for Erdrick. His movement abilities are completely left to interpretation, since all battles in DQ3 are in a first person perspective so you don't actually see him moving. Plus, it would potentially make sense for him to be a zoner with all of the magic at his disposal.

However, I do agree on the other two lol

What would make Crono a good fit but not Erdrick or the Luminary?

It's in some of the details I've seen Fatman talk about, which is why I asked him. I don't remember exactly, something about character archetypes, and heights/speeds not matching up. I've heard "shorter than Luigi" passed around a lot, which made me think teen Crono was more fitting than tall Luminary/Erdrick.

 

[osby]

What would make Crono a good fit but not Erdrick or the Luminary?

Crono is shorter than them, I guess? Though it's not like Smash designs can't take artistic liberties.

 

[Captain Fun]

I thought the character size parameter didn't matter because it just scaled the model, and we don't know what the model is.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I know people have talked about fluctuating height but what would make Erdrick child height aside from actually being a kid? We don't really have a lot of characters with extreme stances. Greninja is the most extreme because he's about 1 unit tall in his typical stance but about 1.75 if fully standing up.

Looking at the cast as a whole, not a lot of characters have a lot of stances that would make them significantly taller if they got out of them aside from Greninja and Ridley. Cloud honestly has the deepest stance of any sword fighter and it's just a simple wide stance, not anything extreme like a horse stance or a deep crouch.

 

[Deleted member]

It's in some of the details I've seen Fatman talk about, which is why I asked him. I don't remember exactly, something about character archetypes, and heights/speeds not matching up. I've heard "shorter than Luigi" passed around a lot, which made me think teen Crono was more fitting than tall Luminary/Erdrick.

I thought the character size parameter didn't matter because it just scaled the model, and we don't know what the model is.

Height value seems to be a scalar value rather than something that determines actual height, perfectchaos83 link from Resetera shows a pic with the values from brave applied to Ike and it just seems to adjust height in scale more than anything.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/sp...fighter-datamined.91160/page-56#post-16643397

 

[SpectreJordan]

Whatever happened to the Erdrick leak that claimed we’d be seeing Leon, Tracer & a Guilty Gear Character?

 

[Nemuresu]

Whatever happened to the Erdrick leak that claimed we’d be seeing Leon, Tracer & a Guilty Gear Character?

Still left to be proven real or fake. Not that the latter would be surprising, since Sol Badguy and Tracer are even a bigger stretch than Joker.

 

[Xigger]

I know people have talked about fluctuating height

Height value seems to be a scalar value rather than something that determines actual height

Conflicting facts? If only there were a Brave thread that could summarize all of this info in one place...

 

[GoodGrief741]

I noticed somebody brought up Link as a zoner but what are some traits that Link has? He's fairly slow, can't jump super great, and is kind of heavy. To balance this, he has good long range options and great kill power. Long range projectile zoners usually have these kind of traits. If they're not slow and/or heavy, they're fast and light and Smash Ultimate only really has one fast projectile user that is above average speed that has multiple long range projectiles and that's Toon Link (Palutena's debatable given the nature of explosive flare and her rushdown nature). Brave stats are much more similar to mid range zoners like Duck Hunt and Pac-Man. Brave is average weight, average ground speed (but poor traction), good air speed, and really good fall speed so it's not likely that Brave is going to fight from far away but he's not fast enough to be a rush down character. Notice the air speed stats of everyone above Brave (1.14 so about the same as Sheik and Cloud):

http://kuroganehammer.com/Ultimate/AirSpeed

Notice how these characters are typically up close and personal. Swordsmen wise, you have Roy and Chrom who are also 19-22 characters faster than Brave and 11 characters lighter. You also have Mii Swordsman, who has multiple mid range projectiles. Mii Swordsman is also slower on the ground by a noticeable amount but almost exactly the same weight (101). That said, you have a midway between Link and Roy. Again, if the character is a swordsman, they're very atypical to the typical design of sword fighters.

So a mid-range zoned then?

That would fit with my expectation of an Erdrick that uses Boom (hey, that’s kind of similar to Duck Hunt), or maybe if he were to wield a spear or sickle.

 

[Rumble Red]

I don't have a stake in the parameters game, but I think people are a touch hung up on Erdrick being exactly like either the official art from the NES version or the SNES version, both of which are pretty old. It could be one of those, but I think a new design is more likely. The most recent art Toriyama's done of Erdrick that I can think of is from the cover of the 30th anniversary artbook (middle row left if you can't tell your Gokus apart), and I could easily see him looking roughly like that.

It's true that the figure that came out recently was very faithful to the SNES design, but merchandise is going to have different priorities.

I've heard "shorter than Luigi" passed around a lot, which made me think teen Crono was more fitting than tall Luminary/Erdrick.

Erdrick's about the same age as Crono. Crono being dragged outta bed by his mom was a direct reference to Erdrick being dragged outta bed by his mom.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Still left to be proven real or fake. Not that the latter would be surprising, since Sol Badguy and Tracer are even a bigger stretch than Joker.

Who knows with this series anymore lmao. If either leak is real, I’d prefer that one tbh. That’d be fun to see everyone’s reactions to those characters. Plus, I think Leon & Tracer could be cool.

In all likelihood, outside of Erdrick no one’s probably leaked the rest of them. No one knew about Plant or Joker.

 

[MajoraMan28]

For sure, and so would Terra. FFVI is actually the least popular of the SNES FF games in Japan, while here it's the most popular.

I never will understand Japan's collective hardon for Lightning. Probably to do with SE pushing her down everyone's throats around the time the FFXIII games were being released.
But, if they like her then more power to them I guess. Maybe I just don't see something they do.

I guess all we can currently do is wait and see what happens. If a Direct is happening this month I would bet on it being closer to the end of the month.

??
No, VI is not the least popular. The FF fanbase evolved over time, with the current one being dominated by the edgy teens from the S-E era, where FF became less about story, characters and classicism and more about the looks. And these people are usually the reason they put characters from X and XIII high up there. VII is kinda an exception bc the expanded universe created by Nomura with Advent Children and his KH interpretation ruined it, I mean, adapted it, to their tastes. But the classic (Nintendo-PSX) fans are still there, and of those people we still see VI and VII at the top. And it shows with their videogame concerts. If not One Winged Angel, usually Terra's Theme, Dancing Mad or, most commonly, the Opera of Maria and Draco show up frequently..
Popularity aside, objectively speaking among the fanbase globally, VII and VI are usually viewed as the Top 2 bar none (VII takes the cake for me).

I thought the character size parameter didn't matter because it just scaled the model, and we don't know what the model is.

Thank you!!
People keep ignoring this to try to convince themselves they are somehow closer to the true result. We have nothing to go from yet.

 

[Calane]

Ah alright fair enough!

TBH, Im really skeptical regarding Brave being Erdrick.
I believe that the datamine stats kind of there a Monkey wrench to my faith, because assuming the character is Ness-sized, and Tansut said the character (he never mentioned DQ, we all just assumed he did imo) could swap between Male and female versions.

Both of these clash because there is no oficial chibi female Erdrick. So for me Brave is either a Monster Hunter character. Or... a DQ Builder character?
I don't know. We're also all assuming Brave is a zoner. But if Prince Sable was a PC, he'd fit these stats alright, and be a rushdown character.

Too many contradicting factors is what i'm seeing. I'm not that certain we're getting a DQ character. Or hey, I can at least hope it's Slime... Or a Builder *inb4 too many animu hammer wielders*

About Tansut, here's three posts he made on the subject.

1: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...ultimate-destiny.84900/page-364#post-16409287

2: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...ultimate-destiny.84900/page-365#post-16411936

3: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...ultimate-destiny.84900/page-366#post-16422301

Yeah, there's no doubt he's talking about DQ (and Erdrick in particular).

Also, there's nothing indicating that "Brave" is Ness-sized. Do I have to show everyone the Mizumi post again?

 

[Xigger]

Erdrick's about the same age as Crono. Crono being dragged outta bed by his mom was a direct reference to Erdrick being dragged outta bed by his mom.

Right. But the height is the important thing: Adult Erdrick is adult height, while Kid Erdrick and Crono's are kid height.

 

[perfectchaos83]

Right. But the height is the important thing: Adult Erdrick is adult height, while Kid Erdrick and Crono's are kid height.

Crono is the same size as SNES Erdrick (There are no kid/adult designs, Erdick is 16 regardless of the version you play).

 

[Deleted member]

Ignore this

 

[Deleted member]

Right. But the height is the important thing: Adult Erdrick is adult height, while Kid Erdrick and Crono's are kid height.

Found Mizumi tweet about height
https://twitter.com/_Mizumi/status/1084557161810874369
Height seems to be a value regarding how many times bigger is the model compared to the original model in the game's data rather than indicating actual height of the model, and I feel ashamed of not realizing how much this makes sense considering I took a class in 3D modeling a few years ago (Also considering that items like mushrooms exist). Actual height is unknown until we see the model.

 

[Deleted member]

Ignore pls

 

[shinhed-echi]

About Tansut, here's three posts he made on the subject.

1: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...ultimate-destiny.84900/page-364#post-16409287

2: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...ultimate-destiny.84900/page-365#post-16411936

3: https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...ultimate-destiny.84900/page-366#post-16422301

Yeah, there's no doubt he's talking about DQ (and Erdrick in particular).

Also, there's nothing indicating that "Brave" is Ness-sized. Do I have to show everyone the Mizumi post again?

Oh right! Sorry! You're right. I mean I read it but I didn't know what he meant. Reading the rest of the thread Made me realise what you mean!

So height is completely irrelevant. That's good to know.

Thank you for sharing all those links. I had only come across the 2nd one.
I think my faith has been restored a bit!

Tansut is the leaker I trust the most. Followed closely by Vergebin because here we are, no Grinch leak and Kencineroar.

I wish Squeenix would release DQXIs already.

 

[Fatmanonice]

So a mid-range zoned then?

That would fit with my expectation of an Erdrick that uses Boom (hey, that’s kind of similar to Duck Hunt), or maybe if he were to wield a spear or sickle.

Mid range projectile zoner like Pac-Man or Duck Hunt or aerial zoner like Mario or Wario based on the stats, yeah. If the character has a weapon, it's probably not going to have a ton of range because one common characteristic of these types of characters is that they don't have a ton of range and usually try to manipulate their opponents into making mistakes or openings. Wario pokes and retreats, Mario tries to set up grabs and aerial combo strings, Duck Hunt and Pac-Man try to annoy you into coming to them or making mistakes with their projectiles from a fairly close range. This is what is so unusual about Brave.

Based on the stats (okay ground speed with bad traction but great aerial stats), it makes the argument that they'll be at their best in the air and that, like Wario and Jigglypuff, they're notably worse if kept on the ground. Pac-Man and Duck Hunt are like this too but make up for it with their projectiles. This is very unusual for a sword user because, thanks to their range, neither is a bad deal. Toon Link and Young Link may not have the longest range on the ground but they're not likely to be totally shut down. You can't really say this about Mario or Wario. For Duck Hunt, Olimar, and Pac-Man, if they're on the ground, they're more than likely using their projectiles and are at a big disadvantage if these don't work on their opponent. Sword users aren't likely to get totally zoned out because of their range, speed, or both but this is a fairly regularly occurrence for characters like Mario, who Brave resembles more.

The comparisons to Young Link and Toon Link are important because both sword users are light with shorter range and this seems to be a deliberate pattern. Both make up for their lack of range with projectiles, which notably can be comboed into their longer ranged attacks like fair and uair. Sword users with good sword range and/or long range projectiles balance out in one of two ways: being slow as balls or being light. Sword users with good range and projectiles are typically slow while sword users with good range but no projectiles are usually fast.

What about Ike and Shulk? Ah! They have quick mobility options to compensate. Ike has quick draw and Shulk has the Speed Monado art. What about Cloud's blade beam? He's not super reliant on it like Pac-Man is his fruit. It's simply another option and the character's gameplay wouldn't be wrecked if it were gone. Take away Link or Robin's projectiles and it's a much different story. This all said, Brave is much more balanced compared to these guys so likely won't play with these playstyles.

 

[shocktarts17]

Except it's literally not?
The trademark of Dragon Quest protagonists is being a jack of all trades, as I've stated before. They could make an entire moveset with zero sword moves and absolutely nothing would be out of place. Please don't make assumptions about things you don't know or care about.

So here is something I'm noticing, before the data got leaked most of the talk about Erdrick was that he had to use his sword and shield and that they were his most iconic weapons and yet now that those seem to be conflicting with his chances suddenly they are completely unnecessary? I get that he could still use a sword and shield and magic and match those stats but the sword and shield can't both be iconic and necessary at one time and then be dropped when it's suddenly convenient.

Now personally I've not yet played any Dragon Quest game but I have noticed that basically every picture of Erdrick that people post have them with a sword and shield, so that to me seems fairly iconic.

 

[Deleted member]

So here is something I'm noticing, before the data got leaked most of the talk about Erdrick was that he had to use his sword and shield and that they were his most iconic weapons and yet now that those seem to be conflicting with his chances suddenly they are completely unnecessary? I get that he could still use a sword and shield and magic and match those stats but the sword and shield can't both be iconic and necessary at one time and then be dropped when it's suddenly convenient.

Now personally I've not yet played any Dragon Quest game but I have noticed that basically every picture of Erdrick that people post have them with a sword and shield, so that to me seems fairly iconic.

I more meant that hypothetically rather than literally. They would obviously be part of his moveset, however it's unlikely it would be built around swordfighting specifically. Since he also can use a lot of other types of weapons amd magic.
That was worded a bit weirdly but hopefully this clarifies my point. You are right about the sword and shield but they're not a 100% necessity.

 

[PolarPanda]

It's in some of the details I've seen Fatman talk about, which is why I asked him. I don't remember exactly, something about character archetypes, and heights/speeds not matching up. I've heard "shorter than Luigi" passed around a lot, which made me think teen Crono was more fitting than tall Luminary/Erdrick.

Erdrick's original design is the height of a child, though. The adult looking Erdrick design didn't come until a bit later, actually. While this would prove the alts theory/leak parts wrong, it wouldn't be the first time some details of a leak are wrong while others are right.
Additionally, smaller characters tend to be a bit more floaty, which Brave is. Additionally, he has a rather mid running and walking speed, so it would work in that regard too. And finally, being the heaviest mid weight would make sense given his incredibly powerful weapons and armor.

Having played around with the character param files a bit, I'd also like to stress that the height value is very important. If you line up all characters by their height value, they are all just about even. For instance, if you line up characters from tallest to shortest values, they'll go in order. There are very few outliers. Some characters have a pose that makes them slightly taller or a taunt, but that isn't their idle. Isabelle is one of the only characters who is just 1-2 values taller than her stat because of her bun, but her body itself still fits the value. Honestly, this hardly fits any characters I can think of besides Erdrick or Crono. I've seen people suggest BWD, but BWD wouldn't be that much larger than Kirby. And Slime would NEVER be this tall. Never ever. This is way too tall for Slime. Slime would be more around Kirby's size if not smaller. This is like scaling slime up 5 times for some reason and wouldn't make much sense at all. He wouldn't be almost as tall as Mario.

 

[shinhed-echi]

So here is something I'm noticing, before the data got leaked most of the talk about Erdrick was that he had to use his sword and shield and that they were his most iconic weapons and yet now that those seem to be conflicting with his chances suddenly they are completely unnecessary? I get that he could still use a sword and shield and magic and match those stats but the sword and shield can't both be iconic and necessary at one time and then be dropped when it's suddenly convenient.

Now personally I've not yet played any Dragon Quest game but I have noticed that basically every picture of Erdrick that people post have them with a sword and shield, so that to me seems fairly iconic.

Really? Because I think the struggle has always been us DQ fans trying to convince non-DQ fans that the Hero protagonists wouldn't play like Marth.
And I'm sure every moveset Made by a DQ fan won't be sword+shield centric.

Sword and "I Guess shield" abilities is what people new to Erdrick's concept art say about his moveset potential.

And now the struggle is trying to convince people how he wouldn't play anything like Robin.

Besides, Brave playing zoner style is pure assumption. And we also wouldn't know how Erdrick's Magic would act on screen so we can't Say if he'd be a zoner type. (But chances are, yeah, he'd be a zoner due to how the Magic of DQ universe travels like).
-

 

[Fatmanonice]

Except it's literally not?
The trademark of Dragon Quest protagonists is being a jack of all trades, as I've stated before. They could make an entire moveset with zero sword moves and absolutely nothing would be out of place. Please don't make assumptions about things you don't know or care about.

But why would Erdrick not have a sword in Smash? He's almost always depicted with one. Link is super versatile too in his games but it would be extremely weird for him not to have a sword. Same premise. It's also notable that adult Erdrick always has a sword about the same size as the Master Sword, heavily conflicting with my stat analysis. Long sword users are usually fast and light or slow and more on the heavy side, with these traits being more pronounced the better ranged options they have. Brave's stats are not like Marth or Link or Metaknight or Shulk. He's very well rounded which swordsmen typically aren't. As said before, the sword fighter they are the similar to is Mii Sword Fighter, who has poor range but multiple mid range projectiles and poor ground speed but multiple quick movement options on top of decent aerial movement.