Well, now that the initial shock has passed, I've started the task of moving forward. I took a brief nap, which helped immensely given I didn't get any sleep last night. I've started reconsidering the reveals in their intended context instead of compared to the dream scenario that was the Grinch Leak. I've given some serious thought as to what the next best steps are for Isaac fans, for Smash fans, and for myself. To be honest, I'm already feeling much better than I did a few short hours ago.
<Rant incoming!>
So Isaac is an assist trophy, and therefore not to be playable at least through the beginning of 2020. It's not what we wanted, but we all knew it was a possibility. Instead of dwelling on that negative, here's some positives to focus on:
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We got Isaac back into Smash, and in an upgraded form too. Considering he was a complete no-show in SSB4, that's a significant bone being thrown by the development team and a sign that
our ballot votes did matter. Further, judging by Matthew there will be Golden Sun spirits, so we've got a little to look forward to on that front as well.
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The Ultimate roster is still ridiculous. It's easy to take it for granted at this point, but remember that we have literally every veteran fighter on the roster, plus two huge fan choices in Ridley and K. Rool, the immensely popular Inklings and Isabelle, a number of new clones, and even a couple of Castlevania characters! It may be the weakest entry now in terms of new fighters, but I don't think there's any contesting that this is the best roster we've ever had, and possibly ever will have.
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DLC is still a thing. Okay, so Isaac is virtually guaranteed to not be a part of the first year of DLC. We're still getting five more brand-new fighters via DLC, and, while I know the choice of Piranha Plant stings, at least it's a freebie on top of those other five. Further, while it's obviously too early to say for sure, there's the possibility that we could see another season of DLC after that, and it's entirely possible such an extension could include fighters that were passed over like the ATs.
Finally, if there's one thing I've learned for sure this reveal season, it's that our voices do matter. There's no way Ridley or K. Rool would be playable if their fanbases hadn't been loud and proud for years leading up to Ultimate, and it's entirely possible Isaac would have still been a no show. Instead of accepting defeat and shying away from the game, we need Isaac fans to buckle in and get ready for the long haul. Here's some simple things we can do now:
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Buy the game and the Fighters Pass. If you don't want the game now, so be it, but if we want a chance at more DLC beyond what we've heard of, we have to make Ultimate a massive success, enough that Nintendo will want to milk this cow as long as they can. Money talks!
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Support your content creators. People like
Billybae10K
and
StoicSeraph
have already been doing great work, and we need to do our part to share that content and even create more if you are so inclined. This is especially important for Isaac because we need to have tangible proof for Nintendo that there is a lot of passion out there for Golden Sun they can potentially profit off of, and again, money talks!
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Consider thanking Nintendo and Sakurai. This is the hardest one, especially right now, but I think we should all seriously consider it. We've gone from Golden Sun being cut from Smash for all intents and purposes to again having a notable presence. Take this at face value: Sakurai and company brought back Isaac in response to fan demand. Just because it isn't exactly what we wanted doesn't mean we didn't get anything, and now is a great time to say that we appreciate the gesture and to also remind them that there is still a lot of demand out there for more.
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Never, ever give up. Ridley fans didn't get him in the game by admitting he was too big. K. Rool fans didn't get him in the game by admitting he wasn't relevant. They got their characters because they persisted, even when the rest of the world told them they shouldn't. Same goes for Geno and Banjo: obviously neither is confirmed yet (and Geno is arguably deconfirmed by his spirit), but I think both remain very strong possibilities for those five DLC character slots because they too have had passionate fanbases over the years. Now we stand strong as the largest fanbase for a currently non-playable character on Smashboards, and have a lot of momentum across the greater Smash community to boot. Instead of letting that wither on the vine, we should do what we can to preserve that spirit and ensure our voices continue to be heard. We didn't give up after Brawl, and we didn't give up after SSB4, so why should we give up now? If anything, we should work to become that next success story.
It's going to be difficult to stay focused, to be sure. Realistically, we're looking at SSB6 for our next real chance at playability, and that's a difficult thought when we've already struck out three times. If we are willing to start now, though, maybe we can actually prevail. Otherwise, well, I guess Golden Sun will just stay dead, and I'm not ready to accept that fate.
