I'm pretty happy with most of the roster, although there are a couple of picks which prevent it from being my perfect roster. (and 2 of those are my submissions
). I'll group our picks together into how much I like them.
Most Wanteds - Bandana Dee, Octoling, Waluigi, Dixie Kong
My four most wanted fighters. The first three got in extremely early which probably contributed to motivating me to join this project in the first place, and Dixie Kong barely managed to make it in at the end which I was quite pleased for, even though it meant my own Birdo submission had to lose. None of these ended up being my submissions, but I would have definitely crank out a writeup for them if I had the opportunity to.
The popular picks - Isaac, Crash, Ashley, Jill, Leon, Takamaru, Officer Howard, Dr. Eggman, Impa, Mrs. Pac-Man
In a universe where a smash sequel was being made, I would want all these characters to be in, and could reasonably expect them too. To some extent I think it would feel like they would be "missing" if we didn't include any of these. They happen to all be popular and decently talked about, which doesn't hamper my enjoyment of them, although I understand it does lessen their impact for some people.
Unique Picks - Stylist, DJ Octavio, Galacta Knight, Medusa
All of these are reasonable picks, which get less coverage in the speculation scene, which helps set our project apart, without breaking my suspension of disbelief. Medusa stretches it due to Kid Icarus's lack of renewed relevancy, but Sakurai is still the director in this universe so I can definitely see Medusa getting in. I love that we included these fighters, but they don't feel as "necessary" as some of the above characters.
The Interchangeables - Barista, Sami, Anna, Iori
While I would want any smash sequel to include a RH and AW rep, and would expect another FE and Fighting Game rep, I don't have much of a preference for which fighters those are. I'm glad we included these specific fighters, but I wouldn't mind if they were switched out for another representative of their series.
Marin Tier - Marin
Marin is a particularly divisive inclusion, although I think I've largely come to terms with it. While I still think the recognizability of the design of Majora's Mask, and the requests for Skull Kid make him the obvious choice, and Midna would be the best choice to get all the 3D mainline games representation, Marin does technically have the same amount relevance in terms of mainline series appearances, with one to all three. I also think Marin lacks in moveset potential compared to the other two, not only because her moveset is largely smash original, but also because the other two have so much potential. However, Link's Awakening Nintendo Switch is the most recent Zelda title, so Marin being the next Zelda rep is something I can definitely see happening. Plus Link's Awakening has Kirby in it.
Suspension of Disbelief Breakers - Grovyle & Celebi, Reimu, Crazy Dave
I recognize that two of these are my submissions, but I dont these three are all that realistic, and therefore they sour the roster a little to me,
Grovyle & Celebi - TPC is much more likely to include a promotional pokemon, and I highly doubt spinoff content would receive a fighter.
Reimu - Hard to explain, but doesn't feel like a base roster character to me. I also have a hard time believing Touhou would be our first indie series over the likes of Shovel Knight, Shantae, and Undertale. The questionable spirit art quality also doesn't help.
Crazy Dave - yeah I just wanted to submit Plants Vs Zombies spirits. Minecraft sets the precedent for a new Western IP getting in, but its also the highest selling game of all time. Plants Vs Zombies lacks the cultural significance to be one of the select few third party fighters in smash bros imo. But the moveset did turn out pretty cool and the tower defense genre is now repped.
However, I love PMD and PvZ, and fumos are... a thing, so I can't get too upset about them. This is our sequel after all, not a roster prediction.
So overall, I'd give it a 8.5/10 but I mainly have myself to blame for it not being higher. Kirby getting two reps pretty much nullifies any problems with the roster anyway though.