Social The Adorable Assistant of ACNL: Isabelle Discussion Thread

[lightdasher]

Still rooting for that little doggie.

And don't over think the echo fighter stuff, y'all treating it like a glorified alt, go re-watch Daisy's trailer and you can see she has a different Idle animation, so it's not as cut and dry as Alph is to Olimar. (besides, don't forget Dark Pit's side B is a different model too)

 

[Slyshock]

The canonization of the Echo does little to alter her odds of being derivative; Even before the term "Echo Fighter" was coined, clones and semiclones had always been a factor in Smash. That being said, I don't believe she'll be an Echo. She's such a clear choice that she must've been among the first to cross Sakurai's mind, and she's big enough to put in the extra effort for. Several Animal Crossing staples were left out of Villager's moveset, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this was deliberately done so that there'd be room for another character from the series in the future.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I have been reading the AC wiki about Isabelle, and this fact caught my eye:

-Sometimes if the player talks to her while visiting another town, she'll tell the player that she has many sisters who look exactly as her, that work as secretaries in other towns, and are all named, of course, "Isabelle".

The prospect of there being a million sisters that are named Isabelle scares the hell out of me. Who is the mastermind behind all of these Isabelles?!?! One day, the world will be ruled by Isabelle, betraying every human villager imaginable.

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

I have been reading the AC wiki about Isabelle, and this fact caught my eye:

-Sometimes if the player talks to her while visiting another town, she'll tell the player that she has many sisters who look exactly as her, that work as secretaries in other towns, and are all named, of course, "Isabelle".

The prospect of there being a million sisters that are named Isabelle scares the hell out of me. Who is the mastermind behind all of these Isabelles?!?! One day, the world will be ruled by Isabelle, betraying every human villager imaginable.

And if they're all sisters, that means they all come from the same mother... that is scary. For every town that exists (and we all know how popular NL is), so does an Isabelle. At least all the Annas in Fire Emblem weren't a part of the same time period!

 

[Luminario]

I have been reading the AC wiki about Isabelle, and this fact caught my eye:

-Sometimes if the player talks to her while visiting another town, she'll tell the player that she has many sisters who look exactly as her, that work as secretaries in other towns, and are all named, of course, "Isabelle".

The prospect of there being a million sisters that are named Isabelle scares the hell out of me. Who is the mastermind behind all of these Isabelles?!?! One day, the world will be ruled by Isabelle, betraying every human villager imaginable.

lmao they're the Nurse Joys of the AC world

 

[BluePikmin11]

I fleshed out the Public Works Project play-style for Isabelle more during a discussion at the Smash Ultimate thread. The process of Isabelle's project play-style is rather simple:

1. Isabelle plans a construction for a project via neutral-B (Which can be selected quickly via Ultimate Shulk Monado Arts, up to five different projects can be create).

2. Isabelle quickly creates blueprint and holds it as an item. When pressing A on the ground, Isabelle plants the blueprint on the ground quickly starts the construction for the project, with animal construction workers building the project.

3. The time length of construction for each project varies. You want a quick project that creates a small, but low HP wall that forces opponents to maneuver? Select the smallest project when planning. You want a project that is both large and sturdy in defense? Pick the the largest project at the cost of lengthened construction time when planning.

4. Defend the project from opponents as it is constructing. The weaknesses of projects is that they can be destroyed by opponents, even during construction. So Isabelle would have to play aggressively defensive, protecting her construction for her to be rewarded with a new form of stage control.You can cancel projects during the process of construction via neutral-B, but you cannot make them simply disappear once the project is fully finished. Either you have to destroy the project via attacks or let the opponents do so.

5. Once fully completed, the project become a part of the stage, increasing Isabelle's stats and town happiness by a slight margin, until the object is attacked enough to be destroyed. Up to five projects can be placed in the stage. When five objects are in place, Isabelle's happiness and stats are maxed, being pretty godly in agility and power.

The process of construction has both its risks and rewards. The player and the opponent would have different but tense goals to follow. Isabelle players would have to defend their hardest in an aggressive manner to get their stat award and gain stage control, while the opponent has to counter back by attacking the constructing project before it is complete within a matter of time. Isabelle's play-style basically a risk-and-reward tower defense game, and I think that play-style would be something that players will have a fun time with.

Honestly, the more I describe her play-style, the more I want to see Isabelle in Smash. Do you think this works for Isabelle?

 

[Aurane]

Hi.

Isabelle is super cute and needs to be in Smash.

Thank you. Have a day.

 

[Luminario]

I fleshed out the Public Works Project play-style for Isabelle more during a discussion at the Smash Ultimate thread. The process of Isabelle's project play-style is rather simple:

1. Isabelle plans a construction for a project via neutral-B (Which can be selected quickly via Ultimate Shulk Monado Arts, up to five different projects can be create).

2. Isabelle quickly creates blueprint and holds it as an item. When pressing A on the ground, Isabelle plants the blueprint on the ground quickly starts the construction for the project, with animal construction workers building the project.

3. The time length of construction for each project varies. You want a quick project that creates a small, but low HP wall that forces opponents to maneuver? Select the smallest project when planning. You want a project that is both large and sturdy in defense? Pick the the largest project at the cost of lengthened construction time when planning.

4. Defend the project from opponents as it is constructing. The weaknesses of projects is that they can be destroyed by opponents, even during construction. So Isabelle would have to play aggressively defensive, protecting her construction for her to be rewarded with a new form of stage control.You can cancel projects during the process of construction via neutral-B, but you cannot make them simply disappear once the project is fully finished. Either you have to destroy the project via attacks or let the opponents do so.

5. Once fully completed, the project become a part of the stage, increasing Isabelle's stats and town happiness by a slight margin, until the object is attacked enough to be destroyed. Up to five projects can be placed in the stage. When five objects are in place, Isabelle's happiness and stats are maxed, being pretty godly in agility and power.

The process of construction has both its risks and rewards. The player and the opponent would have different but tense goals to follow. Isabelle players would have to defend their hardest in an aggressive manner to get their stat award and gain stage control, while the opponent has to counter back by attacking the constructing project before it is complete within a matter of time. Isabelle's play-style basically a risk-and-reward tower defense game, and I think that play-style would be something that players will have a fun time with.

Honestly, the more I describe her play-style, the more I want to see Isabelle in Smash. Do you think this works for Isabelle?

It's a very unique idea, but I fear it might be super hard to pull off in free-for-alls. Having to protect up to 5 objects scattered all over the stage sounds difficult and not all that fun to use or to fight against tbh. I do really like the idea of multiple PWPs being able to be chosen though and the construction time that differs between the different objects, maybe be able to simply place 1 or 2 and make it have more of an effect on-stage?

 

[BluePikmin11]

It's a very unique idea, but I fear it might be super hard to pull off in free-for-alls. Having to protect up to 5 objects scattered all over the stage sounds difficult and not all that fun to use or to fight against tbh. I do really like the idea of multiple PWPs being able to be chosen though and the construction time that differs between the different objects, maybe be able to simply place 1 or 2 and make it have more of an effect on-stage?

I have been thinking about having the sturdiness of projects being increased depending on the number of opponents in battle, much like how the percentages of attack power differ depending on the number of opponents. And I mean, you could blue-print up to five projects at once, but I think players would naturally start out constructing one or two projects to not feel too tense, building up with more projects as they are completed.

What do you mean by effect on-stage btw, are you referring to the happiness gauge?

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

Count me as a supporter!

I admit that I think she have a chance as an echo fighter though. I may love Animal Crossing, and I wouldn't say "no" to a whole new fighter (I really like the Public Works idea, it's true to her character), but I do believe that pulling a whole new moveset for Animal Crossing can be tough.

But Animal Crossing's popularity does warrant a second character, and Isabelle is the best character for that.

 

[BluePikmin11]

More stuff on Isabelle's playstyle:

Isabelle would start out relatively weak in power and is very lightweight, but have good range in some of her aerial/standard attacks to be able to defend her projects. But because of her being lightweight, when she is KOed or out of the battlefield, it gives opponents ample time to destroy projects before she gets back on stage. So I do not think she would be overpowered, even when she has the benefits of stage control and stat boosts when projects are placed.

For the neutral game, I would imagine most players would either immediately start the match planning/placing projects on the stage or get the opponent off-stage (or at least out of range) so that players would have time to construct projects. For attack and defense tactics, Isabelle could use her projects to:

-use as a method of edge-guarding when placing the project near the stage's edge.
-construct multiple projects close and around Isabelle to create fort of sorts to be able to defend from multiple opponents one by one.
-destroy the project so that it towers and slowly falls over to the opponent with great damage and knockback (Sort of like Villager's Tree special), but the same actions can be done by the opponent to counterattack Isabelle.

Those are just some of the tactics I came up with. There is an endless amount of strategies Isabelle can do when thinking about the placement of projects on the stage that would make her a fun character to master.

 

[Ed-boy]

Count me as a supporter!

I admit that I think she have a chance as an echo fighter though. I may love Animal Crossing, and I wouldn't say "no" to a whole new fighter (I really like the Public Works idea, it's true to her character), but I do believe that pulling a whole new moveset for Animal Crossing can be tough.

But Animal Crossing's popularity does warrant a second character, and Isabelle is the best character for that.

I second this!
When it comes to my want list, I'm pretty odd because half of the characters on the list, including Isabelle, hail from series that I've yet to play. At the same time, though, doesn't that say alot about the sheer intrigue &/or appeal of these characters that can surpass their respective titles?

 

[Luminario]

What do you mean by effect on-stage btw, are you referring to the happiness gauge?

I was thinking more along the lines of letting them do something as they're on the stage, like building a hammock lets you jump off of it like Sonic's spring, the Wisteria Trellis acting as soft platform, or the geyser shooting out water every so often as an attack.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

So I came into this thread a few weeks ago saying Isabelle should be an echo for Villager, but I now realize that she would be incompatible for an echo. Villager uses the short and stubby pre-new leaf designs, while Isabelle has always been portrayed with the taller New Leaf designs, so their proportions don’t match up.

Also I feel like a lot of people are really underestimating Isabelle and animal crossing in general. By the time the first project plan for Ultimate was made In December 2015, Animal Crossing got a spin-off game on both the Wii U and 3DS, had guest characters in Mario Kart, and an entire Amiibo toy line just in that year alone. Animal Crossing would later see a major update for New leaf, and even get a mobile game. What I’m trying to say is that in recent years, Nintendo has treated Animal Crossing as a major series, and it’s not to far fetched to say Nintendo might want an Animal Crossing character in smash to promote the AC series.

 

[FunAtParties]

So I came into this thread a few weeks ago saying Isabelle should be an echo for Villager, but I now realize that she would be incompatible for an echo. Villager uses the short and stubby pre-new leaf designs, while Isabelle has always been portrayed with the taller New Leaf designs, so their proportions don’t match up.

Also I feel like a lot of people are really underestimating Isabelle and animal crossing in general. By the time the first project plan for Ultimate was made In December 2015, Animal Crossing got a spin-off game on both the Wii U and 3DS, had guest characters in Mario Kart, and an entire Amiibo toy line just in that year alone. Animal Crossing would later see a major update for New leaf, and even get a mobile game. What I’m trying to say is that in recent years, Nintendo has treated Animal Crossing as a major series, and it’s not to far fetched to say Nintendo might want an Animal Crossing character in smash to promote the AC series.

They can make the proportions match easily. Bowser Jr and the Koopalings aren't the same size, but they make it work.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I was thinking more along the lines of letting them do something as they're on the stage, like building a hammock lets you jump off of it like Sonic's spring, the Wisteria Trellis acting as soft platform, or the geyser shooting out water every so often as an attack.

Maybe 3 of the projects can act as small, medium, large walls/buildings, with two of the projects having special functions like a fountain being able to push opponents and a clock post that temporarily stuns nearby opponents for a short period of time when 12 noon/midnight comes (With the clockpost's time moving at a very fast pace of course). Just enough variety for Isabelle to toy around with.

 

[P.Kat]

I gotta be honest I always thought she'd echo fighter material (not that, that's a bad thing), but seeing her potential moveset, I gotta say she needs to be the furthest thing from an echo, so I can see something Iike this in action.

Put me down as supporter for Isabelle.

 

[Cetus]

Hell yeah. I really like this idea. Though, I do think she should be an echo for Villager with a few differences maybe being in her specials like instead of a tree, she uses something related to one of the public works projects or something.

 

[smash puffle]

I want to support Isabelle. Although I could never see her as a fighter knowing how nice and pure she is, I wouldn't mind seeing her in Ultimate, regardless if she's an Echo or not.

 

[Demonfunds]

Echo or not, i want Isabelle in the game, count me in as a supporter.

 

[KMDP]

Made a Supporter's List for Isabelle. Luminario , here's more work for you.

1. Luminario
2. Aussie the Naturist
3. Opossum
4. Lola Luftnagle
5. Kirbeh
6. Fisher
7. SmashChu
8. smashkirby
9. KingofPhantoms
10. lordvaati
11. Jason the Yoshi
12. Pacack
13. CrusherMania1592
14. UserKev
15. Mr. Nintendo
16. BluePikmin11
17. Starcutter
18. Guybrush20X6
19. UnknownM
20. FunAtParties
21. MacDaddyNook
22. Morbi
23. pupNapoleon
24. GoodGrief741
25. lightdasher
26. MrReyes96
27. YoshiAndToad
28. Tailisu10
29. Kitty-chan
30. TCT~Phantom
31. TingleZC
32. SEGAGameBoy
33. MoonlitIllusion
34. ThoughtfulWanderer
35. MBRedboy31
36. King Sonnn DeDeDoo
37. papagenos
38. GM_3826
39. Slyshock
40. Aurane
41. Erotic&Heretic
42. Ed-boy
43. P.Kat
44. Cetus
45. smash puffle
46. Demonfunds

Some may know I'm compiling a "Most Supported Character" list to post later, Isabelle (currently) shares the 20th place spot with Paper Mario.

 

[Luminario]

Made a Supporter's List for Isabelle. Luminario , here's more work for you.

1. Luminario
2. Aussie the Naturist
3. Opossum
4. Lola Luftnagle
5. Kirbeh
6. Fisher
7. SmashChu
8. smashkirby
9. KingofPhantoms
10. lordvaati
11. Jason the Yoshi
12. Pacack
13. CrusherMania1592
14. UserKev
15. Mr. Nintendo
16. BluePikmin11
17. Starcutter
18. Guybrush20X6
19. UnknownM
20. FunAtParties
21. MacDaddyNook
22. Morbi
23. pupNapoleon
24. GoodGrief741
25. lightdasher
26. MrReyes96
27. YoshiAndToad
28. Tailisu10
29. Kitty-chan
30. TCT~Phantom
31. TingleZC
32. SEGAGameBoy
33. MoonlitIllusion
34. ThoughtfulWanderer
35. MBRedboy31
36. King Sonnn DeDeDoo
37. papagenos
38. GM_3826
39. Slyshock
40. Aurane
41. Erotic&Heretic
42. Ed-boy
43. P.Kat
44. Cetus
45. smash puffle
46. Demonfunds

Some may know I'm compiling a "Most Supported Character" list to post later, Isabelle (currently) shares the 20th place spot with Paper Mario.

Thank you for doing the work. People have asked me to do a supporters list for my threads but I never really bothered to get around to it

 

[RileyXY1]

I don't think that Isabelle is going to be an echo fighter of Villager, and that is because the two characters don't even have the same body shape. The Villager still has his/her pre-New Leaf proportions.

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

I don't think that Isabelle is going to be an echo fighter of Villager, and that is because the two characters don't even have the same body shape. The Villager still has his/her pre-New Leaf proportions.

Well... We have Morton and Lemmy both as costumes of Bowser Jr. If Animal Crossing can share animations between humans, dogs, eagles, squirrels and many more, I'm sure Smash can as well.

Mods of Isabelle over Villager already work pretty well too!

 

[RileyXY1]

Well... We have Morton and Lemmy both as costumes of Bowser Jr. If Animal Crossing can share animations between humans, dogs, eagles, squirrels and many more, I'm sure Smash can as well.

Mods of Isabelle over Villager already work pretty well too!

In order to make Isabelle an echo fighter, they would have to completely change her dimensions to match the early Animal Crossing games.

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

Once again I'll use mods as an example. When compared to a Wii Villager, her proportions match quite nicely. The main difference is the arm length, but she is closer to old villagers. ACNL Villagers are slightly taller than her.
The lack of hand isn't a problem either, considering that many animals don't have hands yet use the items just fine.

 

[MoonlitIllusion]

Once again I'll use mods as an example. When compared to a Wii Villager, her proportions match quite nicely. The main difference is the arm length, but she is closer to old villagers. ACNL Villagers are slightly taller than her.
The lack of hand isn't a problem either, considering that many animals don't have hands yet use the items just fine.
View attachment 153588

It definitely could work if they altered proportions a little which isn't an issue whatsoever given that lucina's significantly taller than she's meant to be. But I just don't think villagers moveset works with isabelle, I don't see her shooting slingshots, or swinging an axe or anything like that tbh.

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

It definitely could work if they altered proportions a little which isn't an issue whatsoever given that lucina's significantly taller than she's meant to be. But I just don't think villagers moveset works with isabelle, I don't see her shooting slingshots, or swinging an axe or anything like that tbh.

Well, it work as "Animal Crossing moves". It surely isn't Isabelle as a Megaman clone. The same can be said about Daisy floating, summoning Toads and picking turnips. Is it something that we didn't see her using? Yes. Is it happening? Also yes. Lucina should be fighting like Chrom, who doesn't fight like Marth, Dark Pit could use other weapons...

Surely, if you tell me I can have Isabelle as an original fighter or an echo, I'll pick the original fighter. Isabelle is indeed a really calm, cute character, and I would also not see her axing people normally. But Isabelle as an echo is something to consider, and I believe that it's functionnal enough.

 

[MoonlitIllusion]

Well, it work as "Animal Crossing moves". It surely isn't Isabelle as a Megaman clone. The same can be said about Daisy floating, summoning Toads and picking turnips. Is it something that we didn't see her using? Yes. Is it happening? Also yes. Lucina should be fighting like Chrom, who doesn't fight like Marth, Dark Pit could use other weapons...

Surely, if you tell me I can have Isabelle as an original fighter or an echo, I'll pick the original fighter. Isabelle is indeed a really calm, cute character, and I would also not see her axing people normally. But Isabelle as an echo is something to consider, and I believe that it's functionnal enough.

To be fair, Daisy doesn't have anything to really pull a moveset from, Lucina is still a sword fighter using the falchion and dark pit is a literal clone who has access to the silver bow and uses it in game.

It's certainly possible but I think it'd be extremely weird

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

To be fair, Daisy doesn't have anything to really pull a moveset from, Lucina is still a sword fighter using the falchion and dark pit is a literal clone who has access to the silver bow and uses it in game.

It's certainly possible but I think it'd be extremely weird

With Dark Pit, I completely agree, and that's even why it's one of the few character I prefer as a clone (although using claws instead of an arm as the side-B for example would be better, without even changing the animation). I'm not an expert on Lucina but I do know that her fighting style is different, she have access to Aether. And even if it's Falchion, the sword is different (hence the lack of tipper).
But Daisy is kind of on the same boat as retro characters such as Ice Climbers or Duck Hunt. Especially IC, their main draw is being a double character, but their moveset is freely based on ice, like the Down-B. I like characters with references, but Daisy could have such moves (she does actually, replacing heart moves with flowers), and other references, like the Ball from Super Mario Land. But in the end she is an echo, and we tolerate those "weird thing" because they are not so out of character.

So yeah, Isabelle is possible, even with a bit of weirdness. Personally, it's mostly the jab that would be strange.

 

[Luminario]

I really don't want Isabelle to be an echo, but we do have to face the facts that it is now a possibility. Daisy doesn't float or have any association with Toad as her bodyguards, yet there she is doing just that. Isabelle technically fits over Villager, so we need to brace for that if it happens.

 

[MoonlitIllusion]

I really don't want Isabelle to be an echo, but we do have to face the facts that it is now a possibility. Daisy doesn't float or have any association with Toad as her bodyguards, yet there she is doing just that. Isabelle technically fits over Villager, so we need to brace for that if it happens.

Eh, it's never been stated that daisy doesn't float or that there are no toads in her land, plus she's in the spinoffs with them and stuff so it's not crazy. I agree it could happen but I don't think the "daisy doesn't float" thing is really equivalent when it's never been stated she can't

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

Eh, it's never been stated that daisy doesn't float or that there are no toads in her land, plus she's in the spinoffs with them and stuff so it's not crazy. I agree it could happen but I don't think the "daisy doesn't float" thing is really equivalent when it's never been stated she can't

Well, in Super Mario Run, Daisy is different from Peach (who retains her float) by having a double jump. Kinda hard to translate the ability to double jump in Smash Bros though... And yes, coexisting with Toads in spinoff makes the idea not crazy for Smash.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Just a personal rant to get something out of my system:

Spoiler: Isabelle

I really do not like how people just seem to conclude that Isabelle would be an echo. Yes, it is definitely a real possibility that it could happen, but many forget the credentials this Animal Crossing character has. Do people really think Nintendo would be happy to let one of the biggest characters in recent Nintendo history be relegated to an echo? Do people realize how Sakurai pays ample attention to non-combatant newcomers, different from combatant newcomers? Most seem to be really comfortable with Isabelle becoming an echo, easily predicting her with that role, letting people who want to see her as a unique character that it is a realistic possibility for her to be an echo and leave it at just that, without openly and critically thinking about the immense amount of credentials she has to be developed as a unique fighter. I wish people did a little more research because sometimes, I feel every Isabelle discussion that happens in Smashboards outside of this support thread is one-sided.

 

[Luminario]

Just a personal rant to get something out of my system:

Spoiler: Isabelle

I really do not like how people just seem to conclude that Isabelle would be an echo. Yes, it is definitely a real possibility that it could happen, but many forget the credentials this Animal Crossing character has. Do people really think Nintendo would be happy to let one of the biggest characters in recent Nintendo history be relegated to an echo? Do people realize how Sakurai pays ample attention to non-combatant newcomers, different from combatant newcomers? Most seem to be really comfortable with Isabelle becoming an echo, easily predicting her with that role, letting people who want to see her as a unique character that it is a realistic possibility for her to be an echo and leave it at just that, without openly and critically thinking about the immense amount of credentials she has to be developed as a unique fighter. I wish people did a little more research because sometimes, I feel every Isabelle discussion that happens in Smashboards outside of this support thread is one-sided.

We all know she's pretty likely, but Isabelle and AC don't exactly suit this site's demographic. I think they'd rather relegate her to an Echo so that she doesn't take up precious development time than face the facts of her likely being unique. Most of these people also think Villager perfectly represents everything there is in AC, so that gives us a pretty good insight into how well they know the series.

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

Just a personal rant to get something out of my system:

Spoiler: Isabelle

I really do not like how people just seem to conclude that Isabelle would be an echo. Yes, it is definitely a real possibility that it could happen, but many forget the credentials this Animal Crossing character has. Do people really think Nintendo would be happy to let one of the biggest characters in recent Nintendo history be relegated to an echo? Do people realize how Sakurai pays ample attention to non-combatant newcomers, different from combatant newcomers? Most seem to be really comfortable with Isabelle becoming an echo, easily predicting her with that role, letting people who want to see her as a unique character that it is a realistic possibility for her to be an echo and leave it at just that, without openly and critically thinking about the immense amount of credentials she has to be developed as a unique fighter. I wish people did a little more research because sometimes, I feel every Isabelle discussion that happens in Smashboards outside of this support thread is one-sided.

I can't fathom why more people don't think she's a likely option. Nintendo might even ask that Sakurai include her since she's become so big for them. The only potential issue for him is coming up with a full moveset since Villager took a while to be realized, but it's not impossible and some ideas have already been suggested around here.

Fans shouldn't treat an Isabelle that's not an echo like it'd be doom and gloom either. She could also be a semi-clone on the level of Lucas or she can be a good fit as a DLC character since she's popular and marketable.

 

[StormC]

Just a personal rant to get something out of my system:

Spoiler: Isabelle

I really do not like how people just seem to conclude that Isabelle would be an echo. Yes, it is definitely a real possibility that it could happen, but many forget the credentials this Animal Crossing character has. Do people really think Nintendo would be happy to let one of the biggest characters in recent Nintendo history be relegated to an echo? Do people realize how Sakurai pays ample attention to non-combatant newcomers, different from combatant newcomers? Most seem to be really comfortable with Isabelle becoming an echo, easily predicting her with that role, letting people who want to see her as a unique character that it is a realistic possibility for her to be an echo and leave it at just that, without openly and critically thinking about the immense amount of credentials she has to be developed as a unique fighter. I wish people did a little more research because sometimes, I feel every Isabelle discussion that happens in Smashboards outside of this support thread is one-sided.

Nintendo was fine with Ganondorf being based on a racecar driver.

It's Sakurai's call however he decides to represent Isabelle in this game.

 

[BluePikmin11]

That is fair, but I find it very hard to picture Sakurai giving one of the biggest and most important characters in recent Nintendo history a role less than a unique fighter. The echo idea just does not sit well with me, and it does not feel like a decision Sakurai would do after critically considering all of her merits, only to plan her as a clone. It is a jarring transition to think about.

 

[MacDaddyNook]

Nintendo was fine with Ganondorf being based on a racecar driver.

It's Sakurai's call however he decides to represent Isabelle in this game.

Clones have always been a last minute addition. I'm guessing at the time, Ganondorf was a low priority and hence had Falcon's moveset shoved on him.

Given how big Isabelle is and how few major Nintendo characters are left that aren't already in the game, I would imagine she'd be a higher priority and have enough time to dedicate resources to her. Being a clone isn't impossible, but I don't see her being slapped on just before release, so being unique is quite likely.

 

[Staarih]

SourceGaming put up a ”Rate that character” for Isabelle:

Pretty basic stuff, though seems like they only see her getting in as an Echo? 60% either way.