Yokta
That's Yoktastic!
In this thread, let's discuss what we might consider to be the best possible outcome for the final character slot in Smash Ultimate, as well as what might be the worst possible outcome.
I'll start by going in-depth for both extremes, but I invite you to offer your own suggestions.
I'll start by going in-depth for both extremes, but I invite you to offer your own suggestions.
With so many different fanbases setting a strong case for why their character should close out the roster, any obvious candidate would spark a massive flame war regardless of how beloved they were. The only way this final character could release to universal acclaim is if they are so unexpected that the shock of their inclusion leaves everyone too blissfully numb to complain.
But what boundaries can Smash Ultimate cross without subverting itself? So many major third parties have contributed to the roster so far: Konami, Sega, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, SNK, even Microsoft! Who else is significant enough to drop a character with enough hype to leave a crater? In my mind there is only one candidate: PlayStation.
We now live in a world of crossplay, where the major consoles are no longer islands, but distinct countries on one single gaming continent. With Nintendo, Sega and Microsoft all contributing to the roster, all we need is a rep from Sony to elevate Ultimate to a celebration of the full scope of gaming.
But who shall be the ambassador of PlayStation? I think it's a toss-up between Kratos, or Ratchet and Clank. God of War and Ratchet & Clank are long running franchises which started on the PS2 and have defined the PlayStation legacy through multiple games released across four generations of PlayStation hardware. Both protagonists have iconic weapons that could make for a fun Smash moveset, but I reckon Ratchet and Clank would be the better choice.
Even though Kratos has a bit more notoriety, Ratchet and Clank have more going for them in terms of joining Smash: vibrant and colourful animation, bold personality and imaginative weaponry. Not to mention that their latest adventure, Rift Apart, is centred around rifts between alternate dimensions, which canonically include other videogame universes! This could potentially be used as an explanation for how the DLC characters manage to avoid Galeem's attacks and join the battle in World of Light.
Some might wince at the idea of adding a character to Smash built around excessive projectile assault, but remember: this is the best-case scenario. That implies that the Smash team finds a way to make Ratchet and Clank exciting and accessible while remaining faithful to their origins.
And here is the finishing touch that makes this character reveal the best reveal possible: Ratchet and Clank come with a teaser for the follow-up to Smash Ultimate: a Nintendo vs PlayStation crossover fighting game!
But what boundaries can Smash Ultimate cross without subverting itself? So many major third parties have contributed to the roster so far: Konami, Sega, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, SNK, even Microsoft! Who else is significant enough to drop a character with enough hype to leave a crater? In my mind there is only one candidate: PlayStation.
We now live in a world of crossplay, where the major consoles are no longer islands, but distinct countries on one single gaming continent. With Nintendo, Sega and Microsoft all contributing to the roster, all we need is a rep from Sony to elevate Ultimate to a celebration of the full scope of gaming.
But who shall be the ambassador of PlayStation? I think it's a toss-up between Kratos, or Ratchet and Clank. God of War and Ratchet & Clank are long running franchises which started on the PS2 and have defined the PlayStation legacy through multiple games released across four generations of PlayStation hardware. Both protagonists have iconic weapons that could make for a fun Smash moveset, but I reckon Ratchet and Clank would be the better choice.
Even though Kratos has a bit more notoriety, Ratchet and Clank have more going for them in terms of joining Smash: vibrant and colourful animation, bold personality and imaginative weaponry. Not to mention that their latest adventure, Rift Apart, is centred around rifts between alternate dimensions, which canonically include other videogame universes! This could potentially be used as an explanation for how the DLC characters manage to avoid Galeem's attacks and join the battle in World of Light.
Some might wince at the idea of adding a character to Smash built around excessive projectile assault, but remember: this is the best-case scenario. That implies that the Smash team finds a way to make Ratchet and Clank exciting and accessible while remaining faithful to their origins.
And here is the finishing touch that makes this character reveal the best reveal possible: Ratchet and Clank come with a teaser for the follow-up to Smash Ultimate: a Nintendo vs PlayStation crossover fighting game!
If the best outcome can't be a character we expect because some people will be disappointed, the worst outcome can't be a character we know about because some people will be happy to see them. The only characters that have no fans are characters that have had no opportunity to gain fans. Therefore, the most disappointing character reveal would be an original character.
Not that you would know it from the trailer, which shows a dozen of the most requested fighters chasing down the last invite, only for it to be shredded to pieces in a flash, mere inches from their fingertips. As the shock and dismay sets in, these hopefuls are all felled in one slash, and left standing is Smash Ultimate's final fighter: some anime jerk with a sword. Let's call him Mu for now.
Mu is designed to be the most hateable character ever. His design takes thematic cues from Smash's history of original bosses, but is otherwise an ugly disaster. His personality is insufferable, stuffed with lame quips delivered in an obnoxious voice, his every word like a rusty knife in the gut. His reveal trailer shows him defeating the strongest fighters with embarrassing ease, not by demonstrating superior abilities, but by his foes somehow becoming completely incompetent in his presence. He's like a Sword Art Online self insert OC designed by a spoilt teenager.
His obligatory stage is at least somewhat novel, being set in the realm of Subspace. Unfortunately the layout is horrendously uncompetitive, with awkward platform placement and obnoxious hazards that constantly harass everyone, unless they're playing as Mu. Even the Battlefield and FD forms are marred by giant statues of Mu. The stage uses miscellaneous music, and only one music track comes with Mu's bundle: the Wario World pause menu music. Mu's spirit board? All the fighters from his trailer that missed out on being playable, and they're not even Ace or Legend tier.
But by far the worst thing about Mu is that his moveset is really, really good.
Remember how Smash 4 Bayonetta was so overpowered that she completely ruined the competitive scene? Mu is like Smash 4 Bayonetta, on steroids, on purpose. If you took the best moves and attributes of the rest of the roster and merged them into a single character, that character would have a 3-7 matchup against Mu. His sword attacks are so quick, strong and far reaching that no other character can counter his neutral game, and he combos so effortlessly that any stray hit can wipe out a stock. Despite being hated as a character, players feel forced to play as Mu, lest other Mu players humiliate them.
You would think that such a broken, despised character would immediately be banned in competitive play, and indeed some tournaments attempt to ban Mu. Yet for some reason, any major Smash Ultimate tourney that tries to ban Mu gets shut down by Nintendo as aggressively as if they were hosting a Brawl mod tournament. Thus, Mu runs rampant over the competitive meta, and Ultimate's last EVO is a tragic callback: two shameless Mu mains humiliate the fan favourites and play out grand finals as seriously as a drunken session of Mario Party.
"Now hold on," you may ask. "This thread is supposed to be about the worst possible outcome for the final character. Why on earth would Nintendo ever do this?" That's a good question, and it's one many Smashers ponder over the next couple of years. Then one day, Nintendo reveals the successor to the Switch, alongside a teaser for the next Smash title, where Mu serves as a non-playable villain.
Finally, Nintendo's sinister gambit is revealed: The new Smash has a smaller roster, fewer features, and is exclusive to an expensive new console. Rather than encourage players to upgrade with innovative new mechanics and exciting characters, they used Mu to render Smash Ultimate unplayable and force die-hard Smashers to buy expensive new stuff just for a tolerable platform fighting game. Unfortunately, those Smashers instead made the transition to games like Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and the new Smash game goes completely ignored.
Nintendo's gambit is a total failure. Their new console is the biggest flop in the company's history, so much so that Nintendo becomes a third party publisher. They struggle to adapt to developing for so many platforms out of their control, and their market value nosedives. After years of embarrassing impotence, they are bought out by Konami, and Mu becomes the mascot of the most profitable line of pachinko machines in the country. The majority of Nintendo's IP goes unused.
I shudder to imagine the final character reveal going any worse than that.
Not that you would know it from the trailer, which shows a dozen of the most requested fighters chasing down the last invite, only for it to be shredded to pieces in a flash, mere inches from their fingertips. As the shock and dismay sets in, these hopefuls are all felled in one slash, and left standing is Smash Ultimate's final fighter: some anime jerk with a sword. Let's call him Mu for now.
Mu is designed to be the most hateable character ever. His design takes thematic cues from Smash's history of original bosses, but is otherwise an ugly disaster. His personality is insufferable, stuffed with lame quips delivered in an obnoxious voice, his every word like a rusty knife in the gut. His reveal trailer shows him defeating the strongest fighters with embarrassing ease, not by demonstrating superior abilities, but by his foes somehow becoming completely incompetent in his presence. He's like a Sword Art Online self insert OC designed by a spoilt teenager.
His obligatory stage is at least somewhat novel, being set in the realm of Subspace. Unfortunately the layout is horrendously uncompetitive, with awkward platform placement and obnoxious hazards that constantly harass everyone, unless they're playing as Mu. Even the Battlefield and FD forms are marred by giant statues of Mu. The stage uses miscellaneous music, and only one music track comes with Mu's bundle: the Wario World pause menu music. Mu's spirit board? All the fighters from his trailer that missed out on being playable, and they're not even Ace or Legend tier.
But by far the worst thing about Mu is that his moveset is really, really good.
Remember how Smash 4 Bayonetta was so overpowered that she completely ruined the competitive scene? Mu is like Smash 4 Bayonetta, on steroids, on purpose. If you took the best moves and attributes of the rest of the roster and merged them into a single character, that character would have a 3-7 matchup against Mu. His sword attacks are so quick, strong and far reaching that no other character can counter his neutral game, and he combos so effortlessly that any stray hit can wipe out a stock. Despite being hated as a character, players feel forced to play as Mu, lest other Mu players humiliate them.
You would think that such a broken, despised character would immediately be banned in competitive play, and indeed some tournaments attempt to ban Mu. Yet for some reason, any major Smash Ultimate tourney that tries to ban Mu gets shut down by Nintendo as aggressively as if they were hosting a Brawl mod tournament. Thus, Mu runs rampant over the competitive meta, and Ultimate's last EVO is a tragic callback: two shameless Mu mains humiliate the fan favourites and play out grand finals as seriously as a drunken session of Mario Party.
"Now hold on," you may ask. "This thread is supposed to be about the worst possible outcome for the final character. Why on earth would Nintendo ever do this?" That's a good question, and it's one many Smashers ponder over the next couple of years. Then one day, Nintendo reveals the successor to the Switch, alongside a teaser for the next Smash title, where Mu serves as a non-playable villain.
Finally, Nintendo's sinister gambit is revealed: The new Smash has a smaller roster, fewer features, and is exclusive to an expensive new console. Rather than encourage players to upgrade with innovative new mechanics and exciting characters, they used Mu to render Smash Ultimate unplayable and force die-hard Smashers to buy expensive new stuff just for a tolerable platform fighting game. Unfortunately, those Smashers instead made the transition to games like Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and the new Smash game goes completely ignored.
Nintendo's gambit is a total failure. Their new console is the biggest flop in the company's history, so much so that Nintendo becomes a third party publisher. They struggle to adapt to developing for so many platforms out of their control, and their market value nosedives. After years of embarrassing impotence, they are bought out by Konami, and Mu becomes the mascot of the most profitable line of pachinko machines in the country. The majority of Nintendo's IP goes unused.
I shudder to imagine the final character reveal going any worse than that.
