The General Bandai-Namco Discussion Thread

[Cadillac]

Lloyd's costume is still missing.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Assuming Lloyd's mii returns and we don't get Tales, who do you think is the next likely Namco character? With the two big pillars down it'd basically be a free-for-all.

I don't think we'll get any arcade characters as DLC, they might not have enough demand or popularity to sell on their own, and echoes are likely out of the question for DLC so no Miss Pac Man.

Personally I'm gonna narrow it down to five characters:

Chosen Undead - Still popular even long after 3's release, Solaire Amiibo, Remastered on Switch, a modern icon.
Prince of all Cosmos - Reroll was very successful, newer-higher budget ads for the PS/Xbox versions, Katamari in more Namco crossovers again, well-known and near-universally localized, appeared in the museum of modern art, Nintendo promoted Reroll.
Don-chan - Taiko no Tatsujin is growing in the west, games are getting localized again after over 10 years, Nintendo advertised both Drum 'n' Fun and Rhythmic Adventure Pack, huge in Japan, celebrating a big anniversary this year.
Nightmare - Soul Calibur has seen better days but still remains relatively popular, has crossover history with Nintendo already.
Agumon - In the midst of a big comeback, brand new games on the horizon, would represent the Bandai side of the company ala Cloud - Square/Hero - Enix.


ones I'm a bit iffy on but could still happen:

Haruka - Super popular in Japan but almost none of Idolm@ster has been localized.
Klonoa - Waiting for his revival, still no reveal in sight for Klonoa Encore

 

[Commander_Alph]

For me all the characters that you mentioned are on my radar.

I put my hopes up for Undead and Agumon the most, I felt like this the only chance that we will ever get another Bamco character and I think they want to go big with the inclusion and those who already been a Mii Costume, even if something like Tekken and Tales is pretty successful their destiny already locked away behind bars and this is not the first time that company have the balls to ignore their most successful game which would have been a good inclusion and marketing (observe Resident Evil and Monster Hunter from Capcom if you will). In the case of Souls and Digimon for instance I still have doubt, Bamco recently has pushing Souls to the spotlight and with a remake of Demon's Souls you know that Bamco is treating the series quite nicely and baically representing post Bamco merging. Digimon, while have fallen in terms of popularity has recently making a comeback with Digimon Survive, Adventure Reboot and new toys with the series itself representing the Bandai side of Bamco which both sounds much cooler and honestly really needed considering that, so far, all the content that we got from Bamco are only consisting of Namco.

 

[NB96]

Chosen Undead seems like the most likely pick to me

 

[MattX20]

With Lloyd's costume still MIA, there are only two viable scenarios: either the costume returns with someone else (either another Tales/Bandai Namco rep or someone else) or he's upgraded to fully playable character status. Apart from other Tales series reps, we could also see KOS-MOS or Nightmare as potential candidates. Though Lloyd does also have a potential competitor in terms of dual wielding swords

 

[YoshiandToad]

After Geno, Heihachi and Monster Hunter I'm not feeling Lloyd's chances personally.

Whilst I'd like Namco to get a second rep considering all the work they do for Smash, I'm unsure if it'll happen now.

I thought maybe Lloyd's Mii costume missing meant at the very least if it returned it'd be with another Bandai-Namco character, but after the all Capcom Mii outfits with Pyra/Mythra I'm less certain.

 

[fogbadge]

Kilik anyone?

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Since all the previous Challenger Packs brought missing Smash 4 DLC Mii costumes with them and Lloyd's is the only one left, I'm highly assuming Lloyd's Mii costume will return in the next Challenger Pack with another fighter or return with Lloyd himself. Anyways, I believe if Lloyd is in he is next.

 

[Commander_Alph]

I actually speculating that Lloyd mii will return with a Bamco fighter at first but I realized that, other than Square Enix that rarely happened.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Given my current prediction for CP10 is a swordfighter character in general it could be any of the following coming with the Lloyd Mii.

Adol Christin, Chosen Undead, Dovahkiin, Euden, Nightmare, Yuri Lowell, etc.

 

[DanganZilla5]

It's a bit difficult to say exactly where Lloyd is right now. I do think that it's very likely that he just so happens to be the last one saved out of the returning costumes, but at the same time I could see him clutching it. Tales Of is a very successful series and I've had a feeling one of the returning costumes might get upgraded. At the same time, I have a feeling that Yuri might happen and if that's the case then Lloyd is 100% returning as a costume.

I've also been somewhat confident in Nightmare and Agumon too so Lloyd could come with one of them.

 

[Commander_Alph]

I already learned from Geno that Mii costume being held back longer than it should have been with everyone anticipating something big isn't always a good sign, this may change but I'm sticking to the past.

 

[Ornl]

Upgrading Lloyd from Costume to Character would be a problem.
Lloyd has no reason to appear in paid DLC as a penultimate/"ultimate" Fighter behind Joker, Hero and Sephiroth. Lloyd has no reason to be "the chosen one" among possible Costume uprades. Upgrades about Chrom, K. Rool, Inkling, Isabelle were made in the base game, not in DLC. Spirit Upgrades about Min-Min and Pyra are specific exceptions for timing reasons. Lloyd would therefore cause misunderstanding : fans of Geno / Heihachi / Monster Hunter / Rayman / Shantae / Tails... would be angry at this choice.

 

[SharkLord]

Upgrading Lloyd from Costume to Character would be a problem.
Lloyd has no reason to appear in paid DLC as a penultimate/"ultimate" Fighter behind Joker, Hero and Sephiroth. Lloyd has no reason to be "the chosen one" among possible Costume uprades. Upgrades about Chrom, K. Rool, Inkling, Isabelle were made in the base game, not in DLC. Spirit Upgrades about Min-Min and Pyra are specific exceptions for timing reasons. Lloyd would therefore cause misunderstanding : fans of Geno / Heihachi / Monster Hunter / Rayman / Shantae / Tails... would be angry at this choice.

Y'know, this kinda goes for everything. "Why is Joker the JRPG rep instead of Erdrick (Granted, we already got them), Lloyd, or 2B? Why is Byleth the pas ender instead of Dante, Rex, or Geno? Why is Final Fantasy the first third-party to get a second original fighter instead of Sonic, Mega Man, or Street Fighter?"

Saying "Lloyd can't be the promoted Mii Costume because nobody else was" pretty much amounts to a kid dropping their ice cream and then knocking everyone else's ice cream to the ground just so they'd be even.

 

[fogbadge]

Y'know, this kinda goes for everything. "Why is Joker the JRPG rep instead of Erdrick (Granted, we already got them), Lloyd, or 2B? Why is Byleth the pas ender instead of Dante, Rex, or Geno? Why is Final Fantasy the first third-party to get a second original fighter instead of Sonic, Mega Man, or Street Fighter?"

Saying "Lloyd can't be the promoted Mii Costume because nobody else was" pretty much amounts to a kid dropping their ice cream and then knocking everyone else's ice cream to the ground just so they'd be even.

that certainly has been one of the more puzzling things about speculation

 

[Commander_Alph]

For me at least they're literally have the power to omit the Mii as for them it's just a 3D model but chooses not, either because they need something to pad up the costume pack or they just want to do something else as modelling a costume also takes time (for the newer ones too) unlike spirit where it's just a coded battle that give you official artwork as a reward and basically an accessory like stickers and trophy.

 

[fogbadge]

For me at least they're literally have the power to omit the Mii as for them it's just a 3D model but chooses not, either because they need something to pad up the costume pack or they just want to do something else as modelling a costume also takes time (for the newer ones too) unlike spirit where it's just a coded battle that give you official artwork as a reward and basically an accessory like stickers and trophy.

werent some of the mii costume models ripped from other games?

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

Y'know, this kinda goes for everything. "Why is Joker the JRPG rep instead of Erdrick (Granted, we already got them), Lloyd, or 2B? Why is Byleth the pas ender instead of Dante, Rex, or Geno? Why is Final Fantasy the first third-party to get a second original fighter instead of Sonic, Mega Man, or Street Fighter?"

Saying "Lloyd can't be the promoted Mii Costume because nobody else was" pretty much amounts to a kid dropping their ice cream and then knocking everyone else's ice cream to the ground just so they'd be even.

True, though at the same time, isn't 3 big JRPG picks in a row in an already JRPG-filled DLC cycle a bit much?

 

[SharkLord]

True, though at the same time, isn't 3 big JRPG picks in a row in an already JRPG-filled DLC cycle a bit much?

I mean, we've had three RPG characters in the same pass last time. Sure, maybe Byleth isn't that big, but it's about the same level of XC2, and they were chosen before Nintendo could really get any feedback.

Honestly, I think we put a bigger emphasis on how many RPGs there are than Nintendo does. If they really cared about genre balance, we wouldn't get Joker, Byleth, and Hero in the same pass. Seeing as they didn't worry themselves over that and then went for two RPG packs back-to-back in the next pass as well, it doesn't seem like a major concern for them.

 

[chocolatejr9]

I mean, we've had three RPG characters in the same pass last time. Sure, maybe Byleth isn't that big, but it's about the same level of XC2, and they were chosen before Nintendo could really get any feedback.

Honestly, I think we put a bigger emphasis on how many RPGs there are than Nintendo does. If they really cared about genre balance, we wouldn't get Joker, Byleth, and Hero in the same pass. Seeing as they didn't worry themselves over that and then went for two RPG packs back-to-back in the next pass as well, it doesn't seem like a major concern for them.

Plus, Japan LOVES JRPGs. That should put things into perspective a little.

 

[Guynamednelson]

True, though at the same time, isn't 3 big JRPG picks in a row in an already JRPG-filled DLC cycle a bit much?

Nintendo isn't focused on things being "fair and balanced", otherwise FP1 wouldn't have been 4/5 third-party.

 

[SharkLord]

Plus, Japan LOVES JRPGs. That should put things into perspective a little.

Yeah, if this was a Western game we'd be having debates on the generic FPS McShootermen instead of the generic RPG McSwordsmen. While Smash has listened to Western requests like with Ridley, K. Rool, and Banjo, there's still going to be a bit of bias towards their home country. I think the fact that we didn't get someone owned by a Western company until Banjo, who's the thirteenth third-party overall, is the best indicator of that.

 

[Commander_Alph]

If Smash literally made by overseas people you know that they will prefer Photorealistic games to get included, Japan is a really big fan of RPG, you can pretty much compare how many RPG there are with how many gritty realistic game, there's no difference. Plus Smash sometimes prefer achievement moreso than "this game is the first of its genre". Good thing they still consider worldwide appeal.

 

[Dreamking]

My main choice is Taizo Hori AKA Dig Dug.

I also keep thinking how interesting it'd be to see Mametchi in Smash.

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

If Smash literally made by overseas people you know that they will prefer Photorealistic games to get included, Japan is a really big fan of RPG, you can pretty much compare how many RPG there are with how many gritty realistic game, there's no difference. Plus Smash sometimes prefer achievement moreso than "this game is the first of its genre". Good thing they still consider worldwide appeal.

I know Japan be Japan, but who wants more of the same in every DLC pack? Who wants the same genre to get the constant red carpet treatment? It's not "angry kid drops his ice cream and kicks down everyone else's to be even", it's a bunch of kids with a single scoop watching as one or two kids get deluxe big bowl triple banana splits.

I'm not saying Nintendo's gonna listen to "too many JRPGs", but really, who the hell wants this? What is it about this forum that's so anti-variety?

Anyway, this is derailing the thread. So I'm gonna present something I thought about a couple of weeks ago.
I personally think that Namco is going to get the final character. Namco's been extremely humble throughout two entire development cycles and the last slot will more than likely be a "thank you" character for all of their hard work. Considering this is a smaller slot, who do you think this might be?

 

[Commander_Alph]

I know Japan be Japan, but who wants more of the same in every DLC pack? Who wants the same genre to get the constant red carpet treatment? It's not "angry kid drops his ice cream and kicks down everyone else's to be even", it's a bunch of kids with a single scoop watching as one or two kids get deluxe big bowl triple banana splits.

I'm not saying Nintendo's gonna listen to "too many JRPGs", but really, who the hell wants this? What is it about this forum that's so anti-variety?

it's not really the same as not all RPG function the same, but it's more the case of "one or two kids got 3 different flavored ice cream: one is a sundae, banana split and a McFlurry while the other only have one of each" also, you forgot to factoring in Platformer and just like RPG they all have their own charm.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I know Japan be Japan, but who wants more of the same in every DLC pack? Who wants the same genre to get the constant red carpet treatment? It's not "angry kid drops his ice cream and kicks down everyone else's to be even", it's a bunch of kids with a single scoop watching as one or two kids get deluxe big bowl triple banana splits.

I'm not saying Nintendo's gonna listen to "too many JRPGs", but really, who the hell wants this? What is it about this forum that's so anti-variety?

I agree there should be a little more variety in the DLC packs instead of just half the characters being JRPG reps. But when you look at the entire roster, there is not many of them compared to the number of reps for other genres for example:

JRPG:

Platforming:

Now that I think about it, there are plenty of JRPG reps already. Wouldn't the Pokemon characters be considered JRPG reps?

Honestly, I think we need more fighting game reps as we only have Ryu, Ken, Terry and Min Min. And we still don't have a FPS rep yet either as well as a mystery game rep or a puzzle rep unless you want to count Dr. Mario.

 

[SharkLord]

I agree there should be a little more variety in the DLC packs instead of just half the characters being JRPG reps. But when you look at the entire roster, there is not many of them compared to the number of reps for other genres for example:

JRPG:

Platforming:

Now that I think about it, there are plenty of JRPG reps already. Wouldn't the Pokemon characters be considered JRPG reps?

Honestly, I think we need more fighting game reps as we only have Ryu, Ken, Terry and Min Min. And we still don't have a FPS rep yet either as well as a mystery game rep or a puzzle rep unless you want to count Dr. Mario.

We also don't have a shoot-em-up rep, which is pretty notable not just because my most-wanted fits squarely in that category, but also because the genre was pretty dang prevalent back in the golden age of arcades, with titles like Galaxian and Space Invaders. And no, the Classic Mode credits sequence doesn't count.

 

[fogbadge]

I mean, we've had three RPG characters in the same pass last time. Sure, maybe Byleth isn't that big, but it's about the same level of XC2, and they were chosen before Nintendo could really get any feedback.

Honestly, I think we put a bigger emphasis on how many RPGs there are than Nintendo does. If they really cared about genre balance, we wouldn't get Joker, Byleth, and Hero in the same pass. Seeing as they didn't worry themselves over that and then went for two RPG packs back-to-back in the next pass as well, it doesn't seem like a major concern for them.

byleth isnt from an rpg, hes from a turn based strategy game

 

[DrifloonEmpire]

byleth isnt from an rpg, hes from a turn based strategy game

To be fair, there is a lot of overlap between the JRPG crowd and Fire Emblem fans, based on who I've seen people support, though feel free to correct me.

 

[fogbadge]

To be fair, there is a lot of overlap between the JRPG crowd and Fire Emblem fans, based on who I've seen people support, though feel free to correct me.

thats fandoms though not the games themselves. we should strive to separate games from fans

 

[SharkLord]

byleth isnt from an rpg, hes from a turn based strategy game

Strategy RPG is the official term. There's leveling, stats, class changing, equipable items, RNG, and all sorts of RPG mechanics, just in a grid-based strategy format instead of just people standing there and trading hits.

 

[Commander_Alph]

To be fair, it's rare for people to call something like Dark Souls who has all the requirement to be an RPG, well an RPG, maybe your artstyle need to be more anime to be considered an RPG.

 

[SharkLord]

To be fair, it's rare for people to call something like Dark Souls who has all the requirement to be an RPG, well an RPG, maybe your artstyle need to be more anime to be considered an RPG.

Yeah, I do think the anime style is pretty ingrained into the image of JRPGs. If you gave someone a picture of, say, Dragon Quest XI and Final Fantasy XV, the latter would be quickly recognizable as a JRPG or Dragon Ball, but the latter might have a bit of confusion thanks to the more realistic graphics. Of course, if we're going with the "Must be anime" mentality, Fire Emblem still counts either way.

 

[Ornl]

Famitsu considers Fire Emblem as a simulation series.
• Top 20 RPG (2017)
Joker and Erdrick are 1st and 2nd · Persona appears 3 times · Dragon Quest 3 times · Final Fantasy 6 times · Xenoblade appears · Tales doesn't appear.
• Top 20 simulation games (2017)
Chrom is 10th · Fire Emblem appears 5 times

 

[fogbadge]

why dont we count FE as a romance sim while we're at it

 

[SharkLord]

Famitsu considers Fire Emblem as a simulation series.
• Top 20 RPG (2017)
Joker and Erdrick are 1st and 2nd · Persona appears 3 times · Dragon Quest 3 times · Final Fantasy 6 times · Xenoblade appears · Tales doesn't appear.
• Top 20 simulation games (2017)
Chrom is 10th · Fire Emblem appears 5 times

I love the implication that Chrom himself is a game

 

[RetrogamerMax]

So if the Lloyd Mii costume doesn't return with a Bandai-Namco rep, than who do y'all think it will return with? I don't think it specifically has to come with a JRPG rep or a swordfighter character. Though, it makes me wonder if Bandai-Namco isn't in the cards than what other company is taking one of those last slots?

 

[DanganZilla5]

So if the Lloyd Mii costume doesn't return with a Bandai-Namco rep, than who do y'all think it will return with? I don't think it specifically has to come with a JRPG rep or a swordfighter character. Though, it makes me wonder if Bandai-Namco isn't in the cards than what other company is taking one of those last slots?

At least from the characters that I'm confident in, I think he could come with Dragonborn or a Falcom character. Or maybe at this point they ran out of characters who thematically fit with him so maybe he will come with anybody.

 

[SharkLord]

So if the Lloyd Mii costume doesn't return with a Bandai-Namco rep, than who do y'all think it will return with? I don't think it specifically has to come with a JRPG rep or a swordfighter character. Though, it makes me wonder if Bandai-Namco isn't in the cards than what other company is taking one of those last slots?

Who knows at this point. We got the Monster Hunter Miis with Pyra, with no Xeno Miis in sight. We also got the Rabbids with Byleth and Vault Boy with Min Min. Lloyd could feasibly come with anyone.