So, there is this rumor going around, where the entire DLC line-up for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been revealed (see here). I personally think it has too much information to be real (e.g. already knowing some alt costumes or reveal plans), where I'm leaning towards fake, but it's still an interesting list:
- Joker (Persona 5)
- Erdrick (Dragon Quest)
- Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
- Steve (Minecraft)
- Doom Slayer (DOOM)
Wow! I previously disliked the thought of getting a full 3rd party roster for the DLC, but if these are the candidates, I'm taking it back. I would be really excited for this.
Now, Joker is already confirmed and there have been several other rumors around Erdrick. One is that data miners have found character filenames with the name "brave" in the 1.1.0 update code (source), where it's speculated that this is simply a literal translation of "Yuusha", the Japanese name of the Hero character in the Dragon Quest games.
In addition, Vergeben also is saying that he keeps hearing about Erdrick (source) and he has been quite reliable about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate so far. He thought that the Square Enix character, which would be the fighter from Dragon Quest, would be revealed first and was wrong about that, but since he accurately predicted Ridley, Simon, Isabelle, Ken and Incineroar, I still give him the benefit of the doubt. And it all adds up.
Vergeben also kept hearing about Minecraft content (source), which would be another bullet point on the list. So, there are only really Ninja Gaiden and DOOM being the big surprises here.
And Ninja Gaiden makes a lot of sense. The series is a cult classic that goes back to the NES days. It also spawned the popular Dead or Alive fighting (and sexy volleyball) game series, where Ryu Hayabusa is a fighter in these games as well and would represent two franchises at once with that. Also, it would be the first Koei Tecmo representative, something to be expected sooner than later. Koei Tecmo has been cooperating with Nintendo left and right, they even gave us Hyrule Warriors, where it's weird that so far nothing from them has been playable in Super Smash Bros. – and Ryu Hayabusa should be the first choice here.
Also, Nintendo has been cooperating a lot with both Bethesda and Microsoft in the recent years, where some opportunities for Smash may arise here. And in case of Microsoft the choice of Minecraft is extremely obvious. It's the second best selling game of all time and insanely popular, going strong for almost a decade now. Nintendo loves Minecraft. Sakurai loves Minecraft. Miyamoto loves Minecraft. And most gamers love Minecraft as well. The game is available on Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Switch, where there's even a special Creeper-faced New 2DS XL.
And adding Minecraft to Smash Ultimate would be the biggest deal possible. There are so many fans out there that suddenly might become interested in buying a Switch with Smash Ultimate (and maybe even a copy of Minecraft to play it on the go), making this a very good addition from a business point of view.
In case of Bethesda, it probably comes down to either Dovahkiin or Doom Slayer, where the latter has multiple advantages. He represents the genre of classic, fast First Person Shooter games, which is not yet represented in Smash at all, while he also has a rich history with Nintendo. The original Doom appeared on the SNES and GameBoy Advance, while the N64 had a Doom game on its own with Doom 64. And of course the new games are on Switch.
Doom Slayer also appears in the Quake series, mainly as a playable character in Quake III Arena and Quake Champions, where similar to Ryu Hayabusa he could represent two series at once. So, while this might seem like the most outlandish choice on this list, Doom Slayer has lots of going for him.
And I personally would like this selection quite a lot. I don't care about Dragon Quest and I also don't Akira Toriyama's art anywhere near Smash, but I can still see the rich history Nintendo has with this series and its popularity in Japan.
Minecraft on the other hand is one of my favorite games of all time, where an inclusion in Smash would make me very happy. As a fan of the earlier Dead or Alive games, I would welcome Ryu Hayabusa with opens arms and I think he has the right legacy to be in Smash. And while I'm more a fan of Quake than Doom, I would still be very excited about Doom Slayer in Smash, especially if he brings weapons like the Rocket Launcher and even the BFG as his Final Smash. That would be insane. So, if this were the real DLC, I would be quite happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment