SOOOOO much to catch up on. -Cracks Smash-related divulging knuckles-
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To start out for those who haven't happened upon it, a presskit album FULL of Smash images not seen on the main website or the Direct. Includes a lot of interesting items and perhaps assist trophies, including but not limited to the Tanuki Leaf, Bullet Bills, Kid Icarus weapons like the Drill arm and the Killer Eye, as well as the Galaga aliens.
Next, I'm really happy that the team actually thought up some of the same ideas I had about the game, particularly the Master Ball item, the tournament-friendly versions of stages (Essentially the Final Destination modes), and something else I forget. I'm also happy to see that I was right about Lumiose City being the flying platform kind of stage rather than a climbing stage, and that Phantom Slash was a special move for Zelda, which was my gut reaction.
Speaking of Phantom Slash, the fact that Villager can pocket the damn thing is probably one of the most golden moments of the direct for me.
The idea that transformation characters are a thing of the past is something I actually kind of like. This puts the fate of Squirtle and Ivysaur into question, but to be honest I love the fact that Samus isn't tethered to Zero Suit Samus anymore, and that ZSS isn't tethered to a tether recovery. In fact the absence of tether recoveries all together is a very welcome change.
Wireframe Mac is an alternate costume choice that took me by surprise, and I love it. That's what I like about this team, it seems like everyone expects them to do something one way, and then they come entirely out of left field and do it differently and still come out awesome. I am also hoping that this is actually an alternate costume and not just a color slot like Dark Link in Brawl.
I also want to send out my condolences to all fellow Ridley Supporters. I know there's a lot of technical loopholes that could make Ridley still playable, but let's face it, the implications were very heavy in the direct, and to be frank I'm happy he's included in gameplay at all, whether or not playability happens. I'm just taking an early moment of silence in his playable memory, because I'm pretty sure this is how it's gonna be.
That being said, the concept of Stage Bosses is a very intriguing one to me, and I'm wondering what others there might be. I'm assuming that Find Mii ghost is one, and maybe Cragalanche appears on the Reset Bomb Forest, or maybe a boxer in the Boxing Arena. I'm going to also assume that there may be Event Matches revolving around soloing the bosses on your own. Could be good fun.
I'm loving all the new character details, both for veterans and newcomers. I like the moveset changes. Olimar seems like he's nerfed (I never played well as him so I don't know the details TO playing him well, I was under the impression that he was a beast in the right hands, though), but I do like his new recovery, especially that it differs based on the number of pikmin in his hands.
One thing I find a little weird is the fact they put ZSS in heels. Well, weird to me, but not unexpected I guess. Maybe the team was watching too much Kill la Kill, where fighting in heels is somehow easier than breathing. Oh well, minor gripe, her new moves look really sweet with her new jet mechanics.
I love all the new Final Smashes too. The fact that Pit doesn't have Palutena and the fake-out with Pseudo Palutena is a dead lock that she's playable (not that I have any doubt based on the evidence in her defense we've had with her leak). I almost feel like the leak was intentional. Not necessarily APPROVED by Nintendo, but I can almost picture Sakurai or someone close to him leaking those photos just to toy with the internet and then troll them with little hints. Mega Man's FS is fucking amazing, nothing better than seeing him standing tall (figuratively speaking) between all his spin-off brothers.
The Assist Trophies were riddled with characters I wondered whether they had a chance at being playable (though with some of the assists that were denied playability so far, it wasn't that much of a surprise they were here). In particular, the returning assists like Knuckle Joe, Lyn and Saki, and new assists like Midna and Dark Samus. They all look freaking amazing though, especially Dark Samus, who looks badass as hell, and Elec Man, who looks sweet too. I also am excited by the fact he wants "as many as possible" and that they somehow factor into All Star mode, whatever that means.
I'm running on empty at the moment, so I'm going to stop this with the fact that during the Greninja reveal you could see a large number of Pokemon released, most of whom were already confirmed Pokeball pokemon or returning ones, but also you can see others that might have been possibly playable considerations that are probably now confirmed as just Pokeball pokemon, in particular Zoroark, who you can see very briefly in the front.
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