Super Smash Bros. Bear and Breegull Trailer, My Thoughts

Back at E3, Nintendo did one of their Directs. In them, they revealed some new games coming, more info on previously announced games, and two new DLC fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Back in July, I looked at the first of those characters revealed: The Luminary from Dragon Quest XI. However, there was another pair, or should I say, duo of characters coming to do some Smashing.

These two, I admit, are close to my heart. Their two games on the N64 back in the day were among my favorites on the console. I also enjoyed their third game, despite it being radically different. Smash fans have been wanting these two in he series for a very long time, but they're being characters from Rare (which is now owned by Microsoft), made that a seeming impossibility. Until now. Yup, a certain bear and bird are making their long-awaited and long-desired Smash Bros. debut! Let's take a look!

Ah, the great rivalries of gaming.

Ha ha ha! Looks like K. Rool couldn't keep up the rent on his home, so he had to move in with Donkey and Diddy Kong.

Stop hogging the window, K. Rool! You're a guest!

Yeah, you're going to have to pay for that.

No way! It can't be!

Duck Hunt Dog and Bird are a pair of little trolls. And if you don't get it, it's an homage to the trailer that revealed K. Rool would join the Smash roster.

It is so awesome to see Banjo-Kazooie in Smash. For those who are unfamiliar with them, Banjo is the brown bear, and Kazooie is the red bird (called a breegull). They first appeared in their self-titled game in 1998. Their games often focused on their battles against the witch Gruntilda.

Not surprising the Kongs and K. Rool are thrilled. Rare also made the Donkey Kong Country games back in the day. Nice little bit of meta there.

Go, Kazooie, go!

I love that the combat shows Banjo and Kazooie working together. It's how their games worked. And I can't help but feel a bit bad for Kazooie when she's used as a club. Bird of Iron, indeed.

I also like that we see Kazooie using her standard and Grenade Eggs. And it fits that the Grenade Eggs can be grabbed and used as weapons. Makes their usage risky. I like it.

I'm assuming the Jump Pad is their Up + B jump move.

And it makes sense they'd use the golden feathers for an attack. I used to use a cheat code to get an infinite amount of them. Made things easier for me.

Heh heh, Banjo's a bear. Of course he'd go after the beehive. Gotta get that honey!

It makes sense that Spiral Mountain would be the Smash fighting stage. It's the hub world of the original game.

Oh hey, Grunty! Banjo and Kazooie are going to beat you down again.

I'm guessing that's the Final Smash. JINJO ATTAAAAAAACK!

Ouch. Yeah, that's a nod to how Gruntilda was defeated in the first Banjo-Kazooie game. She got crushed by a boulder.

I am so excited! I loved the Banjo-Kazooie games back in the day, and I can't wait to do some Smashing with these two! I'm so happy Microsoft and Nintendo were able to come together to make this happen! As I have said in the past, the Smash Bros. series has become more than just a Nintendo fighting game, it's become a tribute to video games as a medium. It's truly incredible to see what its become.

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Super Smash Bros. Heroic Encounter DLC Trailer, My Thoughts

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the latest entry in the Smash Bros. franchise, can boast one of the biggest rosters in fighting games. Every character that has ever appeared in a Smash Bros. game returned for this game, including third-party characters like Cloud from Final Fantasy and Ryu from Street Fighter. The game boasts a roster numbering nearly 80 characters. And that was before it was announced more fighters would come thanks to DLC.

The first DLC character that was revealed was Joker from Persona 5, announced at the 2018 Game Awards. But since then, Nintendo has revealed at E3 2019 two more DLC characters, the first we'll look at here. This one made me smile, as this guy is representing a series that I felt Smash should have been able to give a shout-out to earlier, as his series was considered the first major console RPG series. Let's see who it is!

Boy, Sauron has some ugly relatives.

Link's a bit outnumbered, huh? He's fighting Meta Knight and Chrom, I think. And I also think Sauron's Ugly Brother over there has something to do with that.

Luckily, help is on the way! I hope...

Link's going to get wrecked!

BOOM!

Here comes the theme song! I know this theme!

Say hello to the Hero, everyone! He's also known as "The Luminary". He's the playable character in Dragon Quest XI, which is coming to the Switch later this year. Yup, the Dragon Quest series is coming to Smash! About time! I love the Dragon Quest series, so I was so happy it's getting representation in Smash! The series is considered incredibly important, as it's considered the very first console RPG series. Yeah. It was massively influential. Pokémon, Final Fantasy, likely they would have never existed if it weren't for Dragon Quest.

I love the stage. I'm guessing it's a reference to Dragon Quest XI, as that's the latest game in the series, and the Luminary is from that game.

The Luminary is going to be so much fun to play as!

Look out, slimes!

Looks like the Luminary is going to need some help.

We're also getting the heroes of Dragon Quest IV and VIII, too! Awesome! I'm betting they'll be alternate "colors" for the Luminary. I have the remake of IV for the DS and the remake of VIII for the 3DS. They're great games.

...Oh...my...God...ERDRICK! ERDRICK! ERDRICK OF THE FIRST THREE DRAGON QUEST GAMES! THIS IS SO COOL!

Oh, neat! They can use the magic spells from the games!

I love the Final Smash! The Heroes channel the power from the heroes of the other seven mainline Dragon Quest games. I recognize VI, VII, IX, and II. I'm guessing the other ones are from I and V.

About time, I say. It is about freakin' time. I know this was much more widely received in Japan, but the Dragon Quest games do have a following here in the West. I'm one of those fans. Dragon Quest is HUGE in Japan. I am not kidding. It is HUGE over there. They have a BAR in Japan based on the games. A BAR. I am not kidding, it is real. It's also got a ballet, and there was even an urban legend that the Japanese government passed a law banning Square Enix from releasing Dragon Quest games on weekdays because so many people left work or school to buy the new game when it came out. It wouldn't be until Dragon Quest VIII was released in 2005 that the West would truly embrace the series. VIII was also the first game in the series released in Europe.

I am so excited for this. I have been a fan of the Dragon Quest series for years, and Smash Bros. is my favorite fighting game. So seeing them together? This is incredible! I am so happy! This is great! This is so great!

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate New Content Announcement, My Thoughts

On December 7, 2018, Nintendo released the newest game in their popular Smash Bros. fighting game franchise was released. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The game's big thing was that every single playable character in the Smash Bros. series would be in this game, from Wolf of the Star Fox series to Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series to Ryu from the Street Fighter series. Over 70 fighters would be in the game. A 71st character came along in the form of the Piranha Plant...and five more characters are coming as DLC, one already revealed.

The game was given practically universal acclaim, and is the fastest-selling game for the Switch. It sold nearly 13 million copies in a month. I got a copy for Christmas. It is so much fun.

As the trend is with games these days, there will be DLC and updates. And Nintendo has announced that SSBU is getting such a big update, to version 3.0. It comes with new features! Let's take a look!

Say hello to Joker from Persona 5! He's the game's newest fighter, and is one of 5 special DLC characters coming to the game! I can't wait to see who comes next! Since Microsoft and Nintendo have been getting chummy lately, maybe Banjo-Kazooie will appear next? I loved their N64 adventures.

Joker subscribes to the "just shoot 'em" idea. No need for fancy powers, just bullets. And having a big knife also helps. Makes sense, guns and knives are his weapon of choice in the game.

It appears one of his combat outfits is his civilian school uniform. Makes sense, considering how deep into games' lore the Smash Bros. series likes to get into.

Hey, Joker has his own power meter like Little Mac does!

I love that the other characters from the game are doing commentary. Nice little touch.

Of course with a new fighter comes a new stage. I love that it changes based on the background music.

Joker's Final Smash is kind of like Shulk's. Just call in his friends and they all hand out a beating.

Cool guys don't look at sparkle explosions...

That's the attention to detail right there. Joker has his own unique win screen. Another nice touch? Look at the opponents Joker has beaten. Link in his "Dark Link" costume, and Dark Samus. Shadows of the heroes. It also makes sense. They're the dark mirrors of Nintendo heroes, and Joker's whole thing is changing the malevolent nature of people's hearts using his Persona powers.

Joker just making off with everyone's stuff! Mario better hide Cappy. Link, hide your weapons, too.

...I really oughta get that Fighters Pass.

Joker looks very graceful. I might enjoy playing as him.

"He wields a gun." I don't know why, but the delivery of that made me laugh.

The grappling hook looks neat.

Considering all the damage that Joker can do, I can bet that to balance it out, he's a bit lacking in the ability to take a hit.

Rebel's Guard and the Rebellion meter makes me think of Cloud and his Limit Break meter. Even can be charged the same way.

So, I think the whole point is to get Joker to the point where he can unleash Arsene, and that's when you go all out. Arsene is one dapper Persona. Which is appropriate for a Persona named after a legendary gentleman thief.

In the Persona series, there's a place called the Metaverse. It basically contains the physical manifestations of people's subconscious desires. So basically, someone subconsciously desired this series for Joker.

Heh, looks like the other Phantom Thieves want to take a closer look at the action.

As I said, I like that the Mementos stage's colors change based on the background music. The game will use music from three games in the series, and each color represents a game. Red for Persona 5, yellow for Persona 4, and blue for Persona 3.

I can't wait to find out who the other four DLC fighters are. The possibilities are endless!

Considering that a character from the Persona series is playable in the game, makes sense there'd be Mii costumes paying homage to the series, too. The Tails and Knuckles costumes are neat, too. And at only 75 cents each? That's a bargain!

A stage builder?! We're getting a stage builder?! THAT IS SO COOL! I love stage builders! I'm going to mess with that thing so much...it does look like it'll be better than previous ones...

There will also be a video editor, too? Hey, that's neat! Any gamers that are also budding filmmakers will love this feature, I bet.

Looks like I'll have to get the Switch Online service if I want to upload my custom stages. I get why, but that is a real shame.

Don't really care much about Smash World.

This new update is awesome! I love the new features, and Joker sounds like a fun new character to play as. He comes off as a bit overpowered to me, but maybe I'll have to actually play as the guy to be sure. He might end up being a personal favorite. I am very excited for the stage builder and the video editor modes. I can't wait to mess with those. I'll have to remember to grab the Fighters Pass. I also love the new stage. It's so funky. This new update is spectacular.

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Take Your Heart DLC Trailer, My Thoughts

At the 2018 Game Awards, Nintendo made a little announcement. They decided to reveal the first of their DLC fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Who was that first DLC fighter? Let's find out!

Ah, dang it! I hate it when the screen cuts out like that! *smacks monitor* Work!

Ah, there we go! ..."Take Your Heart"? Did I get hacked?

I know a certain evil clown that would really dislike this guy using his name. He gets very angry about that.

Cool mask, bro.

So, he's there to steal something, huh?

Buddy, if you're invited to try and steal something, it's a trap.

I have to admit, I like the music in this trailer. Rather groovy.

That's right! Super Smash Bros., meet Joker from the Atlus role-playing game Persona 5! Gotta admit, this is a surprise, as Persona 5 is exclusive to the PlayStations 3 and 4. Who is Joker, you may ask? Well, in his native game, he is part of a group of teenagers known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a group of young vigilantes who solve people's problems through supernatural means. Joker himself is the character the player...plays as in the game. He's voiced by Xander Mobus in the US, the same man who voices the announcer in the Smash Bros. games.

Joker's Persona is quite something, huh? Big fire monster. A Persona in the game is the manifestation of a person's psyche. They're used to battle enemies known as Shadows.

The Persona series is rather complicated. The series' general theme is the characters finding their true selves and the exploration of the human psyche. The series has design elements that draw from religion, literature, mythology, Jungian psychology, and archetypes. It's also a spinoff of another video game series called Shin Megami Tensei, which was based on a series of Japanese science fiction novels called Devil Digital Story by Aya Nishitani. Those games are known for their dark themes and heavy religious influences. Yeah, it's a heavy series that is a spin-off of another heavy series.

The Persona series is rather popular internationally (selling over 9 million copies), and also helped garner interest in the Shin Megami Tensei series in North America. So, it does make sense that the series would get some representiation in this game. I've never played any of the games myself, so I am curious to see how this guy plays, and what the heck is Final Smash will be.

Final Smash DLC Thoughts.

Recently, Nintendo did a special broadcast on their social media about what is to be the last DLC for the latest Super Smash Bros. game. A couple of new fighters, and the winner of the Smash Ballot was revealed! No, it was not Cloud. Did download Cloud for the 3DS version, and he is a blast to play as.

The reveal of Corrin from the newest Fire Emblem game: Fire Emblem: Fates, just made me shrug. I never had any issue with the Fire Emblem series, to be honest. I did play Fire Emblem for the GBA. It was a good game, but it wasn't for me. Tactical RPGs aren't really my thing. I have heard some outcry about his inclusion, as it was felt his inclusion was purely for promotion. It also increases the number of Fire Emblem characters to six. It wasn't a problem for me, really. After all, the Mario series has quite a lot of representation in the game (Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Baby Bowser. Technically, twelve if you count all seven of the Koopalings).

The creators did want to include him, and I'm sure the game's makers consider Corrin being in Smash a great promotion. After all, Shulk was included to promote Xenoblade Chronicles.

However, I did find his dragon-based attacks pretty cool. I imagine he'll be fun to play as at the very least.

I liked the explanation of Cloud's moves. It's really cool to see that he gets Limit Breaks for all his moves. It really goes to show the work these people put in to make the character feel like they stepped right out of their games. This is the most wonderful form of video game fanservice. It really shows the team's passion for gaming and gaming history. The Smash series has really become a tribute to gaming, and it's so awesome seeing Cloud. It's fun playing as him, too. I've never played Final Fantasy VII, but I would love to now.

The Midgar stage is really cool. It's really neat that you can summon monsters from the various games, and they have some really cool effects on the stage...if you can get the Materia! I imagine Midgar will be a favorite stage to smash on, for sheer unpredictability alone.

I never really was into Mii costumes, but this game has some cool ones, paying homage to Splatoon, and even Tekken and Virtua Fighter. They have announced a Geno costume for Mii Gunners, as well as Tails and Knuckles costumes. I'm sure Mii costume collectors will love them. And in a way, Geno does get into Smash after all.

Bayonetta coming to Smash was a surprise to say the least. Her reveal trailer was really cool. I have to admit, I was a bit saddened to see that Solid Snake wasn't coming back, nor would Simon Belmont join, but Nintendo and Konami probably couldn't come to a deal. And in the case of Snake, Konami and Kojima being on the outs didn't help much. Ah, well. Can't be helped. Still, Bayonetta is a good choice. I haven't played either of her games, but I have heard they were good. She's a combo fighter, so I can imagine match-ups with Ryu will be quite interesting.

Her Witch Time attack looks awesome. I like that there is something to prevent it from being spammed. And I LOVE her Final Smash. The big demon Gomorrah just comes in and chows down on every other opponent Bayonetta is facing! That is cool, man! Just awesome!

These characters will also get amiibo. That's also neat, and makes sense. Every other Smash fighter has gotten amiibo, only fair Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta get them.

Do I think this will be truly the last DLC? Maybe. You never know. But if this truly is the last DLC, then it ended with a big bang! Thank you, Mr. Sakurai. Your hard work is truly appreciated by millions of gamers everywhere.

Cloud Strife Storms into Smash!

Recently, Nintendo has shown off a trailer, revealing that yet another new fighter is joining the wonderous world of Smash Bros. Who could it be? We've seen Roy from the Fire Emblem series return from Melee, and Lucas from the Mother series make his return from Brawl, and we even have seen Ryu from the Street Fighter series make his debut. So, who would come to Smash...

Yes, Cloud Strife! Cloud Strife, one of the protagonists from Final Fantasy VII, is coming to Smash, and he's bringing his Buster Sword to raise some hell, and he even has brought a stage with him. I'm assuming that's Midgar, and you can even bring in summons from the game to mess with the stage.

I thought this was quite a surprise, and it was pretty cool, too. I admit, I never played Final Fantasy VII (Pokémon was the series that got me into RPGs), but I am aware that it was the game that made RPGs popular in America.

I have heard complaints about Cloud being in the game, because he was another swordsman, and also because his debut game was never released on a Nintendo console. He has appeared in games that have been on Nintendo products since then, though. Like the Kingdom Hearts series. However, I do get why he was included, when you think about it.

Final Fantasy VII is one of the most iconic games in the series, and Cloud himself is one of the protagonists in the game. FFVII was the game that made RPGs popular in America. And Cloud himself has become one of the most iconic protagonists in the series. Why not use one of the most memorable characters from one of the most popular and successful games in the series to represent it?

Also, on a personal note, I honestly think Sakurai just wanted to break the Internet again.

Sakurai: Hey guys, remember when we broke the Internet by including Mega Man?
Programmers: Yeah...
Sakurai: Well, I want to do it again, only a thousand times bigger.
Programmer: Well, there was the Smash Ballot...
Sakurai: This is outside the Ballot! We'll still do the Ballot! I'm thinking...Cloud Strife.
Programmer: Wait, Cloud?! Sakurai, you're insane. Cloud first appeared on the PlayStation! And...I don't think the Internet will be able to handle the fan reaction!
Sakurai: Trust me, fellas. They will love it. Call Square-Enix.

The addition of Cloud has shown me one thing: the Smash series really has grown beyond its roots. When it started, it was a fun fighting game featuring Nintendo characters and paying homage to the company's history. But over the years, we've seen the series grow and include characters like Sonic and Pac-Man. To me, the Smash Bros. series has become almost a tribute to video game history in general. Many of the greatest video game series ever have either been created by Nintendo or appeared on Nintendo consoles, so it's neat that Final Fantasy is getting love, too.

Hmm, with Cloud, maybe Tifa and Barrett could join in, too. Think about it. They fit the three main categories of fighters in Smash. Cloud is the swordsman, Tifa is a brawler, and Barrett is a gunner. That would be cool. And many series have more than one fighter in Smash, so why not Final Fantasy, too?

Now hopefully, Simon Belmont is one of the winning characters in the Smash Ballot. As well as Solid Snake, too. I would love to play as Snake again, and I would love it if Konami also let Smash give Castlevania some love.