A new fighter reveal for Smash Bros. Ultimate was announced a couple of days ago, and today we finally got a new character. And it turned out to be yet another Fire Emblem character. This time Byleth from the recently released Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Aside from the fact Byleth sounds like an anagram for “Blethy” (missed opportunity for a female name there), the fighter itself seems fine enough. Most of the attacks seem to be focused on range, with Byleth being able to hit most enemies from a distance.
Though it seems the issue isn’t so much the character itself. But rather the fact that Nintendo has decided to launch yet another Fire Emblem character for Smash when they have such a vast universe of characters to pick from. Why not any of the other oddly missing characters from the roster?
As for the Devil May Cry announcement that Capcom teased people with during the beginning of the month? Well, it turns out it was just an announcement regarding Free Style switching for the Nintendo Switch version of Devil May Cry 3. So, no. Dante is not going to be part of the Smash Bros. roster (At least not yet).
A Wasted Opportunity
It just seems like such a wasted opportunity and it seems most of the internet agrees. The reveal video has gathered 21,000 dislikes on YouTube (at the time of writing). And while the amount of likes is still larger around 37,000 that is still a fair amount of people who are disappointed in Nintendo’s choice.
This is not the first time Nintendo has been tone-deaf regarding what their player base wants. Their reveal of the Metroid spinoff title Federation Force still holds rather fresh in memory as one of the biggest disappointments in recent memory.
Not to mention, their recent Tokyo Mirage Sessions scandal doesn’t make them look any better. It seems every time they build something up, there is a rather big chance it’s not going to please everyone… Or most people.
Though despite the disappointing reveal, there is no doubt that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is still a popular game. And a huge system seller for Nintendo who knows their player base keeps growing. And no doubt Byleth is going to pull in its share of fans as well. But perhaps it is time to let old forgotten characters shine as well?