Masahiro Sakurai has taken to his Famitsu column to explain to the readers why the lead character of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Rex, wasn’t included as a main fighter in the excellent Super Smash Bros Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch system. Mr. Sakurai explained that the team initially planned for both Rex and Pyra to appear together in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, but the team had issues because each of the characters would have different movements which was overburdening the game’s processing capability. They decided to opt for Pyra who can transform into Mythra. Here’s a summary of his thoughts:
- “When it was decided that we were to create a character from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the very first thing I thought about was to show and move Rex and Pyra at the same time on screen. But a conclusion that it’s impossible came at a match speed. I somewhat requested the team to inspect it, but it was impossible.”
- “When we talk about 2 people who move as a single group, there are the Ice Climbers. They have the same looks and can only do the same things. When we tried Rex + Pyra, it was clear that we could not do an essential task to have their [data] capacity exceed a processing load threshold.”
- “The system to have Rex as the main fighter and Pyra overseeing him was also determined to be difficult. The design was so complex that a lot of things would have to be done.”
- “Rex would have to be moved on his own. But then I thought it would be better if we can change between Pyra and Mythra.”
Thank you Sakurai!
And then we get one of you…..
It’s really for the better. Nothing against my boy Rex, but I do think Pyra/Mythra does make for the more interesting fighter.
What is Rex was still playable anyway? And not that ugly Mii Fighter costume that barely looks like him.
Didn’t stop Chrom, who Robin can still Pair Up with to defeat.
the possibilities would have been way better if friggin Kimishima didn’t rush this console out to line his pockets.
I prefer Pyra and Mythra over Rex. Having Rex with Pyra would play very similarly to Robin and Arsene I feel.
+Kafolic
I agree with your comment but…don’t you mean Joker and Arsene?
Haven’t played with the new duo yet. They’re more interesting than the other characters released in this pass to me. I skipped all of them but might purchase the pyra/mythra combo.
Pretty sure the main reason he didn’t add Rex is because he was still mad at him over the friendzoning.
Sakurai at it again with this cop outs. “Breath of the wild Zelda doesn’t like fighting.” Then why did we get Villager, Isabelle, Wii Fit Trainer, and Duck Hunt? Couldn’t we get Ocarina of time Zelda with Twilight princess Zelda as an alternate costume? Or anything but freaking A link between worlds Zelda? “Mai Shiranui is not a spirit because age rating.” Bayonetta. “We picked Min Min over Spring Man because EVERY ARMs character is a protagonist.” Are you sure it’s not because you hate assist trophies?
Other than being in before the real protagonist of her game, and being the straw that broke the camels back for my 100 fighter fantasy, I don’t have a problem with Pyra/Mythra. I’ve been waiting for a hot redhead to join Smash bros for a while. I wanted Mona from Warioware or Anna from Fire Emblem, but it’s clear Nintendo hates Mona and people would just complain if we got another Fire Emblem character (even though we have 10 Pokemon reps). Pyra (and Pyra style Mythra) will do just fine.
I couldn’t even fathom your argument here
+N64Ever
He doesn’t have an argument, he’s literally just here to bait people, it’s best to just ignore him.
Rex did his best to get in Smash Bros since Sakurai pass him over to Pyra and Mythra. It is a bit difficult to get Rex, Pyra and Mythra in the battlefield at the same time.
Please remove the YouTube Kids mode on your channel videos. Your videos are not aimed at kids. Please allow us to comment there please. :(
huh?
Removed them. Your NOT a kids channel as I can report your channel for endangering underage kids. Like for crying out loud. Just set your videos under not for kids and that’s it. Video games are for EVERYONE for peeps sake. :/
Rex could have been an alternate skin to shulk though but what do i know.
I don’t see how. Shulk is taller and has the monado arts.
+Bonerjams
Sadly there’s no chance of that being done. Shulk and Rex have drastically different rigs and polygons, it MAY be possible if you made Rex an echo of Shulk but not only would heavily contradict the Xenoblade Lore but I also do not think fans would like that.
And yeah, as CFG pointed out, Shulk being taller poses quite the problem as well.
And here comes the postmortem explanation for disappointing people days later, especially after burning a character who did nothing wrong.
Honestly, why crush Rex hopes like that and have him voice his reaction? While we’re at it, he might as well cry like an anime fan on prom night too.
Nowadays, these fighter choices just feel like they came from someone’s personal top 10 favorite characters list, or what’s popular on Google Trends.
Does true Nintendo representation now just stops at .png spirits?
If you’d be so kind; Could you define “True Nintendo” for me?
That’s “true Nintendo representation”.
To put it bluntly, I meant: Sakurai/Nintendo should add some of their more obscure characters to the roster, than just glorify specific third-party characters (especially the non-protagonists).
Characters such as:
-Spring Man (guy on the front cover of ARMS who gets socked for his troubles)
-Pokkle (Giftpia)
-Demille (Tomato Adventure)
-Mach Rider
-Isaac (Golden Sun)
-Skull Kid (Legend of Zelda)
-Krystal (Star Fox/formerly Dinosaur Planet)
-Birdo
-Waluigi, 9-Volt (WarioWare, Inc.)
-Ashley (that character who gets promoted like crazy)
-Captain Syrup (Wario Land)
-Prince Sable (For the Frog the Bell Tolls)
-Takamaru (Mysterious Murasame Castle)
-Elma (Xenoblade Chronicles X
-Saki Amamiya (Sin & Punishment)
-Isa Jo (Sin & Punishment)
-Lip (Panel de Pon)
-Dixie Kong
-Geno (Super Mario RPG)
-Paper Mario
-Zael (Last Story)
-Aeron (Pandora’s Tower)
-Samurai Goroh (F-Zero)
-Black Shadow (F-Zero)
-Sales Bunny (Nintendo Badge Arcade)
-Tethu (Ever Oasis)
-Dillon (Dillion’s Rolling Western)
-Chibi-Robo
-Drake Redcrest (Chibi-Robo)
-Andy (Advance Wars)
-Wonder Red (The Wonderful 101)
-Primid (Subspace Emissary)
-Mr. Sandman (Punch-Out)
-Super Macho Man (Punch-Out)
-Nikki (Swapnote/Swapdoodle, another promoted character)
-Frey/Frey (Zangeki no Regileiv)
-Captain Rainbow
-Barbara (Daigasso! Band Brothers)
-Medusa (Kid Icarus Uprising)
-Urban Champion
-Ray Mk III (Custom Robo)
-Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Yes, I read this article.)
-And any others I haven’t mentioned
+amanfromdeclan
I mean, you’re not wrong, even I have to admit some of those obscure picks would be really awesome especially since Isaac is my most wanted character but…I still wouldn’t say Sakurai/Nintendo have ignored “True Nintendo Representation”.
The base game added Inklings, Ridley, King K Rool, and Incineroar along with echos for Chrom, Dark Samus, and Daisy.
As for DLC; Yes fighter pass 1 had a strong emphasis on 3rd party but it still included Byleth and you can even say Banjo is a strong exception given how he’s a 3rd party but has Nintendo running through his veins.
Fighter Pass 2 added Min-Min and now these 2 which are also 1st party Nintendo so…how exactly did they relegate “True Nintendo Representation” when you have all this?
Finally, side note, you say “glorify specific third-party characters (especially the non-protagonists)” but then you put Geno on your list? Geno is technically 3rd Party as he’s owned by Square-Enix, this feels like a contradiction.
Not when you consider that Geno is also a Mario character. SMRPG isn’t a separate franchise (especially since Square-Enix hasn’t done jack with him, other than not sue Sakurai over a Geno costume). So when Geno gets in (whether its through Sakurai or mods), fans expect him to sport the mushroom icon.
As for Fighter Pass 2
-Heavy emphasis on Sephiroth (FF character #2)
-Pyra/Mythra over Rex (Xenoblade 2’s protagonist). Rex’s reaction and Sakurai “Did you hear something” rubbed further salt in the wounds.
Basically Fighter Pass 2 is guilty of prioritizing popular characters over practical choices, especially when it shouldn’t.
Almost as if Sakurai/Nintendo intend to do the OPPOSITE of what people expect/want, just for the sake of surprising people. And what you’re left with is a love-it-or-hate-it situation.
Those who like those characters specifically are happy, those who don’t necessarily hate those characters, but value fair representation/order are left pissed/annoyed and now have to quickly adapt to the new status quo (before their minds break or they quit the series).
+amanfromdeclan
I have to disagree on these picks not being practical. As you said yourself; They are pretty much focusing on popular picks which in and of itself is practical because those are the ones that generate more money. You need to understand that when it comes to the base game, they can afford to throw in some obscure choices because people have to either buy the game and all it’s content or nothing at all. King K Rool, for example, is extremely irrelevant in this day and age but I’d wager if he wasn’t in the base game, he likely never would have made it in as DLC. And while I wouldn’t say he’s irrelevant, Ridley is also a pretty niche pick in the grand scheme of things due to Metroid not getting as much these days as they used to, we still haven’t heard anything about Metroid Prime 4 despite it being announced almost 2 years ago. Come to think of it; We don’t even know if Ridley is even gonna be in that game!
But with DLC; They need to pick big hitters because of the fact they are optional for purchase. If they threw in a load of obscure characters that only die-hard Nintendo fans will be aware of, the sales would plummet so it’s very practical to choose popular characters for DLC especially when you look at how much they did with the base game.
And to be fair, I wouldn’t say the DLC has all been popular picks. Terry was quite unknown when he was announced, Banjo was still an insane addition but is still quite irrelevant in this day and age, and Min-Min wasn’t even tossed around until they confirmed the next character would be from Arms.
As for the “salt in the wound”, I really hate to be that guy but people should grow up and realize it’s a video game and get a sense of humour. I mean I was very disappointed when Isaac was confirmed to be an assist trophy but I didn’t lose sleep over it or go into a state of depression, it’s still just a game at the end of the day.
And if Sakurai keeps this up and starts adding character outside of the realm of video games (Goku, Naruto, Spongebob, Shrek, Game Grumps, you, me, etc.), that’s ALL it’ll be.
A video game. And one that lost its original identity.
And I’m not about to accept that.
Also, I thought you agreed with me on my list of choices.
+amanfromdeclan
Smash Bros hasn’t “lost it’s identity” because it never had a solidified identity to begin with, people just assumed it was meant to be a Nintendo Focused series so unless you can find me a statement from Sakurai or Nintendo saying that Smash Bros will always be 100% focused on Nintendo’s IP or that there will never be any 3rd Party characters involved, all you have to go on is assumption.
And considering Sonic was apparently planned for SSBM which is a game that came out not too long after the first game, I’m gonna say it was never the intention to keep 3rd Party characters out.
As for the Non-Gaming characters; Actually I also do not wish for the likes of Goku or Shrek to get in because unlike this “Nintendo Only” fan rule, Sakurai and Nintendo HAVE commented on that saying that they want to keep Smash as a series that celebrates video game franchises. For me; As long as the characters added originated from video games, they are fair game.
Also, yes I agreed that some of those picks would be awesome and very surprising but that doesn’t mean I agree they are practical.
But what if they’re already in the base game (with everything else)?
What are people going to do, not buy the game at all because Bandana Dee (forgot to mention him) and a few retro characters are playable.
I want to say that the explanation makes sense (because it does), but at the same time, couldn’t they have tried the Pokemon Trainer approach? Pokemon Trainer hangs out in the back, interacting with his/her Pokemon when they swap out and running along the battlefield to be close to their point Pokemon. Couldn’t Rex have been similar? Like, Rex is the point fighter, Pyra/Mythra sticks by the sidelines and follows Rex, and the closer she is to him, the stronger his/their attacks are? Pyra and Mythra could still swap and which one was out would affect Rex’s specials.
I’m not unhappy with Pyra & Mythra as they are, but did they at least consider this approach for Rex?
Fuck Pyra Rex is way fucking better.