Mr. Sakurai Announces The Latest Smash Character

Nintendo can’t go a whole month without giving us more information about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, fans would go mental. Luckily here’s Masahiro Sakurai to give us an update.

First of all, in this half-hour Nintendo Direct dedicated to Super Smash Bros, we are told the name of the final fighter in the fighter’s pass. Announcing Byleth from Fire Emblem Three Houses and the new stage Garreg Mach Monastery.

I know what you’re thinking, “Oh great, another anime sword fighter”, well yes and no.

Byleth not only uses their own sword/whip the Sword of the Creator but also the heroes relics belonging to the three main lords; Edelgard’s Aymr, Dimitri’s Areadbhar and Claude’s Failnaught assigned each to a directional command.

Byleth’s move set looks to be a mixture of different fighters already in the game. He’s slow like Robin has an upward tether recovery like Joker and a bow and arrow like Link. Though there are unique points to Byleth such as the lance and axe available.

Multiple colour palettes are also available for Byleth, who can be either male or female as well as having colour schemes of the three new lords and a change of hair colour to reflect a change that happens midway through the story.

The new stage will be Garreg Mach Monastery, the main area in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Similar to a previous Fire Emblem stage Castle Siege, this map will transform as the battle progresses.

Switching between the marketplace, reception hall, bridge and cathedral, the stage is beautiful and highlights the personality of the game perfectly. It also features a vast array of supporting characters from the game including the adorable Flayn and the man with monstrous hair Lorenz.

As gorgeous as the stage is though, you won’t likely be seeing it in competitive play. Transforming stages are not new but the major issue with the stage is what is known as “walk-offs”, where the stage is connected to the blast zones at the side.

Along with 11 new music tracks, a number of spirits will be added to the spirit board. These are for Dorothea, Ingrid, Hilda, Seteth, Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Rhea and Sothis. According to Mr Sakurai, the new classic mode update for Byleth also features an amusing surprise.

In addition to the new Fire Emblem characters, we have a bunch of new Mii fighter costumes. Returning from Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U are costumes from Mega Man X and Mega Man Battle Network but more importantly, we have new costumes. These are; Altair from Assassin's Creed, Rabbids from the Rayman franchise and Cuphead from Cuphead. Cuphead also comes with his own music track, as Sans did previously.

Byleth, Garreg Mach Monastery and the Mii fighter costumes will be launched on 28th January 2020.

With that, the fighter’s pass is complete but Sakurai teased us with a second fighter’s pass, this time including six more fighters all to be released by December 2021. As a bonus to buying the second fighter’s pass, you will unlock as special Ancient Soldier Mii fighter costume from The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.

Lastly, Masahiro Sakurai addresses the news of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate being the best selling fighting game in the world by being controversial and suggesting that Smash is not a fighting game.

With the upcoming six new characters, it doesn’t look like Mr Sakurai will be taking a break anytime soon.