DLC can be a touchy subject – particularly with fighting games. Some fans feel, sometimes rightly so, that it’s charging extra for what should already be on the disc. With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s huge roster of characters there was little danger of that. The Fighter Pass, a collection of new playable fighters patched in to the game over the last year, has also done a great job.
The hero from Dragon Quest and Banjo-Kazooie were huge surprises that fans scarcely thought possible. Terry Bogard, from Final Fight among others, is a blast to use and showed a clear amount of effort in his design. Even Joker, maybe the most surprising inclusion (Persona 5 does not look any closer to a Switch release), involved collaborating with a third party. So hopes were high for the final character in the Fighter Pass. Would fans finally get the playable Waluigi they inexplicably crave? Would it be another 3rd party legend? What we got was altogether a little different…
Byleth, from Fire Emblem Three Houses, Revealed
I’ve not played Fire Emblem: Three Houses yet, so there’s every chance I’ll personally love Byleth once I have. Fire Emblem is often thought of as a niche series, but with every instalment its fan-base grows. Save for the occasional misstep: sorry Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia! So its not that Fire Emblem: Three Houses is undeserving of a nod, but with so many other Switch titles coming out it is a little disappointing to see a series that’s already well represented get another fighter through the Fighter Pass.
There was plenty else besides Byleth to get excited about in the presentation. New Mii Fighter costumes gave nods to Assassin’s Creed, the Rabbids series and even Cuphead. The other big announcement was more telling: confirmation that a second Fighter Pass is heading to the game, this time with 6 characters. Its hard to get excited when they’re so far off – and we don’t know who they are. But its hard not to get caught up in the prospect of gaming’s most impressive roster growing even more. Let’s just hope they’re more Banjo than Byleth.
