Super Smash Bros. Direct 12/15/15 — Climax of the Cloud of Fates

Nintendo is good with being unpredictable regarding what they’ll present in Nintendo Direct installments, but that goes double for those dedicated to Super Smash Bros. news. Director Masahiro Sakurai and his team have a knack for knowing which representation of fanservice (the non-ecchi kind, mostly) people want to see next, to further extend the game’s longevity. But after introducing Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife with the last Nintendo Direct, a character historically associated with Sony, they set an ostensibly insurmountable bar to top for those expecting another announcement equivalent to that.

They were really expecting something big once they clarified this would be the final Smash stream. Make sure to take it all in, and bask in the memories.

“Big,” by their definition, didn’t refer to another Fire Emblem character; but that’s what they received. It was confirmed that Corrin, protagonist from the upcoming Fire Emblem Fates, will be joining Smash provide another FE option and promote the upcoming western release (it hit Japan in late-June). Like Robin and Wii Fit Trainer, Corrin will come in male and female varieties. And while we have a fifth FE sword user here, at least the introduction was accompanied with an FE-style anime custcene. Interestingly, this also means FE has more representatives in Smash than even The Legend of Zelda.

Corrin will also have unique maneuvers inspired by the Fates iteration, though retrofitted to suit a fighting game. One of them happened to involve an apparently-significant spoiler they didn’t hesitate to blow for us westerners. You could almost hear the laughs from Japanese fans and importers who played through the game and knew this already, but hopefully anyone who wanted to go into Fates clean didn’t watch this. I have tact, so I won’t spoil it here.

Corrin will release in February 2016 for $4.99, if you want to purchase the character separately for 3DS or Wii U. But you might as well pay another $1 to get them for both platforms. See, that’s how they get you. This also came with new art featuring both genders of the character with other Smash combatants, courtesy of Yusuke Kozaki.

Of course, you haven’t forgotten Cloud, right? This Direct offered a good opportunity to further demonstrate his move set, which showed how heavily the Smash team studied his maneuvers and actions in the original FFVII — and not the sequels or Dissidia games, though two versions of his Advent Children outfit are included. He also has limit breaks, with a meter (surprisingly in its PSOne glory) that slowly fills as he lands or takes hits, or can be manually charged whenever opponents are a good distance away. Filling the meter gives Cloud the ability to use a powered-up version of his special attacks, which include the Blade Beam, Cross Slash, and Climhazzard. The Omnislash being his Final Smash was no surprise, to the point where would have been disappointing if it wasn’t.

Cloud and the Midgar stage were released after the Direct ended yesterday, surprisingly without the eShop crashing under the weight of more than ten people downloading at once. Both will run you $5.99 for Wii U or 3DS, or $6.99 for both systems. Again, that’s how they get you. Though he only comes with two music tracks and his Japanese voice, I’ve seen plenty of players saying he’s fun to use, so it sounds like he’s worth the price. As a bonus, Tetsuya Nomura drew a spiffy piece of artwork featuring two (!!) Clouds, Link, and other Smash characters that almost look arbitrarily inserted in.

New Mii Fighter outfits were also released, which included one based on Geno from Super Mario RPG. There were also various Final Fantasy-themed outfits, the Bionic Armor from various Metroid games, Takamaru, and both Tales and Knuckles outfits from the Sonic franchise. Basically, this is where hopes and dreams for characters that could properly join the roster die, but at least you can get more accurate faces for certain Mii characters via QR codes.

This final Smash Direct marked the last big opportunity to reveal the character that won last year’s Smash Ballot, which turned out to be the elusive Bayonetta. She was #1 among European votes, and among the top five in North America. She was also the most realistic choice among the winners, meaning characters like Simon Belmont (sorry, Drew!), Snake, Goku, or John Cena couldn’t make it in for pretty clear reasons. The first two are from Konami, who are essentially cartoon supervillains at this point, while the last two…well, come on.

The Smash team always knows how to best represent characters in terms of their fighting style, as seen with Cloud. Bayonetta also applies, who will come with nearly all of her trademark moves, including Bullet Climax, Witch Twist, and Witch Time — though the last one only slows one opponent down, and not everything happening on-screen. She has long and damaging combo strings, though they’ll leave her open for an extended time. That won’t be good if you’re playing against multiple opponents, unless they’re also caught in the string. Her Final Smash is the Infernal Climax, where she uses her Rapunzel-like hair to summon Gomorrah, the Devourer of Time.

She as faithful to PlatinumGames’ version as you’d expect, though some parts of her were toned down to a PG-13 level. She no longer loses most of her clothing during certain attacks, for instance. She’s also coming with the Skyscraper stage, and a plethora of music tracks that include special remixes. Her outfits from Bayonetta 1 and 2 are included, along with a color palette to match Jeanne’s outfit. This all sounds great, though you’ll have to wait until February 2016 to download her. She’ll be the same price as Cloud above, but again, you know they’re going to get you when you buy her for both platforms. As a bonus, check out some nice artwork featuring Bayonetta with some Smash characters from PlatinumGames’ Eiji Funahashi (and not Bayonetta character designer Mari Shimazaki, sadly). It also features a bonus appearance from a demented female villager.

There was no way this Direct could finish without Amiibo announcements, considering Smash was the first game to use them. Amiibo for Ryu, Roy, and ROB’s Famicom variant are coming on March 18th in America. Even better, Cloud, Corrin (male) and Bayonetta Amiibo are coming soon, because…yup, this is how they’re going to get you. And they’ll get you again when (if?) they get around to releasing female Robin and Corrin and male WiiFit Trainer variants. Heck, they’ve probably already got me!

This Direct marked a fitting end to big post-launch Smash support, leaving the game with enough content for Smash fans to enjoy for years to come. Of course, it leaves the question of what’s next for Masahiro Sakurai. Perhaps he’ll return to Smash in the distant future, but it would be nice if he took a break from it to work on something different, akin to Kid Icarus Uprising. In any case, start saving up for those Amiibo, unless you’re one of the lucky few they haven’t “gotten” yet. But don’t you worry: They will.

If you want to watch an encore of the broadcast, feel free to do so here. Watch out for Fire Emblem Fates spoilers, though.