TL; DW Nintendo Direct 8.18.2018: The Smash

Didn’t watch the direct at 7am like most people?! Don’t worry, I have it covered in this TL; DW for the Nintendo Direct. The game shown was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and it showcased many new characters and info about the game. The animation was stellar in the direct.

New Characters!

  • Simon Belmont from the Castlevania series joins the list of fighters. His moveset is reminiscent of his NES/SNES whips, items, and attacks.
  • Echo fighter for Simon: Richter. The voice, animation, and a few moves are different.
  • King K. Rool joins the fray from the Donkey Kong series. Another big fan request! This fatty comes with his classic rifle, huge stomach strike, and castle!
  • Alucard is an assist trophy.
  • The Castlevania stage featuring the monsters, bosses, and Dracula is Dracula’s Castle. If you hit the candles, it will release items! No wall chickens yet but Dracula only appears at specific times…
  • Chrom from Fire Emblems Awakening and Dark Samus from Metroid Prime join as Echo Fighters!
  • You can have echo fighters on the fighter select option

New Stages:

  • New Donk City Hall from Mario Odyssey. Platforms are rising and falling as you move around the stage. The musicians and Daisy appear as well. The theme of Odyssey will also appear
  • Returning stages from Melee will include some rebalance changes.
  • N64 stages are meant to be classic and nostalgic for players
  • There are now 103 stages to choose from. Every stage has an Omega and Battlefield form.
  • Every stage now has 8-player mode!
  • You can turn stage hazards off
  • A new option called Stage Morph! You can have a stage change midmatch and alter the time when it occurs. Just select two stages before the fight.

    Not just Final Destination

Music:

  • Stages now have tracks based on the franchise. You will be able to hear different tracks and can change the frequency of how often it plays!
  • 900 tracks! It is separated by franchises. You can make a playlist
  • You can listen to it with the screen turned off. Not sure anybody will be casually carrying their Switch to listen to music.
  • Turn up the jam!

New Battle Options and Rules

  • You can finally start with stock instead of time.
  • Whatever option you left it at before is saved.
  • Stamina battle is now a standard option
  • Stages are selected before fighters. This gives you the option to choose your character based on the stage if you play competitively.
  • You can make the option to have the loser choose the stage.
  • Sudden Death will cause the screen to zoom in to add drama and shorten the KO borders!
  • Final Smash Meter rather than a Smash Ball. It will charge as you fight but it will be weaker than a Final Smash Ball version
  • Final Smashes can’t occur at the same time! So no Samus vs Dark Samus Final Smash beam clash
  • The options are meant for competitive play so it’ll be interesting to see how the Smash community changes with these new options!

Battle Modes

  • Squad Strike: 5v5 or 3v3
  • Start team fights online with players choosing multiple characters. You can do it solo or with multiple players
  • Tourney Mode: Start your own tournament and brackets! IT can go up to 32 players.
  • Smashdown: After each round, those fighters are unselectable and you’ll have to choose different characters. It continues until there are no more characters left
  • Training Mode Map: It will show you how the characters fight and how they will react based on hits
  • Classic: Fight through a set number of characters and stages similar to Melee’s adventure mode
Solve for X

Items:

  • Banana gun: Shoots one strong bullet before becoming a banana peel
  • Killing Edge: Sword which will glow to grow stronger
  • Bomber: Lift it up and it’ll explode and damage enemies around you
  • Death’s Scythe: It kills you…if you’re badly damaged
  • Staff: shoots a laser but it deals more damage the further the enemy is from you
  • Ramblin’ Evil Mushroom: Reverses opponents’ controls
  • Rage Blaster: The higher your damage, the stronger it is. For players who take hits a lot

Pokemon:

What a view!
  • Executor Alolan Form. It’s so tall you can wall jump on its neck!
  • Abra: Teleports your enemies over the edges
  • Solgaleo: The legendary Pokemon charges up and smashes into your enemies for huge damage!
  • Lunala: The legendary Pokemon shoots a huge laser from afar that deals major damage
  • Mimikyu: Grabs the enemy and gives it a big hug underneath its disguise.
  • Pyukumuku: Damage it and get hit with a huge fist!
  • Vulpix and Vulpix Alolan: Shoots a fireball which hits multiple times. Alolan form freezes you.
  • Marshadow: The mystic pokemon makes you dizzy and punches you
  • Ditto: transforms into you and attacks enemies

Assist Trophies:

X, you sure are small
  • Zero from Megaman X series slash, dashes, and teleports!
  • Knuckles from Sonic digs and punches your enemies
  • Krystal from Starfox hits you with her magic staff
  • Klaptrap from DK bites you. Not to be confused with the Borderlands character
  • Kapp’n from Animal Crossing kidnaps you off the stage and drives away to kill you
  • Chef Kawasaki from Kirby throws you in a pot and cooks you and makes food items appear.
  • GREY FOX from Metal Gear Solid reflects projectiles and slashes enemies
  • Nikki draws stuff to hurt your enemies
  • Shovel Knight shovels your enemies
  • Moon from The Legend of Zelda smashes into the stage and damages everybody
  • Rathalos from Monster Hunter appears as a boss and an assist trophy!

Pokemon Let’s Go isn’t for Long Time Fans

*This article is my opinion**

I’ve been playing Pokemon ever since I was four years old. I’ve played every generation of handhelds Pokemon series: From Yellow to Ultra Moon. Like every longtime fan, I’ve been waiting for a new big entry into the series for the consoles and when the Switch was announced, it was a dream come true. “A console that can also be a handheld?! This is perfect for Pokemon!” When Pokemon Let’s Go: Pikachu/Eevee Edition was announced, I was ecstatic as every Pokemon players dreams came too. As the game comes closer to release on November 16th, I hear more news which discourages me from buying the game.

Back to Kanto in the Wrong Way

The first generation Pokemon are classics. Their designs are great, simple, and appeal to every age. What isn’t a classic is Kanto. While Gold & Silver are revolutionary for including the Kanto region thanks to Iwada, the appeal was because players just played the first generation and it provided more opportunities to explore than Johto. Players want to explore more than one region, it doesn’t have to be Kanto. I think going back to Kanto and only having Kanto is a mistake.

I think starting with the first generation of Pokemon and simplifying the genre for potential new players is good, I wish it wasn’t the next big Pokemon game. While Gamefreaks (Developers of Pokemon) have confirmed they are working on the next generation for 2019, I am worried they believe having one big region to explore is what fans want.

Image result for pokemon let's go map
The map looks amazing but if you filter through it, it’s just the same thing we have played before

Simplifying the Catching System

Pokemon Go completely changed how we catch Pokemon. Rather than clicking the button, we can now feel and throw the ball in Pokemon Let’s Go! However, catching them feels more like luck than strategy. While weakening Pokemon isn’t complex, it helps makes the player like they are working towards a higher success rate. The biggest annoyance in Pokemon Go is Pokemon running away after failing to catch. While curve throws and aiming are skill based, GameFreaks didn’t need to cut out the Pokemon battling portion. Both systems should be available but Junichi Masuda (Director of Pokemon) felt the game changes needed to be made for the Switch game.

Image result for pokemon let's go catching pokemon
Give me that Clefairy

Forcing Gym Battles to be easier

Siliconera showed a new screenshot regarding Gym battles. In front of most gyms, an NPC stands to give you advice on how to beat the Gym Leader with certain Pokemon types. In Pokemon Let’s Go, they won’t let you even challenge the leader until you have a Pokemon that is type effective against them. While it is great for new players to hear, it removes the freedom of gameplay. You should be allowed to challenge and play however you like in Pokemon. Letting players struggle should be an active learning experience.

img_180713_07_08
Translate: You need a Water or Grass Type Pokemon to challenge

Conclusion:

I hope Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee does well. While I will most likely skip this game, I love the series. I think it may be a test to see how players respond to the changes before they consider finalizing the details on Pokemon 2019. Many of the changes are controversial to longtime players like me but perhaps the sales numbers and review responses will affect future gameplay changes. I like Pokemon Go but I treat it like a different game than the main series. I prefer the style of a console game to be different than a mobile game.

The Pokeball accessory looks cool though.

Will you be buying Pokemon Let’s Go?

Nintendo Everything – Junichi Masuda Interview

Siliconera

Nintendo begins selling Switchs’ without Docks

The Nintendo Switch is a unique console that acts as a video game system that can seamlessly switch (pun intended) into a handheld. Some people treat it as a handheld system and rarely place it on the dock or play it on the TV. Out of 148 participants on a GameFaq forum, 17 people would play the Switch without the dock. In Japan, Nintendo has recently been selling the Switch as a standalone handheld.
1

The Nintendo Switch Second Set is selling at 24,980 yen which is about $250. You can charge the system with a USB-C adapter. No word on whether it will be released in the West.

Would you buy a Nintendo Switch Second Set?

Sources:

Eurogamer

Nintendo Japan Announcement

GameFaqs Forum

Nintendo announces future Super Smash Bros Test in Japan

Super Smash Bros (Name Pending) for the Nintendo Switch will be having a huge tournament at E3. While only selected players are allowed to play at the tournament, Nintendo has announced future Smash Bros tournament in Japan. Whether they announce events in the West remains to be determined but expect more news soon from Nintendo. If you happen to be in Japan, these are the following events.

  • Rage 2018 Summer on June 17 at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba
  • Jisedai World Hobby Fair 2018 Summer from June 23 to 24 at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba
  • Jump Victory Carnival 2018 Tokyo on July 16 at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba
  • Jump Victory Carnival 2018 Osaka on July 22 at Intex Osaka

I look forward to seeing what Nintendo and Sakurai (Creator of the Smash Bro’s series) will show this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouWuzQb9vNg

Sources:

Nintendo JP