So I'm mixed on this. On the one hand, Byleth is a really cool character and the Sword of the Creator could have been cool enough for a complete moveset. Incorporating the three Relics of the secondary main characters is a nice touch however and they're at least really visually distinct and flashy. I think it's a little boring to just give Byleth a bow but I really won't be able to make a judgment until I get to play them in two weeks. I'm excited enough that I'm looking forward to playing with them though.

On the other hand. Why no Edelgard as a character? Her time skip outfit would have been glorious and she's a great character. Easily the standout from the early impressions of Three Houses and even though it seems Claude and the Golden Deer (my precious students) got more popular over time Edelgard was still pretty clearly a favorite with fans. It just made sense to have her if they were going to pick one of the three House Leaders. Byleth just feels like the safe, boring choice.

On the other other hand...another Fire Emblem character? Really? We get all these cool and exciting characters from games that have gone on to become cult classics and you're going to give us another Fire Emblem character to fill out the roster? Again, it just feels too safe and too stock standard of a choice to have made. If we got Byleth or Eddie in the second round of DLC characters I'd be singing a separate tune but we didn't. Way to punt, Sakurai.


Getting someone else's hands now. I am sure glad we didn't get Steve, from Minecraft. I've been accused elsewhere of "gatekeeping" for thinking Minecraft doesn't really belong in Smash...but whatever. I stand by it and it'd be lame to see Steve in the game. I feel the same way about Fortnite and Doom's inclusion. Minecraft and Fortnite shouldn't get in just by merit that they're popular.

Sad we didn't get Lloyd Irving or Sora. Super, duper, especially sad we didn't get Waluigi.