Smash Ultimate Totally Blew It by Wasting a Fighter Slot on Byleth
Nintendo's inexplicable decision to waste a slot on Byleth should make gamers hesitant to purchase the next Fighter Pass. | Source: Nintendo/YouTube
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate gets another Fire Emblem character as its next DLC fighter.
- The Fire Emblem series is overrepresented with eight total characters.
- Fans immediately reacted negatively to the disappointing announcement.
Smash Ultimate may be the best-selling fighting game on the planet , but it has one major issue. There are way too many Fire Emblem characters!
The newest Smash Ultimate event saw the reveal of Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses as the final character in the Season 1 Fighter Pass.
Great. Another wasted slot.
Who Was Asking for More Fire Emblem in Smash Ultimate?
Byleth’s inclusion now brings the series up to eight total characters in the game. Only two other franchises have that much representation in Smash Ultimate: Mario and Pokemon.
It makes sense for Mario and Pokemon to have that many fighters. They are some of the biggest IPs that Nintendo owns, but Fire Emblem?
Even worse is the fact that so many Fire Emblem characters have near-identical fight mechanics. That’s not the case with Byleth, who has a wide array of attacks, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth of Fighter Pass owners.
Byleth News Incites Fan Outrage
The backlash from adding another Fire Emblem character came immediately. The live stream chat exploded in anger the moment Byleth was revealed.
That was also true on Twitter, where “Another FE” is now trending alongside “Nintendo Direct” and “Fire Emblem.”
The rage is completely justified. Switch owners didn’t buy the Fighter Pass just to get another Fire Emblem character.
Will Anyone Trust the Next Fighter Pass at This Point?
There’s no getting around it. Nintendo really made a mess of things this time, and it deserves the blowback.
Hopefully, Nintendo will learn from its mistake before it ships the next batch of DLC fighters. We know that the Season 2 Fighter Pass will contain six characters, but at this point, it’s hard to believe Nintendo won’t screw them up too.
With so many Smash Ultimate fans holding out hope for Dante, Nintendo’s inexplicable decision to waste a slot on Byleth should make gamers hesitant to purchase the next Fighter Pass.
