Look, we’re gonna be honest with you. When we heard the next fighter was being announced for Super Smash Bros Ultimate, we expected one of two things. That being either:
- A new character from a third party franchise not represented in Smash (Crash Bandicoot, Rayman, Fortnite, etc)
- Someone from a Nintendo game to represent a hyped game or series (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Pokemon Sword and Shield, etc)
However, what we didn’t expect is what we got tonight. Where instead of a character from a new franchise being added, we’d get a new character from an existing third party franchise. Least of all, the Final Fantasy series, aka one Nintendo and Square Enix only added the bare minimum for before.
Yet in a move that’ll surely surprise everyone, that’s exactly what we’ve just got. Yep, in a move no one saw coming, Nintendo has just announced
But that’s exactly what we’ve got. In a move absolutely no one saw coming, Nintendo has now announced that Sephiroth will be the next character in the second Fighter Pass for Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Yeah, that Sephiroth. The main antagonist from Final Fantasy 7. The one with that kickass One Winged Angel song as his background music/main leitmotif.
Here’s the announcement from the Game Awards Twitter account if you don’t believe us:
New main? 🤔 World Premiere of a brand new character, Sephiroth in Super Smash Bros Ultimate by @NintendoAmerica!! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/lfoeWsHNMv
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 11, 2020
In his debut he slashes right through Galeem via the background, nearly skewers Mario on his sword, then gets into a heated battle with the cast as One Winged Angel loudly plays in the background. It’s like everyone’s craziest Final Fantasy fan fic come true, except in an official Nintendo game.
And it raises an interesting couple of questions too.
Firstly, how exactly will Sephiroth actually fight in Super Smash Bros Ultimate? Okay, we all know his Final Smash will be Supernova, and that at least a few of his attacks will utilise that giant sword he fights with in said game.
But what’s the ‘gimmick’ here? How does this guy stand out in a roster filled with such… unusual characters as Min Min, Steve, Hero and Banjo & Kazooie?
What’s his Sakurai exclusive concept that got him chosen over everyone else?
We’re honestly not sure, and the trailer doesn’t tell us very much there. So we’re interested to see what the unique gimmick is here.
Additionally, we’re also curious to see why he got chosen at all. After all, Final Fantasy 7 only appeared on Nintendo consoles when the Switch came around, and the remake’s nowhere to be seen there.
So why is Sephiroth being added now? Because the Final Fantasy 7 remake is being announced for the console?
Well we sure hope so, because there almost has to be a marketing strategy behind his inclusion here, unless Sakurai is a really big Final Fantasy fan with hopes of working with Square Enix in future.
Finally, there’s the question of what other content will be added to represent the character/series too. Because for whatever reason… Final Fantasy really got the short straw as far as extra content goes in Ultimate.
It got no spirits except for Cloud himself. The only songs it got were the same two tracks included in the DLC for him in Smash 4.
And the content for it in general pretty much stopped there. There was absolutely nothing included for the series beyond the minimum to include Cloud in the game.
Hence we’re curious whether that’ll change for Sephiroth too. Cause let’s face it, every new DLC fighter gets a Spirit Board here, and we can’t just have two Sephiroth spirits to fight on it. And while One Winged Angel is indeed an amazing song, we’re sure most Nintendo fans would be disappointed if it was the ONLY one added here.
So we’re gonna guess Square and Nintendo have come to a deal, and that this DLC pack will add all the Final Fantasy content that wasn’t in the base game for whatever reason.
Regardless, Sephiroth is coming to Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and will be made available to buy/download later this month. So what do you think about this? Are you happy to see the Final Fantasy 7 antagonist become playable in a Smash Bros game? Why do you think he was chosen as the next newcomer?
Tell us your thoughts on the matter in the comments below, on the Gaming Latest forums, or on the Gaming Reinvented Discord server today!
Source:
Sephiroth’s Smash Bros Ultimate Debut (The Game Awards on Twitter)