Nintendo Should Have Announced Byleth At E3 & Saved Banjo-Kazooie For Last

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate could have avoided the “Byleth Backlash” if the schedule for the Fighters Pass characters had been shuffled around.

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Masahiro Sakurai revealed to the world during the recent Direct for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses is coming to the game as the final DLC character in the first Fighters Pass. The reaction to Byleth has been polarizing, to say the least, and many fans are left unsatisfied by the fact that another Fire Emblem character is making their way into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The issue with Byleth could have been avoided if the schedule for the Fighters Pass characters had been shuffled around. It would have made more sense for Nintendo to announce Byleth in the run up to the release of his/her game, and save Banjo-Kazooie to hype up the second Fighters Pass.

E3 2019 Was Only A Month Before The Release Of Fire Emblem: Three Houses

It’s strange that Nintendo saved Byleth to be the last Fighters Pass character, as the announcement happened six months after the release of his/her game. Fire Emblem: Three Houses was released on July 26, 2019, but Byleth won’t be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate until January 29, 2020.

Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct happened on June 11, which was only a month before Three Houses was released. Byleth’s addition to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would have made a lot more sense if it was in the name of promoting an upcoming game, especially as the character’s design doesn’t spoil the story of Three Houses.

This wouldn’t be the first time that the Super Smash Bros. series would have been used to promote an upcoming Fire Emblem game. Super Smash Bros. Melee was released before Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, which meant that Roy debuted in that game. The same also happened for Corrin in the west, as Fire Emblem: Fates wasn’t localized in time for his/her debut in Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U.

The same situation also happened with Hero, as Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition was released only a few months after E3, so fans who didn’t play the original version of the game had a chance to experience him in the run-up to his game coming to the Switch.

Nintendo Had A Stacked E3 Conference Already

Banjo-Kazooie was one of the highlights of Nintendo’s E3 conference in 2019, but it wasn’t the biggest moment in the show. Nintendo had a stacked conference that year, with the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being the biggest announcement of their show.

Nintendo ended its E3 Direct on a high and any hard feelings towards a new Fire Emblem character would have been drowned out by all of the announcements. This was also the same event where Junichi Masuda revealed that the National Dex was cut from Pokémon Sword & Shield, so any hard feelings toward Byleth would have been washed away in the face of Dexit.

Ending On Banjo-Kazooie Would Have Made Fans Excited For The Next Fighters Pass

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans can either buy each DLC character individually or purchase the Fighters Pass to receive them all. Purchasing the Fighters Pass at launch was cheaper than buying the characters one-by-one, but fans were buying it blindly, with no idea of who would make the cut.

The problem with ending the Fighters Pass on a character like Byleth is that it makes the prospect of a second Fighters Pass less appealing. If Nintendo is going to include a character from a series that is already heavily represented in Super Smash Bros., then there could be other duds among the next six fighters. Anyone who wasn’t a fan of at least two of the characters in the Fighters Pass would be less inclined to fork out for a second one, as it would be cheaper to just wait and buy the characters that they like.

If Nintendo had ended the Fighters Pass with Banjo-Kazooie, then it would have made people excited for what was coming next. A highly-anticipated character from a series owned by Microsoft was a huge get for the game and it really made it seem as if anyone could make their way into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Saving Byleth for the last Fighters Pass slot felt disappointing, which isn’t the feeling that you want the fans to have when a new season pass is about to go on sale.

Byleth will be available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on January 29, 2020.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/nintendo-should-have-announced-byleth-at-e3-saved-banjo-kazooie/