Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and an apparent underdog theme

This is something I would want to keep off of Pastebin, but it turns out that Nintendo Treehouse's Contact form has an irksome character limit and it's absolutely stricter than I would like. I may as well say plenty of things since Pastebin's character limit won't be as big a farce.

Also, spoilers for Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice's second case "The Magical Turnabout" will be unmarked to allow me to punctuate a point. It's likely you have played through it at least, thankfully.

I was rewatching the World of Light trailer because of some boredom idiocy that's stupid because RL issues are a thing. I actually don't know why I look at something that would scream Bread And Circuses especially in light of California's wildfires issues, which I pin the blame on California's general avarice, indolence, and hubris, which allowed for overpriced housing, a LOT of homeless potential contributors to society, and no doubt other problems getting in the way of other factors that could have stopped or at least staggered messes like these that have even resulted in loss of life. Yeah, try to prove to me that California isn't paying for no fewer than 3 of the 7 Deadly Sins.

But this is, of course, supposed to be about why I bring up the WoL trailer. Something I caught on is what happens with Kirby, namely that he's the only one to escape that massive attack that I already feel screeches power creep. And obviously the camera direction eventually has him looking at a big world he's supposed to fight against, all by himself.

This is where I want to say something, namely talking about the underdog theme.

We know the appeal of the underdog theme: that no matter how seemingly suffocated one is, they can overcome obstacles as big as the world itself. This is a welcome theme that spurs creativity and other good things, but the logic that it takes all kinds does also raise questions with morality at the very least. Short of it is, it's a theme that really suffers if it's half-efforted.

I'm going to talk about The Power Of Friendship first and foremost, because it's actually the elephant in the room. I know how Japan's culture actively has stronger emphasis on the group than the individual. Caring about others is, of course, not a bad thing at all, as I'll tell you in all my complaints about California and its survival of the fittest issues, but there are times when a group is its own worst enemy, and I bring that up because that happens when they're close-minded and too interested in banal concepts for their own good, instead of trying new stuff--which, actually, isn't Super Smash Bros. supposed to encourage? Either way, another problem with relying on groupthink is an open invitation to the Conservation of Ninjitsu.

Have I forgotten about morality there? Well, to answer that, I'll just point to a trope to foster: Good Is Not Dumb.

Sometimes, the angels need a sharp sword and a steel shield. This doesn't mean they should use those for all problems, but them just having it available for contingency would be a good thing. I know I was born to fight against people who are like the character Roger Retinz from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice, the sorts who throw about any cruelty they can to break a symbol of hope, even when the nastiness showcases the epitome of ingratitude, while being entirely sure that they will never have to worry about being subject to judgement by working authority. I know how the best way to bring down those types is to blunt their power against the susceptible, easier said than done of course, but the moment it happens is the moment they have nothing. What a coinkidink that Retinz could even be brought down even with Bonny de Famme's mistake because of his little secret of being the real Mr. Reus, that got exposed by no fewer than THREE bites of his own sadism, none of which even had anything to directly do with his Moral Event Horizon of killing his own clearly loyal fan he named his own successor.

Of course, threats like Retinz are still going to be formidable, and that it takes their own evil, which of course is already a sight to behold with Retinz, to have a shot of bringing them down even when they have limited resources is a testament that they could be even more problematic when they do things like read the Evil Overlord List. But they can be stopped when there are more people out there to intercept them and show who is worth supporting. Incidentally, I want to bring up The Magical Turnabout's bonus level gameplay, namely how to show that Trucy isn't a greenhorn like Retinz called her. I would have preferred the correct answer be multiple choice between the Gramarye Notebook (and yes, I actually got it on blind stream from being Genre Savvy) and Stage Lift #1. The latter would have brought up Trucy's diligence and adaptability--you could even look at it as Trucy having beaten Retinz by adapting to Bonny's mistake whereas Retinz hadn't. That's the key point: Trucy not only adapted to her own assistant's mistake, she did so with on-the-fly physical labor. THAT is the real magic--of course, saying that magicians are powerless in "the abyss" does also help when I get reminders about what my old man had told me about Santa Claus. I haven't forgotten about Trucy's running gag that gets known for making her come across as an idiot, but I am telling you how the Mr. Hat side of things does show counterbalancing highs that earn her my respect.

You see my point about how the heart means more when it's bolstered by the mind, rather than having an overreliance on patronizing. I can very much agree that being too critical would be a show of willful ignorance about the notion that people have different strengths and weaknesses, but better structure and standards would provide genuine growth, even if it does rely on reward by contrast, but then again, it is said that necessity is the mother of invention. When a mage character doesn't have to rely on projectiles for effectiveness, there's incentive to creativity, risk assessment, all that good stuff. Case in point with Pac-Man, a mage character:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXaA4gOfmmE
Oh, and jump to 1:30:46 for a couple of Bayonetta matches if you have doubt about my ability to handle higher tier characters. The first one is a comeback, which already speaks volumes with Pac-Man in his KO move problems. The second is a solid display of general anti-Bayonetta tactics. I'm not defending Bayonetta's ladder of death, of course, at the very least because by all indications, floatier characters such as Olimar and Samus take it the worst and I can't see them moving into the 255 or 285 degree angle where I feel is the relative blindspot, but I am making a point that I do see the intended creativity and make use of it for results.

I do know, of course, that The Big Guy is going to be more sensitive to any imbalances anyway. I don't know how I was able to achieve this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVoaAbvjJjQ
I should point out that the longest match there was against the ONE Mega Man in that entire mess. I had managed these replays looking for material about the Dedede VS Mega Man matchup in general, and let me tell you how thanks to the pellets continually stunning Dedede with NO justification as to why, the matchup earns its infamy as particularly bad. Oh, and notice how there's a couple of VS Bayonetta replays in the mix dating to late August this year? If I was bad at the game is why I'm complaining, I wouldn't be able to tell you how Bayonetta's excessively sized hitboxes aren't that relevant against an already big target like Dedede, or how I suspect the reason I avoided being KOed by the generic ladder of death usage would because of Dedede apparently having high gravity. Bayonetta can try to be stupid anyway, but the Dedede VS Mega Man matchup absolutely highlights Smash Bros.' general balance problems. May I especially point out how needing to resort to absolutely sluggish defensive moves like shielding a LOT more, even when they are efficient, still invites boring gameplay and indicates speed bias. Now you might say that the Fragile Speedsters are more able to involve energetic gameplay, but I'd be for a testament to the game being fun for ALL builds, and it's not like that's implausible with the right tools. Case in point if you don't mind a language warning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEGo1hIizyY&t=1h5m12s
Kid Icarus Uprising's Power System provides the Skyscraper Club no shortage of tools to tear down defensive play: Armor Powers such as Super Armor and Counter to stop over-the-top abuse at lower ranges, Tag Powers such as Black Hole and Super Speed to stop people from just staying away without making use of their own technical play that 'scraper can always feast on, and then the Powers in general requiring shapes that can contradict each other. What I did in the matches starting at that linked starting time is a practice I call Grid Reading, and at a level more advanced than the stepping stone Grid Reading of knowing how Trade-Off, Aries Armor, and leveled Slip Shot, all significant threats to something like the Skyscraper Club for varied reasons, each require a full row and column, and thus each get contradicted on the spot by both each other, and any Power requiring a full line such as Bumblebee, Super Speed, Virus, and Power Thief, also potential issues for 'scraper in their own right. Notice how enough of those Powers are commonly put on banlists from people who don't even use close range burst damage, and yet I'm not complaining about those Powers. Maybe because I know how to counter them. (Additionally, Reflect Barrier at Level 4 is a 2x6 rectangle as well, contradicting Slip Shot, period--just in case I for one didn't have ways to outmaneuver Reflect Barrier in general.)

What makes Grid Reading a good mechanic when one gets past the more mechanical stuff? It rewards handling analysis through the heat of battle with useful intel. Moreover, it equalizes character choice mismatches--Skyscraper Club has to worry about opponents who stay away more than anything else, but against melee setups that want to close the distance, or in settings where opponents cluster easily, while Grid Reading is both less useful and even harder to do, it isn't necessary either. That's the thing about Grid Reading: it avoids being intrusive, while also indirectly rewarding the opponent for playing by heart when strong risk assessment would deny intel its usefulness and awareness of Grid Reading's existence would inevitably lead to some usage of The Thirty-Six Strategems.

Short story is, mage characters' matchups should be more evened out in the interest of a better experience. Even if you're going for the angle of The Power Of Friendship, that only brings up that that risks being a Broken Aesop when mage characters like Kirby and Pac-Man just have to run to make sure Fragile Speedsters don't so much as sneeze on them.

I certainly know what I indicate would be good would be better than issues like this that crop up before the game even releases:
https://t.co/0uiN8ivkpS