Yep. There’s no getting out of this one.
Okay, so here’s the
first important question I have: given the existence of female Byleth, why
would anyone ever bother with the male version? It’s not even a contest. One is clearly better than the other.
That…that was
actually the only important question I had.
Moving on.
I’ll be
honest. As strange as it may sound, I
was actually looking forward to Byleth being included in Smash Ultimate. That was before her official announcement --
well before -- and I’m not exactly willing to go back on my excitement because
of the
huge snafu around her reveal. To sum
up my thoughts? I think that she’s the
right character to add to the roster. It’s
just that she had the wrong timing. If
the devs had held off until the second DLC challenger pack (or dropped her in any
other slot besides the first or last), then maybe we’d be better off. The popularity of Fire Emblem -- Three
Houses or otherwise -- made her an inevitability, not a possibility. I’m happy to see her, no question, but I
wouldn’t have minded waiting.
Then again, my
personal pet (and impossible to prove) theory is that Byleth was supposed
to show up later, but the devs had to kick up her release date. Why? I
don’t know. I bought into the assumption
that Tracer from Overwatch would drop in as a guest fighter, but the
snafu around that -- or
its parent company, at least -- made the brand too toxic to court. It’s doubtful that that was the case, but…can
you imagine, though?
Anyway,
Byleth. She may be yet another Fire
Emblem rep, but the similarities stop there -- especially compared to the
me-too sword crew of Marth, Roy, Lucina, and Chrom. In the reveal Direct, Sakurai sold us Byleth
as a “distance demon” -- someone who can fight at long range, albeit at the
cost of mobility. That’s mostly
true. Likewise, the Garreg Mach
professor has a multitude of weapons, instead of just relying on a simple
sword. Also true. But what the troll-happy director didn’t
mention was that, as opposed to the others, Byleth’s stats are jacked up.
Her raw attack
power is insane. If you can land
your attacks consistently, she can kill at 60%.
She probably will, too; her ability to break shields is so reliable, you
can actually use it to your advantage and put extra pressure on your foe. With her axe attacks, arrow shots, and (to a
lesser extent) her lance thrusts, she’ll shatter shields in one or two
hits. This makes her down-smash
especially dangerous. You pretty much
need to have your shield at full strength to block the hit -- and like most
down-smashes, trying to roll behind her will get you clipped. And by “clipped” I mean “murdered”.
This is a character
with the range of a Belmont, but the power of Ganondorf. It’s not just the pure range, either; it’s
the sheer spatial coverage offered by a number of her attacks. The arc of her side-B. The overhead swing of her down-B. A forward-smash you can angle up or down (and
are recommended to). Arrow shots, whip
attacks, and a neutral
aerial that’d make Palutena nod bemusedly.
The angles of her attack make her capable of catching you by surprise --
and because so many of them have that extra oomph, you’ll be feeling the pain
every time.
I’ve won matches I
shouldn’t have with Byleth, no question.
In theory, the character should demand the player to fight with
precision, predicting and stopping the enemy’s approach with the right attack
at the right moment -- perfect play, so that you can outplay. In practice?
The character does such stupid damage that some of your random,
stray swings are enough to take a stock.
GTFO of the way whenever you see her winding up with her down-B. It has armor, it’s got range, it’s got an
extra shockwave, and it’s as deadly as a Falcon Punch. Maybe more.
It sounds like all
of this would make for the most broken character Smash has ever
had. Oh, if only…
There’s something
else that Sakurai “conveniently” didn’t mention about Byleth in the Direct --
which, to be clear, is something that I suspected from the outset. That demonstration showed she has, for
example, a forward-air that reaches far enough to outpoke and blow up Marth’s
forward-air. Fair enough. The problem is that Marth’s attack is significantly
faster and covers more space. In
that sense, Byleth has the same issue as a Belmont: sure, she can poke with
that attack, but if the two anime swordmasters go at it, Marth’s going to beat her
out much more easily than she will. One
situational poke -- an attack with a very specific hitbox -- is going to lose
to a faster, less precise but more reliable slash.
Byleth’s lack of mobility
doesn’t just translate to her running speed or jump height. Many of her attacks are slow -- laggy, even
-- and I’d wager are even less safe on block/whiff than most of their
comparative type. Unless the opponent
really screws up, Byleth might not be punishing much with her smashes. Honestly, she might not even be able to land
a hit even if you get the right read. I’m
not exactly putting together spreadsheets for her frame data, so I could be well
off the mark here. Based on my
experience, though? Relative to some of these other guys in the cast, she might
as well be a half-asleep rhino.
If I am right here,
then this is going to keep her from being among the best of the bunch. Using (and abusing) Byleth’s range, attack
power, and shocking angles is going to decide whether you win or lose with
her. Otherwise? The sword boys have enough sheer offensive
pressure to slaughter her. Smaller
characters can overwhelm her while slipping through her attacks. Her one projectile, strong as it is, can’t
overcome the sheer flurry that a trigger-happy Young Link can unload. And remember, this is one of the only two FE
reps that doesn’t have a counter.
Meanwhile, everything Byleth does is most certainly counter-worthy.
I don’t know for
sure how “viable” this character is. I
mean, I’m not a tournament player. Not
even in Elite Smash (though I’m on the fringe of it with multiple
characters). Then again, I’ve been
playing this game -- and franchise -- for quite a while, and it’s a safe bet
that I’ve never been better at it…which implies that it’s all downhill from
here, but whatever. The important thing
is that I have just enough skill and experience to know just enough
about Smash Ultimate. As
such? I feel at least a little confident
in saying “if you decide to main this character, you’ll be all right”.
Byleth has some
weaknesses, and exploitable ones at that.
Luckily, they don’t make her completely unsalvageable. Everything depends on whether or not you can
land those hits with her, and she has more than enough tools to get hits --
whatever form they may take. Consistency
with her won’t depend entirely on frame data or hitboxes; it’ll be up to you,
the player, to make her work with savvy moves.
Stay on point. Stay
unpredictable. Harass from outside your
opponent’s attack range, but well within yours.
Condition them to do/expect one thing, then bust them up at the last
moment with your secret ace in the hole, be it an off-stage side-B or whipping
out your down-smash for the first time that match. Sakurai and crew did their work to put her in
the game. It’s up to you to make her
viable if you’re interested in using her.
One question
remains above all, though: is she fun?
In my eyes? Yes. The problem is that I can’t decide if she’s
the most fun. And right now, I’m
leaning toward no.
We’re at the start
of 2020 (no widespread, commercially-viable jetpacks, though). That means that Challenger Pack 1 has had all
five of its characters come out. Joker, Hero,
Banjo-Kazooie, Terry Bogard, and Byleth; they’re all available for play, and
have been for a while. Tier lists have
been drawn up. Tournaments have been won
or lost. The online space has been saturated
sufficiently with the newcomers. I can’t
imagine how many friendships have been ended over the DLC fighters, given that
four of the five have some eye-popping gimmicks.
In a perfect world,
the metric for picking a fighting game character -- to main, or simply to use
for a few matches for kicks -- shouldn’t come down to ramming your eyeballs
against every data point and individual frame of animation. Certainly not tier lists, or tournament results,
or any of that. It should -- isn’t, but should
-- all depend on who you like. Who
jives with you. Who you have fun
with. Who you’re loyal to. And now that we’re far enough in the game’s
life, I’m going to do one final quick look at the DLC fighters so far --
including ranking them from personal worst to personal best.
Let’s get things
started with the golden boy.
5) Joker
As a fan of Persona
5 (Ann is still the best girl, but Yusuke “Lobsters”
Kitagawa is climbing the ranks), it pains me to put Joker at the bottom of
anything. It’s just that, to put it
simply, this just isn’t the character for me.
I’m not a fan of speedsters, and never will be. Of the five DLC fighters so far, Joker’s
easily the fastest of them -- with lots of flashiness and flair to boot. I appreciate him for all those stylish
flourishes, for sure. In another world,
he’d be my main. Alas.
Then again, maybe I’m
just keen to avoid him because of his supposed place on most tier lists -- i.e.
at or near the top, which is impressive in a game with a good 80-ish
characters. No doubt he has some
problems, but whatever weaknesses he’s saddled with pale in comparison to him
becoming an all-out killing machine whenever Arsene comes to play. I guess the only hope against him is to
turtle until the big scary red man goes away (or hassle him with throws), but he’s
dangerous to fight…and too dangerous for me to use without pangs of guilt.
4) Byleth
Okay, I know I
already spent most of this post gabbing about Byleth, but I hope you don’t mind
me doing it for a couple more paragraphs.
Yes, I like the character and I’m glad she’s in. Yes, I wouldn’t mind using her every now and
then. In terms of maining her, or even
using her consistently? That I’m not so
sure about. In fact, there’s a decent
chance that I might drop her as soon as the newness wears off.
I haven’t checked
recently, but based on recent matches I’d bet that my win record with Byleth is
somewhere around the 50% mark. I’m
cursed to have every win met with an equal loss, so my overall ratio is
probably in the same range. With Byleth,
though? In my hands, she’s extremely
volatile and encourages me to make stupid moves because “lol range” and “hurr
hurr power”. Yeah, it works out
sometimes, but the matches where I struggle are definitely a
struggle. The reverse is also true; a
clean sweep is a clean sweep, even if it occasionally…okay, regularly doesn’t
feel earned.
Until I can get
more comfortable with this character and less random, I’ve got to shelf
her. Otherwise, my bad habits will
define me more than ever.
3) Hero
The irony of
preferring a character who embodies randomness over one that doesn’t isn’t lost
on me.
Here’s the thing,
though: you don’t have to play Hero and rely solely on his down-b,
roulette-of-options shenanigans. It’s just
a part of his kit that exists in addition to his other moves, many of which are
exceedingly useful. Honestly, that’s
what I look for in a character: someone with the tools to compete in any
situation. While he won’t surpass anyone
in any category, Hero has enough in every category to make foes respect his
power, speed, and technique -- the ability to challenge at any range without rolling
the dice.
The RNG factor is,
and always will be, a part of Hero’s kit.
Using it is part of the game; it can lead to situations where you can
steal a stock or get an undeserved win, but if luck isn’t on your side? You’ll still have to fight for your victory,
or the occasional comeback. I have a
replay saved where I completely reverse 3-stocked a Joker, and I consider it
the crowning achievement of my Smash career. Possibly my entire life, but we’ll see. Check back in 30 or 40 years.
2) Banjo-Kazooie
I’ll be real: there
was a long stretch of time where I didn’t even touch Banjo following his
release. At the time, there were a ton
of would-be bear-and-bird users, and since I hate mirror matches with a
passion, I stayed away once I got my fill.
On a whim, though, I picked him back up recently, and…well, now I wonder
what I was thinking, abandoning him as badly as Microsoft did. He’s a ton of fun to use.
His moveset is a
little unorthodox, I’d say. And by “a
little”, I mean a lot. That doesn’t stop
it from doing its job decently well; his egg attacks can control space, he’s
got solid power in his hits, his recovery’s unexpectedly solid, and he’s got
some tricks that’ll snag a stock from unsuspecting foes. Chief among them, his side-B; Wonderwing is
the ultimate “get in on projectile-users” attack with a stunning amount of KO
power, but it’s usable when you’re offstage to vibe check anyone who thinks
they can intercept your recovery.
Message to friends and foes alike: do not challenge Banjo when he’s
trying to get back on the stage. He’ll
make you pay for it.
1) Terry Bogard
Everything about
using Terry is a bad idea.
His two different
side-Bs make it easy to kill himself. He
has to fight to get in on a not-insignificant percentage of the cast. Several of his approach options are unsafe. His recovery is questionable at best, to the
point where I never know if a Rising Tackle will be enough to get back on a
stage (and hold my breath until I’ve grabbed the ledge). His viability is entirely dependent on
whether or not you can consistently land his combos, right down to a basic
jab.
And yet -- and
yet! -- this is still the most fun, most satisfying character to play. I’ve taken some brutal Ls with this guy, with
the dismal GSP to show for it. But I
keep coming back for more. He’s a
hard-hitting fighter who gets to go wild if and when he gets in, starting up
his assaults with unique combo mechanics and ending them with shockingly high
KO potential. He’ll tack on the damage
and unnerve foes -- and those with enough guts to fight back only make him
stronger, giving him full access to tasty special moves: Buster Wolf and
Power Geyser. Landing either of those is
enough to make my adrenaline spike in the best way possible. It sucks when you lose with him, but failure
isn’t guaranteed every time. And even if
you lose? It’s worth it for that one win…and,
more importantly, a chance to feel the power of a wild wolf.
Then again, maybe I’m
just awestruck by the sheer number of SNK songs the devs got to include. I’m still in shock that KoF 2002 UM
got repped.
Love that song. Also,
Vanessa.
Anyway, that’ll do
it for now. See you next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment