Pyra/Mythra in Smash!

"I'll burn you"

I'm forever a-curious when it comes down to characters who get added to the storied roster that is the Super Smash Bros. line-up; because it truly is a position of honour to sit at. Getting recognised as a figure of enough universal acclaim to join the world's biggest gaming crossover is flattering by any regard, and though we've still been denied our Waluigi that we so rightly deserve, the sheer number of interesting new characters that have been added through DLC has almost made up for that glaring omission. Additionally, the love and care that have gone into realising all of these characters is quite often second to none and indicative of the development team's commitment to celebrating the source materials as much as possible. I'm being serious, when it comes to Smash characters literally every single move and animation is a reference to something or other and for a fan to analyse them heavily it can be quite the treat to see what was included and where it comes from. And for this latest character; I am defiantly a fan.

'Xenoblade Chronicles 2's two-for-one waifu Pyra and Mythra have joined the fight; what a shocker! Honestly, I was half expecting it to be Lady Dimitrescu considering how much that character has blown up in popularity, but Mythra and Pyra were similar standouts in Xenoblade and so I love to see them here. Although, it does sort of suck to see that, yet again, the number of crossover franchises remains unchanged. We've already got Shulk from Xenoblade Chronicles 1, so I'm a little bummed we're picking from Xenoblade yet again. That being said; I'm not about to scold Nintendo when they went ahead and put a character I actually like into Smash, so I'd like to celebrate a bit.

First of all, I find it curious and strange that a decision was made to do a whole melodramatic video pertaining to her invitation. the whole 'One day Pyra disappeared' thing was really kind of odd, and I don't just mean that because it does a bit of a sin for JRPGs; in that it features every single companion from the game. You can't do that! Part of the fun of JRPGs is going through the storyline and learning which of the colourful enemies you're facing will end up becoming your friend by the end. (Yes, I know they're literally all shown on the back of the case but I'm pretty disciplined so I ignored that.) However, I suppose that the very nature of the character meant that there was going to be some spoilers, especially given that the character is interchangeable with Mythra despite the fact that Mythra's reveal was pretty much the climatic 1st act conclusion. That being said, I suppose we're sort of past the statue of spoilers given how the game is nearly 5 years old now, similar to how no one's up in arms about how Shiek from Smash was a transformation state for Zelda despite that being a secret reveal in her source game. Huh, they went and make Shiek an entirely separate character in future Smash games? Well are we spoiling or not?

Either way, I thought the video was rather cute, if foreboding, with Rex being unceremoniously abandoned and left pining for his girlfr- I mean, number one Blade. The only thing that hurt me to my very essence was the fact that I had to listen to the English VO's for the whole trailer. Now no offence to the English cast, they did what they were told, but when I played Xenoblade Chronicles 2 I almost quit the game because I couldn't stand how badly suited their voices were. I mean okay, Rex sort of fits in a kind of 'scrappy-little-kid-who-was-always-told-he'd-never-amount-to-anything-before-being-dragged-into-this-wild-adventure-of-whimsy,-friendship-and-love' kind of way, but Nia was so wrong it made me want to die. She is a character that embodies 'Tsundere' and is a girl-cat literally called 'Nia'. (as in 'Nyah'. Get it?) If you can't play off at least one of those stereotypes, then you're doing it wrong! Then, like the guys at Nintendo read my freakin' mind, I got an actual Email from Nintendo telling me about the existence of a free Japanese VO pack. (I know I've told that story before, but I still love how bizarre it turned out at the end there.) For this DLC I really hope that the Japanese VO's are an option. But I'm about 90% sure they won't be.

Eagle eyed players might have noticed right away that Smash decided to add something to Pyra and Mythra's design. Mythra lost the little a window over her bust and Pyra has these new, actually pretty cool looking, metallic battle tights. I'd imagine this is in order to fit some sort of Nintendo mandate that only a certain percentage of skin can be shown, (Pyra certainly did show a decent amount of leg and I'd be lying if I didn't say that Mythra's bodysuit is pretty eye-popping at first sight in the game) which is likely the same reason why poor Mai Shiranui has landed on the permanent Smash blacklist. (I get it, Smash is a formal event that has dress rules, say no more.) Aside from that these characters are identical to how they appeared in the game and I have to put my hands together at how seamlessly Smash's style incorporates all these different character designs. Everyone goes together so perfectly you'd have think they'd all been designed by the same art style. Smash is just so universal in so many ways.

When it comes to the moveset I actually only realise now that the team had a rather straightforward roster to choose from. Both heroines have defined movesets and animations from their battle arts that can easily be looked to for inspiration. Flame Nova, Prominence Revolt, they're all there, and I think the boomerang sword move comes from one of the lesser como arts chains. Mythra's moveset looks much more my speed, however, with her actually shooting enemies with her sword-gun. I also love the fact that the team managed to work in Mythra's foresight as an actual, almost Mortal Kombat-esque, dodge move. In the Xenoblade game it was dressed up as this incredibly powerful ability that allowed Mythra and Rex to enter a sort of Star Platinum speed mode and easily dodge attacks, but in gameplay it just translated into a stat boost. This time it's a real thing and I love it. Finally, I'm glad that Rex gets to come in for the final Smash moves giving him some of the spotlight. (Two final smashes for one character? That's got to be unique, no?)

As with every single DLC character this will also come with a 'season of Xenoblade' which I imagine will translate into another hundred spirits that are all based off of the various optional blades one can acquire on their journey. (Although some of those optional Blades were already Spirits so I wonder about how much material the team can actually draw from.) Plus, there's the new stage for which the team must have realised they already had a huge titan island from Shulk's stage and instead opted to stick us on Gramps back. (I love how the entire cast make cameo appearances on the stage too, I can't wait to just watch them interact with one another like they never got to in-game thanks to Gramps' shrinking.) Yeah, as you can likely tell I'm a huge Xenoblade Chronicles 2 nut so this entire reveal was like nutmeg to me. I recognise that some people are gonna be peeved (another sword fighter? Are you serious!) But I'm happy at the very least.

Of course, the only question now is who can possibly be next for the Smash lineup and what will they bring to the table? I'm still not ruling out Alcina Dimitrescu, although now I think about it she might be too tall for the stages. (You can't just 'make her shorter'; height's the entire point!) Personally I'd love for one of Sony's characters to get a look in, but Sony are too drunk on the misconception that their franchises are varied enough for in-house crossovers to so much as entertain that idea. (So likely no Kratos anytime soon.) My realistic bet is that it's going to be Resident Evil character, because we've already seen Smash/Resident Evil crossover through spirits without an actual fighter. My unrealistic hopeful bet is Dio. Hey, he showed up in some games, alright! There was 'Eyes of Heaven' and- and 'Jump Force'! (Ew. I said it's name.) I just want some more Jojo in my life, is that too much to ask for? Whatever the case, I guess we'll find out before the year's out. (This games' never gonna stop getting DLC fighters, is it?)