Super Smash Bros. Creator Isn't Wild About These Particular Characters

Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses was recently announced as the latest DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and fan reaction was mixed, to say the least. Perhaps piggybacking off of the somewhat tepid response, Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai had a few choice words to say in regards to the DLC fighters included in the crossover Nintendo fighter. 

In his weekly column for Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu (translation via Silicon Era), Sakurai said that he felt there were too many Fire Emblem characters in the game. He also made a point to remind fans that he actually doesn't pick the DLC characters that are added to the game. Despite his deep involvement in most other aspects of Super Smash Bros., he says new characters are "for Nintendo to bring in."

This makes a lot of sense, considering how relatively new Fire Emblem: Three Houses is. Byleth's presence in the game is looking more and more like a simple marketing move. However, that wasn't all Sakurai had to say on the subject.

Elsewhere in the column, Sakurai spoke at length regarding the game's balance issues, but was rather diplomatic in his explanations. In Sakurai's opinion, the problems weren't limited to the game's slight overabundance of Fire Emblem characters. 

As Sakurai admits, "there are too many sword characters." However, this simply presented a new challenge for the designers to work around. The solution was to try to make the characters more distinct from one another. 

"Since there are too many sword characters, we make them all have their own tactics that are unique to the fighter," explained Sakurai. It's exactly that kind of attention to detail that has made Super Smash Bros. Ultimate such a popular game among esports players. 

Even though Sakurai doesn't pick the fighters, one can hope that Nintendo is paying attention to the player feedback. Maybe we can back get some of the characters who have previously been cut from the franchise.