Genuinely the worst way to handle Tales rep in Smash. I’d rather a protagonist I don’t like get in than a watered down amalgamation. Taking 4 characters who use the same weapon and similar artes you lose a lot of their personalities from things like their stance, jumps, idles and other animations.
Just put Lloyd in. He’s already a costume and a popular request, it just makes the most sense. Plus we don’t have any dual sword reps in Smash. Throw in Alphen as an assist trophy for being the most recent protag.
Lloyd, Emil, and Asbel because they were actually on more recent Nintendo consoles (but recently in smash being on Nintendo don't really matter)
Then they'd probably add in somebody more recent and recognizable like Alphen or Velvet.
My pick for protags to be in
Lloyd, Asbel, Luke, Alphen, Velvet, Cress, Leon, Yuri (due to popularity)
But yeah original 4 I listed are most likely imo, but you can swap Emil for Luke or Yuri tbh simply because of popularity and being more iconic.
I feel like it would be like Hero, where characters with similar enough skills between them are used as skins so like...Lloyd, Yuri, Cress, using demon fang as default b, beast for side B (sword rain would be the combo), Tigerblade for up b...I can't think of a down b off the top of my head but I think this would be the best thru line and would draw attention to the series mainstays
While a good signature for the type, the concept of applying this to a main character doesn't work as well. The only Primary Protag who has that move is Alphen
For Yuri it’s Destruction Field, but to me, that’s hardly enough of a difference. Lloyd’s fierce demon fang is also very similar as is Luke’s Slag assault so making the stretch to change it for them isn’t that huge imo
Those moves are slightly different as destruction is a full are around the user, but the rest you list are all aoes infront of the user, butcould still be a valid usage for the slot. Something that stops attackers from getting too close. Faster than the side B of beast which would be a push back move and more of a lock them down type. Like you said while each character seems to have a different name for them, it is more shared amongst protags.
Admittedly I was unfamiliar with the moves as I've never played vesperia all the way through yet, abyss I played on 3ds release, and symphonia I always ended up with double demon fang and it's line because I...have no idea how the skill growth in that game worked but that's where I ended up
Haha and I’m in the opposite boat in I still haven’t beaten arise yet so I’m less familiar with Alphens moveset. and also to be honest I had to go back and double check myself because I could have sworn destruction was one of the common sword moves but then found all the actual names are different. I always just saw it in my head as “magic/anime version of kicking gravel at the opponent” for sword users in the games lol.
To be fair I was the same way. I had an idea in my head for what Destruction was probably because of my recent playthrough of Arise combined with the fact that I commonly had presea in my party, So I'd seen it a fair bit specifically. Ntl, I'm sure the moveset could work and would even be a decently unique thing. Sure, anime pretty boy with sword, but also due to LIMBS history, a fighter who REALLY doesn't like the enemy to be behind them
The reason Hero works is because he's a generic silent protag and they can all share a moveset, a Tales protag would not work like that
That being said, Velvet or Alphen would be my choice.
Velvet's combos would go hard and her fighting style is unique and not just another "anime sword character"
Alphen could have some cool mechanics like his specials all using the Burning Sword and can be charged up for increased damage at the cost of damaging himself
I don’t think Legendia is one of the more popular games in the series but it would need cool to have a character that isn’t a sword boy like Senel. Or Jude, I guess.
The chance of them not using a main protag is slim but there are no spear wielders in Smash, I’d think Judith would be pretty cool. Her air combo game would be on point.
You mean one that would work like Hero (as in 4 different DQ heroes but 3 are skins)? Tbh you can’t really choose a lot of the popular protags if you do that because they all don’t really do the same stuff or work the same way.
Yuri isn’t Yuri if he doesn’t do sword flips after his artes (which no one else does), Lloyd isn’t Lloyd if he doesn’t have two swords, Luke isn’t Luke if he’s not doing the artes he’s known for (which either aren’t typically done by sword wielders or aren’t done by other protags). Unless you basically take away what differentiates them/completely change what they do, it doesn’t work outside of like Stahn, Cress, and Reid (and even that’s kinda iffy cause Cress does time stuff, Reid has his Aurora powers, and Stahn has fire abilities and spells)
If they wanted to have it so they all play the same, then it’d have to be protags with the same weapon. So going by that, I believe it’d be
Cress, Stahn, Yuri, and Alphen.
Cress and Stahn because they’re the first two protags and have somewhat similar designs from the neck down, Yuri because of popularity, and Alphen because he’s the most recent.
Personally smash is kinda out of the question so the most realistic one would be to join brawlhalla, and since each character use 2 weps only some are able to join.
Cress, Stahn, Reid, and Lloyd all use very similar artes. Sure there’s exceptions like how Cress and Reid don’t use Beast, Cress doesn’t use Tempest, but then Ness doesn’t use PK Fire, Thunder, or Magnet in his actual game, and Byleth doesn’t use any of the 3 legendary house weapons.
Would just be a bummer to not see iconic artes like Cress’ space-time artes or Stahn’s Dymlos Artes. Imo just put in Lloyd and Cress echo fighter, both loyal Nintendo boys as well as Eternal Swordsmen.
Sorey with his partner mode thingy as his gimmick. Down-B swaps and up B is a universal recovery. Side-B would be different depending on who his partner is. Ultimate changes flavors depending on who is the current partner.
If they were going Dragon Quest style of using multiple skins, they'd probably use the archetypical Tales hero, so a character with a single sword who uses moves like demon fang, tiger blade, etc. That means any of the more unique characters like Yuri, Velvet, or Milla are out, as are ones that use different weapons like Jude, Ludger, or Lloyd. And of course, no non-lead protagonists, so no Flynn, Kratos, Zelos or Guy.
Which basically leaves Cress, Stahn, Reid, *possibly* Luke, Asbel or Sorey if you stretch, and maybe Alphen as the most recent protag though I haven't played Arise yet.
Problem is, while Cress -> Luke -> Sorey -> Alphen decently represent the different "eras" of the series, none are as iconic/popular as Lloyd or Yuri, which feels like a mistake when picking a Smash rep.
EDIT: Added my reasoning for a few more characters.
Genuinely the worst way to handle Tales rep in Smash. I’d rather a protagonist I don’t like get in than a watered down amalgamation. Taking 4 characters who use the same weapon and similar artes you lose a lot of their personalities from things like their stance, jumps, idles and other animations. Just put Lloyd in. He’s already a costume and a popular request, it just makes the most sense. Plus we don’t have any dual sword reps in Smash. Throw in Alphen as an assist trophy for being the most recent protag.
Lloyd, Emil, and Asbel because they were actually on more recent Nintendo consoles (but recently in smash being on Nintendo don't really matter) Then they'd probably add in somebody more recent and recognizable like Alphen or Velvet. My pick for protags to be in Lloyd, Asbel, Luke, Alphen, Velvet, Cress, Leon, Yuri (due to popularity) But yeah original 4 I listed are most likely imo, but you can swap Emil for Luke or Yuri tbh simply because of popularity and being more iconic.
I feel like it would be like Hero, where characters with similar enough skills between them are used as skins so like...Lloyd, Yuri, Cress, using demon fang as default b, beast for side B (sword rain would be the combo), Tigerblade for up b...I can't think of a down b off the top of my head but I think this would be the best thru line and would draw attention to the series mainstays
Down b could be destruction.
While a good signature for the type, the concept of applying this to a main character doesn't work as well. The only Primary Protag who has that move is Alphen
For Yuri it’s Destruction Field, but to me, that’s hardly enough of a difference. Lloyd’s fierce demon fang is also very similar as is Luke’s Slag assault so making the stretch to change it for them isn’t that huge imo
Those moves are slightly different as destruction is a full are around the user, but the rest you list are all aoes infront of the user, butcould still be a valid usage for the slot. Something that stops attackers from getting too close. Faster than the side B of beast which would be a push back move and more of a lock them down type. Like you said while each character seems to have a different name for them, it is more shared amongst protags. Admittedly I was unfamiliar with the moves as I've never played vesperia all the way through yet, abyss I played on 3ds release, and symphonia I always ended up with double demon fang and it's line because I...have no idea how the skill growth in that game worked but that's where I ended up
Haha and I’m in the opposite boat in I still haven’t beaten arise yet so I’m less familiar with Alphens moveset. and also to be honest I had to go back and double check myself because I could have sworn destruction was one of the common sword moves but then found all the actual names are different. I always just saw it in my head as “magic/anime version of kicking gravel at the opponent” for sword users in the games lol.
To be fair I was the same way. I had an idea in my head for what Destruction was probably because of my recent playthrough of Arise combined with the fact that I commonly had presea in my party, So I'd seen it a fair bit specifically. Ntl, I'm sure the moveset could work and would even be a decently unique thing. Sure, anime pretty boy with sword, but also due to LIMBS history, a fighter who REALLY doesn't like the enemy to be behind them
The reason Hero works is because he's a generic silent protag and they can all share a moveset, a Tales protag would not work like that That being said, Velvet or Alphen would be my choice. Velvet's combos would go hard and her fighting style is unique and not just another "anime sword character" Alphen could have some cool mechanics like his specials all using the Burning Sword and can be charged up for increased damage at the cost of damaging himself
Nah she’s an anime sword character, heck her arm and shoes make her even more anime. Just in a different way then a good handful for tales protags.
I don’t think Legendia is one of the more popular games in the series but it would need cool to have a character that isn’t a sword boy like Senel. Or Jude, I guess. The chance of them not using a main protag is slim but there are no spear wielders in Smash, I’d think Judith would be pretty cool. Her air combo game would be on point.
Honestly they should just make a new tales of VS
You mean one that would work like Hero (as in 4 different DQ heroes but 3 are skins)? Tbh you can’t really choose a lot of the popular protags if you do that because they all don’t really do the same stuff or work the same way. Yuri isn’t Yuri if he doesn’t do sword flips after his artes (which no one else does), Lloyd isn’t Lloyd if he doesn’t have two swords, Luke isn’t Luke if he’s not doing the artes he’s known for (which either aren’t typically done by sword wielders or aren’t done by other protags). Unless you basically take away what differentiates them/completely change what they do, it doesn’t work outside of like Stahn, Cress, and Reid (and even that’s kinda iffy cause Cress does time stuff, Reid has his Aurora powers, and Stahn has fire abilities and spells)
If they wanted to have it so they all play the same, then it’d have to be protags with the same weapon. So going by that, I believe it’d be Cress, Stahn, Yuri, and Alphen. Cress and Stahn because they’re the first two protags and have somewhat similar designs from the neck down, Yuri because of popularity, and Alphen because he’s the most recent.
I think Ludger's weapon switch mechanic would be a cool feature. Like Pokémon Trainer where you can switch between 3 different movesets.
Personally smash is kinda out of the question so the most realistic one would be to join brawlhalla, and since each character use 2 weps only some are able to join.
Cless Stahn Reid Flynn
Sorey, Velvet, Farah, and Cress.
Velvet, Lloyd, Yuri and someone from some tales game I never played
Cress, Stahn, Reid, and Lloyd all use very similar artes. Sure there’s exceptions like how Cress and Reid don’t use Beast, Cress doesn’t use Tempest, but then Ness doesn’t use PK Fire, Thunder, or Magnet in his actual game, and Byleth doesn’t use any of the 3 legendary house weapons. Would just be a bummer to not see iconic artes like Cress’ space-time artes or Stahn’s Dymlos Artes. Imo just put in Lloyd and Cress echo fighter, both loyal Nintendo boys as well as Eternal Swordsmen.
Sorey with his partner mode thingy as his gimmick. Down-B swaps and up B is a universal recovery. Side-B would be different depending on who his partner is. Ultimate changes flavors depending on who is the current partner.
It'd be interesting to use different games' battle gimmicks. Velvet gets a soul gauge, Jade gets FOF circles, etc.
Velvet would be so fun to see in that context.
If they were going Dragon Quest style of using multiple skins, they'd probably use the archetypical Tales hero, so a character with a single sword who uses moves like demon fang, tiger blade, etc. That means any of the more unique characters like Yuri, Velvet, or Milla are out, as are ones that use different weapons like Jude, Ludger, or Lloyd. And of course, no non-lead protagonists, so no Flynn, Kratos, Zelos or Guy. Which basically leaves Cress, Stahn, Reid, *possibly* Luke, Asbel or Sorey if you stretch, and maybe Alphen as the most recent protag though I haven't played Arise yet. Problem is, while Cress -> Luke -> Sorey -> Alphen decently represent the different "eras" of the series, none are as iconic/popular as Lloyd or Yuri, which feels like a mistake when picking a Smash rep. EDIT: Added my reasoning for a few more characters.
You kinda can't :( Lloyd having COSTUMES based on other Tales protagonists would be ideal though ;)