We’ve had our hands on Super Smash Bros Ultimate for over a month now, and the community seems to quite happy with it so far. The game has been gaining a lot of traction on twitch and lots of Ultimate content is being made every day. Once barren tournament venues are now brimming with life, as many are eager to compete. It’s a new day in the Smash community, and it’s great to see so much unity. It was a long wait but we’re finally there. Now that we have sufficient information about how this game works, lets reflect on the first month of Smash Ultimate!
Seeing the complete character select screen after hours of getting destroyed by the totally balanced unlockable characters, is quite the sight to behold. It’s amazing to see Every character ever all in one place. It makes you feel like you’re playing a piece of Smash history every time you choose a character. There’s a character for everyone in Smash Ultimate, boasting the most diverse roster to date. Most importantly however, is the fact that all of the returning characters don’t feel like copies of their former selves. Each returning character has feels much more refined and polished. They all feel unique and with such a deep roster, the match-up possibilities are seemingly endless.
SO. MANY. CHOICES!
SmashWiki
Most notable however is just how balanced the roster is. I’ve gone on record as saying that Smash 4 had the most balanced roster in the series, but Ultimate takes that title by a long shot. It’s still very early in the game’s lifespan, and the meta isn’t even fully developed yet. However, as it is right now, there aren’t any characters that are just straight up garbage. At least not compared to previous entries in the series. Of course tiers still exist, but every character has potential to at least get decent results. With this game having so many characters, balance was a huge concern. Thankfully though, after a month of play the roster is by and large the most balanced in the franchises history.
Defensive play in Smash Ultimate has changed significantly
ShackNews
Smash Ultimate is such a different experience than Smash 4, that it baffles me that many people (including myself) used to think this game would just be a port. This game is fast, frantic and extremely exciting. Movement is the name of the game in Smash Ultimate, and the game is very fast paced because of it. Being able to cancel a dash with any attack makes dashing much more viable. This along with changes to shielding, rolling, parrying, and air dodging have forced players to adapt or die. There definitely will be some growing pains transitioning over from Smash 4. Grabbing out of shield isn’t very viable anymore, and rolling and air dodging have been nerfed considerably. Players have to utilize the improved dashing and play more aggressive to succeed in Ultimate.
These changes in Ultimate might take a while to get used to, but they make the game feel very fresh and interesting. This new emphasis on movement adds a new layer of aggressiveness to the gameplay and makes the neutral game much more dynamic. Not being able to spam air dodge off stage, or roll constantly has forced players to mix their recoveries up, and dash more often. High level players seem to be adjusting pretty well, and have learned how to thrive in this game.
There isn’t much wrong with Smash Ultimate, but it could improve in a few key areas. Most of these areas revolving around online play. First off, the matchmaking system is too inconsistent. There are preferred rules you can play by but, there isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get the game you want. There are too many instances of hopping online looking for a standard 1 on 1 match, only to find yourself in a 4 player free-for-all with items on. This can even occur in Elite Battles which is downright unacceptable. There should also be a way to change your character without backing out of a rematch. getting a bad character match-up online sucks because you cant rematch your opponent without being character locked. Allowing players to change characters and still get a rematch would go a long way.
Lastly, WE NEED REAL PATCH NOTES NINTENDO! There’s already been a patch that made changes to characters and we still don’t have all of the details on it. Simply stating that a few changes have been made just doesn’t cut it anymore. If Splatoon can get detailed patch notes, there’s no reason that Smash, a fighting game, can’t. Smash Ultimate has made quite the impact in just a month and it’s a great improvement over Smash 4; but the online features need a bit more attention. No excuses, get it done Nintendo.
What are your thoughts on Smash Ultimate 1 month later? Let us know down in the comments below!
Featured image courtesy of Heavy.
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