Editor’s Note: Marth is Prince of Altea. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his own.
My Fire Emblem colleague Byleth recently joined the fighting roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I know this news has really upset you and caused you to express anger on the internet. For what reason and for whom do you fight? I’d like to understand your ideas of justice.
You can scour through the 7.0 patch notes if you wish, but let me save you some time. Mario is still an important part of my game. Mario and his universe will remain prevalent in Smash Ultimate. You can pair up Lucina and Ike to fight Mario and Luigi in the Peach’s Castle stage. Chrom and Roy can battle six Yoshis in the Paper Mario stage. Roy, Robin and Corrin can duke it out in the customizable Super Mario Maker stage, with the winner being decided by the throw of a Waluigi Assist Trophy. May I help end the fighting with this ray of hope.
Even with these reassurances, you may still have concerns about Byleth joining Smash. Don’t worry. Byleth is a cool guy. And girl. You may be irked about setting aside $16 to eventually buy a Byleth amiibo to go on “that” shelf. Perhaps you are simply angered by the use of the s-word…sword. Please put aside these worries and encourage others to purchase and play my game. I hope I can continue to count on you.
By most accounts, the next iteration of Smash may only include the core members of the Fire Emblem family. Therefore, you should enjoy the variety of characters in Smash Ultimate to the fullest. Byleth’s addition won’t take away any of your enjoyment of the game. My advice regarding Byleth is to do the same thing you did with over 60 other fighters: play him once and move on with your life.
