Ludwig's Non-Live Reaction to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct (8/8/18)!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - ...Well then. That's a lot of content.

Today is the day. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct. I'm reacting to it by myself because everyone on the staff has different enough schedules that no one could commit to watching it at the same time. For example, Rawk watched it live. Kamek still hasn't watched it because he works weird hours, so we're actually avoiding discussing any spoilers in our Discord server out of consideration for him.

I also don't want to spoil this above the page break, so here are just my reactions. I avoided the whole Internet ever since last night, so I could come into this Direct completely fresh and unspoiled. Tomorrow I'll write an actual article about my thoughts:

[6:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ALRIGHT

[6:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: 6 PM SHARP

[6:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-kQWJrjRV4

[6:00 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: LET'S GO

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: STEPS

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: WALKING

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: CAPE

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: HOODED FIGURE

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: SCARED LUIG1

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Trayvon Martin?

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Rising from the dead?

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: In a hoodie?

[6:01 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Screaming.

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Is this the first time Luig1 has been in a Smash trailer?

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: dead

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ...oh no that's not Trayvon

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: SIMON LASHES OUT!?

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: FUCK

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: WHY IS HE HERE?

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: HE'S NOT EVEN BLACK LIKE IN CAPTAIN N

[6:02 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Yo I thought we weren't getting any new characters.

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: I mean, this is goodfor music at least.

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Not actual gameplay footage." time.

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Who is this guy?

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: RICHTER CROSSES OVER!

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Wait, there's TWO of them?

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Is Alucard here?

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ...yeah I guess.

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate X Castlevania

[6:03 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Luig1 still dead

[6:04 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Sakurai's eyes look fine.

I'm going to write about Sakurai's eyes tomorrow, but know that it's based on yesterday's article previewing this Direct.
(Note: This screenshot was taken minutes after this part of the log.)

[6:04 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Dude's fake news.

[6:04 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Main weapon is his chain-whip.

[6:04 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: I guess this is because Sheik lost her chain whip.

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Holy Water" explosion

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Hyrule Temple is back.

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Dracula's Castle stage.

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "The darkest stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" Uhh okay

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: MEDUSA

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: But not from Kid Icarus.

[6:05 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Dracula and "??????"

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: WHOA THAT'S A TON OF MUSIC

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: 34 MUSIC TRACKS

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "The Castlevania series is very popular with our music team."

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Dracula appears as well!"

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: As a stage boss.

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ALUCARD ASSIST TROPHY

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ALUCARD SHOULD'VE BEEN PLAYABLE INSTEAD.

[6:06 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: NO ONE CARES ABOUT SIMON BELMONT

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: PEOPLE ONLY CARE ABOUT ALUCARD.

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "one more fighter"

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Oh yeah Richter I dunno what he's doing here.

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Is he an... yeah.

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Echo fighter of Simon.

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "His look, voice, and animations are each his own."

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: He claims that Simon Belmont also echoes Richter.

[6:07 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: MORE ECHOES

[6:08 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: no

[6:08 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[6:08 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: CHROM JOINS THE BATTLE!!!

[6:08 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: THIS DIRECT IS AWFUL

[6:08 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: WHY ARE ALL THE FIRE EMBLEM CHARACTERS HURTING BOWSER

[6:09 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Dark Samus is also an echo fighter which I'm okay with.

[6:09 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Metroid fans can't complain between Dark Samus, Samus, Zero Suit Samus... oh, and Ridley.

[6:09 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: If there are three of Link then there can be three of Samus.

[6:09 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "You may have seen this coming. Two highly requested fighters."

These are slightly different.

[6:09 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Adjustable echo fighter selection"

[6:09 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: You can stack them or have them be their own panel.

[6:10 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "A few more to announce later"

[6:10 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Hm...

[6:10 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Stage showcase, including Pokémon Stadium, Garden of Hope (ew), Brinstar Depths (Kraid!)

[6:10 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Summit (Ice Climbers, great stage)

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Unova Pokémon League, Magicant.

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Gamer.

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AH JIGGLYPUFF DIED

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Final Destination" well okay.

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: NEW DONK CITY HALL

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: With instrumental remix of 1-Up Girl?

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AHH

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: PAULINE IS A STAGE ELEMENT

[6:11 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AND SHE ACTIVATES THE SINGING

[6:12 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: And so are the other members of the band with their instruments.

[6:12 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Fountain of Dreams is back :heart:

[6:12 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Nintendo 64 stages had "prioritised nostalgia".

[6:12 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: wtf 103 stages

Only four of those one-hundred and three stages are new.

[6:13 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: All stages available in 8-player and all unlocked from the start. And can turn off stage hazards.

[6:13 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Now "a little surprise"

Bowser's Castle?

[6:13 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: wtf

[6:13 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AHH

[6:13 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: STAGE MEDLEY

[6:13 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "A stage can morph into another!"

Stage Morph option.

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Can select two stages to morph. "Choose any two stages!"

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "My Music" here we go.

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Moray Towers 23 songs.

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Until now, music tracks were tied to stages"

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "This time, tracks are organised by series"

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Can play any track on a stage.

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: TOTAL NUMBER OF MUSIC TRACKS

[6:14 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: MORE THAN 800 TRACKS?!?!

[6:15 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: And roughly 900 compositions.

[6:15 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: 28 hours of music.

[6:15 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Yo this file size is gonna be massive.

[6:15 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Sound Test menu.

[6:15 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Tetris in "Other".

No Tetris character or stage confirmed.

[6:16 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Showing cute Japanese girl putting earbuds.

[6:16 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "In handheld mode, you can play music while the screen is turned off." With headphones.

[6:16 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: (Earbuds make her ugly)

[6:16 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Rules"

[6:16 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Now the first thing you select are the Rules, then Stages, then Characters, I guess.

[6:17 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Stamina is now a standard battle option instead of a special one.

[6:17 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Want to note that "Sounds" is now its own main menu option.

[6:17 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Instead of being hidden away under Options.

[6:17 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: whooa

[6:17 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: THERE ARE CHARGEABLE FINAL SMASHES

[6:17 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: LIKE LIMIT OR MAC'S METRE

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: CAN FINAL SMASHES BE COMPETITIVELY LEGAL NOW?

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "No two Final Smashes will happen simultaneously"

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Squad Strike" whoa

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: New feature.

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: 5 on 5 or 3 on 3 elimination.

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: CREW BATTLES

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Tournament mode is back!

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: GOOD

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: I MISSED IT

[6:18 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: (Featuring Treehousers)

[6:19 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Smashdown" mode.

[6:19 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Basically Iron Man challenge but no reoccurring characters.

[6:19 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: New training mode-exclusive stage featuring a graph as a background.

[6:19 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: With trajectories.

[6:19 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: And curves.

[6:19 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Classic Mode"

[6:20 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Each fighter faces a specific set of opponents" IT'S UNIQUE TO EACH FIGHTER

[6:20 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: DK a jerk

[6:20 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Killing Edge from Fire Emblem is an item.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Staff from Kid Icarus.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Ramblin' Evil Mushroom" from Earthbound.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Rage Blaster" from... I dunno.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Poké Ball.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Who gets deconfirmed?

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ...Alolan Exeggutor.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Abra.

[6:21 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Imagine playable Alolan Exeggutor.

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Solgaleo, Lunala, MIMIKYU

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: rip Mimikyu was actually someone that could've been playable

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Pyukumuku.

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Alolan and regular Vulpix.

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Marshadow (deconfirmed) DITTO

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AHH

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: WTF

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ZERO

[6:22 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: I WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT ZERO

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AND SMASH

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AND HERE HE IS AS AN ASSIST TROPHY

I think this screenshot answers my article from a month ago's question very clearly.

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AND IT'S HIS MUSIC

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: CHEF KAWASAKI

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Nikki!

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: SHOVEL KNIGHT

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

[6:23 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: wtf the Majora's Mask Moon is an Assist Trophy

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Ashley is an Assist Trophy, too.

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: rip

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Who's that?

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: A Rathalos from Monster Hunter is a boss?

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: And an Assist Trophy?

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: WHAT ABOUT PHOENIX WRIGHT

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: IF CAPCOM IS EVERYWHERE

[6:24 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Main menu.

[6:25 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Uh... something's pixelated.

For your information, when I said that something is pixelated, I was referring to the thing on the right sidebar.
I didn't even notice the green part.

[6:25 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Oh, what? It's over?

[6:25 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: That flew by quickly.

[6:25 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ...Eh? Weird noises.

[6:25 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: "Not actual gameplay footage."

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Donkey Kong yawning with Diddy.

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Scratching his ass like a Rabbid.

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: oh hell no

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: KING DEDEDE

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: King Dedede trolling as K. Rool

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ...rip

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: KING K. ROOL COMES ABOARD

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: AHHH

[6:26 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: BLUNDERBUSS KAPTAIN K. ROOL

[6:27 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: HIS BELLY IS A COUNTER

[6:27 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: HIS FINAL SMASH IS DESTROYING DK ISLAND

[6:27 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: YO RAWK WAS RIGHT YESTERDAY WHEN HE SAID EVERYONE IN THE ORIGINAL 8 HAD A VILLAIN EXCEPT DK

[6:27 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: THE ART MURAL IS UPDATED

[6:27 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: ew Chrom

[6:28 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: Cloud and Pikachu and Inkling still in the front.

[6:29 PM] Ludwig Von Koopa: SAKURAI IS FAKE NEWS


Stay tuned for Thursday's article for slept-on-it analysis of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct, which will feature spoilers in screenshots! Ludwig apologises for swearing in the log, and he swore too early. (He should have reserved it for Chrom.)


This Direct is very similar to the Super Smash Bros. For Wii U 50-fact extravaganza.
Here is Thursday's article featuring analysis on the game's content.
There is another Direct for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in November. The last one before the game releases. This features the entire staff!