UPDATE:Welp. Original story follows:
It’s always fun to debate and speculate about who will and won’t get invited toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.As long as Nintendo is opening DLC slots to the game industry’s most famous characters, fans ofSmashwill be having heated debates about whether Master Chief or the Doom Marine is more likely to make the cut. There’s really too many beloved characters out there for Nintendo to get into the game; it can only make so many deals. It also has to be said thatSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatejust doesn’t have room for certain characters anymore. UnlessSmash Ultimate’s state of development changes drastically, one of those unlucky characters is probably Sora.
Kingdom Heartsfans have wanted Sora to come toSmashpretty much ever since Sora was first introduced. He seems like he’d bea perfectly suitable pick forSmash,too, considering his notoriety and Nintendo’s good relationship with Square Enix. Unfortunately, it’s starting to look like the window for Sora joiningSmash Ultimatehas closed. Nintendo’s other picks would make it a strange display of Square Enix favoritism to add Sora at this point, and there’s certain reasons that Nintendo might not want Sora to be in the game at all.
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An Unlikely Guest
The problem with Sora joiningSmashin one of its final DLC fighter slots is that Square Enix just got another DLC fighter.Final Fantasy 7’s Sephiroth shocked the game community when he was revealed as the third character joining inSmash Ultimate’s second Fighters Pass. If Sora were a part of this Fighters Pass, it would show an awful lot of preference for Square Enix characters that goes against the spirit ofSmash’s broad range of guests. Sora andKingdom Heartshave some significant ties withFinal Fantasythat would also clash with Sephiroth’s appearance. It seems likely that Cloud,Dragon Quest’s Hero, and Sephiroth have choked Sora out of a place inSmash Ultimate.
It should also be noted that Square Enix doesn’t have sole control over Sora.Kingdom Heartsis famously a series of games in an original universe that frequently crosses over with not justFinal Fantasy,but Disney products as well. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy are three of Sora’s closest allies, and there’s very little chance that they or any other Disney property could some toSmashwith Sora. Nintendo has said before that it only wants video game characters inSmash,meaning Disney’s stars have no hope of being in the game. Even if Nintendo has tried to get Sora intoSmash,it’s entirely possible that Disney doesn’t want Sora inSmashand has prevented a deal with Nintendo somehow.
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The Struggle to Integrate Sora
Even in a hypothetical situation where Sora made it intoSmash Ultimate,it’s hard to imagine how Nintendo would design him for the game and appease everyone. The Mickey-shaped emblemattached to Sora’s main Keyblademeans a deal with Disney is unavoidable, unless Nintendo trimmed Sora of any Disney references, which would surely makeKingdom Heartsfans upset. It also has to be said that adding Sora would mean adding another swordfighter toSmash.No matter how manyKingdom Heartsfans want Sora in the game, a lot of otherSmashfans would be angry to see Nintendo add yet another person with a sword to the game. Sora wouldn’t introduce the diversity that a lot of theSmashfanbase wants.
It’s really pretty unfortunate to see how the odds are stacked against Sora. He’s truly one of Square Enix’s most recognizable characters, andthe storied line ofKingdom Heartsgamesdeserves to be recognized by an honor like being invited toSmash Ultimate.The fact of the matter is that, if Sora was going to end up inSmash Ultimate,he would be in it by now, probably joiningSmashin Sephiroth’s place. With Sephiroth still fresh in players' minds and only two slots left in this Fighters Pass, it doesn’t look like there’s any hope for Sora. The only silver lining for Sora’s situation would be if Nintendo announces a third Fighters Pass, but even then, there’s a big hill for Sora to climb ahead of getting one of those invitations.
