The next DLC fighter coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Dragon Quest’s Hero, is being released alongside Smash Ultimate’s 4.0 update.
In a video detailing the new fighter, Smash Bros. Ultimate game director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that each Hero has a unique name: Eleven (DQXI), Aursu (DQIII), Solo (IV), and Eight (VIII) — with each having a unique color variation based on characters from their respective games, along with their own voice actors.
While all versions of the Hero play similarly, Sakurai explained that he was given much more energetic movements than the other swordfighters in Smash Ultimate in order to match the style of Akira Toriyama, whose iconic art style helped breathed life into the Dragon Quest series.
Sakurai also dived into the Hero’s moveset, which is the biggest in the game.
The Hero’s neutral attacks are based on the Frizz-type spells from Dragon Quest; namely, Frizz, Frizzle, and Kafrizz, which can all be charged up and stored to be released later in a fight. Meanwhile, his Side Specials make use of Zap-type spells; Zap, Zapple, and Kazap, and his Up Specials are Woosh-type; Woosh, Swoosh, and Kaswoosh.
It is the Hero’s Down Special, called Command Select, that set his prolific moveset apart however, as it lets him choose one spell from a set of four random ones to aid him in battle. It also references the drop down menus used in traditional Japanese RPG’s such as Dragon Quest itself.
Here is a list of the Hero’s spells and what they do:
- Oomph: Raises the Hero’s attack power for a short time
- Psyche Up: Increases the power of the Hero’s next attack
- Bounce: Reflects projectiles, and can be bounced off others Bounce spell for increased damage
- Heal: Restores the Hero’s health
- Flame Slash: A wide-reaching sword attack
- Kacrackle Slash: Freezes opponents in place when hit
- Acceleratle: Gives the hero a significant boost of speed
- Kaboom: As its name implies, an explosive spell
- Snooze: Sends out a wave that puts opponents to sleep, leaving them open for a critical attack
- Thwack: An attack that can sometimes KO an opponent in one hit, the percentage change of this happening is based on opponent’s damage
- Zoom: Lets the Hero recover to the stage from anywhere
- Kaclang: Freezes the Hero in place and makes hin invincible
- Metal Slash: An attack that can One-Hit KO a metal opponent or another Hero using Kaclang
- Hocus Pocus: A spell that gives a random effect, could be good or bad
- Kamikazee: A powerful explosion that results in self-destruct
Keep in mind that using your shield will cancel the Command Select, allowing the Hero to try again for a particular spell.
All of the Hero’s spells, including his neutrals, side and up specials, require MP, and some are more powerful depending on how much MP the Hero has left.
The Hero’s Final Smash is called Gigaslash, which opens with a wide-reaching vertical slash that, when connecting with an opponent, summons all past Dragon Quest heroes to combine for a powerful attack, similar to Mega Man’s Final Smash.
The Hero comes with Challenger Pack 2, available for US$5.99, which also includes the Yggdrasil’s Altar stage, where fighters battle in a platform flying through the air and across the worls of Dragon Quest XI.
New Dragon Quest Spirits. a special Dragon Quest Spirit Board, and eight songs from the Dragon Quest series; namely Adventure — DQIII, Fighting Spirits — DQIII, Battle for the Glory — DQIV, Wagon Wheel’s March, War Cry, Marching Through the Fields, The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination, and Unflinchable Courage, are also included in the pack.
Dragon Quest costumes for the Mii Fighter are also available for US$0.75, including Dragon Quest XI’s Veronica and Dragon Quest’s Erdrick for the Mii Swordfighter, and the Martial Artist for the Mii Brawler, as well as a Slime hat for all.
Smash Version 4.0.0 will also be released alongside the Hero’s Challenger Pack, which adds a new Final Smash time limit feature — a dropping meter under each character portrait to let players know how long they have to use a Final Smash before it is gone.
There’s also a Very Easy difficulty for Adventure Mode, new spectating features that lets players predict the winner of a match they’re spectating and redeem points earned for items or Spirits, and the ability to use screenshots in video and also play videos consecutively.
A new Online Tourney mode has also been implemented, which will feature pre-set rules and conditions that will change periodically. Sakurai revealed that they will be holding Special Event Tourneys open to all players from time to time.
The Hero is the 73rd character to join Smash Ultimate’s sprawling roster of fighters from across multiple video game series. He is also the game’s third DLC fighter to go live post-release, preceded by Piranha Plant from the Super Mario Bros. series and Joker from Persona 5. Banjo & Kazooie, from the Banjo-Kazooie series, is slated to join the roster this Fall.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age was released worldwide for PC and the PlayStation 4 on September 2018, with a Nintendo Switch port set to be released on September 27 this year.
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