Smash Bros.’ Byleth gets ‘most divisive YouTube reaction’ of all DLC reveals

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Byleth has received the most divisive reaction yet for a DLC character reveal, based on YouTube engagement.

At the time of publishing, almost a third of users who have engaged with Nintendo’s official Byleth reveal video on YouTube have logged a dislike on the platform.

Out of some 80,000 interactions, around 30,000 users have disliked the video, making Byleth by far the most disliked Smash DLC reveal.

On the Nintendo UK channel, the video has even more dislikes than likes at the time of publishing this story.

In comparison, the reveal video with the second highest proportion of dislikes is Terry Bogard with only 5% of users who interacted posting a dislike.

The most common criticism of Byleth among users offering comment on YouTube is the number of Fire Emblem characters already present in Smash Bros.’ roster. Before Byleth’s reveal, Ultimate already had seven fighters from the RPG series.

In comparison, the other DLC fighters were first-time additions from third-party series such as Dragon Quest, Persona and Banjo-Kazooie.

Ahead of revealing the latest character in a live stream on Thursday, Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai told fans: “Even if you say, ‘that wasn’t the character I was picturing’, I hope you don’t have any hard feelings.”

Byleth will be available from January 28 either as part of the Fighters Pass or individually for $5.99 USD / £5.39.

Director Sakurai confirmed on Thursday that Smash Bros. Ultimate’s second Fighter Pass will be expanded from five to six characters.

Switch owners will be able to pre-order the Fighters Pass 2 from January 28, with a special Zelda: Breath of the Wild Mii costume available as a pre-order bonus.

However, as usual the characters will be kept secret until closer to release.

“I’m personally very sorry that we have to release Fighters Pass Volume 2 when the details have yet to be revealed,” Sakurai said. “Like last time I’d be very grateful if despite that you would understand why and purchase it.”

Reflecting on the first five DLC fighters, Sakurai said his intention was to offer new styles of play with each addition.

“Since the roster was already so large to begin with, right from the start we intended to make the most out of the new gameplay mechanics,” he said.

“When we add a new fighter, we don’t simply make their attacks or movements a little different. Instead we try to offer you a whole new style of play.”

All Fighters Pass 2 DLC characters will be released by December 31, 2020.

Masahiro Sakurai previously said he feels there’s “no way” the series will be able to have as many fighters or series represented again in future games.