Unlockables?

Having too many unlockables in a game has always been a controversial topic. However, a nice balance between the two tends to strike a good chord with players.

Playing Crusade at its current state is very enjoyable. However, there isn't much insentive for me personally to play very often. Once 0.9.1 drops, I'll certainly give it a lot of play time trying out the game with a controller, and playing with more balanced characters. Mostly playing the classic mode of course.

But coming back to the game isn't something I can see myself doing extremely often. When I had characters and arenas to unlock when I got Smash 4, I was addicted to trying to get them. I still play the game even though I have all the characters and stages just for the little extras they throw in, such as how there are always trophies for me to unlock.

I understand having characters locked when you start isn't a popular decision. But having perhaps a small handful of arenas hidden to unlock would keep me coming back. Things of that nature.

I'll always be back to play games like Crusade and Sm4sh when friends are up for it, but this is cleary referring to solo replay-value.

I will start off by saying that I actually like the fact that some fighters are locked, as it is a good way to learn the basics, and it allows you to see how the new character fights (to a degree at least)

I actually hated how few "Hidden characters" there were in Smash 4, especially when 3 were full clones (Doc, Martha, and Emo Pit), a Semi-Clone (Falco, 2 with Ganondorf on 3DS), and 4 unique character (Duck Hunt, G&W, ROB, and Wario, with 7 if 3DS is used with Bowser Jr., Jiggly, and Ness). Not including the clones, Duck Hunt was the only newcomer to be locked. So, not including DLC or Mii Fighters, there were only 8 (12 on 3DS) of the 48 characters were locked, and fairly few of them truly added anything "new" compared to the rest of the cast

In the case of Smash Games, I think Brawl was the best when it came to "unlockables." There was a decent chunk of starter characters, with 22 of the 35 playable from the start (26 of 39 if all of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon, ZSS, and Sheik are separate). To add, very few of the unlockable characters were functional re-hashes of added (though a few were visually), with 3 locked Semi-Clones (Ganondorf, Toon Link, and Falco), 2 Derivatives (Luigi and Wolf), and the remaining 8 all being unique (with Lucas being the derived from Ness) That is 13 of the 39 characters locked; even with its larger roster, Wii U has less.

When it comes to Crusade, I think there could be a default version with characters requiring the player to unlock them, and an "add-on" of sorts that unlocks every character. With this, you could please those who want the joy of unlocking (even if it means we already know who most will be) while those who just want to jump in with the whole roster can also do so.

wheeled_tank wrote:

I will start off by saying that I actually like the fact that some fighters are locked, as it is a good way to learn the basics, and it allows you to see how the new character fights (to a degree at least)

I actually hated how few "Hidden characters" there were in Smash 4, especially when 3 were full clones (Doc, Martha, and Emo Pit), a Semi-Clone (Falco, 2 with Ganondorf on 3DS), and 4 unique character (Duck Hunt, G&W, ROB, and Wario, with 7 if 3DS is used with Bowser Jr., Jiggly, and Ness). Not including the clones, Duck Hunt was the only newcomer to be locked. So, not including DLC or Mii Fighters, there were only 8 (12 on 3DS) of the 48 characters were locked, and fairly few of them truly added anything "new" compared to the rest of the cast

In the case of Smash Games, I think Brawl was the best when it came to "unlockables." There was a decent chunk of starter characters, with 22 of the 35 playable from the start (26 of 39 if all of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon, ZSS, and Sheik are separate). To add, very few of the unlockable characters were functional re-hashes of added (though a few were visually), with 3 locked Semi-Clones (Ganondorf, Toon Link, and Falco), 2 Derivatives (Luigi and Wolf), and the remaining 8 all being unique (with Lucas being the derived from Ness) That is 13 of the 39 characters locked; even with its larger roster, Wii U has less.

When it comes to Crusade, I think there could be a default version with characters requiring the player to unlock them, and an "add-on" of sorts that unlocks every character. With this, you could please those who want the joy of unlocking (even if it means we already know who most will be) while those who just want to jump in with the whole roster can also do so.

This is really a great idea. I was honestly hiding my opinion earlier because I love when games have a good amount of unlockables to keep me busy, and usually I get pretty bombarded with people who think otherwise.

Having two seperate versions is a perfect balance.
Now as far as unlocking goes, what do you believe should be the system for doing so? I think they can be unlocked via different means for each character like in the Smash games. Although with how quick one can complete a game of classic mode, the unlocking could pass by very swiftly. Imo, some content could be unlockable with classic and stadium modes, and maybe a character & a couple stages could be unlocked by playing a large amount of matches.

I was thinking of having characters being able to be unlocked by either classic/stadium or regular matches (akin to Melee onwards). As we don't really have classic (or any stadium modes) right now, it would be hard to place different characters into different "modes." As for who I would choose as unlockables, i would have to go through the various character and learn at least a little history about them (mainly Ristar and Gooey)

Edit: I'm the kind of person who likes coming up with different ways to please everyone.

Yeah it's important to mix it up. I'd say characters like Petey, Crash, (yes he's a major inclusion, but it'd make him exciting to unlock, and since he's not a Nintendo character, he's not a character you would expect to see from the start) Shadow, and a couple old ones like Meta Knight, Duck Hunt Dog, & Wario.

Perhaps not all of them but examples of a batch of characters I'd personally make unlockables

Well I compiled a list of 20 characters (of 64 right now) that I could see as Unlocks (your ideas may very). I'll give my reasoning with them

Dr. Mario (Well, he is a pure clone...)
Weegee (Very strange addition. Would be strange as a starter to me)
Petey Piranha (A one-off villain, though a popular one)
Geno (Similar to Petey, but older, and a playable character)
Pichu (Baby Pikachu. What else?)
Mewtwo (It's never been available as a "Standard")
Tingle (The most Awkward Zelda character there)
Krystal (I would include Falco, but I want Wolf, and 3 locked Star Fox characters is a bit much)
Gooey (Much like Geno and Petey)
Porky (I feel as if he would be the best Mother/Earthbound unlockable, as Lucas and Ness have both been starters at one time)
ROB (Always has been unlockable)
Duck Hunt Dog (Another strange, though popular choice)
Mach Rider (How many people have actually even played Mach Rider?)
Mr. Game & Watch (Same as ROB)
Snake (Doesn't really fit in with the Smash Cast)
Ristar (SEGA's more obscure character choice)
Crash Bandicoot (Like you said, not a Nintendo character, and would be exciting to unlock)
Evil Ryu (Evil Ryu is an alternate version)
Phoenix Wright (He is such a strange fighter, despite his sheer popularity)
Klonoa (This one can be argued against, but I feel as if the different companies should have at least one unlockable)

Edit: I would even make my 3 current character suggestions (Primid, Lilac, and SAGE) locked characters, though a 4th one I plan to make would be a starter

wheeled_tank wrote:

Well I compiled a list of 20 characters (of 64 right now) that I could see as Unlocks (your ideas may very). I'll give my reasoning with them

Dr. Mario (Well, he is a pure clone...)
WeeGee (Very strange addition. Would be strange as a starter to me)
Petey Piranha (A one-off villain, though a popular one)
Geno (Similar to Petey, but older, and a playable character)
Pichu (Baby Pikachu. What else?)
MewTwo (It's never been available as a "Standard")
Tingle (The most Awkward Zelda character there)
Krystal (I would include Falco, but I want Wolf, and 3 locked Star Fox characters is a bit much)
Gooey (Much like Geno and Petey)
Porky (I feel as if he would be the best Mother/Earthbound unlockable, as Lucas and Ness have both been starters at one time)
ROB (Always has been unlockable)
Duck Hunt Dog (Another strange, though popular choice)
Mach Rider (How many people have actually even played Mach Rider?)
Mr. Game & Watch (Same as ROB)
Snake (Doesn't really fit in with the Smash Cast)
Ristar (SEGA's more obscure character choice)
Crash Bandicoot (Like you said, not a Nintendo character, and would be exciting to unlock)
Evil Ryu (Evil Ryu is an alternate version)
Phoenix Wright (He is such a strange fighter, despite his sheer popularity)
Klonoa (This one can be argued against, but I feel as if the different companies should have at least one unlockable)

Edit: I would even make my 3 current character suggestions (Primid, Lilac, and SAGE) locked characters, though a 4th one I plan to make would be a starter

The only parts where I disagree are Crash and Krystal. Falco could be the unlockable one and Krystal could be the starter. Crash should just be a starter if we assume Spyro eventually gets in the game.

Also why'd you spell Mewtwo and Weegee like that. Especially Weegee.

It just looked a little better to me. Fixed it

As for the other points, I guess Falco and Krystal could be swapped (I could see either being unlockable, with the other being a starter...). I am putting Crash there because we don't have Spyro yet. If/When we do, though, I will definitely reconsider.