The most ambitious crossover fighting game ever has been available on Nintendo Switch for several months now (find our review here) and the 74 initial characters have already joined 2 wonderful new fighters. In January we enjoyed the release of the highly anticipated Piranha Plant, iconic enemy of the Super Mario universe, while in recent days he has joined the roster of thugs none other than Persona 5's Joker.
Joker definitely needs no introduction: main character of the superlative JRPG by ATLUS e leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, enjoys a character design full of personality, whose chromatic selection really gives an exciting glance. The thief represents the first of the 5 characters present in the season pass as paid content, which will be progressively released until February 2020.
Over the past few days we have had the opportunity to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with Joker for a long time, testing its potential and testing its limits and we are finally ready to talk about his kit. The first detail that inevitably catches the eye is embodied by the duality of the character, which after taking or mitigating damage equal to 20%, he will call his Persona to fight alongside him. Arsene will position himself behind Joker and will enhance the entire moveset, making him one of the most dangerous characters on the roster.
To mitigate the damage it will be enough to use his down special (B and down), able to reduce the damage suffered by 50% and load the bar relating to the summoning of Arsene, which uOnce on the field he will fight for 30 seconds alongside us. The duration of the summoning will be reduced by a few seconds for each hit we take during the boost period. The summoning of the Persona goes to enhance all the moves that Joker can access, completely modifying only one: the recovery.
Up B allows the Joker to throw a grappling hook over his head that can tie into the edge of a platform, allowing us to return to the field or even can be used on the enemy to lure him towards us. In the company of Arsene the grappling hook is completely replaced by a blow of wings with some invincibility frames on activation capable of making very large recoveries.
With side B we will launch a magical projectile that will inflict damage to the enemy over time in both the normal and enhanced versions, modifying the speed of the projectile and the effectiveness of the attack. By pressing neutral B Joker will grab his gun, and field bullets that can cover three-quarters of most stages. The damage of the projectiles will increase depending on the proximity of the target, as well as the ability of the projectiles to repel the enemy. Nothing to do with Wolf's exceptional projectiles, anyway.
The peculiarity of the gun fire is embodied by the opportunity between one shot and another to make free dodges, excellent for moving out of the stage while maintaining the ability to jump, offering a very valid movement tool, but that only the most savvy players will be able to use effectively. you can even access jump firing moves, capable of hitting the area below or at 360 degrees.
Equally effective are the powerful attacks (the tilts), which in side and up feature hits with multi-hits capable of killing at relatively low percentages during Arsene's summoning windows, while the powerful low blow will cause Joker to perform a slide very similar to Cloud's.
The Joker's speed is very good and his moves are chained in a rather natural way, perhaps using the grip and the consequent down throw as a combo starter, to continue with the preferred aerial attack. However, Arsene's effectiveness in combat is so devastating that it casts a shadow on the Joker basic kit, placing a great emphasis on the need to make the most of the down special to summon the Persona as soon as possible and exploit its power.. Using Joker is fun and the mechanics of Arsene's evocation truly unique, we are curious to see it used in some relevant tournament so that we can discover the actual potential of the character.
► Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game developed by Bandai Namco and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 07/12/2018
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a game to own at all costs: we decided to evaluate it with a 94%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Review
