Undoubtedly, many fans may have groaned at the thought of another “anime swordsman” coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but regardless, Sephiroth is the next character coming to the Nintendo brawler. As the third character in Fighter Pass 2, Sephiroth is the first villain to be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate since the base game launched. Expectations for the next character were set for plenty of different characters, but Sephiroth was certainly a surprise to some degree. For the next Final Fantasy representative to not only come from the same game, but also be the main villain, was definitely unexpected.
Gameplay was slim, but there’s already been a couple hints at what Sephiroth’s playstyle may look like. Many of the conceptual mechanics implemented on Cloud’s character seem to have carried on to Sephiroth’s design in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It’s hard to tell what Sephiroth’s weight and speed look like, as the trailer didn’t showcase much movement, but viewers did get a clear picture of what his potential move set and features look like. Aside from the new Lifestream-themed stage, the Game Awards reveal gave enough of a glimpse into Sephiroth’s move set that to leave an interesting first impression for the iconic villain.
Sephiroth in Smash Ultimate seems to be a slow-but-strong sword character, similar in form to Ike. He utilizes multiple wide-sweeping sword attacks to keep enemies at bay, but also seems to have one or two projectiles to help extend his range and defensive posture further.
Specifically his forward tilt, forward smash, and up smash attacks are all highly disjointed horizontal sweeps with his sword that cover in front of and above him. His forward air attack and/or side special seems to have similar properties to Corrin’s side-special attack, which pins the sword into any walls and can be used to launch Sephiroth upwards as well. His up-air attack appears to have plenty of vertical range, without much horizontal coverage. Sephiroth’s back-air was not shown, but his down-air seems to mimic a certain pivotal action he performs in Final Fantasy 7. Many of his normal/standard attacks were also not shown in his reveal.
Much like every other sword character in the game, Sephiroth seems to have a down-special counter attack as well. His side-special and/or neutral-special attack seems a little similar to Joker’s Eiha, except it’s more visually closer to the Final Fantasy 7/Kingdom Hearts version of Sephiroth’s Shadow Flare attack. Side-special/neutral-special also seems to have a unique delay period before exploding, inflicting solid knockback as well as what appears to be the curse effect. Sephiroth’s (grounded) up-special seems to resemble his own version of Mii Swordfighter’s multi-hit up-special, in which the angle/direction can be changed on the fly.
However, many of Sephiroth’s moves do seem to alter or power up as a result of a form change, similar to Cloud’s Limit and Joker’s Arsene. His supposed “One-Winged Angel” form change seemingly augments or significantly changes all of his special attacks. From what appears to be his down-special or side-special, that move transforms into an extremely powerful thrust attack. His up-special, as mentioned earlier, seems to resemble his iconic high-speed sword attack from Kingdom Hearts 2 that would shred through the player’s health. His projectile becomes a slower but vastly more powerful explosive attack, similar to Hero’s Kaboom spell.
In general, Sephiroth’s conceptual design does seem to mimic many of the ideas implemented in Cloud’s character design. However, some aspects from newer Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC characters seem to have influenced his design, like Joker. His form change significantly alters many of his special attacks seen in the trailer, though it’s unclear if the form change augments any normal abilities. Cloud’s limit in Ultimate boosts his movement speed and gravity significantly, but the trailer doesn’t really indicate that’s the case for Sephiroth. Regardless, at first glance, Sephiroth appears to be a heavier character who boasts incredible strength and range capability.
Depending on his frame data, Sephiroth could be an extremely strong sword character. His Masamune boasts similar (if not more) range to Byleth’s side-smash attack, but also on nearly all of his tilts and smash attacks. Pair that with his projectile attack and his range capability could be largely unrivaled, save for Min Min. Sephiroth doesn’t necessarily need to be fast, but assuming he’s not as slow as molasses, he could be sizable threat for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate meta. He doesn’t seem unreasonably overpowered, at least not yet. Assuming speed would be his character archetype’s downfall, Sephiroth may suffer against rushdown characters/playstyles.
Once Sakurai gives his full moveset presentation on December 17, it will be much more clear where his weaknesses lie, but for right now he seems like a solid character choice. Nothing in his reveal suggests he has anything incredibly overpowered, at least not at first sight. Then again, many players felt the same way when Joker gameplay was first shown, but of course, Joker ended up dominating the competitive meta upon release. Again, Sephiroth’s competitive viability likely won’t be that extreme simply because of the nature of his character type, but perhaps the “One-Winged Angel” has an ace up his sleeve.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.
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