Alright, after
Ganondorf,
Andy, and
Isaac, I gotta get one last one out of my system.
Takamaru
I'm approaching Takamaru like Sakurai did Pit. I thought his take on Kid Icarus was genius, treating Pit like a character in a series that already had decades of entries with all the refinement and advancement that come with a long-standing classic franchise. Similarly, I've based Takamaru on
my ideas for a Murasame reboot, but you won't need the details of that to appreciate Takamaru's unique gameplay style.
Stances
Takamaru's fighting style revolves around stances, which are loosely based on real Japanese sword-fighting stances. (I'm not an expert in these, so please excuse any mistreatment of the source material!) Every one of Takamaru's specials causes him to enter a different stance. These affect his movement and change his normals, sometimes drastically. Stances can have different transition times (i.e. how long it takes to enter the stance), and some stance-specific normals will transition into others stances.
Does this mean Takamaru has no "regular" specials?
Yes! Takamaru can only attack through his normals. He is all about entering the correct stances based on the context to execute the appropriate normals, some of which are as dynamic mechanically as a regular special. Since detailing a bunch of normals explicitly is obviously not practical, I'll only explain at a high level what each stance entails along with examples of attacks.
Default Stance: Chūdan-no-kamae
(Stance on the right.)
This is the "normal" stance, which can usually be re-entered from any other stance by pressing the current stance's respective input. Allows Takamaru to execute basic normals like you would expect from most other fighters. This is the most flexible stance, and also the only stance from which Takamaru can use a smash attack.
Neutral Special: Ko Gasumi
Allows the player to stand their ground or blend into other stances. A neutral-normal might be a rapid series of stabbing cuts, while a side normal could be a long-range super-stab that moves Takamaru forward in the thrust. Up-normal sweeps a target in front of Takamaru up in the air at a diagonal angle, which Takamaru can follow to spike at the apex of the arc. (Note that moves like the last one can double as a form of recovery.)
Down Special: Iai
Takamaru sheathes his sword, taking a while to enter the stance. While in the stance, he cannot jump and his movement is limited. However, his next attack will be devastating and often smoothly bleed into other stances for followup attacks. Useful for opening attacks.
Examples of attacks include its up-normal, which sends him into the air immediately above him before performing an AOE of slashes around him, transitioning into Hassō-no-kamae. Side-normal teleports Takamaru far in the tilt direction, cutting anything in its path and sending enemies flying toward Takamaru in his Ko Gasumi stance.
Side Special: Jōdan-no-kamae
Takamaru starts rushing forward, moving much faster than he normally can. He must always run forward while in this stance.
Neutral-normals will slash the space in front of him, pushing the enemy back (and in position for another neutral-normal). Up-normal will send Takamaru in a diagonal upward slash. Back-normal will cause Takamaru to stop and pivot, attacking with great force behind him before shifting to Hassō-no-kamae.
Up Special: Hassō-no-kamae
An offensive AOE stance that allows Takamaru to make wide, sweeping slashes (and even fire projectiles by cutting the air in front of him!).
Neutral-normals give Takamaru wide, arcing slashes with great range. Side-normals fire light air cuts, while up-normal sends similar projectiles at an upward angle. Down-normal executes a wide, slow, but highly damaging ground sweep before entering Iai stance.
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I know that's all probably hard to envision and is not terribly descriptive, but I think it communicates how Takamaru could be implemented as a truly unique fighter. He doesn't need to be just another swordsman with a counter, a charged slash, an upward cut/recovery, etc.
Glad I got those out of my system! Here's to the next reveal!
