#game article

Personal preferences play a significant role in determining what each player considers the best skin. That being said, certain skins stand out for their unique designs and visual appeal, so take these suggestions with a grain of salt for your personal preference. 

I've delved into the realm of skins, ranking 15 stunning options. Keep in mind, that these skins don't offer any buffs, so my rankings are purely subjective, varying based on personal preference. From vibrant patterns to sleek designs, discover the skins that resonate most with your style in the wild landscapes of Rust.

Discover the key to maximizing your Rust gaming experience with our guide on optimizing graphic settings and overcoming the memory-intensive nature of the game.

Another article I wrote recently: Different weapons cater to distinct playstyles and scenarios, making it essential to select the appropriate ones based on your objectives and the challenges you face.Check out the list below to learn about all of these factors. 

Let’s take a brief detour from films and narrative analysis and talk about games, or rather a specific game. Or, I suppose, let’s do both at the same time, because the game I’m more excited about than any other this year is the latest in my favourite party game meets intense fighter series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

         I apologise to those of you who have stumbled across this and have no idea what I’m talking about, because I’m pretty sure the next few thousand words or so will be impenetrable gibberish. But, if you’re riding the hype train along with me and share my passionate excitement for this series, or you’re still curious and want to know more, then read on.

         Super Smash Bros. is an ongoing series from Nintendo in which you get to play as some of their most popular characters from their numerous iconic franchises as you duke it out with a group of other players in intense, frantic battles. For a series with a relatively simple premise, it’s gained a deep level of appreciation from fans of all backgrounds, as it draws players from a number of different fanbases of the different games it represents, branching out to even include characters from third party companies like Sonic, Pac-Man, Mega Man, and so on. Whether you’re a player who enjoys bringing the game out at casual get-togethers with friends and family, or you’re a competitive player who obsesses over knowing the game inside and out, there’s something universally exciting about seeing a game that celebrates so many franchises and their characters, settings, and music.

         And now there’s a new game coming out, which means people are losing their minds over speculation concerning which new characters we might get to play as, and I am certainly no different. We’ve had a number of new characters already announced including Ridley and King K.Rool, fan favourite villains who players have been clamouring for since the days of Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2001. Their inclusion makes it feel like all bets are off; in the past, expectations and hopes were tempered by thoughts like ‘ah, that character would never make it in’, but now, if sodding Cloud from Final Fantasy VII can make it, then anyone can.

         So, because everyone’s been making their prediction/wish lists and I’ve spent far more time obsessing over this game than I care to admit, I figured I’d have a little fun and throw together a list of my own character predictions. If you’ve been checking out other people’s theories and videos on the subject, then I’m sure many of these picks will sound familiar, and, on the one hand, I do worry that this post will look like a shallow attempt to regurgitate the same information that other people have gone over for the sake of jumping onto the bandwagon. But truthfully, I just wanted to make this list for the fun of getting it out there and seeing how many I end up getting right once we know the game’s final roster of characters. The way I see it, I’d be writing this list for myself anyway, so I might as well share it with anyone who’s interested.

         This list is meant to represent likely candidates rather than necessarily my all-time dream picks. This is who I expect will make it in, not who I hope beyond hope to see in this game (otherwise the list would just say ‘Banjo-Kazooie’ ten times). Even so, there are one or two characters on the list which I will admit have less of a chance, and most likely got as far as they did in my considerations due to preferential bias. Nevertheless, there are enough points in their favour that I stand by dedicating a spot to them. And at the end of the day, this is my own damn list on the dumb fighting game about cartoon characters, so try not to worry about it.

*So how many more new characters do you think there’ll be?*

         This is the question a lot of people who’ve been closely following news on the game have been wondering. Masahiro Sakurai, the series director whose dry offbeat sense of humour and difficult to predict eccentricity has made him just as beloved to Smash fans as some of the Nintendo mascots featured in his games, has gone on record to say that, since Ultimate’s remit was to bring every single character in the series’ history back for this ‘ultimate’ instalment, we shouldn’t expect too many newcomers. Considering the insane amount of content already revealed for this game, many have said that’s a fair deal, with a common sentiment being that the game could ship with just what we’ve heard about it thus far, and we’d still be over the moon with what it’s given us.

         However, Sakurai is a notorious workaholic whose obsessive dedication to his work has led him to exceed our expectations time and time again in Smash’s 20-year history. Since making that statement, Sakurai has shown off 5 new characters, and hinted that there is more to follow. What helps is that Sakurai and his team have found a creative solution which enables them to include an impressive number of new characters without cutting too much into development time in the form of ‘Echo Fighters’. Echo Fighters, or ‘Echoes’, is a term coined by Sakurai to describe characters who are technically new to the series, but whose set of moves are closely based on a pre-existing fighter. This means we get the option of playing a slight variation on a classic fighter who, through a different surface appearance and a few of their own unique animations, feels like their own distinct character.

         So, what this boils down to is that, while Sakurai may mean it when he says we’re getting fewer brand new movesets than we have in past instalments, we are nevertheless getting a good number of new representatives from different series through this time and money-saving measure. While I’m sure there are some critics of this approach out there, the overwhelming consensus on this is that it’s a win-win situation which takes some of the weight off the developers while simultaneously providing the players with more characters who may not have necessarily made it in otherwise.

         To answer this section’s original question, I’m inclined to think that, on top of the 4 ‘newcomers’ (characters with brand new movesets) we’ve seen so far, we’ll get 2 or 4 more, as trends suggest it will be an even number. As for echoes, who we’ve been receiving at a surprising rate, I think we’ll see 4 or 6 more on top of the 4 we’ve already seen. This leadup to the list has taken long enough, and this thing is going to be monstrously big already, so let’s not waste any more time on the boring stuff and get straight to the list. I’m setting it in stone:

These are my final predictions for the rest of the characters we’re going to see in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Newcomers

#1: Decidueye

Artwork by R-nowong. 

Pokémon is Nintendo’s biggest franchise after Mario, so it gets reps. The latest generation of Pokémon, Sun & Moon, did well with people and sold decently, and Decidueye, the final evolved form of the grass starter Rowlet, is arguably the most popular of the three Sun & Moon starters, much like Greninja was in the previous generation, who secured a spot in Super Smash Bros. 4. Decidueye also has the added bonus of embodying an elemental type that hasn’t been represented by a solo Pokémon fighter in Smash before – grass. On top of that, he’s got some ghost-type moves and a signature arrow attack in his toolkit which he can use, and with the added appeal of being a mysterious hooded owl warrior who can fly about, his potential moveset writes itself. He was even in Pokémon’s standalone fighting game Pokken, so yeah; he’s probably the safest bet on this entire list. On the other hand, that flame cat wrestling heel starter Incineroar from the same generation has also slowly risen in popularity, so I could see him also being a possibility. But my money’s on the spooky Robin Hood-in-feathers, Decidueye.

#2: Geno

Artwork by jordanewing.

You’re either completely oblivious to whoever the hell this character is or you’re rolling your eyes and saying you’re sick to death of hearing about Geno – there is no middle ground.

         A wooden toy puppet given life by a … star spirit, I think? I’m not sure, I’m only halfway through my playthrough of the game right now. Anyway, Geno is a one-time character from a SNES Mario RPG game called, er, Super Mario RPG. The game was a collaboration between Nintendo and Square, and represents the spiritual beginnings of other Mario RPG series such as Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games on handheld systems. Of the characters unique to Super Mario RPG, Geno stands out; he’s mystical and dedicated to his mission to reform the Star Road in order to make it so that people’s wishes can once again come true, meaning the point where he joins the party also introduces the player to the game’s central quest. With his innocent wooden doll appearance and contrastingly enigmatic cape, profile, and gun-arm weapon, he seems like the kind of character who’d result from a fairy-tale colliding with a Final Fantasy plot, making him a suitable representative for a game made through the collaborative efforts of Nintendo and Square.

         Speaking bluntly, Geno has little-to-no relevance in this day and age, having only appeared once as one of several main playable characters in a game that released over 20 years ago. Even so, he’s a character with such appeal that he’s not only been a fan favourite request for Smash since the days of Melee, but he’s also someone Sakurai himself has wanted to include for a long time now. When people talk about Geno’s game, it’s always with a loving, nostalgic fondness, and, having made my way through a decent portion of the game, I can see why. Also, appearing only once in a classic game that came out decades ago has never stopped the Ice Climbers from being a series staple for Smash, so I don’t think Geno’s solitary appearance necessarily hinders his chances. Since Sakurai seems to be using Ultimate to grant some longstanding fan requests and finally include things he’s been meaning to do for years, I’d say the odds have never been in Geno’s favour more than they are right now.

 #3: Bandana Waddle Dee

Artwork by rongs1234. 

Weird name, I know. Still, Waddle Dee is the most enduring and recognisable enemy type in the Kirby series, and there’s been one Waddle Dee in particular who’s tagged along in Kirby’s adventures for several decades now, and he’s known as ‘Bandana Waddle Dee’. Donning a bandanna and wielding a spear as his weapon, he’s pretty much a perfect melting pot between Kirby’s adorable friendliness, Meta-Knight’s cool proficiency with an actual weapon, and King Dedede, being his underling / dogsbody who’s probably more competent and reliable than he is.

         There’s not a lot of complicated reasoning as to why Bandana Waddle Dee is both likely and deserving to make it in. The Kirby franchise is a big part of Nintendo, and of the more prominent in-house series in Smash, it stands out as one that could do with a little more representation. Being stuck at 3 characters seems like a loose end in Smash, as you only need one more inclusion to have enough characters for a traditional 4-player battle. Bandana Waddle Dee makes the most sense for this series as he’s just a delightful recurring character with the potential for a unique moveset, and after Kirby, Dedede, and Meta-Knight, he’s the next most recognisable character in the series. It’s high time Kirby got another character, and Waddle Dee fits the ticket perfectly.

 #4: Paper Mario

If Link gets three versions of himself in this game, then Mario can have a third one too, and darnit, Paper Mario has paid his dues! As far from grace as he’s fallen, he is still an ongoing property, and his first two … eh what the hell, let’s thrown in Super Paper Mario in there too and say his first three games are still wonderful and a part of Nintendo’s history that’s fondly remembered by many and stands out as something that is yet to be acknowledged by Nintendo’s flagship crossover series beyond a simple stage.

         Admittedly, if one Mario RPG character were to get in, then I’d oddly expect the one-time Geno to get in over this character, even if he does have a series of games to his name. But I think Paper Mario as a series has enough unique qualities to its aesthetic and characteristic mechanics to distinguish itself from the rest of the Mario franchise, including the other Mario RPG games. As such, I think bringing both of them in would represent different properties well enough. If I’m being honest with myself, of the four proposed newcomers, Paper Mario’s the least likely to make it. Geno’s got the edge on him, especially if space is a premium for new characters. But then again, they have brought back the Paper Mario stage for Ultimate, so here’s hoping that Mr. Game & Watch has a new two-dimensional best friend joining him in the next Smash.

Echoes

#5: Isabelle

With Animal Crossing being unquestionably one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises today, eclipsing veteran series like Starfox, Metroid, and F-Zero, it’s frankly staggering that Ultimate, with a roster that currently sits at 70+ characters, only has one representative from this flagship franchise. I mean, I get it; Animal Crossing is a relaxing, peaceful game about life in a quiet village where the biggest conflicts are ensuring you make your appointment to see your dog neighbour tomorrow afternoon like you promised and paying off your debt to the local ruthless raccoon landowner. It’s difficult to envision any of the characters from this series engaging in battle with Solid Snake or an anime protagonist with a six-foot broadsword. But Smash is a ridiculous series that embraces cartoonish logic, so the incongruency of these series is a big part of the fun. And the fact that Villager is in shows that there’s precedent for a fun as hell character with a slice-of-life moveset that kicks ass.

         Isabelle would be a terrific choice for a second Animal Crossing representative, and if character spaces are tight enough that she can’t make it into the fully-fledged newcomer list, then she could still easily incorporate Villager’s moves. There are a ton of mainstay Animal Crossing characters who would also be very fun to play as like K.K. Slider, Tortimer, and Tom Nook, but since New Leaf came out in 2013, Isabelle has been a prominent face for the series. She’s been heavily featured in Animal Crossing’s various off-shoots since then, as well as in promotional material and crossovers like the excellent Mario Kart 8 dlc. Plus, with Smash’s roster being so heavily taken up with male characters, we could really do with more female characters being featured. Isabelle is not only one of my most hopeful newcomers, she’s also one of the most likely to make it.

And to that one person who I know is reading: Jeremiah is lovely, but I’m sad to say I just don’t see him making it in … just yet.

 #6: Black Shadow

Wolf’s back, DK and Diddy have K.Rool, Samus has two villains from her series to contend with now; bad guys are currently all the rage in Smash, and while I’ll admit to being completely inexperienced with F-Zero, Black Shadow seems like a suitable pick for a much-needed rival to Smash’s resident Captain Falcon. As a dead series that still receives a ton of love from fans yet only has one representative in Smash at the moment, F-Zero could do with a little push into the spotlight. Black Shadow’s design isn’t much to write home about by itself, but when paired against Captain Falcon, I think there’s some potential. His ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ look and pompous smirk could be a fun personality to play with, and I’m positive that Ultimate’s stellar team of animators could make him stand out. With Ganondorf becoming more and more his own thing, Black Shadow could honestly just take Ganondorf’s moveset from Melee with one or two changes, and he’d be a terrific Echo Fighter of Falcon that’s good to go.

 #7: A Metal Gear Solid representative, most likely Raiden

I adore the Metal Gear series. Its outlandishly over-the-top military action and exaggerated characters, its cool-as-hell protagonists, and its legendary music make it a special series in games. Here’s the thing though: I’ve never played them. Well, I’ve played and completed the first Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2. Anything from Metal Gear Solid onwards, however, I’ve yet to play through. I was first introduced to the series when Snake was announced for Brawl, and since then, I’ve listened to many pieces of music from the series, enjoyed hearing passionate fans talk about the games, and learned and heard things about the series which make me positive that I’m going to love these games when I finally take the time to sit down and play them, ludicrous plot and all.

         So, since Konami, the company who owns the rights to the series, have not only okayed Snake coming back to this upcoming game, but also allowed Sakurai to have both a newcomer and an echo from their Castlevania series, I reckon Snake’s chances of gaining an echo as a partner have gone up. The most likely candidate is Raiden, the protagonist from Metal Gear Solid 2 who has an important role in the franchise, but as I’ve yet to play a good portion of this series, I honestly can’t say for sure who would be the best echo. Maybe someone he contends with, to fit the theme of villains and rivals I mentioned earlier, like Liquid? Snake’s former mentor turned villain Big Boss would be cool too, especially if it’s him when he’s an old soldier, as we could do with some badass old characters in the game. My favourite pick, however, is Meryl. Her design is cool as hell, she seems to be a significant character in the series, and as I mentioned earlier, we need to even out the gender imbalance in this roster. At the end of the day, however, I would be happy to see any of these guys make it in.

 #8 Tails…or Shadow, if we must

I know that the most likely second Sonic representative via echo fighter at the moment is Shadow. His assist trophy is nowhere to be seen, he fits Sonic’s model and moveset, and he’d fit the bill of the current trend of rivals / villains making the cut. But… really? Do we really want to go with the edgy teen version of Sonic that once starred in a dreadful game that took itself too seriously and filled a cartoon universe about fast-moving animals with realistic guns? …alright, to be fair, when that came out I unironically loved it, played the hell out of it, and I still have a soft spot for it, so I wouldn’t even be unhappy to see Shadow make it in as a true guilty pleasure of a character.

         But come on, as much as I’m not the biggest fan of Sonic games from any era, I think that the character deserves to have his version of Luigi in, and that’s Tails. He’s been there since practically the beginning, has a design that’s always been appealing and avoided becoming dated (or as good as this franchise can manage), and despite nominally playing different to Sonic with his flying propeller tails, he moves very similarly to Sonic. Just make him a little slower on the ground, have him control better in the air, and shift some of his aerial attacks around, and you’d have a decent echo. Say what you will about the Sonic series, but it is iconic to the videogame medium, and Tails is a big part of the picture whenever you consider Sonic as a franchise.

But whatever, put grungy Sonic with guns in instead if you want, that should be good for a laugh.

 #9: Ken/Akuma

This one is difficult to call. Ryu’s my favourite fighting game character of all time, and his inclusion in the previous Smash Bros. as DLC was a significant moment that I adored seeing come to pass. In his own series, he’s had no shortage of characters based off of him with similar movesets, so looking through the range of options for echo fighters from his series has yielded two likely options. Ken, as a pallet swap version of Ryu with more fire effects added to his moves with slightly different properties, is pretty much the perfect template for an Echo Fighter. He’s got a sweet musical theme that I believe was already in the previous Smash, and he’d be a ton of fun to play as.

         Still, there’s one other person who has a chance of snagging the Rye Echo Fighter slot away from him: Akuma. A fan favourite and Ryu’s dark opposite with an ultimate move that translates to “Wrath of the Raging Demon”, there’s no denying that Akuma would be an impressive villain to include to Ultimate’s expanding catalogue of dark rivals. I’d be ecstatic with any new representation from Street Fighter, so calling this one is tough. I’ll go with Ken, as he just embodies the concept of an echo fighter perfectly. But, if I’m wrong and we get Akuma, that would be cool too. Or Sakura, she’d be awesome as well. Just as long as it’s anyone other than Dan Hibiki.

 #10: Impa

Legend of Zelda is one of my all-time favourite game series, providing me with numerous all-time classics that have been some of the most formative games of my life. But despite its flagship status as a Nintendo franchise, and despite having 6 characters in Smash already, it’s in an awkward position when it comes to who else you could put into the game. The series has no shortage of striking, memorable, and well-loved characters, but the format of the series means that each game is more or less a fresh start, introducing us to a new version of Hyrule with a fresh batch of inhabitants and different iterations of a handful of enduring characters, namely Link, Zelda, and Ganon/Ganondorf. What this means is that, while you can have different versions of Link and Zelda from different games in Smash, there’s not a lot of options for character picks who have a lasting presence in the series beyond the one game they’re featured in. Of course, this sort of reasoning doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything, and Sakurai could have just said screw it and thrown in a fan favourite like Skull Kid, but it’s difficult to say if there’s much of a chance of that happening.

         What I can say is that there is one recurring character in Legend of Zelda who has yet to be included in Smash: Impa. She’s appeared in many different forms throughout the series, and while I would love to see her old nurse / attendant to Princess Zelda appearance be the inspiration for a creative moveset, I think it’s more likely we’ll see one of her more warrior like iterations using most of Sheik’s moves with the occasional change here or there. She could resemble her Skyward Sword appearance, or her impressive design from Hyrule Warriors, but either way, I think she would make a great addition to the series. She’s more representation for not only Legend of Zelda, but for formidable older women as well, who I think could do with a lot more prominence in all areas of fiction, let alone Smash.

         And that was my lengthy list! We’ll be back to film reviews soon, but if you’ve made it this far, thank you for indulging me and letting me try this out. If you’ve been absorbing as much fan speculation content on this upcoming game as I have, I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of what I’ve talked about today discussed in other places, but I nevertheless felt a need to write all of this down and put it out there. So, for those of you who have no idea what I’ve spent thousands of words going on about but have nevertheless read to the end, thank you so much! It’s always a lot of fun to try something new and different. In fact, if I was to narrow down what I love about Super Smash Bros. represents as a series, it would be how much it celebrates and delights in the endless possibilities of creativity. There’s so much to enjoy out there, and it’s all so different; it can be overwhelming at times, especially when you feel the impossible need to try and keep up with media, but it can also be immensely uplifting and inspiring to see just how many different experiences there are out there. I’ll keep trying to seek out those new experiences in all aspects of my life, because there’s so much art and content out there to inspire you, whatever your field of interest might be.

Of course, once December 7th rolls around, it’s quite likely I’ll turn around on that and play nothing but Smash. Ah well, we can but try.

So I played a fantastic little game called To the Moon recently and I’m not being dramatic when I say it impacted me a great deal. I knew I was in for a ride on the feels train, but I certainly didn’t expect to connect to the story so personally.