Fans have been begging for Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for quite some time now, with Sakurai’s reveal of the character causing many fans to genuinely lose their minds in excitement. That is still, of course, secondary to his actual addition to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate last night. Now, fans have had their first taste of Sora, and so far, his reception proves he’s everything fans wanted.
There are some notable aspects of Sora’s character which were removed, such as any Disney representation of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Kingdom Heart stage, but it’s a price most fans have no problem paying. This is especially true given how Sora is fully designed with a bunch of small details, including a reference of sorts to Kingdom Hearts 2 when holding an item.
When holding items like the Beam Sword or Boomerang, Sora’s stance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate changes. He leans his keyblade over his shoulder and holds the Smash Bros. item in front of him. For many fans, this stance is almost immediately recognizable as Kingdom Hearts 2’s Valor Form. Indeed, one of the many beloved features for Kingdom Hearts 2 that was sorely missed in KH3 were his Drive Forms (Valor, Wisdom, Master, Limit, Final, Anti).
These were replaced in Kingdom Hearts 3 with Formchanges, which were dependent on the Keyblade Sora held instead of his particular method of combat. As such, seeing Sora adopt his Valor Form stance when holding items in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an awesome Easter egg and really shows how the developer put a lot of thought and classic design into Sora. Since he has only been out for a matter of hours as of this writing, it stands to reason this won’t be the last small detail fans find about Sora.
It’ll also likely take a few days for Sora’s role in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate meta to really be decided with a general consensus, but at the same time, it doesn’t matter too much. His addition is so exciting that many may not be playing with the meta in mind, instead just checking out Sora’s moveset, playstyle, and so on for the fun of it. Sora’s addition, from the announcement, has been all about the definition of fun.
Sora is the final fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, bringing the game’s DLC run to the end. It’s a bittersweet moment for many fans, but at the same time, Sora is the perfect fighter to bring it to a close. Some characters like Waluigi and Master Chief got snubbed in the end, as many fans wanted to see them too, but it’s hard to be mad when a Keyblade wielder is in Smash.
Super Smash Bos. Ultimate is available on Switch.