If at the time the inclusion of Sephiroth or Steve from Minecraft already meant two real bombings, the last member of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate broke all expectations. Sora, the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts, made his appearance in the Nintendo title for cComplete Fighter Pass 2.
Now, thanks to his column in Famitsu magazine (via PushDustIn), Masahiro Sakurai, head of Super Smash Bros., has recounted how the arrival of the keyblade holder was conceived. The developer explains that Sora’s reception was amazingAs in a survey conducted years ago, he ran as the community’s preferred fighter to join the work.
Sakurai and her team were aware of the difficulties involved in taking Sora to a Super Smash Bros. game, so they considered the task almost impossible. However, chance would have it during a Sakurai awards gala he met a Disney representative, which confirmed that they would be delighted for his part to offer Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
While there were still questions about how top managers would respond to this, negotiations began. They were carried out in a delicate balance between Square Enix, Nintendo and Disney, finally coming to fruition to introduce Sora in Fighter Pass 2. Even though the original plan was to include five fighters in this second DLC, just like in Fighter Pass 1, it was decided to make room for Sora.
Sakurai continues detailing that Square Enix and Disney were very aware of Sora’s treatment in the game, so it was necessary overcome different obstacles and several guidelines to follow. “The first model of Sora that the Smash team sent to Disney and Square Enix was of very good quality and there were not many problems … just kidding. It was quite difficult,” says the manager.
All in all, all the requirements were successfully met and we now have Sora available to play with. For his part, Sakurai has revealed that the Fighter Pass have meant the same working time as in a complete set. He believes he will be a part of few other projects in his career, a prospect he is concerned about.