Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Mr. Sakurai Presents Pyra / Mythra: Information and Reactions

Super Smash Bros. fans knew they were getting something of a bonus when Nintendo revealed Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as a “two in one” fighter. Two characters demand a lot of focus, and that’s what we got in this presentation. But we also got to take time to see how things looked under the hood, along with some very open marketing strategies.

Fighters #79 and 80: Pyra / Mythra

Release date: out today!
Like the Pokémon Trainer, Pyra and Mythra switch between each other with their down special: Swap to Mythra / Swap to Pyra. However, unlike the Trainer, Pyra and Mythra largely share the same moveset. Instead of in new moves, their primary differences come in their stats, most notably strength and speed
Pyra is immensely powerful – she can K.O. an opponent at as little as 20% damage in some circumstances – and has better range, but also slow, with many of her attacks leaving her open. Mythra is much faster and with a better air game, but her attacks are significantly weaker
For instance, both have similar tilts, but the speed they can execute them and the power they have is very different. Similarly, Mythra’s grab game is better, but Pyra’s throws are stronger. Pyra’s down aerial has a meteor effect and Mythra’s doesn’t
Mythra also tends to have many more multi-hit attacks, giving her a better combo game
Mythra’s dodge is also a unique power: Foresight. It’s somewhat similar to Bayonetta’s Bat Within, reducing damage and slowing opponents slightly as she dodges perfectly
You can choose which you’d like to use from the start in the character selection screen
Special moves (Pyra):
- Neutral: Flame Nova, a spinning attack that can be charged – but not held – to have incredible K.O. power
- Side: Blazing End. Pyra throws her sword, with the ability to control it somewhat. She can move independently to control more space, though she can’t attack
- Up: Prominence Revolt, an almost purely horizontal recovery that sends her up then down. To compensate for its limited recovery, it’s very powerful
- Final Smash: Burning Sword: deals little damage and significant knockback
Special moves (Mythra):
- Neutral: Lightning Buster, another charge move. It only hits in front, but charging increases its range and gives her moments of intangibility
- Side: Photon Edge, a series of teleports and slashes equivalent to Sephiroth’s Octoslash – and with a greater range – but you can only use it in one direction, and a projectile or shielded opponent will leave you open
- Up: Ray of Punishment; Mythra jumps up and fires a bolt of light. If you charge it or mash the button, it changes to the more powerful Chroma Dust, which fires more bolts
- Final Smash: Sacred Arrow. Deals little knockback and significant damage
Uniquely, but Kirby’s version of Flame Nova and Lightning Buster are slightly stronger than Pyra’s and Mythra’s versions, as “compensation” for him having less choice in which power to get
Costumes include references to Pneuma, Nia, and inverted versions of their default colors
Rex has multiple appearances in battle. He summons Pyra and Mythra on screen and appears in their up taunts, Final Smash, and two of their separate victory screens
Sakurai suggests a basic strategy of using Mythra to rack up damage, than having Pyra knock out foes, but he’s interested in seeing players develop alternate strategies
Sakurai says he personally prefers Pyra “for combat ability”
During development, the team considered making the Xenoblade character a duo of Rex and Pyra, but this was apparently too logistically difficult for the game to handle
Pyra’s redesign was made to make her acceptable for the game without changing the age rating. Mythra, however, uniquely uses a “Massive Melee” outfit initially from the base game of Ultimate that edited her spirit, which was later brought into Xenoblade 2. On an unrelated note, both characters apparently have the most complex character designs in the roster

Stage: Cloud Sea of Alrest

The stage itself is Rex’s “Gramps,” the Titan Azurda. He’ll change his neck and head to look around, which changes how (or even if) he’ll act as a platform. You can see what he’ll do depending on his neck movements or the windmill on his back spinning
The Battlefield and Omega platforms were made out of a concern for Azurda’s well being, and are instead just floating platforms
The various Titans of the game show up in the background: Argentum, Gormott, Uraya, Mor Ardain, Tantal, and Indol
The background’s colors change to reflect which Titan is in the background
On Gramps, certain pairs of Driver and Blade show up: Nia and Dromarch, Tora and Poppi ɑ, Mòrag and Brighid, and Zeke and Pandoria

Music (remixes bolded): 16 tracks altogether

“Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Medley”
“Argentum”
“A Ship in a Stormy Sea”
“Exploration”
“Crossing Swords”
“Incoming!”
“Gormott”
“Tiger! Tiger!”
“Death Match with Torna”
“Counterattack”
“You Will Recall Our Names”
“Driver Vs”
“Mor Ardain – Roaming the Wastes”
“Bringer of Chaos! Ultimate”
“Praetor Amalthus – The Acting God -”
“Battle!!/Torna”
The song frequency for Gaur Plain will apparently be redone with the update

Spirits

All previous Xenoblade Chronicles 2 spirits are included here, and they make up the majority of Pyra and Mythra’s Spirit Board. Poppi ɑ now has a proper spirit battle
Lora
Amalthus
Jin
Malos
Pneuma, who is censored in the video to prevent spoilers (despite Sakurai historically being cavalier about spoilers). The artwork used is new, as there was no preexisting artwork of Pneuma. She and Malos are both Legend-class, the first time a Fighter Pack has included two Legend fights
Rex’s spirit now has a Legend-class “Master Driver” upgrade, also censored

Mii Costumes

Monster Hunter (Swordfighter) (Monster Hunter, returning from Smash For)
Rathalos Equipment (Swordfighter) (Monster Hunter, returning from Smash For)
Felyne (Hat) (Monster Hunter)
Arthur (Swordfighter) (Ghosts n’ Goblins)
The characters are all from Capcom specifically as cross-promotion for Monster Hunter Rise (and presumably Ghost ‘n Goblins Resurrection)

Miscellaneous

Sakurai once again presented inside his house, due to Japan having declared another state of emergency over COVID-19 recently
As with Byleth, Sakurai decided to show Pyra and Mythra off by fighting as them alone in Squad Strike – against Dark Pit, Link, and Zero Suit Samus, their main opponents in their trailer
The discussion about Rex’s consideration also revealed that the Ice Climbers were apparently difficult to add into Ultimate to adequately enter eight player battles, and their much less graphically intensive design was a compromise for that
This was the only animated trailer that wasn’t written by Sakurai; it was directly from the staff of Monolithsoft. He did, however, come up with the script for the gameplay portions
Sakurai showed off a high price model of Pyra and Mythra. He frequently buys action figures of fighters he creates as a way of developing them, and his (currently inaccessible due to the emergency) office has a drawer full of them

Video:

Wolfman’s Soapbox:

Sakurai knows my pain.

One thing I found generally refreshing about this presentation was how honest, and also direct, Sakurai was. They couldn’t go with the seemingly “obvious” choice of fighter for this reason. They had to redesign an absurdly terribly and objectifying outfit for this reason. The Mii Costumes are all from one company for this reason. It was nice to have that all on the table, even if some of it we already knew or could have easily assumed or ascertained. Sakurai’s in general pretty comfortable being open about things, but it’s always good having those examples, especially in a Nintendo certified video presentation rather than a magazine column we translate into English.

Because I was, and am, really interested in the mechanics behind Pyra and Mythra. And I liked, and look forward to more of, Sakurai’s discussions about them. Why they were chosen instead of their (mechanically and personally less interesting) protagonist? Did they start with Pyra first and come to Mythra later, or were they always planned as a team? I had thought about the possibilities of Pyra as a fighter for some time, but the idea that the team would take the time to make effectively a second fighter just never seemed plausible enough for me to consider. It made Mythra’s appearance in the trailer a welcome shock. I don’t really expect to keep being shocked in the way she and Sephiroth caught me off guard (that’s a sword fighting joke; they fight with swords), or for more fighters to be as complicated as Steve and Min Min were, but it’s good that we’re ~~four~~ five characters out of ~~six~~ seven and all five feel at least somewhat to wildly unique. I feel confident that I’ll enjoy at least some surprises with the final two newcomers.

Do wish we had gotten another indie Mii Costume out of this, though. Feels like games like Hades and Hollow Knight “should” be at this giant Nintendo Switch party. But whatever; we’ve got sixteen Xenoblade 2 songs! You can play “Gormott” in it now! The great sin is redeemed!