Now that we know that the game is officially a thing, but it lacks a roster to look at just yet (likely an E3 reveal), it gives us all an opportunity to have mini-arguments about who should be in the game and why. And there's obvious characters out there that will be in the game, even if it's just a rumor at this point (Cole, Drake and Snake, looking at you three) which we don't even need to talk about. But without knowing just how big the official roster (minus DLC) will be, that gives us quite the bit of space to work with in terms of just who and how many people will make it in. Clearly, I like to make baseless, terrible predictions about things, so you know I'm going to get in on this, and I hope I don't whiff too many of the ideas here, though I admit openly that some of them are going to be more "Wouldn't it be cool" versus "What I actually think".
Who: Crash Bandicoot
Why: He's friggin' Crash Bandicoot. Many a person's first experience with a Playstation console, and, for a time, one of the 'Unofficial' Playstation Mascots.
Now, I know I just said I didn't want to go with the obvious characters but, unfortunately, Crash might not be as obvious (or possible) a choice as you might think. As many of us remember, Crash started out as a game brought to us all by Naughty Dog (who remains as a second-party studio to Sony to this day) and saw four titles released under their guidance (the three main Crash entries and Crash Team Racing) before the series went off to other companies and eventually other platforms such as the original XBox and GameBoy Advance and the DS. Despite that, I imagine that Crash is a character that is still solidly associated with Sony Consoles, which would make him a good choice. To that end, I would like to remind everyone of the commercials that featured Crash in that sort of Playstation Vs. Nintendo spot at the very least, which I'm sure a lot of us remember, if we haven't been pointed in that direction before. As an added bonus, looking over the summary on Wikipedia leads me to think that Activision might have the IP rights who, as we all know, also have another series that could do to see an inclusion in the All-Stars.
As for his fighting style, being that my knowledge of Crash is...er...rather limited and vague, I'm not too sure on just what he'd be like. Punches and kicks as standards, maybe a fruit-throwing move to give him some range, and a headstomp as an aerial attack. Of course, I think that the movesets will be more focused towards what finishers and/or specials they have than anything else. To that end, a callback to Crash Team Racing is a must, where he hops into a rally car and, well, drives around, taking out anyone in his way. Everything else could be something of a wash, so long as he has that friggin' car to drive over some people, especially since I do believe that Crash Team Racing is quite highly regarded by racing and Crash fans alike. Even going so far as to be the better Kart Racing game even when put up against Mario Kart, though I'm not sure just how much actual competition is there.
Who: Cloud Strife
Why: Because Squeenix sells, especially anything with a connection to Final Fantasy VII. On top of that, you'll find a lot of people who got into RPGs out there specifically because of the game, which likely makes it one of Squeenix's most popular commodities.
Taking advantage of the fact that Third-Party characters have been confirmed to be in the game, this is the one I'm throwing down as a 'should' if not necessarily one that I think will be in. There's no real two ways about it: Final Fantasy VII and the Playstation 1 as a result of that was a massive success, and despite there being a PC port of the game (Yeah, you might not have known that. I have a copy....somewhere.) many still think of it as a Playstation-exclusive game. It helps that, from Seven to Twelve, the Final Fantasy series was pretty much Playstation-exclusive and even still leans more towards the Playstation brand while throwing ports here and there at the DS and GBA. Cloud, I think, would be a big boon for the roster of the game, which is my primary reason for the suggestion, as I know his inclusion alone would put the game on a lot of radars. Though, even if not specifically Cloud, I'll be surprised if there's not a presence from Squeenix at all; that being said, my second guess here would be Tidus from Final Fantasy X which was, as we know, the first FF game to come on the PS2, insanely popular (sales-wise), and is the only Final Fantasy game that is getting a PS3/Vita Port.
Cloud's (or Tidus', depending on who they go with) movelist would be, likely, the easiest one to make out of many of the possible entries, considering that fighting is kinda what he does. As well as the whole Dissidia thing, which, while they wouldn't directly take that move-list, there's a good chance you'll see a lot of influence from it. The Special Attacks are similarly easy as they could just be Limit Breaks corresponding to the levels that exist. Omnislash (or the upgraded version) would be the Level 3, whereas Level 1 one could be Braver and Level 2 could be any of the Level 2 or 3 Limit Breaks like Blade Beam or Finishing Touch. I mean, it pretty much writes itself here, so if nothing else, it would be incredibly easy. Also flashy, which helps the game's overall look as well, being that they're really going for the flashy aspect.
Who: Alucard
Why: Because of a little game called Castlevania: Symphony of the Night that saw a whole lot of success on the PSOne.
This one......okay, this one is a bit of a reach, admittedly. Maybe even a -lot- of a reach, but, like Cloud, I imagine Alucard's inclusion in the game would be a big boon to it, even if he's not the most noted character. That my only real reasoning is because of Symphony of the Night on PSOne (later on, having been redone in the Dracula X Chronicles for PSP, also known as "The game where you have to play that other Castlevania game to get SotN") and its cult-hit popularity is a bit telling, and while I'm not an uber-fan of the game, a lot of people -are-. Which means that you cannot tell me that you don't know anybody whose ears wouldn't perk up at the mention of Alucard being included in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. He even fits the general bill of inclusion, what with being an "All-Star" that happened to be featured in a "Playstation" game that was, as a bonus, incredibly popular. Stranger things have happened, after all!
Similar to Cloud, I imagine Alucard's moveset wouldn't be all that difficult to imagine and implement, though it might end up a little 'strange' if it goes as I imagine. Considering the wealth of weapons that appear in Symphony of the Night that Alucard wields, different attacks could simply be attached to the more-known ones there, as well as some of his latent son-of-Dracula powers, like the whole Fireball thing. Then again, those powers might be better served for the specials, depending on just which ones they're anticipating on using. Being that I don't think Alucard got to make use of Item Crashes, that leaves that out technically, but who knows. Even outside of that, the special moves don't necessarily need to be actually from the game in which the character is possible, so long as it's something the character would obviously be able to use in certain situations where a lot of power is needed. Regardless, I don't think there's a lot of "Gee, what can he do" when it comes to Alucard, were he to be in the game.
Obviously, these are just my predictions, and I admit that I did try and go for the more "Hmm" choices (Crash aside) rather than the obvious. I might do another post about the more obvious choices (as in, things that use First or Second Party Characters), but for now, this is good. Seeing as we're this close to E3 without some good leaks, it might be a slow news week anyways, and whether I get Resistance: Burning Skies tomorrow or not is not a guarantee. Though I will be getting the Gravity Rush demo and will have likely played it at least twice over by the time I sit down for a post. Hmm. I guess we'll see!
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