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During the Sakurai Presents video, Director Masahiro Sakurai gave us an in-depth look at the Sephiroth moveset. The lengthy video also showed off Mii Fighter costumes, a new stage, and new music. We’ve summarized the thorough breakdown of the new fighter’s playstyle below.
Sephiroth behaves much like a “glass cannon.” He is taller than most fighters, meaning his hitbox is that much larger. His attacks deal devastating damage, but he is also lightweight–meaning opponents can launch Sephiroth quite easily.
Sephiroth’s sword, the Masamune, has a very long reach, and he also has several projectile attacks to play keep-away. When landing a hit, the Masamune is strongest just above the middle of the blade. Players can even use the sword to recover by stabbing a wall and jumping with a forward air attack. Some attacks with the Masamune even go through the ground, which players can use to their advantage as they meteor smash opponents through the floor.
Sephiroth will also gain a winged form when in danger. This will increase his speed, give him an extra jump, and grant him super armor while performing smash attacks.
Special attacks in the Sephiroth moveset harken back to Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children.
- His neutral special is Flare, Megaflare, or Gigaflare. Players can charge this projectile up, but cannot store it. The length of the charge determines which spell Sephiroth uses.
- His side special, Shadow Flare, is an interesting projectile that tags opponents with up to five flares. These bursts of magic encircle enemies and explode after a set amount of time. Sephiroth can use this very strategically to launch opponents nearing the screen boundaries.
- Sephiroth’s up special is Blade Dash and Octaslash. The player can change the direction Sephiroth launches himself, similar to Fox’s Fox Fire attack. A normal input will perform Blade Dash, while a charge will turn into Octaslash. Sephiroth can deal more damage, launch opponents, and even travel further with this move, though it does leave him open to attack.
- His down special is Scintilla. This peculiar move acts as a counter. It is different from other counters in the game, because it will still trigger even if the opponent does not strike. The counter gets stronger based on the attack it receives, but extremely powerful attacks will actually break through it.
- Sephiroth’s Final Smash is Supernova, based on the final boss encounter of Final Fantasy VII. He becomes Safer Sephiroth and summons the ultimate spell, Meteor, which launches opponents and inflicts random negative status effects. Players will suffer a random effect, such as shield break, dizzy, sleep, slow, flower bloom, or reversed controls.
Check out our additional coverage summing up the Sakurai Presents Sephiroth video, including Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith Mii Fighter costumes. And don’t forget that Square Enix is holding a Nintendo Switch eShop sale, which includes Final Fantasy VII.
The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Sephiroth DLC will be available on December 22, 2020. SSBU is available worldwide on the Nintendo Switch.
