Honestly, Smash Bros Ultimate is crazy fun but man, figuring out stuff like Cloud as a newcomer? Felt overwhelming. I kept seeing folks online talk about these “secrets” with Hero or Sephiroth, calling them Cloud Characters, and I needed to understand what the fuss was about. So, this week, I decided to just jump in feet first and see what I could figure out.
Getting My Dummy Ready
First things first, I needed something to smack around. I hopped onto Training Mode. Grabbed King Dedede as the dummy because, let’s be real, he’s big and slow – perfect for a clumsy guy like me trying new things. Set him to just stand there. No dodging, no attacking, just target practice. Felt kinda silly smacking a helpless Dedede, but hey, gotta start somewhere.
Dumb Luck with Hero
Started with Hero because his magic menu looked… mysterious. Spammed down-B like everyone says, hoping for something cool. Mostly got useless stuff like Kaboom that hurt me more than Dedede! It was frustrating. I remembered someone mentioning the “Command Selection” names matter. Okay, fine. Decided to actually read the menu instead of spamming. “Sizzle”? Fireball. “Zoom”? Teleport? Oh! Tried it, warped halfway across the stage. Neat! Then I saw “Psych Up”. Cast it, swung my sword – WHAM! Dedede went flying like he’d been shot from a cannon! That was the secret? Paying attention to the darn menu? Felt stupid, but also kinda proud I finally got it.
Sephiroth – Less Magic, More Stabbing
Switched to Sephiroth. His wing thing looked cool but complicated. Didn’t see a magic menu like Hero. Poked around the moves list. Down-B? Some black shadowy orb – “Shadow Flare”. Hit Dedede, saw a tiny spark follow him. Didn’t seem strong. Kept playing. My health got low, maybe around 70%, and suddenly… his wing popped out! Wasn’t expecting that! Tried his forward smash again. Way longer reach! Charged it up fully – it took ages, but when it hit? Dedede practically vanished off the screen! Big difference! The secret here seems to be getting beat up a bit first to unlock that wing power. Weird design choice, but okay.
Trying Real Fights (And Getting Wrecked)
Feeling confident-ish, I moved to VS Mode against CPU. Set it to Level 5. Picked Hero again. Tried pulling up the menu mid-fight… pure chaos. Link kept rushing me with his sword while I fumbled trying to find “Kaboom”. Got bodied hard. Menu surfing is basically impossible when someone’s actually trying to hit you! Same with Sephiroth. By the time my health got low enough for the wing, the CPU had me nearly dead anyway. My “powerful” smash attacks missed constantly. Felt like learning to juggle chainsaws. Messy.
The Big Takeaway? Expectations vs Reality
So, those “secrets” I heard about? Honestly:
- Hero: It’s not random superpowers, it’s actually understanding that stupid menu. Takes ages to pick anything in a real fight.
- Sephiroth: His “secret” power is just surviving long enough to use it without getting KO’d first. Super risky.
As a new player, expecting these characters to be easy-win buttons is pure fantasy. They seem complicated just for the sake of being different. Messing around in training mode was cool, sure, I learned stuff. But bringing them online? That feels like a recipe for getting demolished quickly. Maybe later. For now? Gonna stick with Mario. At least I know what his fireballs do right away. Much less stressful! Funny how the “secrets” turned out to be more about managing messy mechanics than finding hidden power.