Smash Bros. Ultimate players can bring Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses into battle
We're also getting six more characters in the next Fighter's Pass, which costs $30.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai revealed last week that Fire Emblem: Three Houses protagonist Byleth would the Nintendo Switch brawler's roster, and you can try out the new fighter's male or female forms now.
Sakurai noted that the new fighter doesn't have great throws but is more of a "distance demon."
Byleth is the next Smash Bros. fighter, and is available in male and female forms.
Their directional special moves all use different weapons -- Sword of the Creator, Areadbhar, Aymr and Failnaught -- and they team up with Sothis for their Final Smash: the intense-sounding Progenitor God Ruptured Heaven.
Along with Byleth, we've got Garreg Mach Monastery, the main location from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, as a new stage. It includes marketplace, reception, bridge and cathedral areas, with cameos from characters of the Blue Lion, Black Eagle and Golden Deer Houses.
Each extra Smash Bros. fighter costs $6 and comes with a new stage and music, or you can get Persona 5's Joker, Dragon Quest 11's Hero, Banjo-Kazooie and Fatal Fury's Terry Bogard a little cheaper in a $25 Fighters Pass bundle.
Sakurai revealed that Fighters Pass Vol. 2 will include six more unrevealed characters and stages. It came out Wednesday, and it'll set you back $30. We'll see all the characters by the end of 2021, according to a note in the livestream. The director also said they've already been selected, so there's no point hounding him about your favorite on Twitter.
You're rolling the dice on the characters in this second season pass, but it also comes with an exclusive Mii Swordfighter costume: the cool Ancient Soldier gear from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Maybe that'll help with the wait for the sequel.
Along with Byleth, Nintendo also added a bunch of new Mii Fighter costumes -- from Assassin's Creed (specifically, original hero Altaïr), Rabbids, Mega Man X, Mega Man: Battle Network and Cuphead. Each of those costs 75 cents, and the Cuphead one includes an excellent extra song.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is getting some DLC of its own on Feb. 13. The Cindered Shadows DLC is about the Officers Academy's secret fourth house, the Ashen Wolves. It's part of that game's $25 expansion pass.
First published Jan. 14.
Update, Jan. 29 at 3:52 a.m. PT: Notes that Byleth is available now, and the pricing of the second Fighters Pass.