You always have a level-headed outlook on these things,
Rex Dart! I agree with you, of course. As much as I'd like to see some brand new characters for DLC,
WELL MADE EX characters for DLC is a great compromise between that, and not wanting to release anything that'll feel too much like "Why isn't this part of the retail release!" within a short time frame after the game releases.
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Also, on the rumors/mention that the disk has one more hidden Character, that hasn't been revealed at all yet... I'm inclined to believe it.
From the beginning, SNKP seems to be focused on making the retail package a standout. So far, they've shown us a totally new (to XIII) character, and another totally new-in-game-style one, that's a palette/head swap. So far, the freshest characters have been "free", and the ones that use a majority of old assets, have appeared to be "DLC".
Someone like Adel, Oswald, Chizuru, or Botan would make a good final console character. Someone they could actually get some use out of for the story mode, and could be different enough to actually feel worthwhile. It'd give 3 solid prizes for story/challenge modes, and they'd fit in as random characters to fill out a variety of edit teams.
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Oh, and for the record, while I wouldn't have requested Shin Karate as a DLC, I think he could be very interesting. Takuma's got the worse non-neomax anti-air potential of all the Kyokugen characters, and also had a total re-design for this particular game. His SvC incarnation was a very enjoyable character, and he could give them a great chance to put some of Kushnood's moves in the game (though, still... I'd prefer Kushnood, personally, lol.) He's a good character for them to "Go all Out!" with, move design-wise, and I have no problem with them playing him up as SNKP's answer to Shin-Akuma, or Oni.