Yggdrasil's Altar
| Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition Yggdrasil's Altar | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Universe | Dragon Quest |
| Appears in | Ultimate |
| Availability | Downloadable |
| Crate type | Normal |
| Maximum players | 8 |
Yggdrasil's Altar (天空の祭壇, Altar of the Skies) is a downloadable stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is bundled with Hero as part of Challenger Pack 2 and released on July 30th, 2019.
Stage Overview
At the start of a match, the stage is rooted in the ground, before rising into the air. The stage then travels over the world of Erdrea, showcasing many locations from Dragon Quest XI. The stage features many cameos from the Dragon Quest series, including Slimes, Tockles, and Cetacea. Very rarely, a Liquid Metal Slime will appear in the background of the stage. The stage also features additional platforms that fly onto the playing field periodically. If items are turned on, treasure chests will occupy one of these platforms, yielding an item to the player who attacks it. However, these chests may also be Mimics in disguise which will try to attack the player. The Mimic can be fought, and defeating it will also yield an item. When additional platforms appear, a Tockle will roam the stage and will disappear after the platforms depart.
Ω form and Battlefield form
The Ω form and Battlefield form are set on a completely flat version of the normal form's main platform that is also resized and reshaped to match Final Destination and Battlefield, respectively. The other platforms are completely absent, and the platforms in the Battlefield form are based on ones that can appear on the main stage. Like other traveling stages, both forms travel across the skies, though both forms also start off in the air rather than at the base (similar to Halberd).
Ω form
Battlefield form
Hazards Off
With hazards off, the stage will still travel, but the small platforms with treasure chests will never appear.
Origin
Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse legend, is a recurring location in the Dragon Quest series, first introduced in Dragon Quest II. It is a giant, mythical tree that can only be found in isolated and dangerous locations, in order to prevent the general populace from approaching it. Two of the most potent healing items in the series, the Yggdrasil Leaf and Yggdrasil dew, contain the essence of the tree. It plays important roles in both Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest IX, where it appears as a late-game location in the former, and is part of the plot in the latter. While the location has appeared in multiple Dragon Quest titles, Yggdrasil's design and the Altar itself are both derived from Dragon Quest XI. The platform where the battle takes place on never actually moves in Dragon Quest XI.
Cetacea, the flying whale in the background, debuted in Dragon Quest XI as the Luminary's holy conveyance. He can summon Her by playing the Calamus Flute anywhere in Erdrea, thus transporting him and his party onto Her back to fly to certain locations, notably the floating islands Havens Above, home of the mysterious all-seeing race known as the Watchers. Cetacea eventually gains special golden armor in the third act of Dragon Quest XI, but Her design in Ultimate is based on Her normal, unarmored form.
Monsters are a major recurring part of the Dragon Quest series. The Slime is often one of the first enemies encountered in the games, first appearing in the original Dragon Quest and is also the series mascot. A variation of this enemy, the liquid metal slime, is a highly agile and evasive yet weak opponent that often awards high amounts of EXP which first appeared in Dragon Quest II. The Mimic is a foe that first appeared in Dragon Quest III, often disguising themselves as chests and attempting to slay any party members with instant-kill spells such as Whack and Thwack.
Tockles first appear in Dragon Quest XI as ghostly beings of different colors (white being the most common) who are tasked with watching over the passage of time and to correct any errors that may disrupt the past, using the Echo Chamber, the holy ground where records of past heroes and villains are kept. The Luminary must find the Tockles dispatched to Erdrea to recover passwords that will allow him access to the worlds kept within the tomes.
Tournament Legality
The beginning layout of the stage is very similar to Final Destination, and the unique platforms that do occasionally appear are positioned in a way that promotes camping, though the effectiveness of camping on this stage is up for debate. While the stage is usually banned for the aforementioned reasons, the stage does see infrequent use with hazards off, which removes chests and mimics.
Gallery
Luminary on the stage.
Same as before. Note the platform visible at the top left corner.
Joker and Erdrick with a Liquid Metal Slime.
Cetacea in Yggdrasil's Altar.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
天空の祭壇 | Altar of the Skies |
 English |
Yggdrasil's Altar | — |
 French |
Autel de l'Yggdrasil | Yggdrasil's Altar |
 German |
Yggdrasils Altar | — |
 Spanish |
Altar de Yggdrasil | Yggdrasil's Altar |
 Italian |
Altare di Ygdrasil | Yggdrasil's Altar |
 Chinese (Simplified) |
天空祭坛 | Altar of the Skies |
 Chinese (Traditional) |
天空祭壇 | Altar of the Skies |
 Korean |
천공의 제단 | Altar of the Skies |
 Dutch |
Altaar van Yggdrasil | Yggdrasil's Altar |
 Russian |
Алтарь Иггдрасиля | Yggdrasil's Altar |
Trivia
- According to an interview with Masahiro Sakurai during the Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition launch livestream, creating this stage proved to be rather difficult for the development team, as the entire stage was modeled from scratch rather than using preexisting assets. It was so challenging that Sakurai almost gave up on it and considered using Mount Huji, the volcano dungeon, as an alternate option; ultimately, they persisted with Yggdrasil’s Altar, as they believed it better represented the game it was based on.[1]
- Yggdrasil's Altar is the second stage in the series, and one of three overall, to always lack any Smash-exclusive music remixes, after Midgar. It and Hollow Bastion are the only stages in Ultimate to still hold this distinction; Midgar gained four new remixes as part of Challenger Pack 8. Incidentally, all three of these stages come from Square Enix universes.
References
 Dragon Quest universe
| |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Hero (SSBU) (XI, III, IV, VIII) |
| Stage | Yggdrasil's Altar |
| Other | Hero (I, II, V, VI, VII, IX, X) · Martial Artist · Mimic · Slime · Veronica |
| Spirits | Spirits |
| Music | Ultimate |
