Yo-Kai Watch: Everything you need to know

[Rocky]

Now, some of you may have heard the name Yo-Kai Watch and thought to yourself 'What the heck is a Yo-Kai watch?' Well fear not, as I'm about to tell you all about Yo-Kai.

Yo-Kai watch is a popular creature hunting RPG franchise here in Japan, with Video games, Japanese comics, and a TV show under its belt. But today, we are gonna focus on the games

Yo-Kai watch is a 3ds game developed by Level-5 that came out 2013 in Japan only. The story focuses on the protagonist finding a ghost spirit who gives him the ability to see other spirits (Yo-Kai) through an item called the Yo-Kai Watch. Spirits are everywhere, and everyone in the town of Springdale is haunted by one. They can make you act sad, angry, tired, anxious, and more. The protagonists job is to capture the spirits and have them fight for him to catch other spirits.

There are a wide arrange of Yo-Kai, but the main Yo-Kai is Jibanyan; a red cat spirit that the player finds near the crosswalk of where it died. Jibanyan is the mascot of the series, and is arguably more popular than Pikachu in Japan right now.

The game and TV show are currently being brought to North America and Europe this holiday season. The TV show will air on Disney XD. There is also a sequel, Yo-Kai watch 2, and a third one coming out next year, as well as a bunch of spin-off games.

What do you think? Do you think it sounds interesting? Will you try it out? Do you think it just sounds like a Pokemon ripoff? Let me know in the comments!

 

[Chickenfoot]

This actually got me interested in the game (Having just heard it's name previously) and it looks really fun (watched a gameplay video as well just now) and although it has a similar style to Pokemon, it seems to have a quite different gameplay style, and the fact that it's more immersive than just "Select a move to attack with" makes it seem more fun. With that said, I don't think it would be considered as a Pokemon rip-off, as it just has some features that are quite similar to it, just like (if my memory serves correctly) Digimon world was on the PS1. But, all in all, I think this will be something I'd buy and enjoy.

Off-Topic: I still hold a grudge against Level-5 for cancelling Ushiro, I was so excited for that back in the day... XD

 

[Gary Johnson]

Yo-Kai Watch is not a Pokémon-killer, but with no major Pokémon game this year, fans of pocket-able monsters might want to pick it up. I’m more than happy we Americans finally get to see what all the fuss is about Yo Kai Watch. I love the game.