By: Jonah Robertson
“Yo-Kai Watch” is a media franchise that has spawned multiple videogames, an animated show, and multiple manga (Japanese graphic novels). The most recent game in the series, “Yo-Kai Watch 2,” showed some promise as an intriguing alternative to games like “Pokemon.” The game still focused on the collection of various monsters, and the use of them in combat, but the methods through which the player did these things were going to be much different.
Unfortunately, the game has not lived up to its promise. What the developers delivered was nothing more than a rehash of the original game, in a pretty unashamed fashion. This rehashing is only made worse by the fact that there in an entire section in the beginning of the game devoted to showing the player how the events that are occurring are nearly identical to those in the original game.
The gameplay itself is fun enough, but lacks much depth. Players can collect various Yo-Kai (demons, or monsters) throughout the world that they play in. These Yo-Kai can then be used to fight others. The combat itself is not turn-based like it is in “Pokemon,” but is instead focused on automated battles in which the player can choose to involve themselves to add more effects to their Yo-Kai. While this is intended to separate the games from similar ones, all it ends up doing is making the gameplay quite repetitive. After about the 10th Yo-Kai battle, it is made clear that the whole game will be more or less the same grind and it loses much appeal.
The game’s visuals are fine, but don’t take advantage of the 3DS’ full abilities. It could have easily been made 5 years ago, when the original one was, and nobody would’ve batted an eye. The designs of the Yo-Kai are fun, but seem somewhat uninspired when compared to similar games’ monsters.
The only redeeming feature to be found in the game is that it features beautifully animated cutscenes, that look like they were taken straight out of the TV show. These are wonderful, and fully voice-acted, making them a joy to watch. The unfortunate reality, however, is that once these are finished the player is forced back into the drudgery of the game.
“Yo-Kai Watch 2” released with two different versions, “Bony Spirits” and “Fleshy Souls”, but the differences between them are completely negligible. Both games feature the same problems, and the same dull gameplay. I would absolutely not recommend either game, especially with the release of the new Pokemon games around the corner, and would give this game a rating of 2/5.
