Yo-Kai Watch Reviews
Yo-Kai Watch has a great sense of humor, unique combat, and collection hooks that sink in quickly
As an RPG, Yo-Kai Watch mostly fumbles its battle system and creates a relatively passive experience. However, I adored exploring every corner of its compelling world. The low difficulty ultimately works in its favor — I was always eager to move on to the next charming character or compelling idea. Yo-Kai Watch is a "kids' game" that doesn't talk down to or sugarcoat darker themes for kids, and I appreciated not being talked down to either.
Yo-kai Watch delivers a fun, easy to play, tough to master RPG that I found just as exciting as it is relaxing. I want more of this series.
Yo-Kai Watch is a good variation on the monster collection genre of RPGs that will definitely please fans and earn a few new fans, but has just enough tiresome elements to keep it from being great.
Yo-Kai Watch is a quirky tale with deeply strategic combat, but the way you collect its creatures leaves too much up to random chance.
Don't let Yo-Kai Watch's kiddie appeal fool you: It might not be as deep as your average, adult-style RPG, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Level-5's gradual evolution of their "house style" has amounted to a true successor to Pokemon—one entirely free of its predecessor's 8-bit baggage.
Aside from it taking me (and potentially many others) an embarrassingly long time to get a handle on the combat system, this game is a good, solid package that I recommend, as it will offer loads of fun for those that have the time
I know I came in saying that Yo-kai Watch doesn't play like Pokemon, and yet I spent a few points comparing the two. It's impossible to draw comparisons in games that both center around catching monsters and using them for battle.
"Yo-Kai Watch" is an immersive, hard to put down RPG with tons to do that will more than fill up the time until the next real Pokemon game. Although the fetch quest-filled gameplay and mediocre map take away some of the fun, it's still a tough game to put down and the best new Nintendo 3DS series in North America of 2015. In the end, "Yo-Kai Watch" is not "Pokemon," but it's just as cool, in its own unique way.
Yo-Kai Watch is a rather odd beast in many ways. Kids' trends are always difficult to predict, and even with the massive marketing push behind the game, it's hard to say if Yo-Kai Watch will achieve Pokémon-like levels of cross-cultural penetration. It certainly isn't up to Pokémon's level: while exploring is fun, combat is a passive, frustrating slog that keeps it from being as enjoyable as it should be.
Yo-kai Watch's charm overcomes its repetitive nature
Yo-Kai Watch isn't the second coming of Pokémon, and that's perfectly okay. If you love to sit by the fire and train your Pokémon for hours, perfecting their EV and IV levels so you can be the very best, you likely won't find the same depth in Yo-Kai. Its world and philosophy is much simpler than that. But as a result, none of it feels frustrating or like work, and I'm constantly tempted to jump back into my adventures with Nate and Whisper.
Yo-Kai Watch is an amazing first game of a hopefully long series and you'll want to pick it up immediately and hop on the Yo-Kai Watch hype train.
While a lot of missions boil down to a lot of fetching and running around, the charm behind the story and strategy-driven battling system create a fun world to explore and master. It's a fresh take on the genre that can pull in more than just Pokémon fans waiting on the next game. Yo-kai Watch is a surprising hit that builds on itself the more you play, demanding more thought and focus than its cheery exterior suggests.
For a pocket-sized RPG that will provide hours of gameplay, it's certainly worth a look.
Yo-Kai Watch is filled with charm, monsters to befriend, unique battle mechanics, and gameplay that keeps players engaged. Still, the title is filled with redundancies.
Though Yo-Kai Watch does borrow a lot from the Pokemon franchise, the game does strike out a spot for itself in the monster-collecting market. The game is still really fun to play, and the feeling of collecting and discovering new Yo-Kai is exhilarating. The game has tons upon tons of cut-scenes, and does not have random enemy encounters, which makes it so much easier to get through dungeons without facing the same exact Yo-Kai again and again. Sure, Yo-Kai Watch definitely has places to improve, like its multiplayer and depth, but overall Yo-Kai Watch is more than worthy of a purchase.
By and large these are all minor gripes. The battle system is a lot of frenetic fun, the writing is sharp, and visually the game is that Level-5 cel-shaded colorful anime that looks fantastic. The 3D is unnecessary, but they appear to have learned from what was irritating in a game like LBX (recent as it was) and really worked to smooth out the rough and awkward edges. Aside from a few clumsy design choices, mostly regarding side mission requirements and scrounging around awkwardly for the few required missions, Yo-Kai Watch is a charming gem that's only helping bolster the claim that fun and full RPG experiences are only getting better on portable hardware. And it's a great and action-ish way to invite newer RPG players into the party without entirely scaring away the more hardcore fans. Just because it's cute and funny doesn't mean it doesn't get tense, like seeing a g-g-g-GHOOOOOOST!
Yo-Kai watch is a promising addition to Nintendo's stable of games, thanks to a polished presentation and intriguing game mechanics. Admittedly, the questing can get a bit repetitive and the battle system isn't quite as dialed down as Pokemon's from a competitive standpoint. Still, with its sizable stable of interesting ghosts, solid gameplay and oodles of charm, Yo-Kai watch should tickle the fancies of the young and young at heart.