Yo-Kai Watch 3 Reviews
Justin Clark played Yo-kai Watch for 40 hours. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher.
With Yo-Kai Watch 4 in development for Nintendo Switch, the series is now bidding farewell to the platform it first called home. Thankfully, it's doing so with the best version the franchise has offered yet in Yo-Kai Watch 3, throwing in every extra monster and mode into the one portable package. With a more nuanced battle system, larger sandboxes to explore, even more Yo-Kai to battle and add to your Medallium, this two-and-a-half-year-old game is a fresh as the day it first launched in Japan, and has given western 3DS owners one of console's best RPGs in the twilight of its years.
The latest game in the series takes a detour to New Mexico and riffs on American culture throughout.
I've rated all three main Yo-Kai Watch games the same because they're all on the level. All three (released in the west so far) are somewhat held back by a simplistic combat system but boast an infinite amount of charm. There are very few games that can make me smile the entire way through and that counts for a lot.
Yo-Kai Watch 3 is the continuation of a series that basically remains the same, but with some new features that make it a bit more interesting than its predecessors.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Wider and incredibly fun while also adding more strategy, Yo-Kai Watch 3 is the best entry in the series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Surprising reinvention of the Yo-Kai Watch franchise, with a game full of content and lots of changes, all for the good. Fans and newcomers alike will surely enjoy Yo-Kai Watch 3.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In Yo-kai Watch 3 features everything fans loved about previous games in the series, as well as updated battle system and a lot of content.
Review in Russian |
Yo-Kai Watch 3 brings the trilogy to a conclusion and it really left the best for last, as this is easily the best game so far under the Yo-Kai Watch name. Even if its plot is not consistent when it comes to quality, Yo-Kai Watch 3 features plenty of high-level technical execution, new content and locations and gives the player an additional motivation to explore, which only creates more anticipation for what the series will bring in the future.
Review in Portuguese |
Yo-Kai Watch 3 is the best iteration of a series that's admittedly starting to show its age on the 3DS. It also serves as a swan song for the franchise on Nintendo's dual-screen workhorse as it moves to the Switch. While it has its issues, the game remains a hoot with tons of content for fans of the series. And if you're a newcomer, this definitive game of the series ain't really a bad place to start. It's spooky fun for all ages.
For all of its problems in the first few hours, Yo-Kai Watch 3 turns itself around wonderfully for an experience most any player can enjoy. Its a great entry for fans new and old, and an indicator of the greater heights the series is headed toward.
The pursuit of Nathan's adventures in the USA could have been a simple pretext to explore this new world haunted by undiscovered Yo-kai, through a humorous, if not satiric tone about cultural specificities. But Level-5 generously went further by improving the tactical side of the combat system, more dynamic as a whole, while expanding the activities considerably, and above all, by telling a parallel story from an investigative point of view, so these two destinies make an even more moving fable once united. Beyond its usual youthful collection spirit, Yo-kai Watch 3 thus encourages to widen contacts and befriend other people, an astoundingly vivacious, yet admirable humanistic mission for a series inspired by traditional japanese ghosts.
Review in French | Read full review
Yo-Kai Watch 3 remains a convincing expression of a hybrid between JRPG, strategic and adventure: a childish vision, frizzed and colored by a rather obscure aspect of Japanese folklore, reinvented with the visionary inspiration of the artists of Level-5.
A good game design and lots of contents bring to us the best Yo-kai Watch game so far, even if there some things still to update.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The sheer amount of content on offer outside the main storyline is, quite possibly, what makes Yo-kai Watch 3 so interesting to play. Between side quests that feature all your favourite Yo-kai, Blaster Camp, the deliciously tantalising Boss Rush mode (though, let’s never speak of Agent X again), the fun (but gimmicky) Build-a-Nyan mode, online battle and post-game content, there’s more than enough to sink your teeth into; whether you’re a casual fan or a competitive player. It presents a highly polished front with some significant updates to gameplay, but it lacks the charm, witty jibes and magical moments found during the first and second titles. Usually you can find me chuckling in my seat, admiring the fantastic script-writing during a Yo-kai game, but for the third instalment it just wasn’t to be. Let’s hope the next instalment brings back that missing magic.
Yo-Kai Watch 3 is a fantastic last hurrah for the series on the 3DS platform, which is also an ideal jumping in point for new players. Although it's very much in the vein of a Pokémon-styled adventure, it's a franchise with its own interesting quirks. The battling system, which has been much improved here, offers something different, with its fast-paced special-attack mini-games and new Tactics Medal Board. On top of this, the universe of Yo-Kai Watch is very imaginative and vibrant in its own way. The concept of these creatures, influenced and based on Yōkai, is very interesting and with 600 Yo-kai in this version, that sense of discovery is palpable and ever-present. Although on a mechanical level, Yo-kai Watch 3 isn't as polished as a Pokémon title, it makes up for this in droves with its flexibility, not to mention its sense of charm and adventure. Great fun.
Mind you, this is nothing you can't overcome with the right state of mind. The hours really fly by, and even after completion, I couldn't stop playing pieces where possible. For newcomers and veterans alike, this third installment has a little something for everyone.
This third entry has more than 600 Yo-Kai and many things to do, but suffers due to passive fights. Because of that the game is very easy which makes it fun to play for the story. It's a shame the minigames take you out of the fun story though.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Yo-kai Watch 3 is an enjoyable time, and though targeted at a younger audience, there’s plenty to like for RPGamers of all ages.
Yo-Kai Watch 3 is by far the best game in the series. This is mostly thanks to the enhancements the developer made to mechanics and animations.
Review in Dutch | Read full review