YO-KAI WATCH - 3DS

Yo-Kai watch made me connect with something I thought was long lost, my childhood passion for Japanese games and anime. I grew up on Pokemon, and I've played and bought most of the games due to nostalgia, even if not enjoying them as much. Pokemon is still great, but the formula is stale and stuck in the past, I do not get the same sense of wonder I used to when I was a kid, the sense of discovery and adventure in a new world. Even when Pokemon transitioned to 3D, it felt so familiar and unexciting it was almost sickening to keep playing.I used to love everything anime, especially the collecting and training aspect of some of the shows in the genre. However, it has been years since I even seen anything that sparked interest as Yo-Kai watch has, Japanese RPG games have been a disappointing nightmare, and I've grown into a more western type of storytelling, one that made more sense.Yo-Kai watch made me change my mind, it is as weird and quirky as the anime I used to enjoy so much in my childhood and teenage years, yet, the writing is improved, even if the target demographic is kids, I felt myself laughing and enjoying the story progress. The game never stops surprising you with new content, areas to explore, monsters to collect, and characters to meet. It is a beautifully crafted world with focus on story and exploration, not on grinding or getting pissed off every time you enter a random battle.By saying that, I am in no way polarizing both Yo-Kai watch and Pokemon, as they are both very different games that are good in their own way. I'm just comparing both for the sake of relatability. I've been gaming and experiencing a diverse roster of entertainment products over the years, from novels and graphic novels to TV and video games, and I consider myself a picky person when it comes to the next experience that is going to take some of my precious free time. Believe me: no matter how old are you or whether or not you like Pokemon, if you grew up with the same interests as I have and you miss the sense of marvel and wonder Japanese RPGs used to give you, give Yo-Kai Watch a chance, you will not regret it.

I will be honest, when Yokai Watch first came out I hated it. It looked like just another Pokemon rip-off. But I kept seeing it everywhere and finally I decided to look into it and give it a chance. The thing that won me over the most was Jibanyan and all the Nyan (cats) to befriend in the game. I was immediately smitten by Komasan!Even if it is basically a Pokemon rip-off, it's done with enough uniqueness that differentiates it from being just another Pokeclone. The "monsters" are all ghosts (specters) that can only be seen by the antagonist through the use of his special Yokai Watch. The watch detects when Yokai are nearby and then through the lens they can be located and confronted. This may include having to fight them, or possibly just chat with them.I'm not going to talk about the story, because it might spoil it, so I'm going to talk about the play mechanics. The entire game is basically a series of fetch-quests. Normally in RPGs, fetch-quests can become rather tedious, but with this game that really wasn't the case, and I really wanted to complete them rather than just muddle through the motions. The quests are what make up the storyline, from the most trivial ones to the main quest that progresses the game. You are free to roam all over the entire map almost right from the beginning, although some areas are blocked off until you upgrade your watch. You take on various quests by talking to yokai and/or people and agreeing to help them. This may include bringing them certain items or having to catch/eliminate certain types of Yokai. I have a hard time remembering what I was doing last in video games like this, so I was relieved to find that you have a quest book that keeps track of all the details for you. One mistake I made was I kept saying yes to everyone; it's better to come back to some quests later after you finish a few of the ones you already have, because it's easy to get overwhelmed. And some quests have to be done in a certain amount of time, or by a certain time of day/night. If you forget where some place is for a quest there's always a red arrow on the map pointing you in the right direction.The battle system is very basic & it took me a while to get used to it because I'm used to RPGs where you pick every move for every character in your party. In YW the battle is basically on auto-pilot, and you simply intervene to do things in the background, like healing injured Yokai with items, giving power-ups, un-inspiriting them, pinning which enemy to target, and trying to pin the occasional swirly wisp that give you extra battle spoils. You can also spin the dial in order to swap in/out different yokai on your team. The only truly interactive thing you do is a special super move when their spirit bar is full. To activate it you have to do something with the stylus - either spin a circle, tap flying bubbles or trace some symbols, and the faster you accomplish it the faster the yokai pulls off the move. They're not difficult to do and quickly become somewhat tedious. The real tactics are not during battle but how you set up your team beforehand. You need a nice variety of yokai to cover various aspects of battle, and setting ones up next to each other with the same disposition can cause them to interact & be more powerful in battle. There are also all kinds of items to alter their disposition, and items you can equip to beef up different stats. Additionally, the attitude of your Yokai determines how it levels up, and also determines the action it takes in battle.Catching wild yokai is a bit of a hit-or-miss ordeal and it seems like even if you throw the correct food at it during battle, it doesn't raise the befriending percentage up much. The only way to really catch wild yokai is to just fight them repeatedly until one of them finally sheepishly strolls up to you & requests to be friends. This can be frustrating if they're not exactly common, but I think it becomes easier to catch them the higher rank your Yokai Watch is. In other words, if you're trying to catch a high level yokai and your watch is low level, the odds are against you. Go level up, get your watch upgraded, and come back later.I played this game beginning to end and I just want more. Collecting all the yokai medals both in-game and in real life can trigger obsession. Most of the yokai are based on traditional Japanese folklore ghosts and there are a lot of very wonderfully weird creatures to collect, including a dog with a face like Woody Allen. Many of them evolve, like Pokemon, but there are also many who can be fused together to create entirely new yokai. This game gives you that familiar "gotta catch 'em all" fever. Passwords and the QR codes on the backs of the medals can be scanned from inside the game (at the post office) and they all give you a variety of prizes, including game coins to use in the crank-a-kai. Oh yeah, and the game also utilizes the camera, and you can take pics of yourself with a variety of yokai on your shoulders!

I previously bought this from another vendor, and when it finally showed up, the game didn’t even work! Of course, my kids didn’t let me know that until it was past the return time, so I was stuck with it.Was really skeptical about ordering a game from Amazon again, but this is the only place I could find it, so I took my chances.This one showed up exactly when they promised it would, and it works! Can’t ask for more!

Este juego es muy entretenido, a pesar de que cuenta con un sistema de combate automatico también tiene un poco de interaccion de parte del jugador para realizar ataques especiales y restaurar a tus personajes derrotados en el mismo combate, tambien cuenta con detalles como captura de insectos, misiones extras y la historia.El juego es hasta cierto punto facil pero tiene estrategia como el saber que personajes son mas convenientes mezclar en tu equipo para obtener mejores resultados de combate. Hay buena variedad de personajes para elegir y al igual que la serie tiene sus momentos divertidos.Este juego es recomendable para aquellos que quieran probar algo un poco diferente a pokemon o que hayan disfrutado de la serie o gusten un juego no tan serio ni tan competitivo; es un juego para disfrutar y relajarse.Técnicamente los graficos no son nada del otro mundo pero se ven bastante bien en 3DS XL y el sonido asi como la musica es muy bueno.Respecto a Amazon la entrega fue muy rapida y a muy buen precio el juego, estoy muy contento con mi compra. :)

Loved that it came pretty quickly and that its a challenging game.

La primera impresión de los fans ha sido "Es la copia de pokemon" para nada, al cansarme ya del repetitivo pokemon decidi darle una oportunidad a Yokai Watch y este juego ofrece una jugabilidad completamente diferente, los combates yokai son parte esencial del juego pero tienen oportunidad de realizar otras actividades entretenidas, cazas de bichos, pesca, etc. Ambientado en el japón sentirás que recorres las calles de la ciudad real, dale una oportunidad a este juego y veras que lo disfrutaras igual o mas que un pokemon. Y ahora con su actualizacion te permite jugar en idioma español, ya no hay pretexto para no jugarlo. Por parte de amazon México, buen precio y envio rápido.

No box but the game works and it has a little case. Shipping took a long time, probably due to Covid.