Yo-kai Watch is in a strange place.
While on the surface it seems like another attempt to cash-in on the Pokémon formula,
Yo-kai Watch is barely the same outside of befriending a wide range of cool, cute, and
downright silly monsters.
While the original game didn’t make the huge impact that it had in Japan, it still
did well enough to warrant a localization of the sequel which comes in two varieties,
Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls.
When I played the original game, I found it to be fun if frustrating at times so I was
curious whether my issues would be addressed.
Yo-kai Watch 2 picks up shortly after the end of the first game, and it’s now summer
vacation.
While your character is sleeping, two mysterious Yo-kai steal your Yo-kai Watch as well as
your memories of Yo-kai.
But it isn’t long until you rediscover the watch and meet up with both Whisper the Yo-kai
butler and the lovable Jibanyan.
The first few chapters serve as a kind of refresher, both re-introducing you to the
world of Yo-kai and unlocking the various areas of Springdale.
This makes it very easy for newcomers to jump right in as there really aren’t any references
to the first game, just that these characters have met before.
But returning players might have an issue with all this as these story beats can feel
like deja vu.
Much of it feels like speeding through the opening bits of the first game while introducing
the few new elements within Springdale.
Things don’t feel like they truly open up though until the story moves to the new town
of Harrisville.
It’s here that the main thrust of the story is introduced, and it feels much more cohesive
than the original game.
Where that was more episodic in nature as each one featured a new Yo-kai, the sequel
has a story to tell.
Players will learn the history of the Yo-kai Watch while putting a stop to an internal
struggle between the Yo-kai.
It’s simple yet still engaging because the characters are so endearing.
And once again, I find that to be one of Yo-kai Watch 2’s greatest strengths.
You become attached to the characters and everything plays out like it’s a Saturday
morning cartoon; cheesy yet fun.
And there are more Yo-kai to meet than ever in this game with many continuing the silly
puns, toilet humor, and Japanese myths of the original.
They all fit in quite well.
The gameplay is mostly the same with some additions and changes.
Battles consist of six Yo-kai on your team with three out front who fight automatically.
While you don’t have direct control, you can guide the team to target specific enemies,
shift others in battle, and activate their Soultimate moves.
The simple battles can even be sped up so the fights never feel like a chore and the
boss fights can get pretty intense with you managing your team.
Items can also be used to either heal your team or court the enemy Yo-kai to become your
friends.
Unfortunately, this is still one of the areas where I feel the game flounders.
In these types of games, I want every creature on my side as soon as I see them, but in Yo-kai
Watch, you have to figure out what food they prefer through trial and error and even then
hope they decide to join you.
It’s not so bad with the more common Yo-kai, but it’s aggravating when they’re rare.
Fortunately, there are plenty of Yo-kai that join you automatically through the story or
can be obtained through the Crank-a-kai, but it still felt like an annoyance.
Battles have received some changes though, most significantly with the Yo-kai Watch Model
Zero.
With this, your Yo-kai can use Moxie versions of their Soultimate moves, powering them up
immensely.
But this also drains the soul energy of the Yo-kai next to them which could be a problem
considering your team’s strategy.
Then there’s the Poke mechanic which can help Purify your own Yo-kai or reveal the
weak points of bosses.
Both add another layer of strategy and planning to the fights while not necessarily making
them more complicated.
It’s a smart change that leads to potentially different tactics.
Beyond the combat, Yo-kai Watch 2 is stuffed to the brim with content.
Along with sidequests that net you special items and experience for your team, there
are Yo-kai Spots where you search for special Yo-kai that are hiding, the return of bug
collecting and fishing which can be redeemed for items, and Gates of Whimsy, which are
small challenges that lead to a secret reward.
And that’s really only scratching the surface.
If you want to do it all, there’s hours of gameplay here which all interconnects in
such a way that you feel like you’re making progress most of the time.
But I want to emphasize most of the time.
You see, Springdale was already a pretty large city with several districts, forest areas
surrounding it, and even buildings that could be considered dungeons.
But now there’s also three additional towns that, combined, may be even bigger than Springdale,
and that’s without including the ability to travel back and forth in time.
It gives the game a greater scope, but unfortunately highlights one of its biggest issues.
Many of the main quests, and especially the sidequests, involve an inordinate amount of
backtracking.
The game has you running all over town to do one thing and then return to get news about
another task to complete in the opposite direction.
It’s annoying at first, but when trains are introduced, it’s a nightmare.
Unlike trains in other games, Yo-kai Watch 2 doesn’t fade to black and have you arrive
at the destination.
Instead, it shows every single stop, eighteen in total though you’ll only have to suffer
through five or six at most.
But even that is too many as the train sequences either show the characters sitting in silence
as the background passes, a battle occurs, or a nice bit of character interaction.
It’s agonizing watching each and every stop go by and takes way longer than it should.
Warp points do come into play eventually but reaching that point was awful.
And the only reason it seems to be there is for a side quest where you visit each station.
But as I said, the warp points do help and the game rewards exploration almost every
time.
There’s just far too much waiting when it comes to traveling early on.
And yet there’s points where they make simple tasks their own mini-game such as a timing
game to eat your food or a surprisingly tricky rhythm game.
There’s variety here; it’s just spread out over a world that you have to traverse
way too often.
Yo-kai Watch 2 looks good on the 3DS.
While the graphics are mostly the same as the first game, there are visual enhancements
and a surprising amount of detail to the environments.
The map has been improved considerably to be more helpful and the attacks are impressive
and exciting.
It all comes together in a great package and a great mood.
Each town has its own look and it succeeds in capturing the feeling of the Japanese countryside
or just kids enjoying their summer.
The music reflects this pleasant atmosphere with some truly soothing tunes.
And the songs beyond that each capture the mood they’re going for whether exciting
battles or silly pratfalls.
There’s voice acting as well which falls into the Saturday morning cartoon variety.
It’s good, conveying what they need to and going along with the crazy nature of it all.
It really does work.
Yo-kai Watch 2 improves on almost every aspect of the original.
If you’ve never played that one and are curious, this is the game to start with.
For returning fans, once you get past the introductory chapters, everything begins to
click and feel fresh.
But there are still aspects that blight part of the experience for me.
I like the game, but the constant runaround of many of the quests turn me away.
And the difficulty of befriending Yo-kai loses the addictive nature of the experience.
But there’s a lot of good here, and it’s worth checking out if you’re interested.
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