Friday, April 22, 2016

Yo-Kai Watch Review

Yo-Kai Watch
A Gaming Review by Ben Flygare


As a fan of many Japanese RPGs, culture, and monster collecting games, when I heard about Yo-Kai Watch and it’s popularity in Japan I was praying for years for a Western release. Well, in November 2015 my wish finally had come true and I was able to get my hands on this fabled game.
Yo-Kai Watch runs in the same vein as other monster collecting games such as the Pokemon series and others like that. What sets it apart is that the “Yo-kai” you meet throughout the game are based on actual Japanese myths, legends, monsters, and spirits that are prevalent in the culture’s spiritual history. Obviously some do not follow this rule but for the most part as you collect you can learn a little bit more of Japan’s myths.

The story follows two main characters depending on the gender you choose. Nate is a young elementary school boy and Katie is his female counterpart. While collecting insects for their school assignment during the summer, the main character is outdone by their classmates and friends who are collecting bigger, better, and more insects. Not to be left by the wayside, the character searches the forest by the local temple for the best insects. While exploring the forest he meets Whisper, the first of many Yo-Kai he will befriend. With the help of Whisper and the other Yo-Kai, Nate and Katie help people throughout the city with problems associated with (and more often caused by) Yo-Kai.

There were many things about the game that I loved and enjoyed. The first and foremost is the soundtrack. The songs are very light hearted, catchy and have an almost “mystical” sound to them and I would often find myself humming and whistling along to the tunes. Another plus is what I had mentioned earlier and that being the roster of Yo-Kai that are available. I knew from the beginning that I would be building a team based on samurai and banchous because of my fascination with them. The designs are not only based on tradition but some of them were so silly that it just made the game fun (I’m looking at you Cheeksqueak). The dialogue of the game was another highlight and made the actual story fun and made me eager to keep going. The banter between the main character and Whisper was always delightful and, more often than not, quite unexpected with where it went.

The battle system was the hardest for me to get used to. Being a fan of Pokemon and other RPGs of that like, I was expecting the battle to run similar. What you get instead is almost a “coach” kind of role instead of a “controller.” Instead of picking what your Yo-Kai do in battle they do it themselves and you remain behind the scenes making sure you keep up with their health with items and doing special moves called, “Soultimate” moves. You can, however, do things that pull the battle into a way you want. Your Yo-Kai have a few different things they do that include attacking, defending, lazing around, healing and what is called “inspiriting” that is a debuff that they inflict on the enemy Yo-Kai to prevent them from attacking. Another option on the battle chart is “Purify” which gets rid of the “Inspirit” debuff.  You can change your Yo-Kai’s personality and attitude to make them more prone to a certain pattern such as changing their personality to “Grouchy” or “Rough” will make them more prone to attack more than another.

Yo-Kai watch has been a very enjoyable and fun ride that I would recommend to anyone who wants a game that will be light and fun throughout.

Ben Score: 9/10

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