Yo kai watch 3, welcome to america
Ahoy, long time no read I guess. Took me a while to play a few games but I was able to finish one, that one (of course) being Yokai watch 3. Developed by Level-5 and published by Nintendo with the series starting off in Japan in 7/11/13 becoming a big hit and producing 3 other games all on 3ds and a few spin-offs, manga and an anime (one of the few that I can sort of watch, I'm not a big anime fan) with the first one released here in the US in 11/6/15 and after a few years later Yokai watch 3 is released in the US 2/8/19 (just somewhat recently). So is Yokai watch 3 worth picking (chronologically no you should play the first one but you get what I mean) well let's get started.
PLOT (no spoilers)
One day Nate is with his family and his yokai pals, Whisper and Jibanyan, having a meal when Nate's dad breaks the news that they are moving to BBQ (basically the USA) as Nate later makes friends with a resident names Buck and thus go on a few adventures to find aliens. Meanwhile, back in Springdale Hailey, the new girl protagonist who is an anime lover and kpop fan (more specifically Sailor Moon and some Korean pop rip off) and ends up getting the yokai watch by a new faced yokai Usapyon and both start a detective agency after helping out a sad rocket scientist with both stories clashing with each other by story links.
Gameplay
Let's cut to the chase (and stick to the ones that matter), you move with the circle pad interact and with A, run by holding down the b button with the cost of stamina (whoopee -kill me), search locations when your watch turn purple on the top right corner with later compartments as you play the game, those being a drill and a vacuum which both can be changed to do specific things (like for the vacuum having a better change collecting bugs or medal and for the drill making it possible to break through ice or metal blocks) depending on which medals you use,
There is also the d-pad, pushing the top part causes the watch to tell what time it is in-game, turning it to the yokai watch or just get rid of it, the watch can also be upgraded. You start with an E rank but as the game continues you can upgrade it to an S rank which effects how tough the enemy you might encounter in dungeons and in certain locations. Then their is pressing down which activates your bike, but cannot be used in buildings, stairs, and dungeons. Finally, there is pressing left activates the portable mirapo but you need to do a side quest to get this but mark my words it is worth it.
But who cares about all that, let's get to how battles work. Well, for starters you can arrange how your yokai are positioned. If you yokai are next to each other then in battle you will perform combos, if you stick a yokai behind another one then that yokai will be immune to most attacks (I say most since there are some attack that can damage all) there are also two options before starting a battle, those being start battle (obviously) and preparation which gives you a chance to set up your yokai, heal them or fill their soulmeter which in battle can activate their super attack hitting specific areas, healing your team, or inspirit your enemies, where inspirits can cause status effects such as slowing a yokai's speed, decreasing their defense or attack, or increase their speed, attack etc,(purple being bad and yellow being good) and if you get inspirited you can clear the status effect by clicking on purify and playing a quick minigame to earn a clean yokai and some exp to level up. The final 3 are targets, which can pin on a yokai you want to attack specifically and can tell you what is their favorite food, what they are weak to or if you already befriended them. Next is the blaster which once used will cause a roulette to whether you cause damage or a better chance to befriend yokai (note it is only attacking with boss yokai) and finally items which lets you access the foods and medicine you have bought or found on the floor of a bathroom or car. These foods can be thrown at the enemy by pressing y but if you want it thrown at a specific enemy, target then throw, which can improve your chances of befriending them after a battle.
Finally, there are the yokai, obviously, in which each yokai are part of a tribe and if 3 of a yokai of the same tribe are on your team you get a boost such as charming gives you a boost in speed or brave makes you slightly stronger. You can give your yokai equipment and increase their attack, technique (such as fire, ice etc) and soultimate making them stronger.
Cripes, thank goodness that's over. There is more but they are minor to the main game.
Pros
The game is brimming with character and charisma in the main story and side quests, also the side game blasters T is rather fun and can be used to level up yokai and grab some items which can be used in the main game with its own mini story. There is also the dream wheel and crank-a-kai which can be used to try to nab high ranking yokai or gear and items (even if Blasters T makes it pointless) and a great way to make a mini gamble with yourself (I might need help). I also prefer how you make yokai appear when you search for them in certain places that light up from the radar where you just need to shoot them with some sort of energy ball and depletes their invisibility meter until they are revealed to fight them, wherein the previous game you had to move your watch in front of them but made it difficult because the enemy is always moving (unless they have a brain fart and get stuck) and you have to wait until the meter is full but if you lose them the meter depletes. Finally, I enjoy the references from other types of media like "The X Files", "What's your name", "ET" and a few more, oh, and the music is really good, I'm not one to talk about music that often but if feel like this one is worth mentioning.
Cons
Besides Blasters T, the after game content is rather lacking, and once you finish all the side quests then there is nothing else to do, and some of the yokai designs are just reskinned which is very obvious when you see some of the rare yokais needed to unlock some legendary yokai. This last one isn't on the game but finding a copy, seriously it was difficult to look for one in a Gamestop or Bestbuy and my usual locations were no use either so if you are interested, use Amazon.
Highlights
One time I was just minding my own business and returned to the neighborhood my house was in when I think a yokai was messing with my game, because everything but the street and NPCs were nothing but textureless blobs, the trees, cars, building, even the electric poles and fire hydrants were just polygons and from time to time they flickered green and red,
For those who might have played the game, you must know about Sighborg Y a rather difficult yokai to find, well not in my playthrough where I somehow got him on my first try, I was surprised since my luck with this game is as good as ET for the Atari 2600
Verdict
So, after finally finishing a review after finally getting my lazy ass to finish it, is the game worth looking a copy for...
Absolutely
This game is fun from beginning to end and is unique enough to stand on its own. It is just a shame that this series gets compared to pokemon and apparently is not doing so hotly here in the states, which is a shame since I feel like this game should get some more love, especially with the effort put in. Who knows maybe this review might do something, but it's unlikely, still, I'm glad there is a fourth game coming and it looks good, aside from the phallic slimamander, Hopes this series gets much love, thanks for reading.
