Until Smash comes out BUT STILL
I finished this game the other day. I must say, I am extremely impressed with this title. Level 5 truly is one of the best if not the best JRPG developer in the past ten years. This is a stand-out title for them, and one of the best on the 3DS.
You may have heard about Youkai/Yokai/Yo-kai Watch 2 recently as the game has nearly sold two million copies in Japan in just a matter of weeks. Quite incredible for a franchise that didn't even exist until last year. But what is it? Is it a Pokemon ripoff? Why has Japan gone crazy for it? Why does this song have 20 million views? Let me break down some of the most resonating aspects of the game.
Youkai: Youkai are your dudes you collect. There's almost 400 of them. Not quite Pokemon numbers, but good for the first game. Some are blatant pallette swaps, but many of them have very interesting and unique designs. Many of them are based on Japanese folklore, but there are some really creative ones as well. Youkai are basically ghosts that have some effect on humans when they are around. One youkai causes the person it possesses to gossip relentlessly, another makes a person forget things, another steals your remote, another makes you want to stay in all day and do nothing etc. This concept makes for some amusing quests. The designs can be a mixed bag, but there are a lot I like. Especially the cats, I can't get enough of those guys (I used Jibanyan the entire game).
There are eight types. Pretty, Creepy, Strange, Isamashi, Gouketsu, Nyororon, Usurakage (hazy shadow?), and Pokapoka (soothing?). I don't know how to translate these things, don't ask. There is no super effective chart, their types kind of relate to how they operate. Pretty youkai are normally fast, gouketsu have high defense, pokapoka mostly are support based etc. There is elemental magic which has some type chart thing going on, but I mostly didn't focus on magic. Each youkai has a personality, which is similar to natures in Pokemon. Their personality gives a growth buff when leveling up, so you can min/max to your heart's content. There is also a place that can buff your stats while subtracting another, so you can get really specific if you are hardcore.
There's a variety of ways to get these guys. When battling them, you can give them food and they may join you. Or you can get some out of the gasha machine. Or you can fuse them. Or evolve current youkai. Or get some in quests. There are also "legend" youkai that you can get once you get eight or so specific youkai to unlock them. Exclusivity is kind of a pain though. Some youkai require a YW1 save, and some require a digital download, others require you to scan QR codes etc. Only the most dedicated will catch them all.
Oh also, any youkai you have can follow you around on the screen HOW AWESOME
Battle: So this is like Pokemon right? WRONG. I would say it's more akin to Dragon Quest Monsters. You can have six active youkai on a team, with three of them in battle. Battles are not turnbased, and you don't issue commands. What? So what do you do? Battles are largely automated. Each youkai has a standard attack, a defensive and offensive magic skill. They will use these accordingly based on what's happening in the battle. So what do you do? Each youkai has a super attack that you can unleash. These range, but typically give big buffs, hit multiple enemies, or do a lot of damage on one enemy. When you activate the skill you have to play some minigame to charge up your youkai before he can attack. Another interesting thing is that you can switch your youkai out at any time by pressing L and R and they will shift over. There is some strategy in this, because they are in a set order so you have to think about who you place your youkai next to. If you put one next to the same type, they can get a buff. There is also a G-Skill that I barely used, I think you can focus other teammate's skill powers into one youkai. Whatever. High level battles focus on when you use your skill, your youkai alignment, your min/maxing of stats, and switching in and out.
The game is very easy, but bosses can be challenging, especially the last boss who could be the final boss of a Dragon Quest game. If you want a challenge, you can go to the Sports Club for some Battle Tower-esque fights or get wrecked online.
Also there are NO RANDOM BATTLES every enemy is on the screen OR you search for them in the trees or under cars (it makes sense trust me).
Setting: The game takes place in modern day Japan. It mostly takes place in one city, with two other towns you can visit. It is pure Japanese culture fanservice. You could describe it as an idyllic take on how a kid would see his summer vacation in Japan. It really feels like you have a small Japanese city in your pocket. There is so much rich detail to every building and place you visit. The interiors in this game are truly incredible and filled with minute details. You can also.. GO INTO THE PAST. This provides even more culture fanservice, as you can see everything how it was 60 years ago. You might like this if you are into retro post-war aesthetics. There are many places to visit. Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, farmlands, coastal towns, a large downtown, a giant Skytree-esque tower, school, cram school, your friend's house, hell, heaven, the youkai world, sewers, caves, ancient battlefields, abandoned tunnels, train stations, snack bars, convenience stores, secret forest hideouts, and more. Did I mention you can go back in time? YOU CAN GO BACK IN TIME.
Exploration: Even though the game mostly takes place in a single area, the game is quite large when it comes to hidden secrets, places to go, things to buy, and areas to explore. You know all those open world games that take place in a single city yet everything is just window dressing? Youkai Watch 2 is not one of those games. There is just so much in each area that I was amazed to see some of the places I skipped and stumbled upon by accident. Not to mention that some things regenerate daily, like treasure chests, so even when stomping through old areas you can still find something new and interesting. Even now that I'm in the post game, there are still so many new areas to discover.
Story: Youkai Watch 2 has a pretty unique story. The beginning is basically just a kid enjoying his summer vacation, and your first few major quests aren't about saving the world or anything like that at all. Eventually you start to discover the origins of the Youkai Watch, and yes, some bad guys show up and you have a big fight blah blah blah. Even so, the story is quite interesting and funny. I thought the origins of the Youkai Watch was actually quite cool and not what I expected. Though shit hits the fan later in the game, it has more of a light-hearted story than you would expect in an RPG.
Characters: You can be a boy... OR A GIRL. I'm almost certain each one has their own unique personality as they are not silent protagonists. You can even visit the other protag's home and have some quests with them. They even have their own set of different parents. Whisper, a prototypical white ghost, is your "butler" who gives you advice and is your right hand man. He is hilarious, I love his voice. There is also Jibanyan, who is the Pikachu of the series. Even if you don't use him on your team he is still part of the story. He is also quite funny. He was run over by a car and became a ghost. Since then, he spends his time eating chocolate bars and idolizing over a pop group (NyaKB). He is so relatable. In the past, there's Keizou, a boy obsessed with hero comics, and Fuunyan, a superhero cat. There are a lot of characters in this game, and all of them are pretty memorable in their own way. Many of your sidequests come from your classmates as they have their own goofy adventures.
Content: This game is PACKED with so many things to do. It took me 37 hours to beat the main quest, and I didn't even do all the sidequests. ALSO there is a lot of postgame content that has blown my mind. Not quite secret Kanto, but still very good stuff. There are your typical "go here and do this sidequest" but also some other ones that don't have journal entries and markers that feel more old school. Besides battling and doing story quests, you can have bike races, have daily battles against special youkai, use the gasha machine that gives you cool things, play this insanely hard MGS-esque mode where you hide from a giant demon that randomly attacks you at night, climb a flagpole, watch cool summon animations, listen to music, run through an SMT-esque dungeon, solve riddles, find hiding youkai in the overworld, hunt criminal youkai, battle and trade online, check the weather, collect pop star cards, do eight billion sidequests etc. The sidequests are actually quite entertaining because many of them come from your classmates with their own personalities.
Random stuff: This game is 3D even in the overworld. You take your shoes off when you go into someone's house. A monster randomly attacks you at night time and it is the scariest thing ever I'm talking Nemesis shit here. Great graphics. There's a youkai with an ass for a face. Japanese Miiverse is super awesome. There are two moments where you control someone else besides the main character and they are amazing.
The game is not perfect. For one, sometimes the youkai are just too hard to get. Even if you give them food they like, they still might not join you and just waste your time and money. Also the warping is a bit messy. There are these eyes that save and work kind of like a Pokemon PC where you can transfer your team. But then later you get these mirrors that warp you. However you have to manually go to each mirror to open the warp point. Why couldn't the eyes be the warp point? Most warp points have an eye right next to them anyways. Also the game is quite easy, but the final boss is ridiculously tough. It has to be the biggest difficulty spike I've seen in a game (still only took me two tries). Also I never played Youkai Watch 1, and since 2 came out only a year later, I am guessing my enjoyment of this game is because I don't know what they rehashed from the first.
If you can read some Japanese, I highly, HIGHLY recommend this game. I have already put in 40 hours and I'm nowhere near burnt out. If you live in America... pray.
tldr
Awesome overworld
Interesting battle system
Youkai are creative
Great graphics
NyaKB
Insane amount of things to do
Has two of the most random cameos I've ever seen
Also the show is quite funny. I leave you with a pic of Whipser as Will Smith and Jibanyan as Leonardo Dicaprio.
I finished this game the other day. I must say, I am extremely impressed with this title. Level 5 truly is one of the best if not the best JRPG developer in the past ten years. This is a stand-out title for them, and one of the best on the 3DS.
You may have heard about Youkai/Yokai/Yo-kai Watch 2 recently as the game has nearly sold two million copies in Japan in just a matter of weeks. Quite incredible for a franchise that didn't even exist until last year. But what is it? Is it a Pokemon ripoff? Why has Japan gone crazy for it? Why does this song have 20 million views? Let me break down some of the most resonating aspects of the game.
Youkai: Youkai are your dudes you collect. There's almost 400 of them. Not quite Pokemon numbers, but good for the first game. Some are blatant pallette swaps, but many of them have very interesting and unique designs. Many of them are based on Japanese folklore, but there are some really creative ones as well. Youkai are basically ghosts that have some effect on humans when they are around. One youkai causes the person it possesses to gossip relentlessly, another makes a person forget things, another steals your remote, another makes you want to stay in all day and do nothing etc. This concept makes for some amusing quests. The designs can be a mixed bag, but there are a lot I like. Especially the cats, I can't get enough of those guys (I used Jibanyan the entire game).
There are eight types. Pretty, Creepy, Strange, Isamashi, Gouketsu, Nyororon, Usurakage (hazy shadow?), and Pokapoka (soothing?). I don't know how to translate these things, don't ask. There is no super effective chart, their types kind of relate to how they operate. Pretty youkai are normally fast, gouketsu have high defense, pokapoka mostly are support based etc. There is elemental magic which has some type chart thing going on, but I mostly didn't focus on magic. Each youkai has a personality, which is similar to natures in Pokemon. Their personality gives a growth buff when leveling up, so you can min/max to your heart's content. There is also a place that can buff your stats while subtracting another, so you can get really specific if you are hardcore.
There's a variety of ways to get these guys. When battling them, you can give them food and they may join you. Or you can get some out of the gasha machine. Or you can fuse them. Or evolve current youkai. Or get some in quests. There are also "legend" youkai that you can get once you get eight or so specific youkai to unlock them. Exclusivity is kind of a pain though. Some youkai require a YW1 save, and some require a digital download, others require you to scan QR codes etc. Only the most dedicated will catch them all.
Oh also, any youkai you have can follow you around on the screen HOW AWESOME
Battle: So this is like Pokemon right? WRONG. I would say it's more akin to Dragon Quest Monsters. You can have six active youkai on a team, with three of them in battle. Battles are not turnbased, and you don't issue commands. What? So what do you do? Battles are largely automated. Each youkai has a standard attack, a defensive and offensive magic skill. They will use these accordingly based on what's happening in the battle. So what do you do? Each youkai has a super attack that you can unleash. These range, but typically give big buffs, hit multiple enemies, or do a lot of damage on one enemy. When you activate the skill you have to play some minigame to charge up your youkai before he can attack. Another interesting thing is that you can switch your youkai out at any time by pressing L and R and they will shift over. There is some strategy in this, because they are in a set order so you have to think about who you place your youkai next to. If you put one next to the same type, they can get a buff. There is also a G-Skill that I barely used, I think you can focus other teammate's skill powers into one youkai. Whatever. High level battles focus on when you use your skill, your youkai alignment, your min/maxing of stats, and switching in and out.
The game is very easy, but bosses can be challenging, especially the last boss who could be the final boss of a Dragon Quest game. If you want a challenge, you can go to the Sports Club for some Battle Tower-esque fights or get wrecked online.
Also there are NO RANDOM BATTLES every enemy is on the screen OR you search for them in the trees or under cars (it makes sense trust me).
Setting: The game takes place in modern day Japan. It mostly takes place in one city, with two other towns you can visit. It is pure Japanese culture fanservice. You could describe it as an idyllic take on how a kid would see his summer vacation in Japan. It really feels like you have a small Japanese city in your pocket. There is so much rich detail to every building and place you visit. The interiors in this game are truly incredible and filled with minute details. You can also.. GO INTO THE PAST. This provides even more culture fanservice, as you can see everything how it was 60 years ago. You might like this if you are into retro post-war aesthetics. There are many places to visit. Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, farmlands, coastal towns, a large downtown, a giant Skytree-esque tower, school, cram school, your friend's house, hell, heaven, the youkai world, sewers, caves, ancient battlefields, abandoned tunnels, train stations, snack bars, convenience stores, secret forest hideouts, and more. Did I mention you can go back in time? YOU CAN GO BACK IN TIME.
Exploration: Even though the game mostly takes place in a single area, the game is quite large when it comes to hidden secrets, places to go, things to buy, and areas to explore. You know all those open world games that take place in a single city yet everything is just window dressing? Youkai Watch 2 is not one of those games. There is just so much in each area that I was amazed to see some of the places I skipped and stumbled upon by accident. Not to mention that some things regenerate daily, like treasure chests, so even when stomping through old areas you can still find something new and interesting. Even now that I'm in the post game, there are still so many new areas to discover.
Story: Youkai Watch 2 has a pretty unique story. The beginning is basically just a kid enjoying his summer vacation, and your first few major quests aren't about saving the world or anything like that at all. Eventually you start to discover the origins of the Youkai Watch, and yes, some bad guys show up and you have a big fight blah blah blah. Even so, the story is quite interesting and funny. I thought the origins of the Youkai Watch was actually quite cool and not what I expected. Though shit hits the fan later in the game, it has more of a light-hearted story than you would expect in an RPG.
Characters: You can be a boy... OR A GIRL. I'm almost certain each one has their own unique personality as they are not silent protagonists. You can even visit the other protag's home and have some quests with them. They even have their own set of different parents. Whisper, a prototypical white ghost, is your "butler" who gives you advice and is your right hand man. He is hilarious, I love his voice. There is also Jibanyan, who is the Pikachu of the series. Even if you don't use him on your team he is still part of the story. He is also quite funny. He was run over by a car and became a ghost. Since then, he spends his time eating chocolate bars and idolizing over a pop group (NyaKB). He is so relatable. In the past, there's Keizou, a boy obsessed with hero comics, and Fuunyan, a superhero cat. There are a lot of characters in this game, and all of them are pretty memorable in their own way. Many of your sidequests come from your classmates as they have their own goofy adventures.
Content: This game is PACKED with so many things to do. It took me 37 hours to beat the main quest, and I didn't even do all the sidequests. ALSO there is a lot of postgame content that has blown my mind. Not quite secret Kanto, but still very good stuff. There are your typical "go here and do this sidequest" but also some other ones that don't have journal entries and markers that feel more old school. Besides battling and doing story quests, you can have bike races, have daily battles against special youkai, use the gasha machine that gives you cool things, play this insanely hard MGS-esque mode where you hide from a giant demon that randomly attacks you at night, climb a flagpole, watch cool summon animations, listen to music, run through an SMT-esque dungeon, solve riddles, find hiding youkai in the overworld, hunt criminal youkai, battle and trade online, check the weather, collect pop star cards, do eight billion sidequests etc. The sidequests are actually quite entertaining because many of them come from your classmates with their own personalities.
Random stuff: This game is 3D even in the overworld. You take your shoes off when you go into someone's house. A monster randomly attacks you at night time and it is the scariest thing ever I'm talking Nemesis shit here. Great graphics. There's a youkai with an ass for a face. Japanese Miiverse is super awesome. There are two moments where you control someone else besides the main character and they are amazing.
The game is not perfect. For one, sometimes the youkai are just too hard to get. Even if you give them food they like, they still might not join you and just waste your time and money. Also the warping is a bit messy. There are these eyes that save and work kind of like a Pokemon PC where you can transfer your team. But then later you get these mirrors that warp you. However you have to manually go to each mirror to open the warp point. Why couldn't the eyes be the warp point? Most warp points have an eye right next to them anyways. Also the game is quite easy, but the final boss is ridiculously tough. It has to be the biggest difficulty spike I've seen in a game (still only took me two tries). Also I never played Youkai Watch 1, and since 2 came out only a year later, I am guessing my enjoyment of this game is because I don't know what they rehashed from the first.
If you can read some Japanese, I highly, HIGHLY recommend this game. I have already put in 40 hours and I'm nowhere near burnt out. If you live in America... pray.
tldr
Awesome overworld
Interesting battle system
Youkai are creative
Great graphics
NyaKB
Insane amount of things to do
Has two of the most random cameos I've ever seen
Also the show is quite funny. I leave you with a pic of Whipser as Will Smith and Jibanyan as Leonardo Dicaprio.
