
She finds her own Yo-Kai Watch and the duo go on to form their very own Detective Pikachu-aping agency. With long-time protagonist Nate moving to the United States when his dad gets a new job, we’re then whisked back to Japan to follow the exploits of one Hailey-Anne, an otaku girl who stumbles upon space-faring Yo-Kai, Usapyon.
#Yokai watch 3 zombie quest series
It’s a fun way to earn an advantage in the battle to come, and a stark reminder of just how uninvolved combat was in those first two games.įor the first time, the series also introduces a second hero to the mix. For instance, when you press ‘Y’ and enter Search mode when a Yo-Kai is nearby, you’ll need to press ‘L’ and ‘R’ to fire bursts of energy to drain a health bar to zero (while shooting down projectiles flung in your direction). Level-5 has clearly listened to fan feedback from Yo-Kai Watch and Yo-Kai Watch 2 and included plenty of extra mini-games and ways to keep you involved in the action. Enemies will also drop orbs of various kinds, so you can periodically move your monsters around to collect them. It’s a mechanic that adds some much-needed extra agency to each battle, and constantly requires you to think one move or more ahead like a slightly violent game of chess. Stacking them behind one another will not provide any sort of boost, but it will enable you to shield the monster at the back from damage (at the cost of reducing the XP the protected creature earns). Having two friendly Yo-Kai next to one another will link them up, which will buff their stats and make them stronger as a team as a result. As well as requiring you to have your Yo-Kai lined up so they’re facing an opponent in each channel of the grid, formations now have a significant impact on the course of each battle. However, now there’s a Tactics Medal Board on the bottom screen. Combat, when initiated, is still an automated affair where your squad of Yo-Kai will unleash basic attacks under their own volition until they or their opponents collapse from exhaustion. So let’s talk some of the big changes Level-5 has introduced to spice things up this time around. On the other hand, if you love that moreish Pokémon formula but have yet to give the Yo-Kai franchise a go, this is a perfect entry with which to start. Peanutsburg (complete with its own ‘Merican Yo-Kai) – from a top-down perspective, collect said monsters and level them up as you go. You’ll explore a variety of new locales – including the Japanese-inspired Springdale and the American-esque St. If you’ve played any of the games before, that core mix of exploration, automated battles and mini-games are here, all coated in that familiar cutesy aesthetic that makes it so popular with players of all ages. When you mix in an improved battle system, the inclusion of a second hero and storyline and all manner of new Yo-Kai, the end result is a triumphant last hurrah for one of the platform’s most beloved series. Of course, we western fans have always had to wait a little bit longer than our counterparts in the East – a good two-and-a-half years in this case – but the wait has always been worth it, and Yo-Kai Watch 3 is no exception.Ĭombining the three versions released in Japan in 2016 – Tempura, Sushi and Sukiyaki – this complete iteration of the game gathers all of the exclusive Yo-Kai together into one tasty package, as well as adding in a special 'Blasters' mode you could only access in the Sukiyaki version. While it’s never quite reached the levels of superstardom enjoyed by Pokémon and other Japanese-centric monster-collecting RPGs (well, not consistently anyway), the Yo-Kai Watch series has remained one of the best handheld franchises to ever grace the seemingly immortal Nintendo 3DS.
