I reviewed the original Yo-Kai Watch game which released on the 3DS in 2015. I haven’t touched the sequel, but one of our Patreon supporters wanted us to cover this entry. It’s a fun but morally flawed game very similar to the likes of Pokémon. While Pokémon focuses on catching monsters, Yo-Kai Watch revolves around catching spirits that are only visible with the help of the special watch.

There are two characters with these watches and they live on opposite sides of the world. You can rename the characters, but their default names are Nathan Adams and Hailey Anne Thomas. Their stories intertwine and you’ll get to switch between them quite often. Yo-Kai Watch 3 begins with a UFO crash landing in a town called St. Peanutsburg, which resides in a country called BBQ. After moving into the area, Nathan befriends a boy named Buck and they go off on many adventures together looking for the recently crashed UFO. Buck, like many of the BBQ residents, has a southern drawl. Agents Folly and Blunder from the FBY are investigating the crash and will often bump into these kids during their mission.

Hailey lives in Springdale with her Yo-Kai friend Usapyon. Her story arc begins with trying to reunite Usapyon with his rocket scientist caretaker. Apparently, the space mission he was on wasn’t successful. Once that story is concluded, Hailey starts a detective agency and helps humans and Yo-Kai alike.

Even though Hailey and Nathan are many miles apart, they have something that binds their stories together. There’s a popular magazine that covers the latest paranormal events and it’s called ‘Fancy That.’ The main characters unlock story events for each other when they discover and read these magazines. Yo-kai from around the world can chat with each other through a phone app called Yo-Kai Net. Both Hailey’s and Nathan’s Yo-Kai are pretty active on it. Later in the game, the main characters and all of their belongings and Yo-Kai will be united.

The 3X3 grid battle system is the same for both characters, but there are several differences between them. For example, Nathan can go fishing while Hailey catches bugs instead. Both characters can get access to bicycles to speed up their movement, but the Mirapo warp network is much faster. Hailey has the ability to ride the train, but you have to keep track of the different lines and it can be a bit cumbersome.

Each character has a different stealth game that randomly sucks them in. Nathan sometimes gets dragged into Zombie Night where he is equipped with a hammer and can bonk zombies from behind. His goal is to locate the bell and ring it in order to clear the area from the zombie infestation. If he fails, he’ll wake up in the morning without recalling the experience. Haily’s stealth event is called Terror Time and it can be triggered day or night. Her goal is to locate the key and unlock the gate without being detected by any of the minions roaming about. If she is spotted, the minions will chase her and alert the boss which is difficult to beat. Unlike Zombie Night, Hailey is defenseless. Failure will result in her waking up in her bed not sure of how she got there.

There are many Yo-Kai to collect and do battle against. If you best them in battle, they may offer to befriend you and offer their token so you can summon them if needed. Yo-Kai have different abilities, weaknesses, and factions. If you equip multiple Yo-Kai from the same tribe, they’ll get a power boost. You can have six Yo-Kai in your battle party with only three being able to fight at a time. I like to have a fighter, a buffer, and a healer in my active party whenever possible.

In battle Yo-Kai will automatically attack. They will also charge up their powerful special moves, so be sure to keep an eye on it and use them when they’re available. To activate the special power, you’ll need to complete a mini game of spinning a swirl on the lower 3DS screen (make sure you have a screen protector on!), tapping orange bubbles as they appear (whack-a-mole style), or a slot machine-like game. Enemies will attack and weaken your Yo-Kai. In order to restore them to normal, you’ll have to cleanse them by completing mini-games. There’s a spinning swirl one again; you’ll also have to remove multiple talisman by peeling the bent corners, or slicing the weakest chain links on multiple chains at a time. You can swap out Yo-Kai at any time, but offering food to friends or foes has a cool down period. If you offer an enemy Yo-Kai a treat they like, they may offer to join your team after battle.

There are many places to search for Yo-Kai. Be sure to look under cars, vending machines, by fire hydrants, as well as up trees and telephone poles. In order to see higher level Yo-Kai, you’ll need to have your watch upgraded a few times. If Yo-Kai are not around, you may find other useful items, so it’s always worth looking in every nook and cranny.

There’s a dungeon exploring mode that has many Yo-Kai and loot available. The dungeons have recommended levels and in order to meet those expectations you have to explore with an online friend. Hopefully you can find someone to play with as it's hard to progress playing solo.

Adults may want to think twice about the lessons that this game teaches. On a positive note, I like how Yo-Kai Watch encourages honesty and following traffic signals, but it teaches a bunch of other things that makes me want to keep it out of young children’s hands. Some of the story quests involve breaking and entering into buildings at night. Besides encouraging breaking the law, there are many occult references including Yo-Kai possessing people or influencing them to do things out of character. Lastly, there is some minor language as one of the characters says "hell".

If you enjoyed previous Yo-Kai entries or Pokémon games, Yo-Kai Watch 3 is a pretty solid game. It’s a shame that it’s crazy expensive online. However, if you happen to spot it at a garage sale or for a reasonable price anywhere, it’s definitely worth picking up.