Yo-Kai Wednesday #1 · 3:58pm Nov 11th, 2015
Now beginning my weekly blog series on Level-5's 3DS smash hit Youkai Watch!
These blogs will be divided into a section containing my thoughts on the game, and a gameplay blog section written from the main character's perspective as a diary entry.
Moth's Thoughts:
So I'm two "episodes" into Youkai Watch so far, and I'm definitely enjoying it. I'd be a lot farther in if I wasn't spending 80% of my time lately binge-watching Detective Conan to get caught up.
The game's flow is very different from Pokemon. Large portions of the gameplay consist of running around town examining trees, flowerbeds, behind vending machines, and the undersides of cars for random items lying around, bugs you can catch, and of course Youkai.
One of the biggest complaints from people expecting Youkai Watch to be like Pokemon is the battle system. The battle system in Youkai Watch is 90% AI-driven. Three of your Youkai are in battle against the enemy at any given time. Youkai attack, inspirit, and otherwise act independently. You, the player, have control over the following elements of battle:
- Your Youkai are set on a wheel that can be rotated using the touch screen. You rotate the wheel to move Youkai in and out of battle.
- Use of items on either your own Youkai or the enemy.
- "Pinning" a target for your Youkai to focus their attacks on.
- Use of "Soultimate" moves. These are special super moves that Youkai can use when a charge meter fills up. In order to activate them, you play a short minigame on the touch screen that's randomly chosen from a set of about 3-5 minigames. (I use the term 'minigame' VERY loosely here.)
- "Purify" Youkai that have been inspirited by enemies. This works exactly like Soultimate, except it has a slightly different set of minigames, and you have to rotate the Youkai out of battle first.
Battles in Youkai Watch move fast.
That aside, the main appeal of Youkai Watch isn't its gameplay (which there is NOTHING wrong with), but its setting, story, and characters. The story of Youkai Watch is extremely slice-of-life, and largely consists of you, the player, helping people overcome life's little annoyances, which are almost entirely caused by mischievous or negligent Youkai. If you've been watching the anime, you already pretty much know how the actual game looks and feels.
For the purposes of my Youkai Watch gameplay blogs, each week will cover one episode of the game's plot, regardless of my actual progress in the game.
Katie's Summer Diary #2
Whisper followed me home from the shrine. I'm really creeped out about that...
What made it even worse is when I found out Whisper likes making really bad puns.
Whisper insists on living with me for a while...I don't guess there's anything I can do about that, but Mom and Dad are gonna...
Wait...what's wrong with Mom and Dad? They're fighting!
They're always like this lately...
Whisper tells me that there's a Youkai in the house and it might be the cause of their fighting! I check the Youkai Watch and he's right! There's a Youkai in my house! Her name is Dismarelda, and she's a nasty one! She has a bad attitude and she's really stuck up!
Cadin tries to fight her, but she puts him down in one shot! Now what do I do?
Whisper says that I need to make some more Youkai friends before I can get Dismarelda out of my house! In order to do that I have to wander around town searching for Youkai and battling them! It isn't easy...
While I'm looking for Youkai, I pass by a new shop that opened, Jungle Hunter. I've heard rumors about this place, so I decide to check it out. They buy and trade fish and bugs people catch! I'm sure carrying around a lot of bugs...
I decide to sell most of the bugs I caught today, and make a ton of money! Of course, that sets my bug project back by a lot...
After I befriended a few more Youkai, Whisper suddenly said that while I have more Youkai friends, I need really strong Youkai friends to deal with Dismarelda. He also pointed out that there seemed to be some kind of commotion over by the fish market. I headed over there and found out that the dangerous intersection people are always complaining about is swarming with cats! The Youkai Watch started going nuts...
There's a Youkai hanging out at the intersection! It's a really cute two-tailed kitty-cat who calls himself Jibanyan. He's the spirit of a cat that was run over by a truck. When he died, his owner, Amy, said that getting hit by a truck was so lame. Ever since then, Jibanyan has been trying to make himself stronger by fighting the trucks that cross the intersection. Other Youkai have been making fun of him, and a gang of bad Youkai stole the only photo of Amy he has to remember her by! How mean!
I went into the alley behind the fish market where the bad Youkai hang out, and found out that a delinquent named Roughraff stole Jibanyan's photo. I called on my Youkai friends to beat the pompadour out of him and get the picture back. After the fight, I ran into this weird detective dude who can see Youkai and wanted to make me a deputy to help with Youkai crimes!
I guess that's cool and all, but right now I have more important things to worry about, like giving Jibanyan his photo back...and getting Dismarelda out of my house!
Jibanyan was overjoyed to get his photo back, and gave me his Youkai Medal. Awesome! Now I have lots of Youkai friends that can help me get rid of that pest Dismarelda!
As soon as I'm back home, I ask Dismarelda to leave again, but she refuses, so I summon Jibanyan! His introduction would've been more impressive if he hadn't knocked his noggin on the ceiling. Still, he's spoiling for a fight, so Jibanyan and my other Youkai friends team up to take on Dismarelda!
It's a tough battle, but my new Youkai friends win! The defeated Dismarelda realizes she's overstayed her welcome. Just then, another Youkai appears: Happierre, Dismarelda's overly-cheerful hubby! He cleanses my parents of Dismarelda's influence, then the weird blob-Youkai couple leave. But first, Dismarela gives me her Youkai Medal!
My parents make up and get all lovey-dovey, then we all make dinner together. Everything's back to normal!
...except I still have to deal with all this weird Youkai stuff. And I still haven't finished my summer homework!
Bugs Collected:
Brown Cicada x1
Flower Scarab x1
Green Cicada x12
Green Cicada (Rare!) x1
Ladybug x1
Locust x1
Long Horn x3
Long Horn (Rare!) x1
Swallowtail x1
Youkai Medals Collected:
Coughkoff, Dimmy, Dismarelda (no filter!), Dulluma, Jibanyan, Negatibuzz
Thanks for getting me interested in Yo-kai Watch. I plan to watch the anime and possibly get the game for 3DS.