the Yo-Kai Watch series from Level 5 got written off by so many gamers - especially in the West - as just another “Pokémon ripoff,” when in reality, it’s one of the most charming, funny, and uniquely creative RPG franchises out there.
i mean yeah, it’s easy to assume Yo-Kai Watch was designed to ride Pokémon’s coattails. You’ve got a young kid, they befriend supernatural creatures, those creatures help them solve problems or fight other creatures. It even launched with toys and an anime, like Pokémon. But this shitty surface comparison misses the heart of what makes Yo-Kai Watch special; and anyway, if you want to cite superficial, genre-based similarities as a sufficient reason to not try a game out, you could probably apply that same wobbly logic to many other beloved franchises
when Nintendo brought Yo-Kai Watch to the West, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The first game launched on 3DS in 2015 — right at the tail end of the system’s golden age and just before the Pokémon franchise hit full mainstream saturation again with Sun & Moon and Pokémon Go.
Combine that with a localization that struggled to translate the very Japan-specific charm and humor, and the game was basically fucking sent to die overseas. Didn’t help that Hasbro bungled the toyline by failing to communicate which stores the collectible medals were being shipped to and when, making finding them a crapshoot for collectors.
It ALSO didn’t help that marketing leaned so heavily into the “it’s the next Pokémon!” narrative, which raised expectations to impossible heights (and also made Pokemon fans defensive and avoidant of the series on principle). People wanted battles with deep strategy and tournament-ready meta, but Yo-Kai Watch was always more about vibe, humor, and light social satire.
Yo-Kai Watch deserves a second chance, especially with the rise of “Pokemon-likes” like Cassette Beasts, Dokimon, Dragon Quest Monsters, SMT/Persona, Monster Hunter Stories 2 and Palworld
Real. The yokai watch games are easily among the best on the 3DS in terms of music, graphics, gameplay, humor, everything. I played 1 just because I’ve been going through the entire hshop and I got blown away by how much better it is than Pokemon in every way except battles (which Pokemon games aren’t good at either tbh. Showdown is the only bearable way to play competitively). I of course played 2 and 3 right afterward and the high quality is consistent. Yeah people are always comparing every creature collector to Pokemon, but in this case yokai watch is the obvious winner; it’s no contest.
These games are long as hell too. I know gamers are tired of hundred-hour RPGs but on the 3DS, it’s an anomaly. It’s kinda shocking how you can spend thirty hours on yw3 and still have your team at level 10. And I don’t mean that in a bad way! These games have meandering Yakuza-like stories that are really charming throughout. I think the posters here would appreciate the gabbaghouls