Sometimes we kind of wish we lived in Japan. Not only do they get cat cafes, immense Pokemon Centre stores and the most amazing looking Disneyland ever, but they also get oodles of interesting games well before the rest of the world, if we even get them at all. Whether it's the tale of washed up superhero Captain Rainbow, internet-darling Earthbound sequel Mother 3, or the 3DS remakes of Dragon Quest VII (and now VIII), there's so many games we'd pick up in a heartbeat if they came over here - if only. Every once in a while though, a game which we'd previously given up hope of seeing over here makes it's way out of Japan - first 3DS life-sim-come-role-playing-game Fantasy Life, and now Pokemon-alike and Japanese sensation, Yo-kai Watch, revealed at Nintendo's E3 Direct a few days ago.
Yup. Mrs. Popular - that's me.
Probably best summed up as the Professor Layton studio's take on Pokemon (you can see why it's a must buy, right?), the titular Yo-kai are small, invisible beings that are everywhere. Sometimes cute, sometimes a bit creepy, and often mischievous, they can cause all sorts of weirdness for the humans that live around them. Whether it's having an argument with a friend or forgetting something important, the odds are one of the meddling Yo-kai are behind it. By using your high-tech Yo-kai Watch device, you can scan for Yo-kai, find them, befriend them and turn them into a team to battle the other Yo-kai for you, collecting more than 200 different creatures to bolster your team (which is where the Pokémon comparison comes in).
Each Yo-kai has it's own unique skills and strengths you'll need to call on during your adventure as you challenge the meddlesome, evil Yo-kai that pop up everywhere. With a party of six Yo-kai at your disposal at any one time during battle, it definitely sounds very Pokemon-ish on paper - but from the trailer, the battles seem to work a bit differently. For starters, your Yo-kai are arranged in a wheel, which can be spun round to change which group of three Yo-kai are taking part in the battle at once, while touch screen-based micro-games charge up special attacks or cure status effects. From tracing shapes with the stylus, to spinning a vortex, to tapping yellow dots as they appear on screen to charge up the funky cat-like Jibanyan's Paws of Fury special attack, it certainly looks interesting - even if we don't entirely understand what's going on.
Few things are more painful than an angry cat... Except maybe stepping on a Lego brick.
With Level-5's precedent for making seriously amazing games - from the puzzle-filled Professor Layton to the Studio Ghibli-inspired Ni No Kuni to some of the best Dragon Quest games ever - we're expecting big things from Yo-kai Watch when it hits the 3DS later this year, around Christmas time. Sadly, it's only technically only confirmed for the US at the moment, but we can't imagine it'll be too long before we hear of it coming to Europe too - so fingers crossed!
