Yo-kai Watch 4 (Coming to Japan in 2018)

[Julius]

It seems that Yo-kai Watch 4 has been announced for the Nintendo Switch in this week's issue of Famitsu.

Whilst information on the game and its contents remains light for now, the game has been confirmed to have a 2018 window for release in Japan. Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino commented that “its content is getting a super high-grade power up, including some things that will surprise everyone.

The third game has yet to make its way to the West, so it will be interesting to see if - and when - this fourth entry will make its way over. 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Ashley]

Does anyone actually play this series*?  I know they tried a big marketing push but it doesn't seem to have impacted much, but unsure if there's just a big niche (and/or kids) audience that I'm not aware of.

 

*obviously people do, but I mean does anyone here.

[Julius]

4 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Does anyone actually play this series*?  I know they tried a big marketing push but it doesn't seem to have impacted much, but unsure if there's just a big niche (and/or kids) audience that I'm not aware of.

 

*obviously people do, but I mean does anyone here.

I don't, but my little brother (who's 11) played both the first and second entries, and I think he really enjoyed both of them.

Outside of Japan, though, it doesn't seem to have stuck as well as Level-5 might have wanted it to, which would explain why Yo-kai Watch 3 still hasn't come to the West, despite releasing in 2016 in Japan. Part of it, I think, is down to the West's now deeply rooted nostalgic ties to Pokémon having saturated that corner of the market over here - it reminds me of Digimon's and Yu-Gi-Oh's stunted performance over here, not just as video games, but as franchises. From what I've read, Yo-kai's deep ties to Japanese culture (and Yo-kai spirits) didn't make it as accessible as it could have been for a younger audience, and might have turned off some parents, and the actual mechanics of the game's battles seem somewhat confusing (again, from what I've read/have heard) too, so it does seem to be aimed more at the avid JRPG monster-collecting fan/more mature young children compared to, well, Pokémon.

[S.C.G]

7 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Does anyone actually play this series*?  I know they tried a big marketing push but it doesn't seem to have impacted much, but unsure if there's just a big niche (and/or kids) audience that I'm not aware of.

 

*obviously people do, but I mean does anyone here.

That's what I was wondering... I've yet to invest in the game series at all.

Maybe that will change with the series being on the Switch? I'm still not sure though.

I like the idea behind it all but, I just think the series could do with leaning a bit more into the Yo-Kai stuff, in a way that might give it more of a mature theme perhaps?

Obviously not too mature so as to not lose the audience they've gained but I don't know, it will just be interesting to see if they take a slightly different direction.

[Julius]

1 minute ago, S.C.G said:

That's what I was wondering... I've yet to invest in the game series at all.

Maybe that will change with the series being on the Switch? I'm still not sure though.

I like the idea behind it all but, I just think the series could do with leaning a bit more into the Yo-Kai stuff, in a way that might give it more of a mature theme perhaps?

Obviously not too mature so as to not lose the audience they've gained but I don't know, it will just be interesting to see if they take a slightly different direction.

I think you’re hitting the nail on the head here, to be honest @S.C.G: the core demographic, besides the older JRPG lovers who will try anything (no sleight against them - those guys are awesome), just seems way too narrow. 

Going back to Pokémon, it’s absolutely core demographic is as young as a gamer can be up to probably mid-teens (15/16ish) or so. Yo-Kai Watch seems to be aimed at such a niche of mature children from 8 - 13/14, which completely overlaps with Pokémon, which already has that built-in nostalgia over here, meaning YKW’s market in the West is probably going to choose a Pokémon game over it every time. And if they do pick it up? It’s very likely a toe-in in the wait for the next Pokémon game.

Adjusting to a slightly more mature audience by focusing on some slightly more mature themes (not crazy stuff, but hard-hitting character driven stuff found in games like the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series) could open that up audience just that little bit more to give them a better position over here.

For now, it just feels and looks like a Pokémon knock-off franchise (no offence to those who like it or are involved with it) in the same way that Digimon did back in the day, and in the same way that Yu-Gi-Oh did after that. Definitely needs a little soul-searching to anchor itself over here, which I don’t want to bet against, simply because Level-5 makes some great stuff. 

I haven’t dipped into any of the games either yet, but I’d like to give it a go at some points, at the very least to just give a more educated insight into what could be improved and how it can differentiate itself from Pokémon more effectively.

[Ike]

40 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

I don't, but my little brother (who's 11) played both the first and second entries, and I think he really enjoyed both of them.

Outside of Japan, though, it doesn't seem to have stuck as well as Level-5 might have wanted it to, which would explain why Yo-kai Watch 3 still hasn't come to the West, despite releasing in 2016 in Japan. Part of it, I think, is down to the West's now deeply rooted nostalgic ties to Pokémon having saturated that corner of the market over here - it reminds me of Digimon's and Yu-Gi-Oh's stunted performance over here, not just as video games, but as franchises. From what I've read, Yo-kai's deep ties to Japanese culture (and Yo-kai spirits) didn't make it as accessible as it could have been for a younger audience, and might have turned off some parents, and the actual mechanics of the game's battles seem somewhat confusing (again, from what I've read/have heard) too, so it does seem to be aimed more at the avid JRPG monster-collecting fan/more mature young children compared to, well, Pokémon.

I think the long localisation period didn't help with the 3rd game coming out, the second games were announced for America before the first game was released over here. 

A lot of the Yokai designs aren't really as good as the Pokemon designs and a lot of the references are lost outside of Japan like you said, I like Jibanyan a lot though.

The mobile game is shutting down everywhere except Japan so that is probably a rather big indicator the series hasn't caught on.

I really wanted to like the series but I couldn't really get into the first game. I hear the sequels improved the battle mechanics a lot so maybe I'll give it another shot. I didn't find the battles too confusing but you really don't do much, the Yokai act on their own, you basically just chose the formation, activated their specials and heal status ailments.

Moving to the Switch should be interesting since so much was done on the touch screen, like Pokemon it loses quite a bit from going to a single screen.

[Glen-i]

Yep, far too Japanese to appeal over in the West. Didn't help that Level 5 did the typical Level 5 thing of running a series into the ground very quickly.

The biggest factor for me losing interest in Yokai Watch was the lack of control I had over actual fights. A JRPG where I'm limited in how I can influence battles? I nope'd right out of that after the demo.

A shame really, I quite liked the concept.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Glen-i

[Julius]

So, uh...to no-one’s real surprise, Level 5 has done a great job of making this game look spectacular. 

Kind of envious as a Pokémon fan, but hey, hopefully Game Freak will surprise us and hopefully we’ll end up with something not too dissimilar to this.

Hopefully.

Edited February 2, 2019 by Julius

[Glen-i]

Oooh. So it's more of an Action RPG now?

I'm slightly interested. I never got on with the original game because I had so little control over what was going on in battles.

[Dcubed]

Nice! It doesn't run at 5FPS anymore!

 

That delay really did wonders for it.

[Julius]

Aaaaaand it's also coming to PS4. 

 

[Dcubed]

Pretty desperate move from Level 5 there... That's gonna do next to nothing in Japan...

 

... also means that Nintendo will likely not be publishing it in the west now; so Level 5 will have to go it alone...

[Ike]

I'd be surprised the PS4 version releases outside Japan.