Yo-Kai Watch 2
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Critic Reviews for Yo-Kai Watch 2
Yo-kai Watch 2 isn’t lacking in soul or spirit, and certainly not in expansions to its well-built world. But what can be said about the original still holds for its sequel: the world can be fun to dive into, but actually playing Yo-kai Watch can shift from tedious to outright boring. For every new story idea or impressive blend of humor and pathos in its writing, Yo-kai Watch 2 fails to breathe life into the act of actually playing it, and until something’s done about all the issues with combat, no amount of delicious doughnuts can cover up its problems.
The arrival of Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits provides fans with a familiar experience that changes very, very little when compared to the first iteration of the series.
This sequel has some much-needed improvements over the first game, but the pacing feels more sluggish
Yo-kai Watch 2 does preserve the quirky tone and charming writing that made the first game so engaging, but its lack of iteration is problematic in that there aren't enough fresh ideas to color its monotonous gameplay.
Yo-kai Watch has a great degree of potential, so it's tragic to see Level-5 squander it over fears of upsetting their massive cash cow. (In Japan, anyway.) This sequel carries the same sense of spooky whimsy as the first game, but unfortunately doesn't lose the underlying tedium. If you're looking for an alternative to Pokemon, you might want to see if the next game fixes Yo-kai Watch's woes—if it gets localized, that is.
Even with its failings, I still love Yo-KaiWatch 2. It may not be as tight of a package or have enough variety in its quests, but the additional multiplayer components and new Yokai make this worth picking up.
I hope Yo-Kai Watch catches on to the point where we get to see everything else make it westward. The second game doubles down on the idea of celebrating Japan when a lot of developers are shying away from it, and for that and more, it has my support.
