On this occasion, more than ever, given the remarkable resemblance to the predecessor, we recommend reading the review of the first chapter, published on these pages during last spring: Yo-Kai Watch 2 , both in its Spiritossi and Polpanime versions, resembles slavishly what I saw in the first chapter, for a very simple reason that the good Buddybar already highlighted in its tried a few days ago.
In Japan, this second episode was the first to emerge after the release of the anime, which, in fact, sanctioned the enormous success of the franchise even outside the usual boundaries of video gaming, generating toys, merchandising, gadgets and much else.
As often happens, the anime set slightly different standards in the tones, in the relationships between the characters (especially Whisper and Nathan’s, the most funny and over the lines that ever), and in the general writing, which turned most to taste of a large audience.
This has led Level 5 to make the second episode a sort of new start, since, after the success of the television series, the public pool was greatly increased, with the vast majority of new enthusiasts who had not played the first videogame franchise.
This explains why, especially during the first ten hours of gameplay, Yo-Kai Watch 2 is a coin copy of the game played only twelve months ago, starting with the plot, lazily supporting two of the most abused clichés of video game history (amnesia and travel over time) to try to push a honestly weak plot, which is one of the least successful aspects of production.
In these breaches, as with all the rest of the production, as we will see later, Yo-Kai Watch 2 will be so overwhelming to those who already know every corner of Valdoro how cool and enjoyable for all newbies: we talk about a double-headed product, which
was by no means easy to flatten a vote.
Without going further on a plot tired and retorted, which will only improve in the second half of the adventure, you just have to know that the protagonist will be robbed of his memories and his Yo-Kai Watch , and will then be forced to retrace exactly his footsteps a year earlier, when he had crossed Whisper almost by accident and had started at the colorful world of Yo-Kai.
Version 1.5
Also at the level of gaming mechanics this sequel differs little from the title that preceded it: the combat system, central as in any JRPG worthy of this name, remained basically unchanged over a year ago, and, as you will understand if you read the previous review, this is not bad news as far as we are concerned, as we did not mind it.
The player is still at the command o
f six Yo-Kais in a circle, with three always on the front line and three ready to take off at any time with a mere touch of nib: depending on the tribe of belonging and character, each Yo-Kai behaves in a different way when fighting, preferring to rely on spells rather than brute force, favoring their comrades or simply stopping and thinking about his affairs.
The player has to take into account a fair amount of variations: to load super moves you need to draw or punch like a fuss on the 3DS tactile screen, as well as dealing with ninette-based minigames to purify Yo-Kai’s victims status altered during the clash.
Despite being undeniable a certain degree of passivity, we found this system relaxing and unique, which is also finished in this second release after a few hours of gameplay when the protagonist takes possession of the Yo-Kai Watch Zero, built by his grandfather ‘s sessant’ years ago.
To the usual functions of contemporary watches, this model fits the Poke and M-Skill, which raise somehow the player’s involvement during the fights, perhaps seeking to overcome criticisms from a part of the specialized press at the time of the ” exit of the first chapter.
