It’s been a while since I played a Yo-Kai Watch game but with my longing for a new entry and all the signs of the series making a comeback I thought I would replay the original. This series will forever be special to me so this review may be slightly biased but I can acknowledge Yo-Kai Watch left a lot to be desired in the initial game. First of all I did play this on the 3ds version because for one the remaster isn’t in English but more importantly I feel the 3ds is where the battle system shines the most but as a consequence I will be having very few compliments about the graphics. I want to start by talking about the story. Yo-Kai Watch story has never been a strong point but to make up for this it has never taken its plot seriously, however compared to future entries and other games this games story just felt super empty. It’s not too long and isn’t the worst thing ever but as an introduction to some characters it’s not very good especially when some backstory and plot points are redone in the sequels and are just straight up so much better there. This plot leaves a lot of things unexplained and honestly not too impressed with it especially since none of the characters really felt as alive as they do in future games. Moving on I want to talk about something I think Yo-Kai Watch is almost unrivaled in and that’s exploration and side content. It feels almost impossible to talk about the story by itself with how much is usually in these side missions and extra areas. The problem is the first installation in the series feels like a beta for this idea. While there is lots of rewards for exploring and some side missions that affect huge parts of the game it’s just isn’t as vast as future entries. There are quite a lot of quests for a monster collecting rpg don’t get me wrong but not enough to feel like I’m not delaying progression. I think the main factor holding the side quests in the game back is the fact that the characters are so dry. It’s hard to feel like Mr. Barton is more than a npc with a name in this game compared to future games. While the exploration in this game is definitely worthy of yo-Kai watch quality, it isn’t the same without the train system or disconnected locations. The battle system though is still very much fun. A system where you don’t need to worry about directly controlling your yo Kai but instead about trying to manage all parts of the fight so your team can do what they do best. While it’s super bear bones in this installment it’s still got the most important parts. I will say the befriending system is a little unfair in this version with little ways to increase befriending odds but it wasn’t too bad. Very few broken items in this game with most of them being locked behind end game shop purchases or passwords. The difficulty of the game isn’t too bad with how easy it is to get shogunyan and how available talismans are (a little harder than I remembered though). The only problem I think the battle system really has is all the creative battles are locked in post game. I love this battle system and am sad yo Kai watch 4 doesn’t have it. It’s very unique and no game I have played has made something similar to it. I think this is a solid game and was a base for future entries in the game. It suffers from being over shadowed by yo Kai watch 2 in every way but has the first piece to the story of the series so feels like it needs to be played first. This game gets a 7/10 for me because yo Kai watch 2 exists but in the genre of monster collecting RPGs I would say 7.5-8/10 but still just play yo Kai watch 2 or 3. Fun to have completed it again and please give yo Kai watch a chance, it didn’t deserve this fate.

I enjoyed my time with Yo-kai Watch for its presentation, the quirky monsters and its charm. The core gameplay and story feel veeeery underbaked though. I don't think that it gives you enough skill expression in combat and in turn, it feels more like a stat and ability check rather than actual combat. Bosses felt more like a chore than a challenge because they are untargetable until you destroy their weak spot. The story is basically non-existent until the final hours of gameplay, where the big bad appears out of nowhere. Up to that part, it's more like little self-contained short stories that have mostly nothing to do with each other. Hopefully, later entries improve on these aspects.