A Yo-Kai Watch Postmortem: From "The Next Pokémon" to an Uncertain Future.

Earlier this year, after roughly six months of delays, “Yo-Kai Watch 4” was launched on the Nintendo Switch in Japan. After declining sales of the previous installments, many hoped that this game would help reinvigorate the series by introducing new gameplay mechanics and appealing to older fans. If sales data thus far is any indication: it has not. As of this writing, the game has only sold slightly over 270,000 copies to date; and has dropped off the sales charts since its launch this past June. For frame of reference, Super Mario Maker 2 launched the same month and sold well over 2 million copies in its first three days. With its competitor in Pokémon doing well thanks to the success of Generation VII, the all-CGI “Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution;” their first live-action film with “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” and much planned for the release of “Pokémon Sword and Shield,” now would be a good time to explore what has transpired so far. In this postmortem, we shall go over a brief history of the series to examine how Yo-Kai Watch as a whole has gone from being groomed as “the next Pokémon” to facing an uncertain future.

2011-2012: The Spark

In the year 2011, the first pitch for “Youkai Watch” was unveiled at Level-5 World in Japan. Originally being developed for the Playstation 3, this version was sometimes referred to by the title “Ghost Watch.” The video has since been uploaded to YouTube as of 2012. Though this pitch didn’t get too far before development moved to the Nintendo 3DS; it does have the basic template for the series. Namely, it revolves around mythical Japanese creatures known as “youkai.” They are often blamed for life’s unexplained daily occurrences. Though invisible to the naked eye, a timepiece known as the titular “Youkai Watch” can enable the wearer to see these creatures.

2013: The Beginning

In July 2013, the first “Youkai Watch” was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS. While not a runaway success at first; the game did eventually sell over 1 million copies in its homeland alone. Even though the game had not yet become the phenomenon that would grip the country, it is what would happen the next year that would truly get the series its spotlight.

2014: The Fever

In January 2014, the “Youkai Watch” anime began airing in Japan; and the video game 

“Youkai Watch 2” would launch on the 3DS later the same year. The three versions of the game, known in Japan as “Ganso,” “Honke” and “Shinuchi” would sell a combined 6 million copies in Japan alone; and the TV series would be the first major competitor to Pokémon in years; regularly going toe-to-toe with the series for both ratings and sales numbers. Plans then were set in motion for an international release. Here is where things start to get complicated.

2015: The Journey to the West

I have mentioned before that I’m not the biggest fan of the series, and I have expressed skepticism about the prospect when the plans to localize the series were set in motion in 2015. Rather than try to come up with a new marketing strategy for English-speaking regions, the parties involved tried to use the exact same strategy as the original Japanese release for the launch in North America. Their rationale was seen by many as an attempt to ape the strategy used when Pokémon first came stateside, not realizing how much had changed about the media landscape since 1998. I was highly skeptical of the idea, and many things I wrote on the matter now come off as more rash than necessary in hindsight. That said, I still don’t like the anime all that much and I will not hold back in explaining why in this piece. The animation was great, but I found the humor banal, the plot nonsensical and the characters more cardboard than of the contents my recycling bin. Still, any personal thoughts aside; the anime got off to a rocky start in its initial airing on Disney XD; which it ultimately never recovered from. This is the case for the game as well: it only sold 71,000 copies during its launch in November 2015, with the first game having only sold 440,000 copies to date in the US. This will be important to remember for what comes next, especially with many outlets attempting to position the series as “the next Pokémon.” To say that Pokémon fans were less than pleased would be putting it mildly.

2016: The Plateau

Despite the initial warning signs, most parties involved with the series said that it would follow the same pattern as it did in Japan when the sequels launched; with Akihiro Hino himself giving the most optimistic prediction that the series would “bloom like a flower” in the West. He and Level-5 were even so confident that it would work out that they developed the third game specifically to appeal to Western players, and the three version of “Yo-Kai Watch 3” in Japan have sold a respectable 2 million copies to date in their home country. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was much different. Though Hasbro was originally invested in the tie-in merchandise, it didn’t sell as well as hoped; and is often a staple of dollar stores and bargain bins. Even when Toys “R” Us was closing, there still weren’t any takers on the last day of business (talk persists of a potential revival). The company initially promised more, but they seem to have quietly moved on to other licenses (such as their purchase of the “Power Rangers” series in 2018). There were talks of having the brand deals “reset,” but that never really went anywhere. As for the games and the anime: rather than re-evaluate their strategy; they decided to double down by releasing “Yo-Kai Watch 2” in the versions of “Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls,” and greenlighting a second season of the anime with 50 episodes rather than the 26-episode first season. However, this did little to change the tide of the series’ main rival in Pokémon. The year 2016 marked the 20th anniversary of the series, which saw a massive resurgence of popularity that hadn’t been seen in years. Two of the most notable factors were the mobile game “Pokémon Go,” and the release of “Pokémon Sun and Moon.” Instead of getting the series its legs, “Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls” have only sold 220,000 copies domestically to date; about half of the first game and significantly less than they did in Japan. By contrast, Sun and Moon have sold over 16 million copies to date and are only a few hundred thousand away from surpassing “X and Y” on the 3DS.

2017: The Decline

The year 2017 is where the decline in popularity for the series was becoming evident. Though series creator Akihiro Hino was initially optimistic about the future of the series; news breaking of the decline in sales caused him to reconsider his plans. On top of the release of the “Shinuchi” version of “Yo-Kai Watch 2” as “Psychic Specters” outside Japan (a sort of Yellow, Crystal or Platinum version of the game that has more content and fixes some issues with the previous versions), Level-5 began projects that attempted to reach older players: the first of which debuted that winter as “Yo-Kai Watch: Shadowside,” starting with a movie that would lead into a TV series in early 2018. While many purists disliked the darker tone and shifting the focus away from the slice-of-life aspect, I was among those who liked the bigger focus on story and characters; and the show being more of an “urban fantasy” with more jokes that landed for me and supernatural horror elements. Unfortunately, the movie underperformed at the Japanese box office amid competition from the Japanese release of “Star Wars: Episode VIII- The Last Jedi,” after previous films in the series outperformed “The Force Awakens” and “Rogue One” in ticket sales (though the “Star Wars” movies technically made more money, I’ve pointed out before that Japan bases success on overall ticket sales; and the US bases it on overall gross revenue). The TV series also lasted one season, concluding after the main story arc was resolved in early 2019. Though not a total flop in ratings, the story outside Japan was quite different.  To date, “Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters” has only sold 120,000 copies; which led to decisions that will be addressed in the next couple points. The anime also aired its second dubbed season, but the budget ended up being cut and the English voice actors were recast that December; not helping was the fact the anime had sagging ratings compared to other shows airing on Disney XD, such as Gravity Falls, Star VS The Forces of Evil, the 2017 version of Duck Tales; Star Wars Rebels and even Pokémon. Not only did “Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon” sell over 8 million copies to date, “Psychic Specters” couldn’t even outsell that year’s version of FIFA on previous generation consoles. Though Hino initially wanted to get content for the series out at the same time as or before Japan, that ultimately hasn’t happened. Instead, the series got in a position of decline that’s also impacted other parts of Level-5; with both existing and upcoming IPs currently in limbo (“The Snack World,” “Inazuma Eleven,” “Megaton Musashi” and “Ushiro” being notable examples).

2018: The Fall

The year 2018 is where things really started to fall for the series. That December saw the release of another “Elseworlds” story of sorts of the series, known as “Yo-Kai Watch: Forever Friends.” I said before that I wouldn’t be recapping this one, but I personally liked the movie even as someone who isn’t a big fan of the series. Many hoped that the more emotional story and complex characterization would help them reclaim lost ground for the series with the fourth game in development at the time. Unfortunately, it didn’t. The movie outright flopped at the Japanese box office, with numerous films competing with its release that December. The disappointing performance of the movie also saw Level-5 state they won’t be making more content for the series that doesn’t include already established characters. This was later followed by them making the “Jam Project” for the series, which is essentially a High School AU where the characters are humanized versions of the yokai. The project will be released this December, and is the proposed first installment of a new spinoff akin to the “My Little Pony: Equestria Girls” series. While this is intended as the first in a new side series, it remains to be seen how this will do. The English release of the spinoff “Yo-Kai Watch Blasters” (changed from "Yo-Kai Watch Busters" to avoid legal issues with Sony) was also launched in the US… the same day as Marvel’s Spider-Man on Playstation 4. Blasters has only sold 70,000 copies to date, with the games being tangled in Spidey’s critically-acclaimed and bestselling web. The puzzle mobile game spinoff “Wibble Wobble” also shut down outside Japan, and this help set the stage for what would happen in 2019. Most of all, the English release of “Yo-Kai Watch 3” was announced… to be released at the same time as “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” for its European release and in the same window as “Kingdom Hearts III” and the remake of “Resident Evil 2” for the US release. So, they once again undercut the breathing room between a new Pokémon game by pitting their title against much larger releases.

2019 and Beyond: The Uncertain Future

Now would be a good time to address how I feel about all this before I go any further. To do that, I will be briefly talking about how I feel about the games in the series I have played. The first “Yo-Kai Watch” was an okay game: I may not be a huge fan of the series, but it was an all right experience hampered by some design flaws that kept the game from reaching its full potential.

The “Fleshy Souls” version of “Yo-Kai Watch 2” addressed many of these issues, further compounded by the “Psychic Specters” version (note: I have not played the “Bony Spirits” version and do not plan to). Admittedly, many artifacts from the first game remain; which does hold the experience back for myself and others. I haven’t played the “Blasters” spinoffs and don’t plan to, though “Wibble Wobble” was a reasonably fun puzzle game as “Bejeweled” clones go; even if the game ceased operations outside Japan as of May 2018 (the Japanese version, “Puni Puni” is still active as of this writing).

As for “Yo-Kai Watch 3”? (shrugs, sighs) It’s okay: not the best game I’ve ever played, but definitely not the worst either. The title doesn’t fully succeed at appealing to players in the West, but it’s definitely the most polished of the three main titles. The game is based on the “Sukiyaki” version of the Japanese release, with content from the “Sushi and Tempura” versions as well. I am currently working on fine-tuning a full review for another outlet from here; so I will keep things succinct as I can. There are design choices that remain from previous titles, such as often spending hours on end to get a certain item or yokai you need to complete missions; and the numerous sidequests feel like busywork to prolong playtime. The localization calls attention to the changes made in previous games in weird ways, such as an early mission revolving around a language barrier between new neighbors having been extensively rewritten. Personally, I would have cut the mission entirely; but that’s just me.

On a larger note, the US release of the game takes place in the fictional country of “BBQ,” due to the aforementioned changes made in the previous games; with the main plot centered around the player’s family transferring to a new job. The setting is a sort of pastiche of the USA seen through a Japanese-tinted lens, much like Unova in “Pokémon Black and White” or Eagleland in the cult classic “Earthbound.” The visuals take cues from content such as space travel and American superhero comic books to try and appeal to players in the west. For a game that originally came out three years ago in Japan; the graphics are decent even as the 3DS seems to be making way for the Switch slowly but surely. Even with the “Zombie Night” minigame being hampered by uneven collision detection and sluggish melee combat controls, the gameplay itself is probably the most competent of the three. The “Blasters T” minigame is a massive improvement over the previous games; and the wheel that yokai were placed on for the first two games has been replaced with the “Tactics Board,” a 3X3 grid to place your yokai on in battle (though they still move on autopilot). Overall, while it’s arguably the best of the three main games; it’s still not enough to appeal to those not already immersed in the world of the series. Personally, as I was among those that decided to stick with Pokémon and transition to the Nintendo Switch.

Though both the game and TV series were well-received by critics and those who did seek them out, the story among general audiences has been different. Even with the dub being recast, the ratings did not improve; and in early 2019, Disney XD pulled the series and replaced it with “Inazuma Eleven: Ares” in their anime block alongside “Pokémon” and “Beyblade Burst Turbo.” Unfortunately, the ratings still haven’t improved, with the series being among the lowest-rated series not just on Disney XD; but on all the major kids’ networks. Amid all the competition, “Yo-Kai Watch 3” has sold only 30,000 copies in Europe to date. It took quite a while for me to find any sales numbers in North America; but to date, the game has only sold 4,000 copies according to Medium’s “Shinkansen Retrogaming.” Though I don’t agree with everything in his article, I can’t deny that bit of information was vital to this writing. For frame of reference, “Pokémon Let’s Go” has sold around 10 million copies and “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” has sold over 13 million copies in less than a year since their respective launches. With just four years and three main games released stateside, “Yo-Kai Watch” has gone from being groomed as “the next Pokémon” to an international failure with an uncertain future.

So, even with the fourth game now having been released (talk persists of localization); a new movie coming out in Japan and other series both in and out of Level-5, where does the series go from here? That’s something I believe Level-5 is wondering as well; since sales numbers this dire are not something that anyone involved, least of all Akihiro Hino will have had any contingency plans for. Though they are releasing a remaster of the original game on the Nintendo Switch, it remains to be seen how it will do. Even my associate Kohdok couldn’t really add anything after some back-and-forth on Twitter. Update-10/16/19: The remaster of the original game has sold only 9,426 copies since its launch on October 10, ranking at number 4 below Disney Tsum Tsum Festival, Dragon Quest XI S, and the Japanese release of Ghost Recon Breakpoint. This is well below the 53,681 copies the original 3DS version sold in its first week on the market; and I will potentially let you know more after the launch of Yo-Kai Watch 4 ++ and the Jam Project this December.

I will not be doing any more recaps about the series, I just felt this article was necessary to show that even after my initial thoughts in 2015; I don’t feel the way I was expecting to at that time. It's not the worst I've ever experienced; but it flew too close to the sun. So, to play the series off: Here’s “Flight of Icarus” by Iron Maiden. Later.