Yo-kai Watch (video game)

is the first game of the Yo-kai Watch series released for the Nintendo 3DS by Level-5.

The game was first announced in the Japanese magazine which Level-5 revealed the game was in development.

The game was released on July 11, 2013 in Japan and on April 2015, Level-5 announced that would handle the localization of the game in the west. At the of 2015, Nintendo revealed that the game will release in North America on November 6th 2015. , the game was later released in South Korea on November 26, 2015, and Australia and New Zealand on December 5, 2015. In February 2016, Nintendo of Europe revealed that the game will release in Europe on April 29, 2016.

During LEVEL-5 Vision 2016, it was announced that Yo-kai Watch would be released for Android and iOS devices in the fall of 2016 as.

Demo release
The game has an official demo in the that can be downloaded as of October 22, 2015 in North America. The demo was released in Australia and New Zealand on November 27, 2015. On March 4, 2016 the demo was released in Europe after the Nintendo Direct presentation.

Demo story
The game starts when Whisper tells Nathan to go outside and find some Yo-kai's. Once outside, a young girl comes to Nathan and asks him for his help. After negotiating with Whisper, Nathan agrees to help the young girl out. She tells Nathan that three Yo-kai's were causing trouble and revealed were the two are, but tells Nathan that he has to discover on is own were the third one is. After finding all three Yo-kai's, it is revealed that the young girl is in fact Dismarelda, which shocked both Nathan and Whisper. Nathan challenges Desmirelda, but loses, revealing that Nathan has to befriend many Yo-kai's. After that, the demo ends.

Development
On October 14, 2011, Level-5 announced a new game at their Level 5 Vision conference in Tokyo, and the title was revealed as Yo-kai Watch. Level-5 didn't reveal on which platform the game shall be released, as they revealed that it would be a multimedia project same as other franchises developed by Level-5. They did released a trailer showing a character with the ability to see and interact with ghosts. He can also use his ghost to battle against other ghosts as well.

On October 14, 2011, screenshots of the game has been revealed as well the screenshots of the anime of the series. October 13, 2012, Level-5 revealed that the game would be released for the Nintendo 3DS in a issue of the Japanese magazine CoroCoro.

Level-5 revealed the character as an 11-year old boy named Nathan Adams, which is also the main character of the game. Whisper and Jibanyan join Nathan and his watch helps him to find Yo-kai when he looks around town. It has revealed that some Yo-kai are friendly, while others are causing ruckus in town and it's up to Nathan to defeat them with a party of three Yo-kai. They then revealed that the game takes place in a regular town named Springdale, and also revealed three other characters that are as well in the game. Katie, Eddie and Bear are all three Nathan's friends as well as his classmates.

They revealed that Whisper is a ghost-like Yo-kai butler, Tattletell is mostly seen stuck on a human's face and Walkappa is a Yo-kai that loves water.

Music
The Yo-kai Watch Original Soundtrack was composed by and it includes four discs. The first disc contains 40 tracks in total, which the second disc contains 44 tracks in total, which the third disc contains 48 tracks in total and the fourth disc is a bonus which includes three songs from the animation series.

Pre-order & Bundles
GameStop will give away a free Jibanyan medal if players in America pre-ordering the game at the store which the medal work may vary. Nintendo of America revealed that there will be a Nintendo 2DS bundle containing the game with the cost of only $99,99. In Australia and New Zealand, the games will be bundled with the Nintendo 2DS on its release on December 5th with a cost of $169.95.

Events
Nintendo of America announced that there will be a release party on Saturday 7 November, 2015 at the at the Rockefeller Center from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. Peoples who are attending the event will meet Akihiro Hino the president of Level-5, as well getting an autograph from him. Hino will appears at the Nintendo World Store around between 1:00 and 2:00 pm.

Reception
Famitsu gave Yo-kai Watch a score of 36 of 40. Japanese reviewer Reona Ebihara wrote "The game gradually expands its feature set as you go, opening up this very unique world that's easy to melt into." as well "The 3D visuals work great, serving especially well to put you right there as you're searching for spirits in the grass. The battles proceed automatically but let you change formations and offer support in realtime, keeping things both simple and deeply strategic." Japanese writer Urara Honma added "The game balances collection, battle, and monster-raising in a really expert manner." as well "The battles use the touchscreen deftly to boost their strategic aspects; it feels really great to control. You won't run into much frustration playing this game, and while it does feel like one big fetch quest at times, the charms of the story more than make up for that."

Yo-kai Watch sold a total of 1.33 million copies in Japan. Since its release in North America and Europe, the game sold a total of 1.58 million copies.

Trivia

 * It took at least two years and four months that the game was released in North America and South Korea after its initial release in Japan. For Australia and New Zealand, it took at least two years and five months after its initial release in Japan. However, in Europe, it took at least three years and four months after its initial release in Japan.
 * The cover art differs from the original cover art. The one closest to the original cover art is that of North America, South Korea and Australia, while Europe has a very different cover art compared to the four.

Legacy
After the release of the game in Japan, the franchise became a massive success among Japanese children, teenagers and even adults. The game sold in Japan a total of 1.33 million copies.

A year after the original release of Yo-kai Watch, the franchise released Yo-kai Watch 2 as well several releases of side games for the, and Nintendo 3DS. After the release of the initial Yo-kai Watch 2 game, a extra content version Yo-kai Watch 2: Shin'uchi has released either digitally and physically for the Nintendo 3DS. The franchise is also collaborating with different game companies, such as and.

After the mass popularity of Yo-kai Watch 2 in Japan, Level-5 became more serious to bring the games in the west. Yo-kai Watch was released in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea in 2015, while Europe had a release window in 2016. Despite the minor success in the west, Yo-kai Watch 2 is set to be released in North America in September 30, 2016 in a hope that the success of the franchise in Japan will also happen in North America.

The sequel to Yo-kai Watch 2, Yo-kai Watch 3 was announced by Level-5, and released on July 16, 2016 in Japan.