During my work with children, elementary school to middle school age, I started hearing a lot about the game Yo-kai Watch. Doing a little research, bought the game and now I can’t wait to tell you why I appreciate this game and the effect it has on the younger kids.
Yo-kai watch is similar to Pokemon. It came out for 3DS later in 2015 but I just recently started seeing it gain more popularity. It’s more charming than Pokemon (shocking, right?) and I feel it’s story dives deeper than Pokémon did with our generation. The game is based off an anime and manga series that was ravagingly popular in Japan. The same story from there translated by Level-5 studios for Nintendo products here in the US.
Why do I appreciate the game? Because it has taught kids to really dig deep into story and lore. It’s enjoyable, and simple. All the characters are next to previous but still have very distinct personalities. Yes, Pokémon left us to decide and imagine our own crew, but with such deep story line, the children of today already have wild imagination.
Take for instance this character:
This is Jibanyan. Or better known as Jibanyan! It’s so hard not to pronounce his name with excited tones. One of the first main characters you meet is this precious yo-kai. Jibanyan was a cat, who got ran over by a truck, and now sits on the side of the road possessing people to try to stop trucks. Sounds awful, until the main character and his sidekick Whisper come to save him, and take him home. His personality ALONE has driven the game.
So thank you, yo-kai. For teaching kids how important a story line and lore is. With all the games just becoming multiple-match online multiplayer, it’s a breath of fresh air to see such deep thought for the generation upon us.