Yo-kai Watch 4
A time-hopping Yo-kai Watch adventure for Nintendo Switch.
Level-5 developed and published Yo-kai Watch 4, an action role-playing game for the Nintendo Switch. This fourth main series entry launched in Japan as a single version in June 2019, with an enhanced edition called Yo-kai Watch 4++ arriving on Switch and PlayStation 4 that December. Players use the Yo-kai Watch to befriend creatures across three eras: the present, thirty years later, and the 1960s.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Level-5
- Director
- Ken Motomura
- Producer
- Akihiro Hino
- Composer
- Kenichiro Saigo
- Series
- Yo-kai Watch
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
- Genre
- Action role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Yo-kai Watch 4 sends players across three distinct time periods: a future set 30 years after the original trilogy, a present day matching those earlier games, and a past occurring 60 years before them. Each era is tied to a specific protagonist: Natsume, Keita, and Shin respectively. This installment shifts away from the top-down view of its predecessors, adopting a free-roaming 3D overworld more typical of standard role-playing games. The battle system also changes, allowing direct control over characters in real time, unlike earlier entries where only befriended Yo-kai fought. A party can hold up to one human and three Yo-kai, with players able to swap between them during combat. Yo-kai not under direct control act according to their personality, a feature carried over from previous games. Human characters can absorb a substance called Yo-ki during battle, then use it to attack enemy Yo-kai or heal allies. Four characters from the Yo-kai Watch Shadowside anime appear: Natsume Amano, her brother Keisuke Amano, Touma Tsukinami, and Akinori Arihoshi. The game uses 3D rendering for both exploring Sakura New Town and for battles. A ghostly dog named Naviwoof helps guide players to their destinations.
Development
Level-5 first revealed in April 2018 that Yo-kai Watch 4 was in the works for the Nintendo Switch, targeting a Japanese launch later that year. The original winter 2018 window was pushed back to spring 2019 due to quality concerns, and the game ultimately arrived in Japan on June 20, 2019. At Anime Expo in July 2019, Level-5 Abby addressed a question about a possible Western release by showing the Japanese trailer with English subtitles. The game’s story ties into the Shadowside and Forever Friends films, which lack official English versions, so the marketing team expressed interest in localizing those movies too. But by October 2020, falling sales for the series and Level-5’s closure of its North American operations, including Level-5 Abby, led many observers to question whether a localization would ever happen. Level-5 also announced that extra Yo-kai, a new map, and a multiplayer mode would arrive as downloadable content by August 2019, with some items requiring payment and others offered as pre-order bonuses for related merchandise, like tickets to the film Eiga Yo-kai Gakuen Y: Neko wa Hero ni Nareru ka. The August 9 update, version 1.30, introduced sumo battles and a Yo-kai named Yamakasa. An upgraded edition, Yo-kai Watch 4++, hit both Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation 4 in Japan on December 5, 2019. This version added a new map, fresh enemies, and a multiplayer mode called Purapura Blasters. Owners of the original game could purchase the 4++ content as a paid download. This marked the series’ first appearance on a non-Nintendo platform, the PlayStation 4, and included language options for traditional and simplified Chinese.
Sales
Yo-kai Watch 4 topped Japan's sales charts in its debut week, but that was the series' weakest opening ever, moving 150,721 copies from June 17 to June 23, 2019. The following week, it dropped to third place behind Super Mario Maker 2 and Power Pros, adding 40,376 sales. It held third place for another week with 19,407 copies. For all of 2019, it sold 291,878 units in Japan. The enhanced ++ version fared even worse. Its Nintendo Switch launch week saw just 10,333 copies sold, failing to crack the Top 10, while the PlayStation 4 release didn't even make the Top 30. The Switch edition lingered in the weekly Top 30 for only seven weeks, totaling 60,890 copies before dropping off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed Yo-kai Watch 4?
Yo-kai Watch 4 was directed by Ken Motomura.
Who composed the music for Yo-kai Watch 4?
The music for Yo-kai Watch 4 was composed by Kenichiro Saigo.
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