The brand new Yokai Watch Blasters, a spin-off of the famous series of the same name, will be available on 7 September, again in two versions: Clique of red cats e Band of pale dogs. If you are not used to the series, I refer you to the previous reviews edited by me about Yokai Watch 2 Psicospretti and Yokai Watch 2.
Mouth-watering novelties
Those who have played the previous titles in the series will be used to playing the role of a boy (or girl) who, thanks to the help of his team of Yokai, fights to save his laughing town from Yokai and Dark Demons. In this new title we find great news at all levels: first of all we no longer play the role of a human being, but those of a Yokai of our choice!
Forget about school, apprehensive parents and missions that will make you run to every side of the city, this time we control a close-knit group of Yokai Blasters (direct reference to the ghost busters) taking care of safety in the city: saving yokai mysteriously disappeared, or beating formidable enemies they have lost control are missions on the agenda. The news does not end there.
If the plot in its simplicity is very different from its predecessors, even the combat system has undergone a total evolution: forget the turn-based combat (with the wheel in the lower screen of your 3ds), this time all the clashes will be in real time! The previous combat system could be unnerving for many people, completely absorbing the attention for quite some time, however, this new combat system is much lighter and usable even for people who do not have great patience and concentration to devote to clashes.
Probably this choice was made to meet the abilities of the very young audience to whom the game is addressed. How many children easily lose patience when the game gets a little difficult? I know quite a few, and not just children.
You can still continue to operate the energy max with its special moves with the touch screen of the lower screen, but it will be the only action you will have to perform with the stick during a fight. The clashes are of lower difficulty than previous titles, but this makes the title very pleasant to play when you have little time available or little desire to undertake a challenging game. Through the buttons you can use different moves depending on the Yokai controlled, which you can switch at any time!
A fantastic headquarters
Our headquarters resemble in all respects to that of the famous Ghost Busters! Beyond the extremely captivating aesthetic factor, the place where we spend most of the time is the headquarters, divided into floors according to the different functions: we have a shop where we can buy objects and weapons (and upgrade them!), A gym to increase the level (therefore not automatically after the clashes as in all the other games of Yokai Watch) and also to merge or evolve our little demons.
These innovations may seem trivial, but by totally changing the growth of our team in a more reasoned way, we can also grow yokai that we have not brought to the team, or level up newly captured demons who have fantastic skills, all without sacrificing. our time in casual encounters! Even the evolution that previously occurred naturally, is now under our control: it is one of the various things we can get by paying for oni spheres (which means "demon" in Japanese), this spin-off revolves entirely around their collection!
Without the orbs we cannot level up, buy weapons, evolve our team members, do nothing! Fortunately, collecting them is pretty simple, we just have to face the enemy Yokai and complete the missions to collect them! The levels that we have the possibility to donate to our team during the game are proportional to the ability of the enemies: it is difficult to find yourself in a bad situation if you pay attention to the growth of the characters and the upgrading of weapons.
Yokai Watch has always been a very accurate title for 3ds in terms of graphics and music. At a graphic level, every detail is detailed and colorful, the yokai are well-kept and adorable, moreover this spin-off has the great merit, in my opinion, of having merged the classic game with the anime version (yes, for those who don't know. Yokai Watch also has an animated version!), there are in fact many videos and animations to intersperse the plot. Some videos are "automatic" and will activate every time we go on a mission or return to our base, while others are real videos that explain aspects of the story, the graphics of the latter are in perfect anime style! A choice that I really appreciate, as it makes the game more varied and offers us really nice and appreciable animations.
The music is obviously in pure Japanese style: although they are for the most part the same as the sounds present in the previous titles, they are perfect for the imaginative and fun atmosphere of the game, without counting the opening and closing themes that closely resemble the opening and ending. of an animated series! I'm sure that children (but also adults like me) will really appreciate this aspect, one of the workhorses of Yokai Watch.
Yokai Watch Blasters, in my opinion, it stands above the main saga for a few simple reasons: all the defects that I had encountered in the last games of the saga have been removed, starting with the very long waits on the train to move from one part of the game, passing through the very long races (on foot!) in search of the various objectives to go on with the story. By teleporting directly to the place of the action and being able to move within a limited perimeter, we will not waste unnecessary time going back and forth, making us enjoy the game more in its strengths.
The fight, also totally revolutionized, was too long and frustrating for many people, making it in real time and lowering the general difficulty of the bosses, the game has certainly gained in usability especially for a younger audience, not used to competing with games too cumbersome and difficult.
It would be really interesting to know if Level-5, for the future game coming out on Nintendo Switch, will stick to this new formula or return to the old dynamics that made Yokai Watch extremely famous in Japan. The addition of multiplayer has also aligned Yokai Watch to the games that are in fashion lately, making it more attractive for all players who prefer to play online rather than single player, it is possible to play together with 3 other players and try your hand in the most difficult missions. !
A game, on the whole, really recommended to anyone looking for a light, fun, graphically appealing title that does not require special skills.
