Nintendo teamed up with Level 5 and Hasbro on Saturday, September 24th to hold a Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls sneak peak event in Downtown Toronto at the 99 Sudbury Event House. The day also marked the first public showing of the Yo-Kai Watch anime’s second season, with fans and press getting their first chances to view the first episode of the popular kids show.
Children and their parents smile as they watch the newest episode of Yo-Kai Watch set to air on October 1st this year.
The second season of Yo-Kai Watch shares a similar focus to the video games as Nate and his pal Whisper set out to obtain a Yo-Kai Watch Model Zero. The new version of the Yo-Kai Watch has many new functions, as well as a mysterious past. If the video games are anything to go by, chances are that the anime will take Nate and company into the past to find out the origins of the Yo-Kai Watch Model Zero.
Alongside the second season of Yo-Kai Watch and the upcoming dual-release titles coming to the 3DS is the release of a new series of Yo-Kai Watch toys. The most fetching is none other than the Yo-Kai Watch Model Zero itself, along with a new set of green colored Yo-Kai Medals.
Above are the two versions of the titular Yo-Kai Watch: the Yo-Kai Watch Model Zero (left) and the original Yo-Kai Watch (right)
Similarly, above are the two Yo-Kai Watch styles of medals: the Model Zero series medals (left) and the original series (right)
Nintendo of Canada’s Andrew Collins on Yo-Kai Watch 2 and more…
Nintendo of Canada communications manager, Andrew Collins, was also at the event. While there he discussed some of the features of the upcoming Yo-Kai Watch titles, as well as a bit about the series’ success both inside and outside of Japan.
On Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Souls and Fleshy Spirits
According to Collins, Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls only represents two out of three titles that were originally released in Japan. The third title which was named Yo-Kai Watch 2: Shinuchi in Japan did not make it to North America. It may not be coming overseas, but Collins has confirmed that Shinuchi will not be required to fully enjoy the other two versions.
In Yo-Kai Watch 2, players will be working through two different time zones – the past and present. Collins told the press that each will be important to understanding the origins of the new model of Yo-Kai Watch, and that traveling between these two zones will also reveal various new Yo-Kai that have not been discovered before.
There are over 100 new Yo-Kai to discover, battle, and collect in total in Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls
Collins stated that mastering the new system of fighting with two different Yo-Kai watches will be important to defeating the new Yo-Kai that are appearing in the world of Yo-Kai Watch 2. While the original watch will provide players with a similar experience to the first game, the second watch will allow Yo-Kai to perform special moves that do massive damage provided that players carefully complete different on-screen puzzles and conditions.
Also new to Yo-Kai Watch 2 are the 4 player co-op modes, as well as a 2 player online co-op mode. While there is no competitive battle mode, Collins believes that the co-op modes will be enticing to the child demographic that the games have been geared toward. He also noted that the games will also sport a trading feature – similar to the Pokemon titles – that will allow players to exchange Yo-Kai medals that are exclusive to either version of the game.
On upcoming Nintendo products
I also had a chance to speak one-on-one with Andrew after the presentation. We discussed several topics, ranging from the upcoming Pokemon titles, to future Nintendo games and events.
[Editor’s note: A snippet of this conversation has been changed for accuracy at the request of Nintendo of Canada.]
David: So before we begin, could we maybe talk about Yo-Kai Watch and its popularity here in North America? I originally didn’t think that it would actually be popular enough to get a sequel release here.
Andrew: Right. So as you probably know, Yo-Kai Watch is already very popular in Japan right now. When we first launched the game in North America the game started off slow as not many people knew about the game. However, similar to Japan, the games and merchandise really took off after the TV show aired in North America. Almost overnight the sales skyrocketed, and the series has been doing really well ever since.
David: How popular is Yo-Kai Watch in Japan, exactly?
Andrew: From what I understand, Yo-Kai Watch had a movie in Japan around the same time that Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out. Yo-Kai Watch outperformed Star Wars in the box office in Japan. We’re also expecting the Yo-Kai Watch movie to come to North America in the future with a TBA date right now.
David: That’s actually impressive! Alright, so moving on to other Nintendo news… What can you tell me about the upcoming games such as the Yoshi’s Woolly World or Super Mario Maker ports for the 3DS?
Andrew: I think it’s important that people understand that both the Yoshi title and Super Mario Maker are not simply being ported to the 3DS. The teams responsible for those games are actually building entirely different games for the handheld console. While the games will be similar in terms of gameplay, the actual games will have new features and changes made to them to accommodate the hardware. A good example of this is in Yoshi’s Woolly World for the 3DS where Poochy will have a bigger role than he did in the Wii U version, or how Super Mario Maker will be much easier to share levels with people while on the go.
David: Do you have any comments or info on the upcoming Nintendo titles for mobile?
Andrew: Personally, I am looking forward to Super Mario Run that is coming out for the iPhone devices. I know that they announced it for Japan, and I’m hoping that Canada and the United States will be getting it not long after. I have played a bit of it already, and I can tell you that it is a fun game for anyone looking to play Super Mario while on the go. As for the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing titles, there isn’t any information available for release just yet.
David: So we can’t talk about the NX, but what about future Nintendo Directs?
Andrew: Nintendo Directs are actually presented to the communications teams much closer to their release. What I can tell you is that we have a to-be-announced Nintendo Direct that will be discussing the new Animal Crossing: New Leaf update coming out soon. I think it’s important that we show this to the fans as we do hope to bring new content to older games in the future.
I also had the chance to ask Andrew about the recent Paper Mario: Color Splash leak that happened earlier this week. According to Andrew Collins, Nintendo of Canada is currently unsure why that leak occurred – stating that he is “about as in the dark as gaming journalism outlets are” at the time of the interview.
In Closing
The Yo-Kai Watch event in Toronto was a fun event where kids got to watch their favorite cartoon, as well as get their hands on some free Yo-Kai Watch gear. While the future is still a bit unclear for Nintendo in the days leading up to the Nintendo NX, the company wants its Canadian fans to rest assured that the lineup leading to the console’s release will hold up to the level of quality we expect of the console giant.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a brand new Yo-Kai Watch to fool around with…
Published: Sep 24, 2016 02:41 pm