Yo-Kai Watch 3 is the third main series game in the Yo Kai Watch franchise developed and published by Level-5 and released for Nintendo 3DS.
This game follows two protagonists’ stories:
- Nate Adams and his family move to St. Peanutsburg, BBQnote . There he, Whisper, and Jibanyan befriend a boy named Buck who can see Yo-Kai.
- Back in Springdale, Hailey Anne Thomas acquires her own Yo-Kai Watch and befriends Usapyon. Together, they form the Hapyon Detective Agency.
The battle system was overhauled in this game. Now each side can move around on a 3x3 grid, and aligning Yo-Kai together can allow them to chain attacks or protect ones behind them. Also introduced was “Dream Link”. With it, the player can fire a Yo-Kai Blaster to better befriend or directly damage enemies. It also has other gear.
Three versions of the game were released in Japan: Sushi and Tempura released in July 2016 and Sukiyaki in December 2016. Outside of Japan, only one version was released. It follows Sukiyaki’s base story but has all three versions’ exclusive Yo-Kai and features. This version came out in December 2018 in the EU/Australia regions and February 2019 in the US.
Yo-Kai Watch 3 contains the following tropes:
- Agent Mulder and Agent Scully: Blunder and Folly, respectively, are Expies of the original duo, so naturally this is their dynamic.
- Alternate Universe: Sukiyaki has one where Katie got the Yo-Kai Watch instead of Nate and moved to BBQ. Nate is turned into the Yo-Kai Fuu 2 and befriended by her.
- American Accents: Usapyon and many people from BBQ have Southern accents.
- Anthropomorphic Food: A lot of the new Merican Yo-Kai are food: bacon, corn, buttered toast, lemons, pancakes, hamburgers, the list goes on.
- Bag of Sharing:
- Averted at first. Nate and Hailey don’t share items or Yo-Kai. After they meet, their inventories are combined.
- It gets pretty strange when Nate and Hailey are separated in Hazeltine Mansion. At first they have to physically pass keys to each other, but then they can summon Yo-Kai just recruited by the other hero in the opposite wing of the mansion.
- Bag of Spilling: Justified. Whisper traded in Nate’s Medallium for the Yo-Kai Watch Model U (The original watch doesn’t work in BBQ), forcing Nate to start over with Jibanyan.
- Book Ends: Nate and his family are sitting in a Japanese restaurant. Nate's dad reveals that his job is transferring him, so they're moving out/back to Springdale.
- Character Customization: Originyan. With the Build-a-Nyan, you can directly change its name, colors, clothes, voice, and tribe. It can then be trained by another Jibanyan-esque Yo-Kai to boost rank and stats and change its moves and abilities.
- Character Name Limits: Some Yo-kai have names too long to fit, like Speedemountain shortened to "Sp mountain" and Hoppy-Go-Lucky as just "Hoppy." In fact, this prevents players from using Hailey Anne's default name.
- Cosplay Café: There’s a French Maid café in Sparkopolis. For a section of Chapter 3, Hailey ends up working there.
- Crop Circles: And they're all baseball-themed (ball, bat, glove). Also not alien; the local Yo-kai just wanted to play ball.
- Deep South: BBQ is this, with the local dialect being so thick that Nate can't understand it without help from a Yo-Kai. This is averted in the original Japanese and the non-English European versions, where only specified as the USA, with the language barrier coming from Nate literally speaking a different language to the locals.
- Demoted to Extra: Katie isn't playable anymore. However in Sukiyaki and the international release, There's another universe where Katie moved to BBQ instead of Nate. When Nate returns, Katie is reintroduced to him as Mee 2, who gives Nate her medal.
- Downloadable Content: Like with Yo-kai Watch 2, only copies downloaded from the eShop come with a one-time code to unlock and befriend Jibanyan T and Komasan T.
- Dub Name Change: The international dub of the game refers to the area Nate moves to as BBQ, while elsewhere it's USA. This is because of how Springdale was made into an American town where it was Japanese in the original script. Japan doesn't state where St. Peanutsburg is beyond clarifying it to be in America, while the international dub implies it's towards the south.
- Eagleland: BBQ, actually called USA in non-English versions of the game. St. Peanutsburg is an Everytown, America with “Merican Yo-Kai” resembling things like western cuisine, astronauts, or comic book superheroes.
- Elite Zombie: The Supermanager and Hollow Guard.
- Global Currency: Averted. Although the ratio is 1:1, Springdale uses dollars and St. Peanutsburg uses “BBQ Bucks”. In non-English versions, USA uses dollars and Springdale uses yen (100 per $1) or euros.
- Retcon: The UK-English releases of the prior two games changed Springdale's currency from the dollar to the Pound Sterling (£). This has been reversed in this game.
- Global Currency Exception: Detective Holdit rewards players with Wanted points (WP) and Jungle Hunter trades fish and bugs for Jungle Points (JP).
- Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Zombies.
- Goroawase Number: The quest that unlocks Katie's Yo-kai form comes from Fancy That! issue no. 23. 23 can be read as "Fumi," which is Katie's Japanese name (Fumiko).
- Guest Fighter: In 3, you can also recruit a Moogle-Jibanyan hybrid and a Jibanyan riding a Chocobo. Don-Chan also returns after being absent in Blasters.
- Hayseed Name: Several of the kids Nate meets in St. Peanutsburg, including Buck, Sue-Ellen, Mary Lou, and Jolene
- High Koala-ty Cuteness: Koalanyan is part of the Charming tribe and his medallium entry points out his cute, large nose. He can transport people between the real and cartoon worlds by a boop on his nose, can shoot a large rainbow-colored laser from it, and can do a dance with others around him following along when his ears are pulled.
- Kaiju: The Yo-Kaiju, a stories-tall three-headed turtle Yo-Kai. How does one battle that? With a Yo-Kai-powered model robot-turned-Humongous Mecha.
- Kamaitachi: The Kamaitachi is introduced in this game. It's renamed Whirlweasel for the English version.
- Kid Detective: Hailey starts a detective agency in Springdale, but Nate and Buck also solve mysteries in St. Peanutsburg.
- Language Barrier: In non-English versions of the game, Nate initially has trouble communicating with the residents of St. Peanutsburg, as he doesn't speak English. For the English release, this is changed to him not understanding their heavy Southern accents.
- His father also experiences one at work; see Nice Job Breaking It, Hero and Surprisingly Realistic Outcome below.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: It's the final 3DS title and it's also the one where Level-5 decided to stick to anime canon the most. You can't play as Katie on default. Instead, Nate is the canonical protagonist and Hailey Anne is the female option, with Katie only appearing in a select section.
- The Men in Black: Agent X is an MIB Yo-kai.
- Missing Secret: The Indian restaurant in BBQ is seemingly just for looks. You can't ever enter it, and the only place in the game to buy curry is the Indian restaurant in Springdale.
- "Miss X" Pun: Miss Teri the 'Merican Yo-kai is said to love mystery novels, and fittingly enough, her name is a pun on "mystery".
- Monster Clown: Sometimes you'll find one wandering around the streets of BBQ at night. If he sees you, a chase will ensue. If you get to the exit before he catches you, you get an item. If he catches you, you'll either be thrown into Zombie Night or forced into battle against zombie Yo-Kai.
- Mythology Gag: In the English version, Usapyon's name when he was alive was Danny, likely a reference to his Japanese Verbal Tic "dani".
- When arriving to the Blasters House in Chapter 9, Hailey Anne mistakenly calls it the "Busters House", referencing the original (non-copyright friendly) Japanese name.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: The Yo-Kai OMGator. Regular crocodiles will attack your raft unless Whisper punches them away first.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A rare comedic example: At the end of the main story, Nate and family have to move back to Springdale, with his dad citing a "communication problem". Whisper realizes it's due to Nate befriending Lionguist and taking him away from his dad, thus preventing him from understanding everyone.
- Old Save Bonus:
- Linking with Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits allows you to battle and befriend Jibanyan S. Doing the same with Fleshy Souls unlocks Komasan S and Psychic Specters grants Komajiro S.
- Likewise, linking with Blasters: Red Cat Corps unlocks Jibanyan B, and White Dog Squad unlocks Komasan B. If you befriend both, you can then get Usapyon B.
- In the original Japanese release, having a save of Yo-kai Three Kingdoms would allow you a chance to obtain seven different Yo-kai following the third version's release. As this game did not release internationally, it was changed to a QR code.
- Olympus Mons / Pals with Jesus:
- Lord Enma and alternate versions of himself, plus the posthumous Ancient Enma, can be befriended. They're referred to as "Deva Yo-kai" alongside Righteous Zazel (a light version of Enma's right-hand man) and Hinozall Awoken.
- The Seven Gods of Fortune
in Japanese mythology are also befriendable Yo-Kai, one for each tribe except Eerie. In the original Japanese versions they were locked behind real-world Dream Medals (and some of them are version exclusive) but in the international version they're fought by giving Ghastly Fragments to Mr. Wonderful.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Marco, who owns the pizzeria, sometimes can’t hold his Italian accent.
- One Game for the Price of Two:
- Three, actually. Yo-kai Watch 3 comes in Sushi, Tempura, and the updated Sukiyaki.
- Averted in the international release, which has only one version as the updated game, using the latest Sukiyaki update as the basis, but adding otherwise exclusive content from the other two versions as well.
- Original Generation: Merican Yo-Kai are largely affectionate parodies of the USA's culture (such as a cheerleader or a baseball with a bat) more than any actual American boogeymen.
- Playing Card Motifs: King Jibanyan, Queen Usapyon, Jackomasan, Komajiro Ten, Acenyan, and Josper.
- Regional Bonus: One of the benefits of having only one version overseas; using the Updated Re-release as a starting point and adding content from other versions.
- Sailor Earth: In-Universe, Hailey gets turned into "Sailor Psych" by the other Sailor Cuties to battle Hoaxy-Coaxy.
- Sequel Goes Foreign: In non-English versions, Nate moves to USA with his parents.
- Shout-Out:
- The X-Files gets a lot of references. The opening cutscene begins with a UFO crash-landing and FBY agents Blunder and Folly (referencing Mulder and Scully, respectively) looking through their Y-File.
- In the same cutscene, Blunder considers this case as “Level-4, or even Level-5.”
- There are superhero Yo-Kai named Deadcool, Kaped Komando, and Supernyan. The Supermanager is also a reference to Superman or Bizarro.
- From Final Fantasy, there’s Chocobonyan (Jibanyan riding a Chocobo) and Mooglenyan (a Jibanyan-Moogle hybrid). The latter's Soultimate is "Finally Fantasmagic."
- The Bitty Rokit YBX robot model references LBX: Little Battlers eXperience, another Level-5 game. Also, it's made by Yasbro.
- Nate and Buck jump a shopping cart off a ramp with Whisper and Jibanyan riding it and a gigantic moon in the background before they all crash.
- When Usapyon is mad, he goes into Invader Modenote or Emperor Mode, both Star Wars references.
- Dr. Francesca Stein researches Zombie Night.
- Hailey is a fan of Sailor Cuties, a mix of Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure.
- The Yo-kai movie studio is Yoho.
- The Suspicious Room and Madam Mushroom are both references to Twin Peaks: the Suspicious Room resembles the Red Room, while Madam Mushroom is a reference to the Log Lady.
- During the final Y-Files quest, Blunder says "I'm not saying it's aliens, but I have evidence that it's aliens"
- Part of a corn field gets flattened so ghosts can play baseball.
- The X-Files gets a lot of references. The opening cutscene begins with a UFO crash-landing and FBY agents Blunder and Folly (referencing Mulder and Scully, respectively) looking through their Y-File.
- Special Guest: The game features Chocobonyan and Mooglenyan, both based on mascots from the Final Fantasy series. Don-chan from Taiko no Tatsujin also makes a return appearance after skipping Blasters.
- Starter Mon: Jibanyan for Nate, Usapyon for Hailey.
- Stance System: Aligning Yo-Kai horizontally along the grid allows them to combo attacks for scratch damage (even if the original attack did no damage). Linked vertically, ones in the back will not be attacked, except by area-of-effect moves. It's a good way to protect healers.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Despite the series being notorious for starting friendships very easily, Buck takes a while before he trusts Nate enough to want to be his friend, showing how friendships often take a while to be forged.
- Nate befriending Lionquist leads to his father being unable to communicate well with his coworkers, and he later moves back to Springdale with his family because of this, as the Language Barrier prevents him from effectively working.
- Survival Horror: Terror Time returns and is as scary as ever, but there’s also a counterpart: Zombie Night. In Zombie Night, Nate has to collect supplies, sneak up behind zombies, and kill them with a hammer (head-on encounters are discouraged as Nate will be overwhelmed). The only way out is to find and ring the Mourning Bell.
- This Is a Drill: The Yo-Kai Drill, a Dream Link accessory used to destroy rocks. Certain medals can change its shape.
- Threatening Shark:
- A robot shark, no less, the Great Byte Shark does indeed look menacing. Subverted when it actually helps in the battle with the Yopple-Bot.
- Averted with Steve Jaws, ex-CEO of Yopple who designed the first modern Yo-Kai Watch.
- Tomato in the Mirror: In the quest you recruit Whisper, he's the most frightened when you investigate the Tuxedo Man. It turns out that he was the Tuxedo Man the entire time and didn't realize it due to him going to Yo-Kai parties late at night and took the appearance of a tall man in a suit.
- Two Guys and a Girl: The non-romantic kind. The main characters consist of Nate, Hailey Anne, & Buck.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: For the first half of the game, Nate's and Hailey's stories are unrelated. To keep either one from getting too far ahead, the game may require you to switch between them until an intertwining element connects them.
- Wham Line: At the end of the second chapter, Buck reveals something that massively affects the rest of the game.
- Buck: That red cat… and that pillow-like ghost… I’m a-guessing you can see ‘em too, huh?
