The entire world is currently obsessed with Pokémon Go --- and with good reason, because catching Pokémon in real life is literally the only thing I have ever wanted in this fallen world --- but I have to assume that particular burning fervor will have cooled down at least a little bit by the end of September. Surely once October rolls around, people are going to be looking for a new way to capture monsters and train them for battle.

With that being the case, Yo-Kai Watch 2 is definitely worth taking a look at, but not just because of the timing of its release. It seems that for the sequel to last year's game, Nintendo is leaning into the sheer weirdness of the premise by giving players two versions to choose from, and providing players with something even Pokémon can't match: Fleshy Souls and Bony Spirits. And yes, those are the actual titles.

 

Yo-Kai Watch 2
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If you haven't played Yo-Kai Watch, it's worth noting that this isn't the first time that the makers have gone for something terrifying, although the first game's approach leaned a little more towards existential dread than shambling flesh-mounds. I mean, the very first mission in the first game involved being a child and watching your parents fighting, with the threat of divorce looming large. It's revealed that they were actually just fighting because they were possessed by evil Yokai spirits, leaving you to solve the problem so that your parents would stay together. That's a lot to put on a child, even if it's a child who has access to friendly little monsters who fight their battles.

With that in mind, it's nice to see that the sequel is also planning to be full of eldritch horrors that linger with the ever-present spectre of death.

 

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Yo-Kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls and Bony Spirits will be out on September 30.

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