Nintendo 'Yo-Kai Watch' coming to U.S. 3DS players; Game parallels 'Pokemon' plot

Nintendo website

For fans of the successful Pokemon franchise that wants to switch to another role-playing game and character collection genre, Nintendo will bring another Japanese smash hit to the U.S. shores – the "Yo-kai Watch".

"Yo-kai Watch" closely parallels the plot of "Pokemon". The game follows main character Keita Amano in Sakura New Town as he opens a capsule with a Yo-kai named Whisper inside it. Once freed, Whisper gave Keita a device known as a Yo-kai Watch, enabling Keita to see and befriend various, unseen-before Yo-kais. Together with Whisper and another cat Yo-kai named Jibanyan, Keita must explore new areas and battle it out against mischievous and evil Yo-kais.

Launched in 2013, the "Yo-kai Watch" game became a phenomenal best-seller in Japan, with sales of over 7 million units. Because of the popularity of the game, the title soon branched out into other media, where the anime and manga series are both popularly well-liked and received hardcore fans.

The gameplay on the Nintendo 3DS is a straight-up role-playing game, where players can either choose Keita or another girl character named Fumika Kodama, and search around Sakura New Town for Yo-kais using the touchscreen.

Because of the game's success, Nintendo is planning to bring "Yo-kai Watch" to the US shores. Not only that, but the big game publisher is also planning to expand and bring the game to Latin America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and Korea. According to Scott Moffitt of Nintendo of America, "With sales of more than 7 million units in Japan, 'Yo-kai Watch' is coming to the U.S., where a new audience will be able to experience this irresistible franchise for the first time."

"It doesn't matter if you're a kid, parent, fan or fan-in-the-making: Everyone will be won over by this charming game."

Nintendo plans to launch the game soon.