“We’re steadily working on the next installment which incorporates the flow of the series,” reads a rough translation of Hino’s celebratory message. “There’s still some time before we can make an official announcement, but stay tuned!”

The last major game release in the Yo-kai Watch franchise was Yo-kai Watch 4++, which was first unveiled back in 2019. The game, as its name might imply, was essentially an enhanced re-release of Yo-kai Watch 4 for the PS4. Yo-kai Watch 4, also released back in 2019, was originally released as a Japan-only game.

While the franchise hasn’t grown to the heights of popularity of its competitors in the west, Yo-kai Watch is still considered quite successful in Japan.

今日で「妖怪ウォッチ」10周年。早いものです・・・・たくさんのお祝いツィートもありがとうございます！10周年特設サイトを公開しているので、今日はぜひ一緒に盛り上がってください！https://t.co/i2SnFMW9UM… pic.twitter.com/otmo0ayEf9

— 日野晃博 (@AkihiroHino) July 11, 2023

While the Yo-kai Watch series didn’t quite hit the potential it seemed to have at one time (there was a point where it was seriously considered a potential rival to Pokemon), it still retains a decent following. The newest entry in the series is also getting the typical release with a typical weird Japanese subtitle called Yo-kai Watch 4++ announced the developer today.

The enhanced re-release will include multiplayer, new areas, and new yo-kai to battle and collect. This will mark the first time the series will come to the PlayStation 4, as well as the first time it’ll come to a non-Nintendo system. Those who own the Switch version of the original release can download the new content as DLC.

While it’s been confirmed that Yo-kai Watch 4 will come westward at some point in time, only the Japanese release date of December 5th was announced for 4++. Presumably the localized version will be based on this. We’ll keep you updated.

Level-5’s RPG franchise Yo-kai Watch has been exclusive to Nintendo hardware since its inception, starting out on the 3DS and then moving to the Switch with Yo-kai Watch 4, which launched earlier in the year in Japan. However, that will be changing soon, and Yo-kai Watch will no longer be a Nintendo exclusive franchise.

Level-5 have announced that Yo-kai Watch 4 will be coming to the PS4 as well. No exact release date or window was provided in the announcement trailer (which you can view below), but a Japanese release has been confirmed. There’s no word yet on whether the game will receive a localization in the West for the PS4 as well.

On the Switch, Yo-kai Watch 4 is confirmed to be coming West, though no release date for said localization has yet been announced. An enhanced re-release of the first game in the series is also coming to the Switch in Japan- there’s a chance that this ends up getting announced for the PS4 as well.

Yo-kai Watch was, at one point, on track to rival Pokemon in its success (at least within Japan). Unfortunately, the series has fallen a little short of that with recent entries- but still remains pretty popular in Japan. The latest title, Yo-kai Watch 4, released there last month. We’ve been waiting for a release date for the west for a while and today, finally, we have an official announcement that it’s happening.

At the Anime Expo 2019, Level-5, the game’s developer, made the announcement. There were no photos or videos allowed or released at the expo, but thanks to Twitter user HDKirin, we have the information. Unfortunately, there’s no date, so when it will actually come to be is anyone’s guess. Apparently, a trailer was shown, but in Japanese with subtitles and no dub, meaning it could be a good bit before it happens.

Nintendo has handled the publishing of the series in the past when it got particularly big on the 3DS, so it’s possible that could happen again here. We’ll just have to wait and see, but at least we definitely now know that Yo-kai Watch 4 will be coming to the west for the Switch.

https://twitter.com/HDKirin/status/1147245137522642944

Yo-kai Watch 4, the latest in the long running monster and ghost catching series, is due out later this year in Japan, and in anticipation for that, Level-5 has released the game’s opening cinematic to give you a bit of a taste of the game.

There’s no gameplay, obviously, but you see several of the ghosts called Yo-kai, the setting, and some of the new characters. You can read more about them, as well as the new befriending system that hopefully brings new longevity to the game through here.

The series was once a juggernaut in Japan, even managing to match the sales of Nintendo’s Pokemon in the region when Yo-kai Watch first came on the scene. While the series isn’t quite where it used to be now, and never managed to find a strong foothold outside Japan, Yo-kai Watch still has a lot of fans, and this will be the first game to come out on current-gen hardware.

Yo-kai Watch 4 will release exclusively on Switch this June in Japan. As of now there’s no word on a worldwide release. You can check out the opening video below- but be warned, it might get stuck in your head.

https://youtu.be/YomA3cQDHzM

Developer Level-5 revealed a ton of new information about the upcoming Yo-kai Watch 4: We’re Looking Up at the Same Sky, the next game in the ongoing ghost catcher RPG series. We get a look at the newest world, Yo-makai, that was featured in the latest film. Players can now explore that part of the Yo-kai Watch world with the upcoming sequel.

The game will also feature six new watch users, Keita, Fumi-chan, Natsume, Touma, Akinori, and Shin, that can fight alongside your ghostly companions with their own special abilities. Along with them is a new befriending system, where a mysterious new yo-kai named Konsaru will match you to yo-kai you can befriend by doing certain tasks. And, of course, a host of new yo-kai for you to recruit.

Yo-kai Watch 4 will release exclusively for Nintendo Switch this June in Japan (no word yet on the worldwide release). You can check more details about the game thanks to the translation via Gematsu.

Shin Megami Tensei 5

As the first Shin Megami Tensei title exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, Shin Megami Tensei 5 will focus on contemporary issues like unemployment, terrorism and so on. Its gameplay will still feature demons but there’s also the post-apocalyptic twist, as the recent trailer showcased Tokyo in ruins. Shin Megami Tensei 5 will take longer to develop than the previous handheld iterations thanks to Atlus taking advantage of the Switch’s hardware so here’s hoping it’s worth the wait.

Level 5 have released a new gameplay trailer for their upcoming RPG, Yo-Kai Watch 4, and for the devoted fanbase of the series that has been anticipating its launch, the footage shown off is sure to get you excited. Plenty of exploration is shown, showing a few locations, but the larger focus of the trailer seems to be on the combat, showcasing a large amount of enemies and snappy looking attacks.

Also worth a mention are the visuals, which are looking charmingly impressive in all the ways you’d expect from a Yo-Kai Watch game. You can watch the trailer below- it’s in Japanese, so you might not understand what’s being said, but you can at least look at the gameplay and the visuals.

If you want to watch even more gameplay footage, you can head on over here. Yo-Kai Watch 4 was originally slated for a Nintendo Switch launch in 2018, but was later delayed to a 2019 release– with no firm release date given for the year in Japan, and no word on when it’ll launch in the west. Meanwhile, the series’ final mainline appearance on the 3DS, Yo-Kai Watch 3, releases in the west in February.

Level-5 may have announced a delay for Yo-Kai Watch 4, the next entry in their long running monster catching franchise, but you still get something to chew on as you wait for the game in the interim. Today, we got a brand new debut trailer for the game, which presents us with our very first look at it in action.

From the trailer, we can see glimpses of the game’s combat system (which vaguely seems to resemble the combat system from Ni no Kuni 2 earlier this year), as well as its gorgeous art style. Troublingly enough, the frame rate doesn’t seem to hold up well in the trailer.

The good news on that front is that we also have direct feed gameplay footage of the game in action, and performance there seems to be far smoother than what the trailer suggests it will be like. Why the trailer has lower frame rates is anyone’s guess, but I hope the final game, whenever it launches, will be smoothed out on that front.

Yo-Kia Watch 4 will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch in Spring 2019 in Japan. A western release date is not yet announced.

Yo-Kai Watch 4, the fourth entry in Level-5’s monster catching series, and the very first one to appear on the Switch, was announced to be hitting the system in Winter this year in Japan. But Winter is fast approaching, and the game itself remains scarce, leading to questions about whether or not it will actually be able to make the deadline.

Spoiler: it won’t. Level-5 has, to pretty much no one’s surprise, announced (via Ryokutya) a delay for the game today, confirming that it won’t be launching until Spring of next year. To be clear, this is specifically about the Japanese release date— the game hasn’t even been confirmed for a western release date yet (in fact, we’re only due to get Yo-Kai Watch 3 in February next year, so this one is probably a ways off).

While this news is doubtless disappointing to many, I’m sure most will be okay with the game taking a bit longer if it turns out better for it. So far, the game has looked gorgeous in all its showings (far better than any other monster catching game on the Switch, in fact), so I am sure players will be able to come to terms with the delay.