Yo-kai Watch 2

September 26 – October 2

Section: 

Chris asked me to write about my pick for the upcoming week, but I've been a bit under the weather. I've been tired, coughing a lot, not really feeling like playing my 3DS games … .

Wait. Could this be the work of a yo-kai? I might need to break out my Yo-kai Watch and fight the mischievous spirits who make life difficult. Good thing Yo-kai Watch 2 is coming soon. I can fight, befriend, and even trade over 400 types of yo-kai in this second installment of the Pokémon-style series. The only question that remains is whether to choose Bony Spirits or Fleshy Souls.

Greg "Doubtingthomas396" Decker

There's a lot to choose from this week. Take Clustertruck, for example. Clustertruck is not only fun to say, it's also a first-person platformer where the platforms are semi trucks careening down a rapidly and catastrophically deteriorating highway. It's like “the floor is lava” envisioned as how Jean Claude Van Damme would play it.

Now, full disclosure, I received a pre-release copy of Clustertruck for review. Whether that was enough to sway my vote, I can't tell you. It's certainly the sort of game I would have picked if I hadn't already played it. But in the interest of being frank and earnest (not that it isn't hard enough being Greg and Thomas), I'll defer my choice to my wife, who is eagerly awaiting Yo-Kai Watch 2. The ocd-baiting catch-em-all has taken the reigns from Pokemon and adopted the “if you want 100% you will pay double MSRP” marketing model from the venerable RPG franchise. I'm sure Fleshy Souls and Bony Spirits are two names that won't result in anything unpleasant from the internet, but I'll keep safe-search cranked all the way up just in case.

Felix “Episodic Assassination” Threepaper

Wowee, look at that long PC list.

Burly Men at Sea will charm story lovers with its beardly aesthetic and sparse Scandinavian art style. Lichtspeer looks like a fun take on parabolic-trajectory projectile gaming.

Osiris: New Dawn hits Early Access and promises to look like Mass Effect and play like No Man’s Sky meets Minecraft – exploring planets and building settlements. No pressure on the expectations there, then.
Streamline is an arena game built for streaming, with a bunch of in-game things for viewers to do while they watch the players fragging each other: They can sponsor rewards for the players, change the rules of the arena, play mini-games. Will it catch on?

Forza Horizon 3 is set in Australia! Enjoy driving through stunning beaches and jungles, just watch out for the photorealistic drop bears.

The consoles get XCOM 2 just as I finish my first PC campaign. They also get this year’s FIFA, and a timed ‘sclusy on Yesterday Origins, an adventure game featuring the titular (and not at all painfully-named) John Yesterday. Play as him and his girlfriend in time-travel mystery with a dash of The Name of the Rose – well, there are medieval monks in it.

Hitman Episode 5 is pulling a Law & Order, giving us a ripped-from-the-headlines level set in a private militia compound in Colorado.

If I were buying for myself this week, I’d pick Hitman Episode 5. If I were buying for the GWJ secret santa, I’d pick Yesterday Origins.

This week:

PC

  • AquaNimble
  • BattleTime
  • Burly Men At Sea
  • Can't Drive This
  • CLASH
  • Clustertruck
  • Dyno Adventure
  • FIFA 17
  • FIVE: Champions of Canaan
  • Forza Horizon 3
  • Gal*Gun: Double Peace
  • Galaxy Combat Wargames
  • Giant Machines 2017
  • God of Word
  • Goo Saga: HD Edition
  • Honey Rose: Underdog Fighter Extraordinaire
  • Hybrid Wars
  • Hyper Gods
  • illumine
  • Impossiball
  • Laser Disco Defenders
  • Lazors
  • Lichtspeer
  • Office Freakout
  • Ortus Arena
  • Osiris: New Dawn
  • Particle Fleet: Emergence
  • Pixel Puzzles Ultimate - Puzzle Pack: Reptiles
  • Security Hole
  • Slayer Shock
  • Streamline
  • Twisty's Asylum Escapades
  • Wuppo

PS4

  • Darkest Dungeon
  • Hitman Episode 5: Freedom Fighters
  • FIFA 17
  • Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics
  • Thomas Was Alone
  • XCOM 2
  • Yesterday Origins

Xbox One

  • FIFA 17
  • Forza Hoirizon 3
  • Hitman Episode 5: Freedom Fighters
  • XCOM 2
  • Yesterday Origins

Wii U

  • Soul Axiom
  • SteamWorld Heist
  • SteamWorld Heist: The Outsider

PS3

  • FIFA 17

Xbox 360

  • FIFA 17

3DS

  • Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack
  • Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle
  • River City: Tokyo Rumble
  • Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice
  • Yo-Kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls
  • Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits

Vita

  • Darkest Dungeon
  • Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics
  • Thomas Was Alone

RIFT

  • The Body VR

Vive

  • Blue Effect VR
  • Escape from Zellman Orbital
  • Soldiers of Heaven VR
  • Tablemen
  • The Body VR

Comments

If I were buying for the GWJ secret stanta

Ftfy. Shame, shame.

For me, Forza Horizon 3 eventually. Will end up playing it on PC, but I'll probably want a new videocard first.

Super stoked for Yokai Watch 2! SUPER! Collecting and fusing yokai, which are basically a combination of ghosts and fairies, is my jam. However, I swear I spend half my time collecting bugs and fishing in the game.

Have you played the demo, garion? They really amped up the difficulty with bug catching!

Oh ya? I did play the demo, but mostly to test out the new combat features. I ended up quitting out rather quickly and firing up the original game instead. Figured I had already preordered, so what's the point of "wasting" my time in a demo.

Anyway, I'm even more stoked. Totes in love with this series atm.

Thomas was Alone is excellent. I am thinking of rebuying it to play on my PS4.

If you had it on the PS3, I'm pretty sure you're already covered, as its cross-buy. Check your PS4 download list.

River City: Tokyo Rumble is pretty much a lock for me this week. Kunio-kun games are probably my 7/10 guilty pleasure and I'm too happy to see that Arc System Works (and Natsume oddly enough) are finally attempting to localize the backlog of 3DS release in Japan.

Other than that, very curious about Burly Men At Sea but I'll probably snag that on iOS if I get it since that seems like the natural home for it.

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack

It should probably be noted that's the retail release of Azure Striker Gunvolt and its sequel. I believe the second game should be going into the eShop as well this week.

EDIT: The Wii re-release of Pikmin hits the North American Wii U eShop on Thursday