Yo-kai Watch Blasters is a role-playing video game developed and published by Level-5 for the Nintendo 3DS. Blasters was originally released in two versions, named Red Cat Corps and White Dog Squad. The game is a spin-off based on the Blasters mini-game in the main series game Yo-kai Watch 2, and was released in Japan on July 2015 and worldwide by Nintendoin September 2018. Human characters are noticeably absent from gameplay, and players control yōkai in a beat 'em up action style instead. The story follows Jibanyan and his Blasters team in stopping Yo-kai shenanigans. Players are to tackle various missions and bosses, and befriend new Yo-kai in the process. The game is intended as a spoof/homage of the Ghostbustersmovie franchise, and is named after it in the Japanese release. However, due to copyright and licensing issues, the western release was renamed, and most of the overt references to Ghostbusters were censored.
Versions
The spin-offs' commercial success in Japan led to a free expansion, Moon Rabbit Crew, which released in Japan in December 2015 and worldwide in September 2018. In addition, a Japanese-exclusive arcade version, Iron Oni Army, was released in December 2015.
Gameplay
In Yo-kai Watch Blasters, you can play as Yo-kai; there are only four medal slots in Blasters, in contrast to the six slots in the main series games Yo-kai Watch and Yo-kai Watch 2. The game has three types of missions: Story, Patrol, and Boss Rush. In all missions, players collect Oni Orbs, an in-game currency used to level up Yo-kai, buy items, make and upgrade equipment, use the Oni Crank-a-kai, etc. In Story Missions, you can progress through the story, to become the best Blaster you can be. There are two types of Story Missions: Main Missions and Sub Missions. As the name suggests, Main Missions are essential to completing the story. In contrast, Sub Missions are generally optional; however, some Sub Missions are essential to progress in the main story. In Patrol Missions, you can explore different towns of your choice; within Springdale, you can choose the location you want to patrol in. Many rare Yo-kai that you are able to befriend spawn here. Players can also perform Mini Missions, which reward players with Oni Orbs. In Big Boss Missions, you can re-fight bosses previously defeated in Story Missions. Each Big Boss Mission has a selectable difficulty level as well. You can fight the bosses in Normal, Super, and Ultra modes, in increasing order of difficulty. Each mission has a distinct set of objectives. These may include collecting items, battling Yo-kai, etc. If all the Yo-kai in your team faint, or the timer runs out, you fail the mission. Every Yo-kai has a role, and each role depends on what your Yo-kai will do throughout the mission: Fighter, Tank, Healer, and Ranger.
Plot
Characters
Sequel
A sequel, was also released in two versions, and on December 16, 2017. The sequel games are linkable with the buster games as well as the three versions of Yo-kai Watch 3 Released in Japan.
