Parents' Guide to Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits / Fleshy Souls

With so many features, new areas, and an engaging story, this role-playing sequel manages to capture the perfect mix of fun. Making a sequel is never easy, especially when it's a sequel to a big hit. The biggest hurdle is finding the balance between adding something new to the original but not forgetting what fans loved in the first place. Yo-Kai Watch 2 manages to walk that balance like an acrobat. In fact, nearly everything about the sequel is an improvement on the original game. The entire city of Springdale from the first game is included in the sequel, giving instant familiarity to fans, while there's more than twice that still waiting to be discovered. Yo-Kai Watch 2 also lets players battle each other and trade Yo-Kai between each other via local or online play, the latter being a feature sorely lacking in the original. Then there's Yo-kai Blasters, a new feature that lets one to four players take on the roles of their favorite Yo-Kai as they team up to face unique threats in local co-op action. Blasters is a frantically fun and addictive experience and well worth getting a few friends together to try out.

Yo-Kai Watch 2 comes in two distinct flavors: Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls. The differences are minor, with about a dozen or so Yo-Kai specific to one version or the other, as well as a couple of minor story differences. There's also a special dungeon available to those who pick up both games or link up with a friend who has the other version. Regardless of whether you choose to go "Team Spirits" or "Team Souls," there's so much to do in the game that you won't feel like you're missing out on anything. And thanks to the new online trading feature, even the version-specific Yo-Kai are still easily within reach. Yo-Kai Watch's 2015 debut on the 3DS was one of the best all-ages games to hit the 3DS in some time, and Yo-Kai Watch 2 not only manages to live up to the original but it also raises the bar for future releases in the franchise. It's a weirdly warped adventure with one of the strangest cast of characters you've ever seen, but it never fails to entertain.