Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Yo-kai Watch (Nintendo 3DS).

To do: There's still some more. Get a list of the changed passwords?

When Yo-kai Watch was localized overseas, just over a handful of changes had to be made despite being heavily based on Japanese culture. A large number of those changes would carry over to some future titles in the series.

General Changes#

Title Screen#

Japan	North America/Australia
Korea	Europe

On the title screen, the copyright date font is different from the Japanese version. The copyright date was also updated in the European version, while the TM symbol was replaced by a registered trademark symbol.

Japan	International

there is some text on the roadway under the logo exclusive to the Japanese version which reads 止まれ ("stop") which was removed, as well as the background image being shifted one pixel down in the North American and European versions of the game.

Currency#

The in-game currency varies between versions; the Japanese version uses Yen, while the American and Australian versions uses Dollars, Won in the Korean version, Pounds in the European English version and Euros in other European versions. Mentions of the currency in dialogue were also changed to reflect this.

As of a result, the "value" was also changed (ex. 100 yen = $1.00).

This would be carried over until Yo-kai Watch 3, where the currency completely stays as dollars in the European English version.

Japan	Korea	English (America)/Australia

English (Europe)	Europe

Changes from the Japanese Version#

This section lists the following changes that were made in international versions, including the Korean versions. They also apply to the American, European and Australian versions.

Changed NPCs#

The Janitor's design was edited to avoid looking like a racial stereotype.

Japan	International

The change was also applied to his model.

The eyes of the shopkeeper at Sun Pavilion in Springdale Flower Road (c328000) were also adjusted to avoid looking like a racial stereotype.

Japan	International

It was also applied to the model.

The Nom Burger cashier's apron was slightly redesigned to remove the McDonald's trademark-infringing yellow "M" to a burger design and to change the color to a darker red.

Oddly, her talk portrait wasn't changed, likely due to the bottom red part being covered up by the speech bubble.

Changed Graphics#

Items#

• Many of the item graphics had all the Japanese on them removed in order to make localization easier.

Japan	International

• The color coins had the "Y" replaced with a hitodama flame. The original graphic was kept in Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble.

Japan	International

Everfore Icon Fix#

Everfore's icon was mistakenly overlaid with Jibanyan's artwork that is only present in the Japanese release with patches included. It would be fixed in the international versions and later ports.

Japan	International

Terror Time Icon#

The Terror Time Icon was changed from an oni (鬼) symbol to a monster face.

Japan	International

Diary and Save Menu#

The icon of the Diary in the Menu was redesigned to look less like a Japanese-centric diary to a westernized one; that involved having the sunflower field being changed to a simpler cherry blossom design.

Japan	International

The Diary in the top screen of the Save Menu was also changed to fit the overseas typography, even in the Korean version despite using a similar layout to Asian language papers.

Japan	International

Yo-kai Cam Challenges#

To do: Get a list of rewards

The order of the Yo-kai Cam challenges were completely redone for the international versions due to an objective of having to snap Yo-kai with names (in Japanese) that start with a certain letter. Because it would be difficult to implement such a feature due to localized Yo-kai names being different in other languages, certain challenges reordered in order to compensate for the lack of variety but the overall order is reduced to 64 than 70 in comparison.

Miscellaneous Changes#

• Some of the Yo-kai Spot icons were slightly changed to hide the Japanese text on shop banners, to make it more localization-friendly.

Filename	Japanese	International
m021_1.xi
m023_1.xi

• In the esp001c10.dspadpcm voice clip, Jibanyan now shouts out "Paws of Fury!" when he does his Soultimate Move during battle, a detail that was initially included in Yo-kai Watch 2. It would carry over to the Switch and iOS/Android ports.

Changes in the American/European/Australian Versions#

The changes in this section only apply to the American, European and Australian versions and not the Korean version.

Intro Video#

The intro was extended in the American/European/Australian versions, adding in Yo-kai Watch featuring Swampy Marsh as an opening theme with a montage of gameplay and story cutscenes.

Miscellaneous Changes#

• The QR Code recognition was completely changed from the Japanese and Korean versions, where it only reads QR Codes from Hasbro-manufactured Yo-kai Medals, which have "HAS____" on the back, rather than "B__". This kind of change caused a bit of an uproar within the community, especially when the Jewelnyan QR Codes were exclusively available via a limited-edition set before being released via social media themselves publicly. Fortunately, the change wasn't done for later games starting with Yo-kai Watch 2, where it now reads QR Codes from Bandai Yo-kai Medals.
  • Additionally, two new entries for QR Codes were added, which are HAS1224 and HAS1225, applying to the real-life Hasbro Whisper and Jibanyan Paws of Fury Yo-kai Medal. Scanning the QR code gives the player either a Red Coin, Green Coin, Blue Coin, Light Blue Coin, Pink Coin, Purple Coin, Yellow Coin or Orange Coin.
• The Passwords were also changed between the American/Australian and European Versions despite sharing (almost) the same English-language script.