Trivia / Yo-kai Watch 3

• Acclaimed Flop: Yo-kai Watch 3 is commonly cited as the best of the first three titles by hardcore gamers and fans due to its plot, gameplay, and variety of youkai. It sold 2 million in Japan, which was a decrease from the previous titles but decent enough. Internationally, it bombed more noticeably. In North America, it was a commercial failure that sold 4,000 copies (in part due to a limited print run), and in Europe it only sold 30,000 copies. Not helped by coming out at the end of the 3DS' lifespan — by the time they were localized for the West, the Nintendo Switch had already been out for almost two years — and the popularity of Resident Evil 2 (Remake) and Disney's Kingdom Hearts III, which was released during the same time period and had more hype with casual gamers and RPG fans alike. It would end up being the last entry in the series to see international release.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The game had a low print run in North America, and in early 2023, the 3DS eShop shut down, meaning the only legal way to get the game now is to buy a physical copy, which usually goes for hundreds.
• Late Export for You: In North America, it took nearly 3 years to come out. By the time of the international release, the 3DS was all-but dead and Yo-kai Watch 4 had been announced in Japan already (4 was originally intended to come out in 2018 but was pushed back several months to 2019).
• The Original Darrin: A dub example. To make up for the dub of the Yo-kai Watch anime replacing everyone due to budgeting concerns, Yo-kai Watch 3 brought back nearly every one of the original actors to their respective roles (only Griffin Burns keeps his role as Nate).
• Troubled Production: The localization is notably one of the glitchiest games in the series. According to a well-known member of the community, there were only three or four people working on the game's localization, they didn't have enough time or budget for a lot, and had the task of basically combining three versions of the game into one.

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