RelicY

Yo-kai watch 2 psychic specters took the foundation from yo-kai watch 1 and improved upon it in every way. The combat gets an extra layer of depth with the added model zero features, the yo kai roster has been expanded with new evolutions and fusions for yo-kai from the previous game and plenty of completely new yo-kai. The addition of classic yo-kai is such a fun and obvious addition and they absolutely cooked with their designs. adding a new evil tribe also makes for a great generic enemy force that the antagonists can use instead of just placing seemingly random normal yo-kai in a bunch of random forced fights or just coloring them grey like in yo-kai watch 1. The psychic specters additions add great new postgame quests and yo-kai that make this game feel like a complete version of the YKW formula.

Yo-kai watch 1 is a great starting point for the series and a very charming JRPG. It obviously has a few flaws and a somewhat lacking postgame sepecially compared to the games that come after it, but for a first game in a new JRPG series they set an amazing foundation that would lead to 2 phenomenal sequels that improve upon the foundation set here.

Yo-kai Watch 3 knows that making a better game in this series after yo-kai watch 2 was nearly impossible, so instead they take a bunch of risks with major changes to the story, map, combat, and more. YKW3 is one of the greatest JRPGs on the 3DS and a personal favorite. With Nate (the male protagonist from the first 2 games) moving to a new town called BBQ, a fictional town based on the American south, it means they have to introduce new character and locations with an entirely new aesthetic compared to the calm Japanese towns from the first two games. Then the story introduces a new second protagonist who lives back in Springdale (the main town from the first 2 games) which allows them to reuse the old locations in a new way while keeping it fresh. This game feels like a celebration of yo-kai watch as a whole, referencing the past two games, one of the films that was releasing around the same time, and including anime plotlines as side content. I would recommend at least playing yo-kai watch 2 before this one but even without a lot of the context from past games it is a ton of fun.