The Yo-Kai Watch series has always demanded a comparison with the Pokémon games as both have featured children collecting monsters and then using them to fight other monsters in turned-based RPG battles. The games have even traditionally been released in matched sets featuring different creatures. There were, of course, differences such as setting and the monsters being supernatural spirits, but a change coming to Yo-Kai Watch 4 will introduce a new, very substantial difference.
The next iteration of the popular series, and its first entry on Switch, will feature completely new battle mechanics. It now looks like fights will be carried out in real time as you and your Yo-Kai can now freely move around the battle field, dodging the enemy and moving into position to make the most of your own moves.
Yo-Kai Watch 4 is coming out in Japan in early 2019 but nothing has been announced yet regarding releases in other markets. The series has been a major hit in Japan but, unlike Pokémon, hasn’t generated the same level of fandom elsewhere, which could explain why there’s usually a long wait for localization. For example, the third game came out in Japan in 2016 but was only recently released in Europe and will arrive in North America in February.
Source: Nintendo Life