For 90% of the time, the combat featured in Yokai Watch 2 is very hands off. In most random encounters, so long as you aren't trying to get the enemy to join you, the player can go make a sandwich while the battle resolves itself. Yokai battles work on a 3 vs 3 basis, with all of the player's Yokai and the enemy Yokai all attacking and doing abilities automatically. So long as you've got a Yokai that heals occasionally, you're pretty much set for all common encounters. If you're in a hurry, you can activate a Soultimate, a move Yokai can use once a meter is filled. Doing so requires doing a brief mini-game, which I never saw a problem with, actually. If a game wants an attack to have a long wind-up, having the player complete a mini-game isn't a terrible solution, in my opinion. The player can also freely rotate their party, swapping Yokai between the active battle area, and the back area, leading to them having access to six Yokai in every battle. When the player is actually fighting a powerful enemy, combat is a delightful mix of optimizing Yokai locations and waiting for the ideal time to activate a lengthy Soultimate attack. It's just unlikely you'll ever have to work that hard throughout Yokai Watch 2's campaign. Still, I rarely saw the combat as a chore, likely due to how fast it all flows in most instances.
