I just LOVE Yokai Watch!
I used to hate it because Pokémon is my passion, but once I played the first YW game, I got hooked.
I wanted to watch the first movie, but when I saw that the movie was about the events of the second game, I rushed to end the first game, and jumped into the second one.
Just 20hours on the first game
79h on the second + 91h on Psychic Specters.
I suggest that you give it a chance, I really like the graphics of Yokai Watch.
Or go play Mystery Dungeon haha
Level-5 knows how to make good games.
Fantasy Life is my top 3 played game, I'm even considering playing Inazuma Eleven even though I don't even like it, just because it's from Level-5.
Besides, playing YW made me a little more open minded about monster collecting games. I really like Pokémon, YW has its flaws, but there's so much one can learn from another.
If you decide to play the second game, you won't miss much from the story, I guess you'll be fine if you just watch the opening video from the first game on youtube.