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Yooka-Laylee

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So Yooka-Laylee was really hyped, but the reviews have been all over the place. My brother got it, 100%ed it and says it was "good" (haven't had any in-dept conversation about it yet).

Have you guys gotten it yet? If so, what did you think? Or are you waiting for the Switch-version?
 
I'm waiting for the Switch version to come out. My X1 got stolen recently, so I can't really play it otherwise. But just the idea of playing the game on a Nintendo system makes me really happy and is preferred. Before Playtonic announced that they were going to cancel its Wii U release and make it on the Switch, I was secretly hoping it would come out for the Switch, since I didn't want to get a Wii U just for this game and had been planning on getting the new system eventually.
 
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I'm also waiting for the switch release but the game looks really fun and I'm excited to play it.
 
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I think Yooka-Laylee looks really cute and I don't get all the hate thrown towards it

That said, y'all should check out The Yook of Laylee. A parody game made by my own brother:


its a gr8 game trust me
 
it's just okay, to be honest. i was a huge banjo kaz/t/ooie fangirl back in 1998-2000 and yeah i got into video games because of ps1/n64 3D platformers. it's cute, nostalgic, and it's exactly what they promised. but it's pretty clear playtonic isn't ready for today's standards, as the game is full of technical issues from the late 90s

the camera is bad. this isn't a nitpick or something minor so just ignore the delusional people that convinced themselves it's kinda a retro aesthetic, that is ridiculous... you will literally be fighting to control it; it's like mario 64 status. it's already an issue on the tv and with the switch's technical inferiority, i'd think it's only going to be worse in handheld mode

the music is extremely forgettable and honestly pretty generic, like kirkhope didn't even try. yooka laylees powers are honestly lame and feel like they could have just been mechanics from the start, and the expanding mechanic basically just opens or adds an area whose entire purpose is like a sub area for specific pagies--it's the equivalent of paying moneybags in spyro, so if you were expecting worlds to dramatically expand... don't. it's more like "ah that spot looks like someone didn't finish level editing, i need pagies so i can make it whole"

there really aren't unique tasks or complex subquests to get pagies. again, it boils down to spyro--talk to a random character that is in that spot just to be there, do a timed task for a pagie. or a pagie in world 4--the second to final world--and yeah there's only 5--has you rolling a ball into a hole. also once you can fly, platforming is pointless. this isn't nuanced flying from banjo that can't break the game--it's literally the easiest way to reach the pagies just lying around.

i feel like this game is very much nostalgia over substance. and after a few hours you realize you just payed $40 for a cash-in that feels like it was made 20 years ago. it's kinda a game where presentation was more important than gameplay which sadly is just dull and uninspired and i think playtonic has inadvertently signaled to publishers they aren't really relevant and it tells me Rare "dying" didn't matter then and still doesn't now

it doesn't deserve hate, but doesn't deserve praise either. i mean i didn't really want a game made with outdated game design, i asked for a throwback, sure, but Ratchet and Clank PS4 was too and yet managed to keep up with 2017. i think people should play yooka, but it's not worth full price and when it finally comes to switch it's technical inferiority won't do the game more favors.
 
When I first heard of this game way back when, I was really excited for it, but then it just kind of disappeared and I stopped caring. I never really kept up on the news of what was happening with the game, and I haven't watched any reviews for it (other than everyone saying it's bad), but I'll still probably pick up the Switch version at one point or another just for the sake of it.

The only thing I know I'm going to dislike about the game - which is the only video I've seen of the game, no idea what it was - is the fact the NPC's never stopped making noises when they were talking, that's going to drive me insane. Like I'm fine with them mumbling every few seconds, but from what I saw they seemed to spill gibberish for the entirety of the conversation.
 
I'm just happy to see this game actually saw the light of day.

Banjo-Tooie, in my opinion, will always be the best, with the most expansive stages, fun power-ups, and coolest collectibles.
 
It's sad that that YouTube guy's gibberish voice got replaced due to some of his comments. If you expected to hear whatever his name is (even though he's hardly recognisable by voice in-game), prepare to be disappointed.
 
When I first heard of this game way back when, I was really excited for it, but then it just kind of disappeared and I stopped caring. I never really kept up on the news of what was happening with the game, and I haven't watched any reviews for it (other than everyone saying it's bad), but I'll still probably pick up the Switch version at one point or another just for the sake of it.

The only thing I know I'm going to dislike about the game - which is the only video I've seen of the game, no idea what it was - is the fact the NPC's never stopped making noises when they were talking, that's going to drive me insane. Like I'm fine with them mumbling every few seconds, but from what I saw they seemed to spill gibberish for the entirety of the conversation.

Good news if that's the only thing you foresee disliking: Playtonic decided to work on an update that diminishes the gibberish voices if you want. (source: http://www.playtonicgames.com/spit-n-polish/) They also are working on tweaking the camera angles, which is a major complaint.
 
I've only played the first world for a bit (I think I've gotten all the collectibles I can get for now), not had much time for it. So far it's just an okay 3D platformer. It's nowhere near as awful as I've heard, not the greatest thing I've ever played either...It's fun enough I guess, I'm at least enjoying it.

Edit: I'm further into the game now, my opinion is still the same but I'm more confident in those opinions seeing as the same 'issues' keep appearing.

I like that Yooka moves at a reasonable pace. With Banjo, you pretty much used talon trot constantly the moment you got it because Banjo moved way too slowly. Having the energy bar on the 'roll' move and having Yooka move faster by default solves the problem, keeping the 'roll' as a skill rather than a constant necessity. For anybody who says it makes no improvements over the Banjo games, this is an improvement.

The Jinjo replacements, the ghost writers, are a bit better since each one is a little challenge requiring you to do something to catch them rather than being another stationary collectible. I still prefer Jinjo's by design, but mechanically the Ghost Writers are better.

I like Yooka's voice. It's adorable. I like rolling in a ball because it sounds cute.
The universal complaint most people seem to have: the voices. I actually don't mind that they tried to do the voices this way and as I said, I particularly like Yooka's. That's a 'thing' from Banjo-Kazooie I'm kinda glad they attempted to carry over...But at the same time, some of the voices are the most ear grating things I've heard in a while, and by default they're really loud compared to the rest of the audio. They've tried to replicate it, but they've only done it half decently.

Of all the voices though, those damn butterfly and health container noises. They're just painful to hear. I've found myself avoiding the butterflies just to prevent the sound playing...Captial B's is awful too, I feel I have to turn the volume down whenever he speaks.


The camera taking control away from me to slowly show me the path to certain pagies...Yea, I love that. I love it when a game shows me what to do before I have a chance to do it myself...Especially when it's obvious...Of all the modern design aspects they could have included in the game, why was this the one they chose?

Cutscenes are another thing that grinds the game to a halt. Can't skip dialogue for whatever reason despite you can everywhere else, even though I've read what a character has to say long before the characters stop making stupid noises...It makes cutscenes like 3 times longer than they have to be.
It happens with Trowsers store as well. Half his dialogue you can skip/speed up, the rest you can't. I would say it's so you don't miss the explanation of the move but that's the bit you can skip, it's the random 'banter' you can't skip.

That damn quiz too. I'm guessing that ****ing thing is going to be between every world. It was tolerable in Banjo because you did it once, at the end, and it sucked then too...Again, this would at least be tolerable if it happened at a faster pace. This game has a pace issue.
Edit: Another quiz in the ice level to get a pagie in the Isometric Castle...Just, no.

The levels suffer the same thing Banjo-Tooie did as well, having too much 'nothing' between all the interesting stuff. Big for the sake of being big. There's so much of that level that just has nothing in it and serves absolutely no purpose other than to make the world bigger 'just because'.

The two mini games I've played so far I hated too. That stupid cart race and the mine cart...They're not fundamentally bad concepts, they were just awfully done.

The transformations are a waste of time. They exist for like one pagie and that's it, there's nothing else you can do with them. You turn into the flower, which wasn't fun or interesting tranformation anyway so whatever, the truck controls are awful.

Despite I have way more negative things to say though, I think the game is actually okay, I just can't really throw much praise at it because it's just a Banjo clone. Anything good I have to say about it, those games already did over a decade ago. I'm mostly just seeing everything and thinking "oh, Banjo did this...neat, I guess" rather than anything really being unique to Yooka-Laylee. It 'just exists', it's there, this game didn't need to exist and doesn't really do anything special, but there's worse things you could be playing.


If you've not played the Banjo games before, go play them first, they're this but better.
If you liked the Banjo games, it's just more of that but not as good.
 
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I only just heard of it a few weeks ago. I probably won't get it due to what little I've seen. Glad to hear it's not as bad as I've been seeing around the web, but I just don't have the time or money to spend on a game I don't think I'll love.
 
Bought Yooka-Laylee but have yet to try it.

I adore Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie and am guessing this isnt nearly as good, but hopefully just as fun!
 
I like Banjo Kazooie, but I am unsure about Yooka Laylee. It just kind of seems like a not as cool rip off of the concept. I also think Yooka Laylee is a dumb name. At least Banjo and Kazooie are two different instruments. (I'm not sure why that bugs me.)
 
I'm digging up this thread now that Yooka-Laylee has received a release date for Switch. It drops on December 14, digital only for the time being.

Kind of bummed that it's running in 600p in handheld. RiME's lower resolution looks like crap while the Rabbids game manage to look great without full resolution so I don't really know what to expect.
 
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Aw man, now I have another reason to want a Switch. :blush:
 
Seems like the Switch version runs really great. Of course they had to downgrade the graphics a little bit but from what I've seen it's not that big of a deal. I hope they'll release a physical version of it soon.
 
I actually played Yooka-Laylee on PS4. It was pretty great, and I really enjoyed my time with it. I would totally recommend it to anyone who likes Banjo.
 
Good news if that's the only thing you foresee disliking: Playtonic decided to work on an update that diminishes the gibberish voices if you want. (source: http://www.playtonicgames.com/spit-n-polish/) They also are working on tweaking the camera angles, which is a major complaint.

#late

Well I'm glad then since I bought this game for ~$20 during Black Friday for PS4 and now I'm just waiting for it to arrive. I'm sure I'm going to love it a lot more now :D
 
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