Yooka Laylee Reviews
I really wanted to like Yooka-Laylee. I don’t. Instead of taking a beloved style of game and updating it for modern times (à la Doom last year), Playtonic essentially created a game that could have been from 1998 and released it in 2017. The result is a mess of poorly implemented game mechanics that the games industry fixed two decades ago.
Yooka-Laylee is a game out of time, clinging so desperately to past glories it doesn't seem to understand the Earth kept spinning after the N64 was discontinued. It's everything wrong about the formative years of 3D platforming and it somehow retained none of what made the genre's highlights endure. Yooka-Laylee is, in a word, rubbish.
It's difficult to recommend Yooka-Layee to adults let alone the children this game is aimed at. The unbalanced challenge it presents and the lack of in-game direction is sure to infuriate. You could argue kids of this generation could play the game alongside a YouTube video for help, but why should any game need to be played alongside a video guide? The first three-hours of Yooka-Layee are delightful, but after that the experience quickly sours. Playtonic's ode to platformers past should have been something special, but instead it's a reminder why video games have evolved, and why quality over quantity should be the first decree in every developer's rulebook.
The harsh reality is that I wanted to love it just as much as anyone else. The team is clearly talented and Yooka-Laylee is a work of passion, but it's simply not enough. Yooka-Laylee is simply a chore to play and it relies too heavily on past glories and self-referential humour.
Yooka-Laylee would fit right into the late 90s with its vague puzzles, wakka-wakka voices, and confusing levels. Time has moved on since the N64, and while there are a handful of bright spots, this sadly isn't the catalyst for a 3D platformer revival.
'Yooka-Laylee' recaptures the feeling of the beloved 'Banjo-Kazooie', but fails to add anything substantially new or interesting.
Yooka-Laylee is a nostalgic old-school adventure, but it’s too retro for its own good. Frustrating game mechanics, annoying boss fights and the complete lack of guidance become infuriating as the game progresses.
Yooka-Laylee could have been the start of a new generation of 3D platformers, but its design leaves it firmly stuck in the past.
Apparently, the game engine was a major source of many of the game's problems. It's hard not to feel the game was really rushed in development.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Yooka-Laylee is not a bad game, but by God does it have its problems. If you're hankering for a 3D platformer in the vain of Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro, Mario or Crash, I'd still say this is worth a bit of your time if you're willing to chew on the game in short sections. But if you want to marathon the game, or don't mind waiting until later in the year to have your genre itch scratched, you're probably better off passing on this.
A new coat of paint can't fix Yooka-Laylee's old design problems
From the promise of the Kickstarter and the people behind it, you might have expected Yooka-Laylee to be like a great band, getting back together for a new album after a long hiatus. What we've ended up with is something that feels like a cover version – of something a bit old-fashioned, not especially relevant today, and more than a little bit flawed – but if you loved Banjo-Kazooie, then you'll probably love the cover version just as much, and that's just fine.
The 3D platforming genre is sadly dying out, but it’s one of the reasons why Yooka-Laylee was so highly anticipated in the first place. It, unfortunately, doesn’t hit all the right notes and I think that everybody that has followed this game from the very beginning, expected a little bit better. Maybe it is indeed us that have hyped this game up too much, but I also think that when you label your game as a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, you’re kind of adding that hype up yourself. It’s not a bad game by any means, however. By following the Banjo blueprint already set out, the fundamental gameplay elements on offer are superb and Yooka-Laylee is still fun, mostly. It’s a solid start for Playtonic, I just hope that with their next game, they let their talents run wild rather than sticking too close to the subject matter.
Overall, I feel as though Yooka-Laylee has teased me with the past. So many good individual aspects giving me a glimpse of what I loved of the genre. But there are so many other parts of it that detract from the experience and make me wonder if I put up with such things in the past, without noticing them.
Platforming ain’t dead. Yooka-Laylee however doesn’t really break any new ground. It does, however, apply a nice fresh coat of paint over the old mechanics of Banjo-Kazooie. The mini-games throughout provide some variety from the usual jumping around, but they rarely captured my interest for more than a minute or so. It is a great modern take on the platformer genre, but the bright colors and quirky music quickly dull after a couple hours when you find the game has little else to offer. Perhaps some will revel in the return of the collect-em-up, but the gameplay, however well-made and tight it is, seldom seems rewarding.
Yooka-Laylee verspricht in Welt 1 viel, verliert aber danach immer mehr an Leichtfüßigkeit und Charme und rappelt sich erst viel zu spät wieder auf, während die durchwachsene Steuerung und verkrampfte Kamera immer wieder für Frust sorgen. Trotz toller Ideen, viel Abwechslung und Charme: Das großartige Comeback ist leider ausgeblieben.
Review in German | Read full review
For players who are after the Banjo Kazooie experience this is exactly what you’ll get and you’ll find much to love. It stays true to that formula and has the DNA etched over everything and anything in the game. However, if you’re accustomed to modern platformers, the likes of Jak & Daxter, Ratchet and Clank or just about any Super Mario title, then this might be embedded too far back in history for it to create a lasting impact in the modern world.
When Yooka-Laylee was originally announced as a Kickstarter project by former Rare developers, it gave fans of the 3D platformer hope that a nearly dead genre could return to its former glory. It's unfortunate, then, that Yooka-Laylee is no more than a mediocre attempt to capture nostalgia from the days of yore. In a year that has given us some truly innovative and special 3D platformers that pushed the genre to new heights, I can only really recommend pushing through Yooka-Laylee's pedestrian campaign to the most enthusiastic of old Rare's fans.
Yooka Laylee is a move in the somewhat dead genre of 3D platforming and its presence between platforming giants like Ratchet & Clank and Super Mario Odyssey feels a great gap. What doesn't make this game satisfying however are the controls and camera which stick to the game from the get go and don't let go. Despite this, Yooka Laylee is recommended to the younger demographic considering its price and amount of content; even if the whole game might get underwhelming
Review in Persian | Read full review
If you’re expecting Yooka-Laylee to push the platforming genre into new and exciting directions, you’ll be left disappointed. While the game fails to make any big strides into new and unknown territories, it lives up to the overall quality, quirky nature, and well-designed platforming elements put in place by its predecessor nearly 20 years ago – and that’s no easy feat.