Yooka-Laylee

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 339 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 196 out of 339
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 339
  3. Negative: 100 out of 339

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  1. PeterHugelberg
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    If you loved banjo back in 1998 you'll love yooka laylee. its like a retro game with prettier graphics.
    it will definitely brings your childhood memories back.
    Sure the game design feels a bit outdating and the "voice over" as well (if u can call that voice) but i think there were no other intention from playtonic than create a game like banjo and it sure is like a 3rd game of banjo.    If you loved banjo back in 1998 you'll love yooka laylee. its like a retro game with prettier graphics.
    it will definitely brings your childhood memories back.

    Sure the game design feels a bit outdating and the "voice over" as well (if u can call that voice) but i think there were no other intention from playtonic than create a game like banjo and it sure is like a 3rd game of banjo.

    the soundtrack from david wise, grant kirkhope and steve burk is top notch though.

    i love it.

    ps
    i'd give a 9/10 but since there are idiots who can't give a realisitc view/ rating of the game i'll make it 10.

    ratings under 6 or even 5/10 are ridicoulus. i mean come on, did you even play the game?
    if so: what did you expect? it was clearly advertised as a spiritual sucessor to banjo first time they put their kickstarter site online    … Expand
  2. Konijn113
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    Absolutely what one would expect from this game. Whilst not reinventing the platforming genre, they did deliver on their promise; a resurrection of Banjo Kazooie.
  3. godzilla772
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    This genre of gaming is what I grew up playing as a kid and what made me love video games. The camera is some what of a problem but I got used to it fast and it never prevented me from enjoying this game. I firmly believe Playtonic came through with all the promises they made with their kickstarter and if anyone says the game play is "outdated" then they truly where never fans of the Banjo series.
  4. UmJammerSully
    Apr 12, 2017
    8
    Not quite up to the pedigree of its predecessors but still pretty close. The fun platforming, charming characters, varied locations and whimsical music are all there but a number of smaller frustrating elements like the stamina meter, a few questionably designed sections and unwieldy camera hold this game back from greatness.
  5. cornfingers
    Apr 17, 2017
    2
    A game I very much wanted to like, especially since banjo-kazooie was one of my favorite games growing up. The first 5 minutes were great, if you ignore the annoying voice acting... which thankfully can be skipped for the most part... and I wanted to keep playing. Three hours in and I think I'm done. The hub world doesn't seem cohesive. The expanding of worlds seemed cool at first, andA game I very much wanted to like, especially since banjo-kazooie was one of my favorite games growing up. The first 5 minutes were great, if you ignore the annoying voice acting... which thankfully can be skipped for the most part... and I wanted to keep playing. Three hours in and I think I'm done. The hub world doesn't seem cohesive. The expanding of worlds seemed cool at first, and then you just realize it was to pad the content since you have to revisit places you've already visited... just give me the whole world at once... maybe let me expand for secrets. Some of the mechanics aren't well explained. How am I supposed to know I need to click the left stick to aim? That made for some very frustrating puzzles before I learned that. The transformations are crap and you get nothing from doing them... wow a page... yay! It was totally worth walking at 1 ft a minute and losing all my abilities to get it. Rextro sucks, and the games are garbage... it shouldn't be required for a page. I played world one and got to the first boss... ended up skipping it and looking for world 2... get to world 2 and get to the second boss... end up skipping it. Putting the game down there. The two first bosses of this game are complete garbage... and that sums up the rest of the game. The entire time you're fighting with the camera. The world's are big and empty with copy pasted NPCs around to do some mini games... and it just has zero charm. It literally feels like I'm playing a FAN game of banjo kazooie. I can't play this anymore and will refund it. I feel awful for anyone who backed it.… Expand
  6. KingJotun
    Apr 24, 2017
    8
    Yooka-Laylee is a modern-day Banjo-Kazooie, warts and all. Whether or not you will enjoy this game depends largely on your ability to play Banjo-Kazooie (Or more Banjo-Tooie) and still have fun.

    I still can and found Yooka-Laylee to be largely enjoyable. Some issues here and there, but nothing that ruined the experience for me.
  7. mossi93
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    As a fan of the original N64 collectathons like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Tooie this is a perfect successor. The graphics are fine for a platformer and the music still has the same feel to it like 16 years ago, when Banjo-Tooie released.
  8. xZippy
    Apr 15, 2017
    7
    Is it a 'great' game? Yes. Is it an 'excellent' game? Almost, but not really. It captures that innocent Banjo-Kazooie charm without fail, which includes the cartoonish style, interesting characters and addicting collectathon gameplay. It looks and runs fantastic, but some small areas of design look a bit iffy.

    Though the aforementioned charm is there, the game still has its lackluster    Is it a 'great' game? Yes. Is it an 'excellent' game? Almost, but not really. It captures that innocent Banjo-Kazooie charm without fail, which includes the cartoonish style, interesting characters and addicting collectathon gameplay. It looks and runs fantastic, but some small areas of design look a bit iffy.

    Though the aforementioned charm is there, the game still has its lackluster moments. And you can't help but feel there's a plethora of ambition and quality that goes unused - as if the game could have have way more going for it. It doesn't live up to the same "family" of classic Rare games like Banjo-Tooie or Conker's Bad Fur Day, but Yooka-Laylee is still worth every penny and will leave you burning hours of time. In a good way.

    If this game were to get a sequel, I hope all that unused potential will be spilled in said sequel. As the type of game it is can come off dull and outdated if not spruced up properly. Overall, very fun game. Good work, Playtonic.    … Expand
  9. Kasspa
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    After firing up and playing for 3 hours straight now I have to say, this is absolutely exactly what I expected from a banjo-kazooie successor. I don't understand how any of the critics or BK enthusiasts can sit back and say this game isn't exactly what you would expect the next iteration after Banjo-Tooie. It plays and feels exactly like Banjo-Tooie and that's a good thing.

    The worlds    After firing up and playing for 3 hours straight now I have to say, this is absolutely exactly what I expected from a banjo-kazooie successor. I don't understand how any of the critics or BK enthusiasts can sit back and say this game isn't exactly what you would expect the next iteration after Banjo-Tooie. It plays and feels exactly like Banjo-Tooie and that's a good thing.

    The worlds are a little more expansive like Tooie but all the original stuff you loved is there. Everything down to the dialogue feels similar, if the game weren't a different IP completely it would be Banjo-Threey. I haven't had any camera issues myself, I mean will you have to fight it in a spot or two? Maybe, but I don't think I've played a 3d platforming game where I didn't have to fight the camera once or twice, overall it's a nonissue completely. I can't even believe I'm actually playing a platformer right now and devoting time to it, but that's how nostalgic this feels, and I like it.    … Expand
  10. Zofuz
    Apr 14, 2017
    5
    Well it's either I'm too old for this piece of game or It's simply boring.
    I hoped it would be kind of Mario for every platform. Not even close. It's just another Kickstarter disappointment with shallow levels, unattractive characters and routine gameplay.
    Mediocre.
  11. JSCarpio
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    One of the best plataforms games of this generation, the world of videogames need it more games like this, its time to go at the shops and bought all copys of this game.
  12. BFM
    Apr 11, 2017
    9
    If you were waiting for a successor to Banjo Tooie for the last 16 years, this game was made for you and will not disappoint.

    Plus point:
    This game doesn't contain the guest starring of some racist YouTube "celebrity" that was brainwashed by /pol/ and Breitbart!
  13. atuck217
    Apr 11, 2017
    9
    I am around 10 hours in at the time of writing.

    This game is a gem in a time where games have gotten worse and worse ad filled with microtransactions. If you like Banjo-Kazooie and games similar to it then you will adore this game. It doesn't improve the formula in any meaningfully large way but it knows what its strengths are and plays to them time and time again, and for 40 USD its is    I am around 10 hours in at the time of writing.

    This game is a gem in a time where games have gotten worse and worse ad filled with microtransactions. If you like Banjo-Kazooie and games similar to it then you will adore this game. It doesn't improve the formula in any meaningfully large way but it knows what its strengths are and plays to them time and time again, and for 40 USD its is a must buy if you like the genre.

    The world: Bright and vibrant with modernized, retro style. Both the hub world and the actual levels themselves are jam packed with secrets and things to explore. It took me close to 3 hours before i moved from the first level to the second but I am still missing multiple pagies (the Yooka-Laylee version of puzzle pieces from Banjo) and some of the level powerups. This may sound weird that I didnt finish a level after 3 hours but when I left it the game truly made me want to go back and explore further once I get more of the main duos special abilities.

    The characters: All the characters in this game have a unique personality to them. Yooka is a level headed but smart and Laylee is a jokester and quick to make insults that almost always had me giving it an actual laugh. The only character that seems some work (granted I havent finished the game so this might change) but the main villian is just stale. In fact his main henchman was more charismatic and interesting than the villian himself. But overall the characters are great.

    Music: Grant Kirkhope... what more do I need to say? But seriously the music is incredible. Kirkhope brings his expertise to the game and sets the tone in every area of the map perfectly. For those who dont know, Kirkhope is the same composer that did the Banjo games, Donkey Kong 64, Viva Pinata and much much more.

    Conclusion: Yooka Laylee isnt free of issues (poor camera at times and long cutscenes where you cant speed up the talking) but it is a worthy successor to the Banjo-style games of old. I highly recommend it to everyone especially if you love the genre. Its a game where you can tell the devs actually cared and put alot of their heart and soul into it in a time when that seems Rare (heh)    … Expand
  14. MattDrag
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    Who is giving low marks to the game is just people who like cliches games like Call Of Duty, and criticize children's games. Apparently they are the same people who only care about graphics and do not care about gameplay.

    This game is so much fun, I love it. A true spiritual successor to Banjo.
  15. teddycular
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    In lieu of recent statements and reviews centred around Yooka-Laylee, a lot of bias has been floating around the internet, in regards to whether or not this game holds it's weight with it's step-brethren of an age long past.

    To save you the mind-numbing suspense-building, the short answer is: Yes. It does. But not in the way you might be inclined to assume. Yooka-Laylee is more than    In lieu of recent statements and reviews centred around Yooka-Laylee, a lot of bias has been floating around the internet, in regards to whether or not this game holds it's weight with it's step-brethren of an age long past.

    To save you the mind-numbing suspense-building, the short answer is: Yes. It does. But not in the way you might be inclined to assume.

    Yooka-Laylee is more than just a reminder of what is good and bad about 3D platforming, it's a re-IMAGINING of what it COULD still be, here in this new era of video-games and platforming.

    First, we should discuss what exactly led Yooka-Laylee to be received so negatively. And while the "negative" reviewers' gripes with the game seem to contradict each other (Ie: One of the major negatives for a low-scoring reviewer is a major positive for another), I feel as though I can shed some more reliable light on the issue.

    It's probably most efficient to first let you know that Yooka-Laylee can be challenging. Frustratingly so. But this is the kind of frustration that exists in a game on purpose. YL has some of the most trustworthy and refined controls and intuitive movement in any 3D-Platformer to date. The game has no short-cuts to fall back on, and if you want to beat some of the trickiest challenges, you need to be swift. Precise. Masterful, to a degree. In many challenges, one quick slip can see you starting the challenge again from the beginning. And to many reviewers, this can easily be excused as "poor game design". Akin to a 7-year old claiming the game is broken or "cheating". After all, what high-ranked overwatch player, with 10,000 PS4 trophies and a pretentious Steam library wants to admit they were bested by a "kids" game? Few and far in between, I'd imagine.

    Many more openly angry reviews have stemmed from the fact that their favourite YouTube man was removed from the game. I shouldn't even need to explain why people are upset about that, and while their discontent for that reason may be somewhat justified, some reviews can be difficult to see as any more of an attempted boycott of PlayTonic Games than anything else.

    With those gripes out of the way, I think I'll talk about what exactly makes Yooka-Laylee one of the best games of 2017 so far, and also an essential to the gaming scene today. A revival of a genre, in a way.

    It goes without saying, Grant Kirkhope is a musical genius. And while nobody has immunity from criticism, there is none to be given to him and his colleagues in his newest directorship on Yooka-Laylee. The musical approach in Yooka-Laylee takes a step away from the subtle catchiness of Granthope's past endeavors, and looks to understand a more profound and environmental complexion of a soundtrack. As in previous installments, evironments cause situational music changes (ie: underwater/in a cave/pause menu/in a challenge/etc) but more than that, the progressive nature of each music track is enormously satisfying. Unlike in previous games, Yooka-Laylee's music is more than a short loop on repeat. Each stage has it's own 2-5 minute song that subtly flips and switches as you progress. The music maintains it's catchiness and still feels as satisfiying.

    The art is nothing short of adorable. It captures it's own identty amidst a genre full of almost stereotypical stage and art designs in a fashion so adorable and so original that it's nearly impossible to discredit in any way whatsoever.

    The gameplay is what makes Yooka-Laylee a selling-point for this era of video-game....

    ahhhhh **** it, I'm tired. Buy it. The game is amazing. 9/10 10/10 to level out some bias in the scores. Goodnight.    … Expand
  16. Arma15
    Apr 12, 2017
    9
    Obviously, you can't expect the game to be as huge as a game that was supported by nintendo and had tons of budget and support of many areas that you do not have when you're a small company, despite of all these facts, the game is funny, entertaining and well-achieved. Please, do not believe in what haters say (haters 'gonna hate)
  17. Tritrix
    Apr 12, 2017
    9
    Le premier mot qui vient à l'esprit dès les premières secondes de jeu est " Rafraichissant''. Le jeu est beau, coloré un max et extrêmement fluide.

    Vous contrôlez donc Yooka, un petit caméléon vert qui ce nourri principalement de baies et de papillons tout mignons. Avec lui, son fidèle ami Laylee, une petite chauve-souris qui vous aideront dans vos aventures. [Sans spoil] Tout    Le premier mot qui vient à l'esprit dès les premières secondes de jeu est " Rafraichissant''. Le jeu est beau, coloré un max et extrêmement fluide.

    Vous contrôlez donc Yooka, un petit caméléon vert qui ce nourri principalement de baies et de papillons tout mignons. Avec lui, son fidèle ami Laylee, une petite chauve-souris qui vous aideront dans vos aventures.

    [Sans spoil] Tout commence une belle journée d'après-midi où nos deux amis se détende au soleil quand tout à coup, leur livre s'envole et laisse derière lui des pages dorés. Yooka veut donc retrouver le livre car pages dorées = grande valeur. Vous faites donc ici vos premiers pas dans Yooka-Laylee. Tout ça vous porte jusqu'une usine et le grand méchant vous dévoile son plan machiavélique. Un peu plus tard vous êtes déjà emmené à collecter une pagie (une page dorée) qui vous indique que vous devez trouver plusieurs pagies pour refaires le livre. Votre but sera donc de " rentrée " dans le livre, d'aller collecter des pages, de revenirs pour agrandir le livre avec les pages collecter et retourner dans le livre jusqu'à temps d'avoir tout complété (à la manière d'un bon vieux Spyro, d'un Rayman 2, ou bien évidemment à un Banjo-Kazooie)

    Le côté plate-forme 3D est parfaitement bien réalisé et niveau gameplay on peut dire que les développeurs avaient de l'idée ! Tout d'abord vous serait probablement aussi surpris que moi de voir plusieurs personnages de jeu 2D qui vous donnera une quête pour X raison (le chevalier de Shovel Knight qui vous demandent de trouver un trésor pour lui car la 3D lui donne mal à la tête par exemple) Niveaux dialogue c'est pareil, vous allez parfois être surpris de l'humour des personnages, on s'attache vraiment à certains d'entre eux pour leurs jeux de mots pourris ou encore leur référence vidéoludique bien placer. Le jeu est réellement REMPLIE d'humour et ça fait grave plaisir. La difficulté est parfaitement bien jaugée (à croire que Yooka-Laylee na aucun défaut...). Le niveau de difficulté facile serait parfait pour un enfant alors que le mode normal s'adapte absolument bien à un joueur de plate-forme plus " casual ". Le mode difficile temps qu'a lui risque d'être joué par les vétérans du genre.

    Au final qu'est-ce qu'il ne va pas avec ce jeu. Comme rien n'est parfait je m'efforce de réfléchir à quelque chose d'agaçant, mais je ne trouve rien. À la limite je pourrais citer la caméra qui parfois fait des siennes, mais en réalité j'ai tellement eux peu de problèmes avec celle-ci que de le citer serait presque mal.

    Je vais finir en parlant de la différence entre l'édition normale et deluxe. 44,99$ (CAD) pour l'édition normale qui comporte seulement le jeu. 44,99$ + 11$ = 55,99$ (CAD) pour avoir la soundtrack et l'art book digital... Est-ce que l'édition deluxe vos la peine ? Pas pour moi non. La musique du jeu est excellente, mais je ne l'écouterais pas seulement pour le plaisir en dehors du jeu. L'art book lui est plutôt joli et sympa à lire, mais sans plus. Prenez l'édition normale ;)    … Expand
  18. bobreviews
    Apr 30, 2017
    2
    Grating dialogue grunting, bad jokes, poor camera control, and graphical glitches simply do not have a place in todays world. And that's after the pre-release patch. I can only imagine how bad it was before hand.

    The Camera is everything in a 3D platformer, and this experience is simply marred with jitters, steering issues, sudden jerks and not looking at where the player is moving. Not    Grating dialogue grunting, bad jokes, poor camera control, and graphical glitches simply do not have a place in todays world. And that's after the pre-release patch. I can only imagine how bad it was before hand.

    The Camera is everything in a 3D platformer, and this experience is simply marred with jitters, steering issues, sudden jerks and not looking at where the player is moving. Not to mention how weird the interactions are - you can stand on some inclines, but not others, some abilities will affect some enemies, but not others where you'd expect they would.

    It feels like it might have been developed by people who never talked to one another or coordinated their efforts at all. And for a follow on for a game built on characters - as Banjo Kazooie was, the ones here have no personality beyond their basic concept drawings.    … Expand
  19. darthsitthiande
    May 19, 2017
    8
    It's a nice throwback to the old Banjo Kazooie games but so far there have been two things I'd consider being negative:

    - The water sometimes looks awful
    - The controls are not responsive enough
    - The camera has it's own stupid free will, making boss fights especially difficult
    - during cutscenes the game doesn't stop which sometimes results in you being thrown off a cliff during it
  20. Auddy07
    May 23, 2017
    9
    Don't let the negative reviews sway you from playing this game! If you loved Banjo-Kazooie back in the day then you WILL like this game. I am a die hard Banjo fan, and while this game is not quite as good as Banjo-Kazooie or Tooie, I can without a doubt say that I think this game is awesome! The guys at Playtonic did a great job with this game and they will only get better if weDon't let the negative reviews sway you from playing this game! If you loved Banjo-Kazooie back in the day then you WILL like this game. I am a die hard Banjo fan, and while this game is not quite as good as Banjo-Kazooie or Tooie, I can without a doubt say that I think this game is awesome! The guys at Playtonic did a great job with this game and they will only get better if we continue to back their efforts. I gave this game a 9/10 (really a 8.5/10) as there are a couple of things I feel they could have done better (such as some camera flaws here and there (which they are fixing)), but overall it's a solid performance, especially from a company that just started up from the ashes of what was Rare.

    I hope they make a sequel (Twoka-Laylee or Tooka-Laylee) and I hope that one day they will either get the rights from Microsoft to continue making Banjo-Kazooie games, or Nintendo will give them rights to say, idk, make another Diddy Kong Racing or something they used to work on as Rare. I am a proud baker and can't wait to see what they do next! :)    … Expand
  21. huskobon
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    A fun return to the classic Action/Adventure. It's got all the charm, the gameplay, and enjoyment of nostalgia. Sound and music are a fateful return to that feeling we all used to love when playing Banjo-Kazooie! Game was made by a team of legends, and it shows!
  22. Johangir
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    feels like the spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie we wanted and needed. movement feels great and satisfying, environments are colorful and creative, and the music is charming. everything ties together to emulate that old rareware feel
  23. Silversteel77
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    Great game! Great soundtrack, visuals, performance, and nostalgia. If you liked BK, you'll love this. You get lost in each world and there's so much to do and collect.
  24. MusicalShyGuy
    Apr 11, 2017
    9
    I have followed Playtonic Games' adventure from the start, and I'm now the #1 Yooka-Laylee Wiki Editor and the owner of the Yooka-Laylee Bat Ship Crazy group. I was a huge Banjo-Kazooie fan as a child, and have played Yooka-Laylee for over 32 hours. I will try my very best to give my most unbiased opinion on Yooka-Laylee.

    Yooka-Laylee is a 3D Platformer collect-a-thon spiritual    I have followed Playtonic Games' adventure from the start, and I'm now the #1 Yooka-Laylee Wiki Editor and the owner of the Yooka-Laylee Bat Ship Crazy group. I was a huge Banjo-Kazooie fan as a child, and have played Yooka-Laylee for over 32 hours. I will try my very best to give my most unbiased opinion on Yooka-Laylee.

    Yooka-Laylee is a 3D Platformer collect-a-thon spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie Franchise. It's developed by Playtonic Games, which consists of only 25 members, most of which are Rare Ltd. veterans.

    When other critics state that Yooka-Laylee is "stuck in the past", they're not wrong, but I personally found this a good thing. Playtonic's main goal was to create a video game that would revive the 3D Platformer genre and the old feelings of the Banjo-Kazooie series. Did they revive the 3D platformer genre? Eh, debatable. However did they revive the old feeling of the Banjo-Kazooie series...? Absolutely.
    After playing the game after about 32 hours, 100 percenting the game in the process, I am thoroughly convinced that this is the game that fans have been waiting for the last 19 years. Everything about Yooka-Laylee is incredible identical to Banjo-Kazooie. The hilarious gibberish noises (Trowzer's my personal favorite), memorable characters, fun puzzles, incredible world exploration has all come back in this spiritual successor. This is the Banjo-Threeie that fans have been waiting for all this time!

    Yooka-Laylee is full of five giant expandable worlds that the player may explore and collect items called Pagies and Quills. No minimap here either! This is a game where you have to look in every nook and cranny to find everything. Backtracking can be tedious and annoying, but it feels incredibly rewarding once you've found it (with no guides of course).

    However, there are small negative things I would have to address. The difficulty spike can completely shoot up at random points in the game. The hard as *GUH-HUH* minigames can be painful, and you want to just throw the controller on the floor sometimes. Even beating the highscore of the minigames end up bittersweet. I don't have much of a problem with the minecarts though. Other reviewers state that it's terrible and difficult, but I think they're not too much of a problem. One exception is World 4's Minecart level, which is the hardest of them all. However, there's something at the end of the minecart challenge of World 4 that redeems itself that I won't spoil.
    Another difficulty spike appears in World 2 in a cave called "Gloomy Gem Grotto". Remember Rusty Bucket Bay's Engine Room from Banjo-Kazooie? This is Yooka-Laylee's "Engine Room". It combines the difficults of so many things: slight-hard to control rolling ability (which depletes your energy overtime), vision (by eating a firefly, the duo start a time limit of about 20 seconds where they can see), and an obstacle course. If the duo run out of energy or out of time for the light, they can be considered dead. Not only that, but the course is unnecessarily long, and when you die, it's back to the very start!

    Technical issues are another setback. When you first boot up the game, you will IMMEDIATELY have to go to the options and adjust resolution and screen quality. Random FPS drops aren't common after the patch anymore, but they're still there.

    As for the worlds themselves, they're not empty at all. They're filled with so much content packed to the brim, and while it may take a while, it feels great once you know where everything is. Most people like World 3, but I have to say it's my least favorite world. World 3 is a maze that gives the player too much freedom, and you have no idea where to go. Yes, it's a maze, but after playing that level for hours, you would expect to have some sense of direction after some point. Even after beating World 3 completely, I would find myself still lost after returning back to do some wiki research.
    World 5 on the other hand redeems World 3's problematic errors. World 5 has to be my favorite, with Grant Kirkhope's epic soundtrack, and the brilliant world theme that goes with it! World 5 is very explorable and easy to navigate.

    Now should you buy the game? I'd say the only reason not to purchase the game is if you're not interested in 3D platformers, and you're not curious. Otherwise, I'd highly recommend purchasing the game and trying it out for yourself instead of listening to other critics and reviewers because everyone's opinion on this game is so spread out. Not worth waiting for a price drop, get it now!

    Yooka-Laylee definitely brought me back memories of Banjo-Kazooie, and the difficulty spikes and small technical issues were not enough to bring down my enjoyment of the game by a whole bunch. While some game design is questionable, he player can handle it.

    I give this game a 9/10 for giving me such a great time exploring every world and character, while reading some of the most hilarious in-game conversations!    … Expand
  25. Mookle
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    This game, in my opinion, is getting tons more **** than it deserves. Is it as good as its spiritual predecessors? No. Is it a quality, enjoyable game? Absolutely! Graphics are beautiful, the music is top notch, and the gameplay is varied and enjoyable. Sure, the story is less than stellar, but did banjo games ever have a "good story?" Despite being se of my favorite games, I think not. IThis game, in my opinion, is getting tons more **** than it deserves. Is it as good as its spiritual predecessors? No. Is it a quality, enjoyable game? Absolutely! Graphics are beautiful, the music is top notch, and the gameplay is varied and enjoyable. Sure, the story is less than stellar, but did banjo games ever have a "good story?" Despite being se of my favorite games, I think not. I would 100% reccomend this game, and I look forward to Playtonics future work.… Expand
  26. Chopyhop
    Apr 13, 2017
    9
    What did you want? The game is fun and is successful in bringing back the glory days of Banjo Kazooie to me.

    The organised down voting is hilarious; just look at the ratio of positive to negative reviews on steam 25:4 (14% negative) approximately compared to 25:13 (34% negative) on here. Correcting for the racially motivated voters gives an as-of-now user score of 8.3. If you are sat    What did you want? The game is fun and is successful in bringing back the glory days of Banjo Kazooie to me.

    The organised down voting is hilarious; just look at the ratio of positive to negative reviews on steam 25:4 (14% negative) approximately compared to 25:13 (34% negative) on here. Correcting for the racially motivated voters gives an as-of-now user score of 8.3. If you are sat there stewing because certain racist scum was not included you should know that you have statistically lower intelligence than people who agree that racist morons shouldn't be cast in the game.

    If you enjoyed Banjo Kazooie and want to be reminded of your youthful days you will likely enjoy this. The music is amazing. The graphics and "feel" are very close to what I hoped. It is running smoothly for me. You remember all the bad publicity about loud sound effects in videos before release? Just to clarify if it isn't apparent; you can control the volume level of sound effects.

    Many people reviewed this game before it was even released citing bad performance. There was a day one patch that made this game run perfectly fine for me on both PC and PS4.    … Expand
  27. krayzkrok
    Apr 13, 2017
    10
    An excellent 3d platformer in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie, with crisp, colourful graphics and suitably nostalgic music. Whether it's as good as its inspiration doesn't really matter, because they're not making games like this anymore, but it's close enough and exactly what we wanted from the Kickstarter.
  28. bubblegumfuji
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    Absolutely unique, beautiful, and a blast to play. Yooka Laylee's gameplay is centered around one simple concept: fun. You'll spend the roughly 30-40 hour quest playfully exploring giant colorful dreamscapes filled with a surprising amount of challenges and a plethora of quirky (and quite needy) characters.

    Yooka-Laylee doesn't hold your hand while forcing you along a linear    Absolutely unique, beautiful, and a blast to play. Yooka Laylee's gameplay is centered around one simple concept: fun. You'll spend the roughly 30-40 hour quest playfully exploring giant colorful dreamscapes filled with a surprising amount of challenges and a plethora of quirky (and quite needy) characters.

    Yooka-Laylee doesn't hold your hand while forcing you along a linear path--instead, it trusts you to play the game at your own pace. This freedom not only provides a fantastic and epic adventure but also a great sense of accomplishment as you see your collectable list fill up with tokens marking your achievements.

    This game is a stunning creation by a very passionate team of developers and deserves a place in gamer's hearts. An instant classic!    … Expand
  29. chathsuaco
    Apr 14, 2017
    9
    This game is an 8 for content, and a 9 as a counterbalance. I find it frustrating that this game is being canned due to such trivial details, like frame rates, when most of the issues have been resolved.

    For full disclosure: I am a kickstarter backer, and I have 100% completed this game (Including all 35 achievements) on the PC version. This game is not perfect, just putting that out    This game is an 8 for content, and a 9 as a counterbalance. I find it frustrating that this game is being canned due to such trivial details, like frame rates, when most of the issues have been resolved.

    For full disclosure: I am a kickstarter backer, and I have 100% completed this game (Including all 35 achievements) on the PC version.

    This game is not perfect, just putting that out there now. It not the 10 I was hoping for, but it is by no means a 6. This game has a few problems that I couldn't really ignore, such as the rather lack-luster final battle, the infuriating rexo mini games, and the unfortunate lack of variety.

    Without going into details, the final battle did have a sense of ramping up, but it never got to that final point that I wanted it to. I was hoping it'd be like the Banjo-Tooie final boss, which tested all of the abilities we learned in that game and the game prior. I would have settled for the Banjo-Kazooie kind of final boss, where we pull from many of our abilities, and use some sort of device (JInjos) to give the final kick to boss. We got neither, and that was sad, but the boss was engaging, difficult, and fun anyway.

    The mini games are terrible. Their only saving grace is that they will be no more than 30 minutes of your total 20 hour play time if you try to complete the game, and if you're not going to 100% complete the game, you can ignore them altogether. I guess I did like world 2's mini game a little.

    The lack of variety is down to how they handled the worlds. There are 5 worlds, they all start out about the size of a banjo-kazoie world, but can then be expanded to contain 2-3 times the content. The developers chose to do "More of the same" content, but it's still more content. Every world still has a diversity of challenges, and unique ideas of their own. The only things that are "reused' is some character models and Kartos's general mini game style. But that's ok, because Kartos's mini games are fun.

    The game looks beautiful. It feels polished. Lag issues only exist on the Xbox One console, and will hopefully be ironed out in the near future. It has everything it needs to be a good game for what it's trying to do. It is a game for fans, and as such: it has a lot of the flaws you'd expect from the game it's emulating. I hope that after this, Tooka-Laylee will take what made this game "Good" and make it "Great".    … Expand
  30. dmccarty
    Apr 15, 2017
    9
    Is this game perfect? no. Does it deserve the awful reviews that people are giving? Not at all. This game is a really fun call back to Banjo Kazooie. It's got the same style of grunting voices, very similar game play, and fun environments and puzzles to explore. Also the great king Kirkhope managed to make another bouncy and energetic score that I could listen to for hours. The controlsIs this game perfect? no. Does it deserve the awful reviews that people are giving? Not at all. This game is a really fun call back to Banjo Kazooie. It's got the same style of grunting voices, very similar game play, and fun environments and puzzles to explore. Also the great king Kirkhope managed to make another bouncy and energetic score that I could listen to for hours. The controls are tight, the platforming is solid and creative. Finally the jokes are great. They have some amazing hidden/not so hidden adult jokes in the game so its fun for parents and kids to play. Buy this game people. Try it out. There hasn't been a 3d platforming game this solid in literal years. It scratches that itch.

    As for the negative I don't have much to say. This game isn't a ten because it isn't an original concept, and it is not much of an improvement on the collectathon genera. There isn't any true innovation going on here, but we knew that's what this game was going to be from the start. Maybe the innovation will come with a possible sequel. Also the worlds are large and fun. The issue is that in each world after you unlock more of that said world it's not much of a new experience. All of the things you experienced in the first half of that world are going to be there in the second half without many surprises. That's not to say the individual worlds are not vastly different, its just that the worlds could have had some more things in them to keep any repetition down. Also you cannot skip a lot of dialogue and cut scenes which is a minor annoyance. Overall I see a future for this polished gem of a call back, and it is a bright one.    … Expand
  31. elfredy91
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Playtonic Games did what they promised: Make a spiritual successor of the beloved Banjo and Kazooie.
    if feels retro but very fun. well done playtonic    … Expand
  32. MEANTOCOELSPRYO
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    i was so sad that this got cancelled on the wii u,but then i buyed it in steam and after playing it so far...ITS AWESOME,ITS JUST RAREWARE QUALITY.The characters,the graphics and specially the music omg
  33. Dibbledots
    Apr 11, 2017
    9
    Yooka-laylee is exactly what I've been waiting 15 years for. People who are giving this he 1s and 0s are clearly not making a review based off gameplay. I can't think of a single game that deserves a score that low.
  34. Pyro88
    Apr 15, 2017
    10
    This game is basically Banjo Kazooie 3, with a fresh coat of unity paint. If you want to know if you'll like it I suggest you go back and play Banzo. If you don't think that game has aged well, or your not having fun with it than this game isn't for you. This game has 4 large worlds, 25 pagies in each(puzzle piece equivalents). Some of them are very easy, while others are very difficult.This game is basically Banjo Kazooie 3, with a fresh coat of unity paint. If you want to know if you'll like it I suggest you go back and play Banzo. If you don't think that game has aged well, or your not having fun with it than this game isn't for you. This game has 4 large worlds, 25 pagies in each(puzzle piece equivalents). Some of them are very easy, while others are very difficult. Each world has much more collectives such as quills to unlock new abilities in each world. At the end of the day this game is best described as a collectable platformer. Bosses are actually challenging. Combat isn't the focus of this game at all. nearly every enemy dies in 1/2 hits, so don't expect an upgrade from Banzo.… Expand
  35. weardo05
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    this game is a great game a real throwback that is faithful to tea or bat .phics are fine for a platformer and the music still has the same feel to it like as the original Banjo games
  36. LWells
    Apr 11, 2017
    4
    Progress: Game not complete, but game isn't making me feel like playing anymore.

    Visuals are an eyesore, a lot of the *slightly* different power-ups in the game just leave a void in my gut when I collect them, no real improvements on the old formula, and for the most important part: I don't know if I'm getting old but the gameplay was a 5/10 at best. It all should add up to keep me    Progress: Game not complete, but game isn't making me feel like playing anymore.

    Visuals are an eyesore, a lot of the *slightly* different power-ups in the game just leave a void in my gut when I collect them, no real improvements on the old formula, and for the most important part:
    I don't know if I'm getting old but the gameplay was a 5/10 at best. It all should add up to keep me wanting to move onward but I feel so impulsed to just quit at any moment.

    Polish, while in theory some bizarre abstract concept thrown around in the industry as some buzzword excuse of an argument, is really the core of what kept people going in Banjo & Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee's other predecessors.

    But hey, at least the music is good. And the character designs are great. And I faced no frame-rate issues whatsoever AND I encountered no glitches whatsoever except for a few unavoidable camera ones (as a dev I'm amazed from a small team)

    I feel really bad for the Yooka-Laylee developers reading ALL the day one reviews but I personally believe they tried to make a game that tried to meet the impossible expectations... and when faced to reality, didn't really meet those 10/10 GOTY requirements. Which really upset me because I was stoked to get the game.

    I really hope the team continues to make games in the future. Bigger, better ones, and even if they're all seasoned veterans, they should continue to learn as they work into the future.    … Expand
  37. BKComerford
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    Liked the game despite the fact that fat nerd was kicked off production. The less fat nerds working on games the better. They should all play Dungeons and Dragons instead, like Dan Harmon or his fatter, nerdier counterpart, Ron Weasley.
  38. triffy
    Apr 15, 2017
    10
    After the first hour this game grew on me and it brought back so many of the old feelings that i got when playing platformers. The graphics look really nice, it is fun to explore the worlds and discover all the pagies. the controls are fine, the camera is a bit weird, but nothing that can stop me from enjoying this game. I don't know why so many try to hate it. I love it.
  39. Grimlock047
    Apr 15, 2017
    9
    From all the Kickstarter games I've backed this one is probably the one that not only delivered what was promised but was better in general than what I expected.

    I've been playing it since it came out and I rarely keep playing a single game for more than 1 day, let alone finish them. It's very reminicent of the N64 Rare games including the dificulty, the music the beautifully crafted    From all the Kickstarter games I've backed this one is probably the one that not only delivered what was promised but was better in general than what I expected.

    I've been playing it since it came out and I rarely keep playing a single game for more than 1 day, let alone finish them. It's very reminicent of the N64 Rare games including the dificulty, the music the beautifully crafted worlds and the humor. It's easy to ignore the dialog because the story is simple and the VO is just grunts and noises but the text has that classic Rare clever humor that puts a smile in my face. The graphics while cartoonish look beutiful in my opinion.

    The game currently has several glitches and some design issues which hopefully would be fix over time, however this doesn't prevent the game from being played or finished, there are only a few collectibles for obtaining the 100% that could be troublesome for some players until the game gets patched.

    A lot of people criticise it because it comes too close to the old games such as Banjo Kazooie which is a pretty silly complain because 1) people that backed the KS campaign got exactly what they wanted and 2) people who didn't back the KS campaign have trailers, videos and reviews to make a decision if they want to buy the game or not. My guess is that most of the people who are digging anything negative about this game do it more because they are upset that the developers removed the grunts of one of those youtube darlings, not because of the quality of the game itself.

    One more thing to consider is that while there are around 10 Call of Duty clones and probably more than 1000 retro 2D platformers for PC every year, since Psychonauts released more than 10 years ago I haven't seen a single classic 3D platformer for PC in this style that can be considered a decent game.    … Expand
  40. SnappyReview
    Apr 13, 2017
    8
    This game doesnt need a map.

    Yooka Laylee is a kickstarter game with the intention of taking us back to the glory days of N64 Rare 3D Platforming and it does just that. Game follows two partners, a chameleon named Yooka and a bat named Laylee. The story is fairly simple as they are just trying to get their book back from the antagonist named Capital B (A man out to use the pages from    This game doesnt need a map.

    Yooka Laylee is a kickstarter game with the intention of taking us back to the glory days of N64 Rare 3D Platforming and it does just that. Game follows two partners, a chameleon named Yooka and a bat named Laylee. The story is fairly simple as they are just trying to get their book back from the antagonist named Capital B (A man out to use the pages from the books called pagies to rewrite the universe) BUT on the way they meet a variety of characters, learn various abilities, and tackle many quest.

    The Worlds.
    There is a total 5 worlds to explore and complete at your own pace. While the worlds are enjoyable, they lack some imagination Banjo Kazooie/Tooie had, such as Freezeezy Peak's Giant snowman, Jolly Rogers Atlantis, Mad Monster Mansions giant piano room,Hailfire PeaksFire/ice concept, clickclock woods Season concept, etc.

    The characters.
    Yooka Laylee has a great main cast. Yooka,Laylee,Capital B, Kartos, Dr Puzz, Rextro, Vendi and Trowzer the snake are all great but the side characters is where it lacked. The pigs, snowmen, and mexican slot machines felt lifeless and generic. With Banjo there was more variety with monkeys, seals, polar bears, ants, stone soccer players,giant metal sharks,dragons,beavers etc. In Yooka Laylee these side characters either appear once or come back later in the game but even when they came back, they didnt feel connected to the world. Overall i just felt more/better side characters couldve been involved in each world to make it more alive.

    The Abilities.
    Nothing much to say here. You get a long list of abilities which help out along the way. I also like how these abilities offer different ways to beat certain things like the final boss. Ive seen people fight that boss way different than i did.

    The New.
    Not really sure if this is new to the 3D platforming genre but i dont recall seeing it. Yooka Laylee has a system called tonics where you can edit your gameplay by talking to vendi. By edit i mean things like hitting harder, breathing under water longer, stamina running out slower, no fall damage, etc. I thought it was a nice mechanic to give it some flare.

    The Music.
    Its by Grant Kirkhope, David Wise, and Steve Burke. Nuff said.

    Difficulty.
    The game be really easy and it can be really hard. Especially with those minecart levels. Its mostly up to the player as I've seen many people struggle with the simplest challenges.

    Gameplay.
    The game plays really well aside from 2 things. The shooting is a bit meh but definitely a step up from Banjo Tooie. The game also had one camera view switch where it reverses the controls but thats a minor issue. It really didnt mess me up a lot.

    Summary;
    The game is a good comeback for the 3D Platforming Genre. My only issues with the game were the
    lack of memorable characters aside from the main cast and the lack of imagination in the levels. Other than that i believe the game is pretty solid and nothing less than a 7.
    These issues i had as a platformer fan can easily be fixed in a sequel. Which i have no doubt they'll do, they are setting a stage for new franchises to come with their "playtonic universe" idea.

    That being said, i give the game an 8/10. Cant wait for Twooka Laylee or Yooka Laylee Racing.    … Expand
  41. vgmkyle
    Apr 11, 2017
    10
    First off this is a platformer, and most people are not good at them? Why? I don't exactly know, but the people rating it low for combat are not very smart.

    We all knew what the critics were going to say before they said it: "The combat is no good" and "It's too much like Banjo-Kazooie." If you are saying this -- you are the exact reason why the game industry has become as mundane as it    First off this is a platformer, and most people are not good at them? Why? I don't exactly know, but the people rating it low for combat are not very smart.

    We all knew what the critics were going to say before they said it: "The combat is no good" and "It's too much like Banjo-Kazooie." If you are saying this -- you are the exact reason why the game industry has become as mundane as it has. The people saying this are the same people playing Call of Duty and Dark Souls year after year.    … Expand
  42. Braduk
    Apr 11, 2017
    5
    All the people saying it's just like Banjo Kazooie or just like BK but better are wrong. There are some glaring issues that make this a worse experience than the original games.
    There's black loading zones every two seconds in worlds, completely breaking the flow
    The graphics and textures look washed out generic Unity, making the N64 aesthetic feel a lot better, despite the ancient    All the people saying it's just like Banjo Kazooie or just like BK but better are wrong. There are some glaring issues that make this a worse experience than the original games.
    There's black loading zones every two seconds in worlds, completely breaking the flow
    The graphics and textures look washed out generic Unity, making the N64 aesthetic feel a lot better, despite the ancient graphics.
    The controls are floaty in a lot of cases, making certain parts frustrating and not fun in the slightest
    The music is very all over the place in tone, some tracks are nice but others are far too overly bombastic for when they play.
    The game is poorly optimized right now, making it so certain areas run poorly for no reason along with glitches
    Overall it feels less like a spiritual successor and more a bootleg of the originals. And this is coming from a person who loved the N64 Banjos.    … Expand
  43. megasmallcow
    Apr 11, 2017
    2
    I bought this game a while back as I wanted a sequel to Banjo Kazooie, and went into fully excited.
    Now that the games out, its just, really bland.
    The levels are super open and boring, the platforming is gimmicky and the music is... annoying. I don't know how they messed it up so bad, I got half way and dont want to play anymore, I wish I could refund but the company doesnt like to    I bought this game a while back as I wanted a sequel to Banjo Kazooie, and went into fully excited.
    Now that the games out, its just, really bland.
    The levels are super open and boring, the platforming is gimmicky and the music is... annoying.
    I don't know how they messed it up so bad, I got half way and dont want to play anymore, I wish I could refund but the company doesnt like to give out refunds, and seems to be a bunch of asshats to their customers so they got what was coming I suppose.
    Oh well, RIP platformers.    … Expand
  44. Tr4nceTV
    Apr 12, 2017
    9
    I'm usually one that hates character on character interaction in games, but I can definitely sit through them in Yooka-Laylee. I enjoy so much of the exploration in this game, and a lot of the trial and error. Yeah you don't have your hand held on where to go, but that's the fun! The music is great, I love the art, and the dialogue can be very cheesy, but still funny.

    The camera hasn't    I'm usually one that hates character on character interaction in games, but I can definitely sit through them in Yooka-Laylee. I enjoy so much of the exploration in this game, and a lot of the trial and error. Yeah you don't have your hand held on where to go, but that's the fun! The music is great, I love the art, and the dialogue can be very cheesy, but still funny.

    The camera hasn't give me as much problems as others it seems, or maybe I'm just not too bothered by that. Either way, I've been paying attention to detail for this game and I love how it allows me to explore a bunch of random areas. It really forces you to think. "Can I get to that spot? Let me try. OH! I can! Awesome!"

    Like I said, a lot of trial and error going on, and without a guide it really gives your brain a little workout.    … Expand
  45. aletl10
    Apr 13, 2017
    10
    Im going to give a 10 because the stupid negative reviews (as always).
    But... i really like this game, smooth graphics, style, dialogues and gameplay.
  46. duk242
    Apr 24, 2017
    6
    I don't know about this game. I loved Banjo Kazooie way back in the day and this game feels a lot like it. However: Times have changed, I'm older now and the gameplay of it doesn't seem to interest me as much anymore.
    * The Graphics are pretty
    * The voice overs are infuriatingly annoying (all the voices going WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH on repeat) * The controls are infuriating (I don't know    I don't know about this game. I loved Banjo Kazooie way back in the day and this game feels a lot like it. However: Times have changed, I'm older now and the gameplay of it doesn't seem to interest me as much anymore.
    * The Graphics are pretty
    * The voice overs are infuriatingly annoying (all the voices going WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH on repeat)
    * The controls are infuriating (I don't know if it's just me, or if I'm just really bad at using an XBox controller).
    * Story line felt... weak?
    * The characters are kinda cool and quirky.    … Expand
  47. rubencube
    Apr 14, 2017
    10
    Undoubtedly the best platform game since n64, the music is great, it gives off pure magic and beautiful gameplay, the dialogues are very well done and they have that spicy Banjo Kazooie spice, awesome game !!!
  48. Alphadreamer
    Apr 16, 2017
    10
    Excelente plataformero al tamaño de Banjo-Kazooie, al jugarlo me sentí de vuelta en los 90s trayéndome esos gratos recuerdos de lo que fue RARE en sus tiempos de gloria (Gracias Microsoft .l.)
    Sin duda un juego que merece la pena :v
  49. BannedConsole
    Apr 17, 2017
    10
    Best Game Since Banjo-Kazooie was nicked by Microsoft
    Hopefully this team will create many experiences like these over the coming years.

    Rare is Back in the form of Playtonic and with it all its humor and fun gameplay
  50. MorphVGX
    Apr 17, 2017
    9
    This games looks beautiful. Great presentation, music, sounds. Characters are charming. On the downside, some frame rate drops and camera issues now and then. Controls are challenging but possible.
  51. drazah
    Apr 18, 2017
    2
    This game was fun for all of about 2 hours, then quickly became stale and very not-fun. Rolling around, jumping from platform to platform, and learning new abilities were the games best aspect. But the music gets very stale after that (the same obnoxious songs play repeatedly) and the pagies are often devoid of any challenge, simply walk up and grab them.
  52. tremault
    Apr 21, 2017
    3
    I supported these guys on kickstarter because I figured it would be nice to get some new games of this genre especially on PC. I mean playstation has ratchet and clank, but not on PC. To be honest, I was prepared to forgive a lot. the camera is a bit stupid, but I'll let that slide. The music is a little annoying but i'll let that slide. The snake guy is really annoying, but I'll let thatI supported these guys on kickstarter because I figured it would be nice to get some new games of this genre especially on PC. I mean playstation has ratchet and clank, but not on PC. To be honest, I was prepared to forgive a lot. the camera is a bit stupid, but I'll let that slide. The music is a little annoying but i'll let that slide. The snake guy is really annoying, but I'll let that slide..

    what I won't let sllide is absolutely NO impetus to do anything in this game. the premise is next to non existent. there is no decent reason to do anything in this game, the only objective is to collect more pagies. I'm sorry, but that is just not good enough. even super mario bros had more drive than that. yes, collecting coins was nice, but the objective was to rescue the princess. you had a REASON to continue going. In Yooka Laylee, the only drive for the main characters is get book, sell it for money. bigger questions might be, who will you sell it to? what will you spend the money on? the world has no other form of civilisation or even any hints of it. there is no depth to the characters, just "we want profit". I have never seen such empty, lifeless, 1 dimensional characters.
    I was willing to forgive a lot, but at the end of the day, I need some kind of motivation to play a game. Yooka Laylee gives zero motivation and playing it I just felt completely and utterly depressed. My whole mindset was "what is the point of this". Industry veterans can and should do better than this. very poor show indeed.    … Expand
  53. FleshEatingGoob
    Apr 19, 2017
    5
    While aiming in the right direction, Yooka-Laylee has ultimately missed the target when attempting to capture the "magic" of collect-a-thon platformers from decades past. Strange game design decisions mar a graphically impressive work from Playtonic Games; a studio with members from the Rare teams responsible for games such a "Banjo-Kazooie."

    Obtaining the main collectible in the game,    While aiming in the right direction, Yooka-Laylee has ultimately missed the target when attempting to capture the "magic" of collect-a-thon platformers from decades past. Strange game design decisions mar a graphically impressive work from Playtonic Games; a studio with members from the Rare teams responsible for games such a "Banjo-Kazooie."

    Obtaining the main collectible in the game, Pagies, feel more like a chore than an excercise in puzzle-solving and platforming. Most Pagie challenges hinge on obtaining abilities and simply using them to get a Pagie. One example would be the Reptile Roll move that allow you to bust through glass to get a handful of pagies.

    There is also the strange decision by Playtonic which forces you to pay pagies to unlock a second-half of a world. You use your pagies to unlock a world and can then come back and pay more pagies to unlock more challenges. It's just weird to force the player to re-vist a world they have already explored.

    Clocking in at about 10-15 hours the game wears out it's welcome within the first two worlds. Most of the promotional art you have seen for this game has been from the first (jungle type) world and the fourth (casino) world. There is also a snow world, a swamp world and a space world. None of the worlds even hold a candle to the entertainment of the first and even that one was questionable.

    Camera issues have been highly over-exaggerated in reviews. There is something wrong much deeper in this game than just the camera.    … Expand
  54. YoloSwag4Doge
    Apr 17, 2017
    8
    Yooka Laylee is exactly what I expected it to be. I didn't expect the game to give me the same magical feeling of awe I got as a child playing BK. Nor did I expect it to scare the living sh1t out of me like BK did. I anticipated a spiritual successor to the BK and BT games that would effectively play off my nostalgia and Yooka Laylee has done that in spades. The music, the graphics, theYooka Laylee is exactly what I expected it to be. I didn't expect the game to give me the same magical feeling of awe I got as a child playing BK. Nor did I expect it to scare the living sh1t out of me like BK did. I anticipated a spiritual successor to the BK and BT games that would effectively play off my nostalgia and Yooka Laylee has done that in spades. The music, the graphics, the characters, the worlds and the puzzles are all very much, to my mind, similar to what I played with in BK & BT. And it feels really good to, in effective, relive those old memories.

    Could the game have raised the bar and been so much more? Perhaps with the right time and money it could have. I sincerely don't think it's really better than BK and BT as far as content goes, but it is definitely an improvement over the graphics, controls and camera. (Though the camera can still be rather derpy at times, I don't find it nearly as bad as it was in the originals). Honestly, it feels like a modernized emulation of the originals and I'm okay with that. I enjoy it for what it is. I certainly would've preferred more maps and I feel that the maps that are there could've been more interesting.

    Now, that being said, I don't find it to be super exciting. There's some challenging mini games throughout. Some I've found frustrating, others enjoyable. Which is the same experience I had in the originals. But overall, I just find it relaxing. There's a simple satisfaction to learning new moves, collecting various items and completing puzzles. I can't say that the puzzles are super hard. Some certainly make me think, but I haven't found myself getting crazy stuck on anything so far. And I'm glad. Because I do not miss the days of being an 8 year old kid, burning my tiny insufficient brain to a crisp trying to figure out simple puzzles that to me seemed like trying to figure out rocket science.

    For me it's an awesome, satisfying game that's delivered on my expectations. But if you're looking for something innovative or particularly ground breaking in comparison to BK or BT I doubt you'll be very impressed with Yooka Laylee.    … Expand
  55. asanava18
    Apr 23, 2017
    10
    If you loved Banjo (Specially tooie) you will probably enjoy this game as much as I did. The Game is everything you would expect from a sequel to Banjo, however It has a lot of the same flaws that those games had by the time, wich is not a big problem for me. I loved the music, gameplay and world design of this game and I would really recommend it to every fan of 3D platformers. The onlyIf you loved Banjo (Specially tooie) you will probably enjoy this game as much as I did. The Game is everything you would expect from a sequel to Banjo, however It has a lot of the same flaws that those games had by the time, wich is not a big problem for me. I loved the music, gameplay and world design of this game and I would really recommend it to every fan of 3D platformers. The only problems I have with the game are the story, wich was pretty bland and uninteresting in my opinion, and most of the boss battles (3 of them were great, the others felt pretty rushed and simple). I would personaly give this game a 8.5/10 but im giving it a 10 because there are a lot of 0's of people Who are trying to lower the user score unfairly.… Expand
  56. playken
    Apr 26, 2017
    10
    Finally, a game that goes back to the roots of the 3D platforming that you were begging your parents to buy or rent for you on those weekends off from school with your Nintendo 64. Consisting of the original dev team from banjo kazooie and banjo tooie, greatness was expected, and greatness came after all.

    You get what you expected, great graphics, funny voices and a quirky atmosphere,    Finally, a game that goes back to the roots of the 3D platforming that you were begging your parents to buy or rent for you on those weekends off from school with your Nintendo 64. Consisting of the original dev team from banjo kazooie and banjo tooie, greatness was expected, and greatness came after all.

    You get what you expected, great graphics, funny voices and a quirky atmosphere, topped off with the amazing music stylings of Mr. Grant Kirkhope.    … Expand
  57. DingoCrash
    Apr 28, 2017
    10
    This game has brought so much memories and fun times I've had back in the 90's, there's a few flaws with the game but very minor, I backed the project when they launched the kickstarter and I regret nothing and expected what I wanted in a game.
  58. WalterDisney
    May 6, 2017
    10
    Exactly what I hoped this game would turn out to be! Being a backer of the Kickstarter project when it was originally announced years ago, I had been waiting in anticipation for this game for a long time. I finally got around to playing it and have to say, it's a blast of nostalgia! It really brought me back to my childhood and felt so similar to the Banjo and Kazooie series that I justExactly what I hoped this game would turn out to be! Being a backer of the Kickstarter project when it was originally announced years ago, I had been waiting in anticipation for this game for a long time. I finally got around to playing it and have to say, it's a blast of nostalgia! It really brought me back to my childhood and felt so similar to the Banjo and Kazooie series that I just picked up the controller and knew what to do. The control scheme is perfect, and it performs well (played on PC).… Expand
  59. firehazard42
    Apr 13, 2017
    4
    I wanna start by saying I'm one of the biggest fans of the original games for the N64. I love the Banjo games and I'd be the first one to say that I wanted this game to be good, I wanted Banjo back.

    But perhaps my hopes, all our hopes, were misguided. See, what we wanted wasn't just Banjo Threeie. What we wanted was that same magic feeling that the Banjo games gave us, that same burst    I wanna start by saying I'm one of the biggest fans of the original games for the N64. I love the Banjo games and I'd be the first one to say that I wanted this game to be good, I wanted Banjo back.

    But perhaps my hopes, all our hopes, were misguided. See, what we wanted wasn't just Banjo Threeie. What we wanted was that same magic feeling that the Banjo games gave us, that same burst of charm and wonder, which this game sorrowfully lacks. And now that we've grown up and had more gaming experiences, a game that so shamelessly feels like nothing but a pretty looking remaster of a game nearly two decades old feels rather dated. The evolution isn't there, the bar was raised, and Yooka Laylee has neither the ambition nor the talent to meet it.

    Sure the charming writing is there, but a lack of restraint really makes the fourth wall breaking less special. It's like as soon as the game starts it's saying "Oh hey, you're playing a video game, do you know that? LOL I'm so clever for making that observation haha!" Unlike the originals, which saved the fourth wall jokes for times when it's actually funny or poignant. The characters are recycled between levels instead of having new ones show up which actually fit the levels they are in. The camera and the controls often feel like they would rather fight you instead of let you experience the world. The levels are disjointed and boxed in rather than sprawling and interconnected, and the fact that they need to be "expanded" by playing in them seems completely unnecessary: You waste time to exit and re-enter the level to get the full experience. Dumb restrictions and petty annoyances like the stamina meter or loud and obnoxious voice acting add up over time and continuously grade away at your patience until it's nothing but buyer's pity and your nostalgia driving you to complete the game.

    Its got its heart in the right place, but at the end of the day Yooka Laylee is pretty much just a mediocre 3D platformer with pretty visuals and a comedic tone. I wanted a true return to glory, and instead I am playing what feels more like a fan tribute of it's predecessor from 1998, but even then ends up just being worse.    … Expand
  60. Gussy
    Apr 13, 2017
    1
    All of the annoyances of a generation long gone, without any of the charm that made those games memorable. A soulless game not worth the time of people who are looking to meet new iconic characters and go for unforgettable adventures with them, much like they did in their childhood
  61. wellytop
    Apr 18, 2017
    10
    Get this: Yooka-Laylee has lower scores on Metacritic than Banjo: Nuts & Bolts, including the user score. But if you loved the old Banjo-Kazooie games on N64, and were disappointed by the vehicle mechanics of N&B, then you WILL love Yooka-Laylee, I 100% guarantee it.
  62. JULIOJC1991
    Apr 14, 2017
    8
    Este juego es un clásico y respeta lo que se mostró en títulos anteriores de Nitendo 64, por eso no es un juego para todo el mundo, es una nostalgia enfocada a los años 90 y para la gente de esa época.
  63. ccateni
    Apr 11, 2017
    2
    This game was trying to be good, but it can't be. The character are charming, and the game plays well, but it can't beat the originals, and compared to them, it makes the game worse, like a ripoff. Give this game a skip; there are much better indie titles to play on steam.
  64. Steeldude
    Apr 27, 2017
    6
    One of the only two games (the other one being Tales of Symphonia) that I have played where the further I got the more I wished for it to end. I spent about 36 hours in this game and I did not even 100 % completed it. At first, I was looking forward to playing this game every day. Later on, I was playing just to get to the end finally. The longer I played, the more annoyed I got.

    Some    One of the only two games (the other one being Tales of Symphonia) that I have played where the further I got the more I wished for it to end. I spent about 36 hours in this game and I did not even 100 % completed it. At first, I was looking forward to playing this game every day. Later on, I was playing just to get to the end finally. The longer I played, the more annoyed I got.

    Some notes:
    - bad controls and camera
    - fun gameplay - at first but then it gets tedious
    - nice characters
    - frustrating elements (mostly minigames which are boring and overly hard but required to 100 %)
    - 5 worlds + hub (expandable) - pretty large - easy to get lost - each world may take even 8 hours to finish - it's simply too long - should've made more varied levels
    - if you take your time, the game is actually very long
    - not optimized for PC (K/M) - Xbox buttons instead and the B doesn't even exist!!! - cannot even rebind!! - this means that if you are in a conversation with a Yes/No choice you have to reset and go back to HUB because you get lost in the never-ending loop of "Yes choice"
    - if not for the minigames and gigantic worlds, it would've been a 9
    - no shadow when jumping most of the time! - leads to many unnecessary deaths
    - out of the 5 worlds I only enjoyed 2 (3rd+4th)    … Expand
  65. jimstallone
    Apr 17, 2017
    10
    Playtonic basically promised a new Banjo Kazooie game and that is exactly what they delivered. From the first moment it looks and feels perfect and is a true love letter to the glory days on 64 bit gaming. If you expect anything more than what they promised that is on you. They have delivered 100% what they promised. You can't help buy play and smile as hours go by exploring and meetingPlaytonic basically promised a new Banjo Kazooie game and that is exactly what they delivered. From the first moment it looks and feels perfect and is a true love letter to the glory days on 64 bit gaming. If you expect anything more than what they promised that is on you. They have delivered 100% what they promised. You can't help buy play and smile as hours go by exploring and meeting weird characters, expanding worlds, learning new moves and most importantly collecting loads of stuff! I adore this game, it made a 32 year old feel 15 again!… Expand
  66. Kmonahan45
    Apr 16, 2017
    10
    This game is fantastic and is the first adventure game I have logged more than 10 hours on since Super Mario Sunshine. Couldn't be more excited for the Twoka laylee
  67. Kamitue
    Apr 19, 2017
    9
    This game is wonderfully charming.

    I have never played Banjo Kazooie, even though I grew up in the N64 era, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect upon purchasing this game. However, I absolutely fell in love with the style, music, gameplay, and characters of Yooka Laylee. The game is an exploration/collection game. The worlds are vast and an absolute joy to wander around and solve    This game is wonderfully charming.

    I have never played Banjo Kazooie, even though I grew up in the N64 era, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect upon purchasing this game. However, I absolutely fell in love with the style, music, gameplay, and characters of Yooka Laylee. The game is an exploration/collection game. The worlds are vast and an absolute joy to wander around and solve puzzles in. The collectibles "pagies" are the right mix of difficulty to be rewarding to collect, but without being too terribly frustrating either.

    The only thing stopping this game from receiving a 10 is that the boss battles are lack luster and the arcade minigames are disappointing.

    This game makes me want to go back and find an old copy of Banjo Kazooie to see if it lives up to the legend and offers the same great experience i found in Yooka Laylee.    … Expand
  68. BadGameGuy69
    Jul 29, 2017
    2
    Somehow a bigger disappointment than my son:
    But unlike my son, this game will not eventually hang itself in a gas station bathroom. The game was so simplistic and was on nostalgia life support, the placement of objects were as sloppy as possible. The numerous useless transformations in the game ruined me, like the helicopter noise not syncing with the speed of the blades haunts me like    Somehow a bigger disappointment than my son:
    But unlike my son, this game will not eventually hang itself in a gas station bathroom. The game was so simplistic and was on nostalgia life support, the placement of objects were as sloppy as possible. The numerous useless transformations in the game ruined me, like the helicopter noise not syncing with the speed of the blades haunts me like the screams of my son going through puberty beating his dog with a sock monkey in the basement and the characters are much like my ex wife who are ugly and do nothing but ruin my life. The sound effects were like a toilet where no matter what there's always garbage spewing out the front. Destroying this piece of garbage won't bring my son back but I'm okay with that. This game is much like my autistic daughter where the more it tries the more it just spits on itself. The voice acting ( if you want to call it that) sounds like my grandfather with turrets dying words but at least in the end he passed on peacefully unlike yooka laylee that feels the need to go on without end... Unlike my son. In the end, this game was like Ash's stoutland and had nothing else to live for and will fade away into obscurity.    … Expand
  69. bladex
    Apr 13, 2017
    3
    game is worse than dk64 ever was. it will stop being fun very fast and have you doing annoying mini game bs to collect pagies. there's no bosses instead you have to do a crappy quiz so means remember every single thing you did in the game including how long you've been playing to pass...

    there is no warp system meaning you have to drag yourself through the entire hub back tracking back    game is worse than dk64 ever was. it will stop being fun very fast and have you doing annoying mini game bs to collect pagies. there's no bosses instead you have to do a crappy quiz so means remember every single thing you did in the game including how long you've been playing to pass...

    there is no warp system meaning you have to drag yourself through the entire hub back tracking back to each level over and over again...

    it's just not a fun platformer to play a terrible terrible reboot to the genre.    … Expand
  70. deaththekid922
    Apr 12, 2017
    1
    the game gets stale super fast , im at 3 Hours and i just dont feel like playing it anymore , areas are way too generic and just oversized ( in height )

    and most Pagies are so stupidly easy , just press a button or jumpo through a few rings toi get them , even in Mayahem Temple Tooie had harder jiggies
  71. DrToaster
    Apr 17, 2017
    6
    Yooka-Laylee is a game funded through Kickstarter, made by former devs at Rare and attempts to to be a spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie.
    Unfortunately the game suffers from the same flaws as Donkey Kong 64's level design, and with the Steam Price point of 39.99 (standard) I couldn't help but feel as I wasted that money and decided to refund it.
  72. Leonardolopez
    Apr 17, 2017
    10
    A game that gives us the old adventure already forgotten as well as entertaining, of an adventure already forgotten and famous this helps us to remember with much affection
  73. imrustyokay
    Apr 13, 2017
    10
    You know, I didn't actually play the game. In fact I don't really care much about Yooka-Laylee or Banjo-Kazooie, unless i see the bird either in some sort of pressure air suit or inflating (hahaha sex). In fact, I just wanted to leave this here just to tell you to have a nice day, stay safe, and don't eat the yellow snow.

    also, if you're reading this, Hi Boogie! Love your vids! They're    You know, I didn't actually play the game. In fact I don't really care much about Yooka-Laylee or Banjo-Kazooie, unless i see the bird either in some sort of pressure air suit or inflating (hahaha sex). In fact, I just wanted to leave this here just to tell you to have a nice day, stay safe, and don't eat the yellow snow.

    also, if you're reading this, Hi Boogie! Love your vids! They're very entertaining and motivating.    … Expand
  74. fykins
    Apr 25, 2017
    0
    This game is not worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as banjo kazooie. There are just so many reasons not to get this game, just another early access game that turned to trash. Oh sure they took your money upfront and that's exactly why they don't need to deliver at launch time.

    There's plenty of titles for less than $20 on steam that are better games than this.
  75. SuperkenGaming
    Apr 18, 2017
    6
    Yooka Laylee
    From Great to disappointing
    3D platformers were all the rage in the late 90s all the way through the PlayStation 2 era and then they faded away... Of course everyone misses the good ole days, so some veterans from the banjo kazooie team brought it back with yooka laylee, a game with potential that never delivers… In yooka laylee you play as yooka the iguana and laylee the    Yooka Laylee
    From Great to disappointing
    3D platformers were all the rage in the late 90s all the way through the PlayStation 2 era and then they faded away...
    Of course everyone misses the good ole days, so some veterans from the banjo kazooie team brought it back with yooka laylee, a game with potential that never delivers…
    In yooka laylee you play as yooka the iguana and laylee the bat, you set off on an adventure to get all of the pagies and stop capital b and dr quack from snatching all of the worlds books.
    You start out in a hub, with 5 levels inside... to get to each of the 5 levels you need new powers... so to get these powers you enter the levels 1 at a time to explore these sandboxes, complete all of the tasks around the world for the initially charming characters in return for a pagie, and collect the quills to purchase new super moves from the trowzer snake
    or trowzer the snake..
    Yeah... idk, the humor is questionable in this game... I’m not sure who this game was really made for…
    The first world is the best world in the game…
    There’s heart here, nostalgia, humor, character…
    A sense of adventure…
    ghost creatures hidden in the world to collect... items to find for characters…
    fun platforming sections, a race…
    And then the game just falls apart…
    Collecting pagies is important to unlocking new levels, and the quills are important for unlocking moves to complete the tasks here…
    But pagies can also be used to extend the levels...
    These extended versions of the levels add new missions, characters and a boss battles to help you on your journey to collecting 100 pagies needed to get to the games end…
    And that journey to 100 pagies, is an uninteresting and frustrating grind…
    Sadly the levels literally get worse as you go..
    characters are recycled…
    missions are recycled…
    the levels feel like little to no effort were put into them
    the game starts to feel lazy…
    it introduces new moves in every world but nothing cool is ever done with these abilities…
    It’s just becomes a joke by the games end…
    The 2nd to last level is just a bunch of time your slam right slot machine games…
    And the final level had a space theme
    fitting because of how empty it felt.
    Yooka Laylee has good bits to it...
    The hub world is great…
    forcing you to unlock new moves and the idea that these moves will keep you coming back to past levels is great…
    there’s arcade games in here to play with friends for high scores
    The first level is great and exactly what I want out of a 3d platformer…
    But beyond level 1, the hub world, and the hook of bringing your new moves back to past levels…
    Yooka Laylee is a pretty mediocre game…
    I Give Yooka Laylee
    a 6/10    … Expand
  76. pikby
    Jun 5, 2017
    8
    Yooka laylee is a fun, enjoyable platformer with quirky characters and fun design,only hampered by the uncoopertive camera and annoying mini games
    85%
  77. Techbane
    Apr 18, 2017
    6
    Yooka-Laylee is kind of a paradoxical mishmash of good and bad. The levels are beautiful until you bump into several blocks or chunks of ice that all look like they're made of plastic. Everything is massive and open-ended, yet not designed to be conducive to navigation. Controls feel tight, until you try to do precision platforming while rolling at 40 MPH through an ice level above aYooka-Laylee is kind of a paradoxical mishmash of good and bad. The levels are beautiful until you bump into several blocks or chunks of ice that all look like they're made of plastic. Everything is massive and open-ended, yet not designed to be conducive to navigation. Controls feel tight, until you try to do precision platforming while rolling at 40 MPH through an ice level above a bottomless pit with a time limit. Transformations are lopsided as ever, but either horrible to play as or under-utilized. There are minecart levels that try to recapture the glory and frustration of the DKC levels but have really cumbersome overcomplicated mechanics. I can count on one hand the number of different enemies, who are simply recycled level after level, and most of which have pointless invulnerability phases. The camera controls waver between being awkward and outright antagonistic. The story, basic as Rare's stories have ever been, isn't told well and the villain doesn't seem particularly invested in his role. Keyboard controls literally lack a binding for the "B" button equivalent and can't be edited, rendering the game unplayable without a controller. The only things in this game that don't spend a majority of their time rubbing me the wrong way are the visuals, and the music, the latter of which really does its best to make me feel like I'm in a Banjo game again, and would succeed were it not for everything else.

    I don't think it's a disaster. I don't think it's something you should turn your nose up at. It just fails to do any single thing any better than Rare has already done in the past, and constantly struggles to even maintain parity. To steal a summary from the eloquent Videogamedunkey, "too afraid to embrace the confident simplicity of Banjo-Kazooie, and not inventive enough to be mistaken for Banjo-Tooie".    … Expand
  78. Chashmodai
    Jun 21, 2020
    3
    It's mediocre. Pretty much a ripoff of old Rare games. One can say that it's a "tribute", it's paying homage to, it's inspired by.. but it's just a ripoff.

    Bonus point for having the most cringeworthy "voice acting" in any game ever, though.
  79. AndypogGaming
    Apr 17, 2017
    6
    Welcome to my review for Yooka-Laylee on ps4 pc and Xbox one just going to.start.here the words of the developer.

    Yooka-Laylee is an all-new open-world platformer from key creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games! Explore huge, beautiful worlds, meet (and beat) an unforgettable cast of characters and horde a vault-load of shiny collectibles as buddy-duo    Welcome to my review for Yooka-Laylee on ps4 pc and Xbox one just going to.start.here the words of the developer.

    Yooka-Laylee is an all-new open-world platformer from key creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games!
    Explore huge, beautiful worlds, meet (and beat) an unforgettable cast of characters and horde a vault-load of shiny collectibles as buddy-duo Yooka (the green one) and Laylee (the wisecracking bat with the big nose) embark on an epic adventure to thwart corporate creep Capital B and his devious scheme to absorb all the world’s books… and convert them into pure profit!
    Using their arsenal of special moves, our heroes will tackle a huge variety of puzzles and platforming challenges in their search for Pagies, the golden bounty used to unlock — and expand — stunning new worlds, each jammed to the gills with oddball characters, hulking bosses, mine cart challenges, arcade games, quiz shows, multiplayer games… and much more!
    Yooka-Laylee was funded on Kickstarter June 2015, raising an incredible £2.1 million from more than 80,000 backers.Yooka-Laylee remains the most funded UK games Kickstarter ever.
    Okay let's start my review

    Graphics

    Graphics are crisp, clean and very colourful i do like the graphics in this game but i do think that the colour is over saturated a bit other then that it's a great looking game.

    Voice and sound

    I think the music is great bring memory's from when i used to play Banjo-Kazooie on my Nintendo 64 but what annoyed after a while was the way the character talked i know when did because it was in Banjo-Kazooie but as them game are years apart i think they just made them talk normally

    Cinematics

    The cinematics are good just can be annoying at times because the camera seems go somewhere else and Can fall down or get attacked and die.

    Story

    Yooka and Laylee must collect ‘Pagies’ from their book, which has been stolen by the evil Capital B, who’s trying to please his shady CEOs. After your book is taken and its 145 Pagies scattered across the land, you’re free to explore and find them.

    Controls

    Controls are good but the camera seems to have a mind of it own sometimes which is very annoying at times

    Game-play

    Game-play is next up it is super you have lots of different moves in this game there so much to do in each world. There is lots of humour in the game like i will give a explain where you get your moves from is a snake called Trowers which means trouser snake. What i don't like about the game play is the pagies are hard to find in this game also the bosses are not very interesting i think they could be a lot better and the sections of vehicles are awful.

    The pros and cons

    Pros.
    ➡️Exploration is great fun
    ➡️Variety of worlds to explore
    ➡️Lots of humour in this game
    Cons
    ➡️Pagies are hard to find
    ➡️Bosses are awful
    ➡️Vehicle section is terrible

    6/10    … Expand
  80. dr9188
    May 16, 2017
    10
    Apparently this game brewed a **** and I really fail to see why. The game is instantly accessible, responsive and most of all fun. It's also incredibly beautiful and stylised... As well as being the rarity of a console-quality platformer on the PC.

    I say this and I never even played Banjo-Kazooie (I was more of a PSX child). I have no idea what has happened to the gaming community as    Apparently this game brewed a **** and I really fail to see why. The game is instantly accessible, responsive and most of all fun. It's also incredibly beautiful and stylised... As well as being the rarity of a console-quality platformer on the PC.

    I say this and I never even played Banjo-Kazooie (I was more of a PSX child).

    I have no idea what has happened to the gaming community as of late, it feels like people like to complain for the sake of it. I have seen games get away with worse than this game's sins, and even at its very worst the game only reaches about the same frustration level as N64-era games. It is no wonder mainstream developers are falling onto making their games a generic "Everygame", as they have more than likely realised that you cannot please everyone even when you give people what they ask for. We are the only ones to blame for the dumbing down of gaming today.    … Expand
  81. ZetaJiffils
    Dec 31, 2019
    0
    Copia descarada de Banjo-Kazooie, tanto en la música, personajes y dialéctica de los mismos.
  82. TitaniumDragon
    Jun 7, 2018
    3
    Yooka-Laylee is an intentional invocation of old collectathon platformers from Ye Olde N64 days. In particular, it is meant to evoke Rare’s collectathons, most notably Banjo-Kazooie, a game about a bear and a bird, which definitely bear no resemblance whatsoever to the lizard and bat protagonists of THIS game, no sir!

    Unfortunately, while the magic of Kickstarter created this game, it    Yooka-Laylee is an intentional invocation of old collectathon platformers from Ye Olde N64 days. In particular, it is meant to evoke Rare’s collectathons, most notably Banjo-Kazooie, a game about a bear and a bird, which definitely bear no resemblance whatsoever to the lizard and bat protagonists of THIS game, no sir!

    Unfortunately, while the magic of Kickstarter created this game, it lacks some of the magic of the old collectathons – if, indeed, they had magic at all.

    After all, there is a reason why people are nostalgic for them, and it is that they have, by and large, disappeared.

    Yooka-Laylee is a fairly standard example of such a game starting out – you can jump, swim, and have a spin attack to kill enemies on the ground. Over the course of the game you buy additional moves from Trowser, your friendly, not at all unscrupulous snake wearing a pair of pants. Somehow. You gain the ability to jump higher, to glide, do a fast roll on the ground, do a roll boost to break glass, eat seeds to spit at stuff, turn invisible, and eventually, the ability to outright fly and turn invincible.

    And yes, the ability to fly does, in fact, pretty much break many of the challenges of the first four worlds, as why do 3D platforming when you can just, you know, fly?

    But the reality is that this isn’t much of a loss as, sadly, the game never really excels.

    Yooka-Laylee has a hub world which connects up to five other worlds. As with many such games, there are collectibles hidden in the hub world, as well as in all of the various other worlds. The primary collectable of the game are Pagies, pages with faces on them. There are 145 of them, plus quills, which are the equivalent of coins – 200 per level, and collecting them all in each world awards you with another Pagie. The game has four other collectibles, but they’re fairly reserved – a coin to play an “arcade game” in each world, extra health, extra energy for your special attacks, and the “Mollycool”, which enables a different transformation in each world.

    The problem with Yooka-Laylee is that games like this live and die on their worlds, and Yooka-Laylee’s worlds are, by and large, utterly unremarkable.

    The first level – Tribalstack Tropics – is a semi-promising start, and seems like a fairly standard opening stage, but as you go further through the game, the stages start feeling less and less well-integrated, and more and more like a collection of random platforming challenges stuck in independent of each other to form a “level”. The third and fifth levels – the swamp level and the “space” level that doesn’t actually have any real “space” mechanics – are both pretty much explicitly just a bunch of stuff stuck together with no real cohesion to it, and while the casino world feels built up on top of itself, it also manages to be by far the most tedious level to find missing collectibles in due to its 3D nature.

    But perhaps the greatest crime is that the pagies themselves feel completely arbitrary. Why are the game’s collectibles all book-themed? The worlds are ostensibly in books, but the game makes no use at all of this in any way, nor does it seem to have any meaningful relationship to the characters. It all feels very arbitrary.

    But the Pagie puzzles themselves often feel quite arbitrary, and not terribly satisfying to complete. Most of them are pretty easy, some of them are harder, and one of them probably took me as long as five others combined to do thanks to rather poor controls (rolling around a ball can be quite an imprecise thing, especially when wind is blowing at you from all directions in intervals). Many of the puzzles consist of talking to some NPC and doing some inane little task for them, and it just lacks much of a sense of satisfaction – getting stars in Super Mario 64, or the major collectibles in Donkey Kong 64, felt significant, but here, it just felt like ticking off a checkbox. Some of these challenges felt much more significant than others, with some pagies practically being given to you while others took some more significant task to collect, and the whole thing felt weirdly inconsistent as a result.

    It isn’t just the pagies, either – the game as a whole feels very arbitrary. And while yes, many of those games were fundamentally arbitrary, at least they felt like they tried, just a little. Yooka-Laylee constantly leans on fourth wall breaking humor, constantly referring to itself as a game, as if that would be funny – but really, it isn’t. A little bit of fourth wall humor can be fun, but if you do it too much, it just becomes eye-rolling and expected, and loses its surprise value. That’s not to say that a few jokes didn’t land – the game’s final boss being a “crowdfunded capitalist” was an amusing self-jab – but mostly, it just kind of felt like it went with a very juvenile humor, even more so than the N64 games it was emulating.    … Expand
  83. ShadowKnight
    Sep 9, 2017
    9
    I liked the game bar a few weird level and character design choices... but it definitely is a great game which definitely reeks of n64 nostalgia pandering.
  84. kuehnau
    Dec 3, 2018
    4
    Yooka-Laylee is inspired by retro platforms like Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64 or Gex. It's another run of the mill collect-a-thon games that require you to run, jump and swim through worlds, collecting random odds and ends in order to unlock newer worlds, events and skills.

    It's a beautiful looking game and when you turn the settings up to max, it really outshines even some of the    Yooka-Laylee is inspired by retro platforms like Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64 or Gex. It's another run of the mill collect-a-thon games that require you to run, jump and swim through worlds, collecting random odds and ends in order to unlock newer worlds, events and skills.

    It's a beautiful looking game and when you turn the settings up to max, it really outshines even some of the more modern releases of games in the same genre.

    With that out of the way, I have nothing nicer to say about Yooka-Laylee.

    The game worlds are huge, often too large, if you ask me. Much of the space is completely empty, leaving you wandering around while you look for the bits and pieces you need to collect to progress in the game. Even enemies are amazingly sparse in the game. If the developers would have made the worlds smaller and more populated I feel as if the game would have been significantly more enjoyable.

    As it is, the game feels like it's 90% mini games and 10% action and adventure. Some of the worst aspects of the game are all of the racing trials the game puts you through. They aren't handled well and are amazingly frustrating, combine that with super poor hit detection and slippery as ice controls and you are gonna be in for a bad time.

    On the surface, this game looks like it would be great for children, on the contrary, the game can be so so frustrating that I can see younger players throwing controllers and melting down in frustration over the game. I myself ended up doing the first racing challange about a dozen times before I was able to beat it and by the time I was done, I was already sick of the game.

    Frankly, I don't know if I can even bring myself to complete this game. Yes, it's a throwback to an earlier games from yesteryear, but even those games knew how to package it and present it to the players. Yooka-Laylee does it all completely wrong and brings out the worst aspects in this genre of games.    … Expand
  85. Underpants158
    Jul 7, 2018
    7
    PROS:
    -Good humor. Some meta humor too which I know some won't like but I dug it.
    -Nice art and character design. -BOSS FIGHT MEDIOCRE: -Exploring the world is cool at first but with no map and having to backtrack because of unlocking new skills that allow you to progress in area or "expanding" the world leading to new challenges makes exploring the world somewhat bothersome.    PROS:
    -Good humor. Some meta humor too which I know some won't like but I dug it.
    -Nice art and character design.
    -BOSS FIGHT

    MEDIOCRE:
    -Exploring the world is cool at first but with no map and having to backtrack because of unlocking new skills that allow you to progress in area or "expanding" the world leading to new challenges makes exploring the world somewhat bothersome.

    Cons:
    -Collecting crap as a motive is not interesting to me which is the entirety of what this game is....so yeah.    … Expand
  86. wegie125
    Dec 8, 2017
    3
    This game had so much potential and promise and I don't know what happened but everything leading up to it's launch was just disappointment. Why did they have to remove JonTron from the game? Why did they use the Unity engine? Why are the characters just recycled. This game just reeks of inconsistency. Sometimes the music is great, other times it sucks. Controls are wonky. This game triedThis game had so much potential and promise and I don't know what happened but everything leading up to it's launch was just disappointment. Why did they have to remove JonTron from the game? Why did they use the Unity engine? Why are the characters just recycled. This game just reeks of inconsistency. Sometimes the music is great, other times it sucks. Controls are wonky. This game tried way too hard to be like the previous titles that rare made. Nothing will top those and they were too afraid to venture out of that area… Expand
  87. OzBountyHunter
    Oct 13, 2017
    9
    Una joya de la vieja escuela para los que vivieron la epoca de Rare y N64, jugabilidad y dificultad de la epoca y una banda sonora que nos transporta a los años 90.
  88. KingHeavy
    Aug 12, 2017
    8
    I might be nostalgia blind, but I thought Yooka-Laylee was a great game! Even though I can defiantly see some of the problems that people have with the game, such as the mini games and a few camera problems. But overall, it's a very good successor to Banjo-Kazooie.
  89. mikwee
    Jul 8, 2018
    9
    I can’t understand why everybody hates this title. A throwback to the N64 era with gorgeous graphics? I’m in! And I wasn’t disappointed.
  90. Shakethejake
    Oct 18, 2018
    8
    I respect a revival of 3D platformers yooka laylee I feel like it has some amazing potential. It's fun to go back and play an old style game like banjo, and with yooka laylee did a good job. The graphics are nice the business jokes where funny and entertaining. The camera was bad, even though it is manageable. I don't understand why everyone hates this game because Jontron is in it. II respect a revival of 3D platformers yooka laylee I feel like it has some amazing potential. It's fun to go back and play an old style game like banjo, and with yooka laylee did a good job. The graphics are nice the business jokes where funny and entertaining. The camera was bad, even though it is manageable. I don't understand why everyone hates this game because Jontron is in it. I don't agree with what he said. However that's his opinion so I'm not going to hate on this game just because a guy that thinks differently than me is in it. Anyway if you like Banjo you would like yooka laylee.… Expand
  91. vipek
    Nov 12, 2018
    8
    A really great 3D platformer game!

    If you liked Mario 64, Croc, Spyro etc. - you'll love this one too!
    But if you didn't - you won't like this one too!

    + Graphics, Music, SFX (64-bit style), level design, huge open levels, character skillset grows over time, enjoyable open-world exploration, lots of collectibles etc.
    - Annoying camera
  92. PeakZach
    Sep 30, 2022
    5
    Fun to play exploratory and collective game, but the water is inevitable. The water graphics, rippling effects, and difficulty to control made me have to put the game down once it wasn't an option and became a forced mechanic.
  93. Tobie
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    The first four or five hours of gameplay felt a bit repetitive and grindy, mainly because there's no strong story to move things forward. But the further into the game you get, the more fun it becomes. Stick with it to discover why it's actually a really nice game!
  94. slime_matt
    Mar 30, 2021
    9
    The only reason I can't give this a 10 is because of a few minor gripes I had when playing through with certain areas and objects like the Fire breath ability being slightly obtuse, and also the obvious fact that it did not do "enough" to "innovate" which is a very minor point IMHO as an enthusiast of the N64.

    However, that said, I seriously consider this on the same level as Super    The only reason I can't give this a 10 is because of a few minor gripes I had when playing through with certain areas and objects like the Fire breath ability being slightly obtuse, and also the obvious fact that it did not do "enough" to "innovate" which is a very minor point IMHO as an enthusiast of the N64.

    However, that said, I seriously consider this on the same level as Super Mario 64 and the original Banjo games. It definitely recaptures what made those games great down to the exacting physics and whimsical world design.

    Everything has been kept just as it should be and not updated beyond recognition. An almost perfect example of what modern retro platformers should aspire to be.    … Expand
  95. GameBoyAdv4002
    Aug 24, 2021
    7
    This game is good and that's about it. This game does not build upon the Banjo-Kazooie formula as much as it just makes a new game using alterations to the games' mechanics. The benefit of this is that the game is still a very fun collectathon platformer. The downside is that this isn't all too much better than Banjo-Kazooie. Still a fun time for fans of the genre, but not worth fullThis game is good and that's about it. This game does not build upon the Banjo-Kazooie formula as much as it just makes a new game using alterations to the games' mechanics. The benefit of this is that the game is still a very fun collectathon platformer. The downside is that this isn't all too much better than Banjo-Kazooie. Still a fun time for fans of the genre, but not worth full price. Get it on discount.… Expand
  96. zyllus
    Mar 16, 2022
    5
    Got it for free on Epic but I did not like it. The graphics and sarcasm used throughout the game are great but what kills the joy is its clunky controls. I love games that break the 4th wall and are funny at the same time and this game hits all other factors of a good game but if I don't have proper control over my character then it feels more like a chore which is not what I am seekingGot it for free on Epic but I did not like it. The graphics and sarcasm used throughout the game are great but what kills the joy is its clunky controls. I love games that break the 4th wall and are funny at the same time and this game hits all other factors of a good game but if I don't have proper control over my character then it feels more like a chore which is not what I am seeking while playing a game… Expand
  97. BrutalPlayer
    May 12, 2022
    8
    Sorry I must cut points for bugs and glitches. If you do not look at it, it is great game. Challenging puzzle platformer with tough bossfights. Recommend.

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    May 15, 2017
    60
    Likeable and (sometimes) funny 3D platformer in an open world does not even try to keep up with time. The acknowledged spiritual successor of the first Banjo-Kazooie is precised up to the last detail to give the same gameplay as its 1998 ”original”. [Issue#274]
  2. GameCritics
    May 9, 2017
    55
    I recently revisited the original Banjo-Kazooie as part of the Rare Replay compilation and still found it to be the best of its genre, and I’m not one of those people who believes that a mascot platformer has no place in the modern gaming scene. I was ready to celebrate the return of this genre, but Yooka-Laylee is simply a chore to play. The folks at Playtonic have demonstrated that they can recreate the spirit of old-school 3D platformers. Now, critically, they need to recreate the quality.
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  3. Merlin'in Kazanı (Turkey)
    May 7, 2017
    73
    Quotation forthcoming.
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