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. 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 As the type of game it is can come off dull and outdated if not spruced up properly.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
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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.
  13. 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!
  14. 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
  15. 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

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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.
    Read full review
  3. Merlin'in Kazanı (Turkey)
    May 7, 2017
    73
    Quotation forthcoming.
    Read full review
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