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Playtonic came through with all the promises they made with their kickstarter and if anyone says the game play is "outdated" then they truly where never fans of the Banjo series.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
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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.
    Read full review
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