Yooka-Laylee

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 269 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 139 out of 269
  2. Mixed: 51 out of 269
  3. Negative: 79 out of 269
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  1. Warrior_of_Doom
    Jul 19, 2023
    7
    The overall score is based on how much fun I personally had with every component of the game
    and the overall experience.
  2. chrisx213
    Jul 5, 2023
    10
    This is an excellent game, only let down by late game bs attempting to elongate play time artificially. The first 8 hours of this game are great fun. Not every world is great but overall this is much better than its baffling scores.
  3. Birdo7
    Jul 19, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Lot’s of people say this game is bad but it’s really fun it’s my favorite game the way you can hop along the rocks is so fun the platforming challenges are creative the boss fights are fun like Rampo we’re you have to roll up to him it made so many improvements from Banjo-Kazooie I highly recommend it.… Expand
  4. wesker2012
    May 9, 2022
    7
    Yooka Laylee is good in the sense that theres hardly in games like it during the current generation of gaming, but it doesn't live up to the popular games of the 90's it's trying to emulate. They nailed the genre humor in the game, but overall the game felt too formulaic and simple in terms of fun factor. Wish there was less content and more quality than vice versa. The controls andYooka Laylee is good in the sense that theres hardly in games like it during the current generation of gaming, but it doesn't live up to the popular games of the 90's it's trying to emulate. They nailed the genre humor in the game, but overall the game felt too formulaic and simple in terms of fun factor. Wish there was less content and more quality than vice versa. The controls and camera were also kind of wonky which made the game frustrating to play at times. The magic just seemed to be missing and after awhile the game felt more like a chore to play than fun. The hd cartoony visuals were nice to look at. And the music was relaxing and fun to listen to. The visuals could have used some more detail though.… Expand
  5. funkrockwarlock
    Aug 29, 2021
    5
    I grew up on the 64 era platformers and was a huge fan of banjo kazooie. I was incredibly excited when I saw this came out and bought it to play right away. Why is my review years late? Well I got to the 4th level which is casino themed and just sort of lost interest. Years later while making list of my backlogged games I remembered it and was determined to beat it.

    The good Art    I grew up on the 64 era platformers and was a huge fan of banjo kazooie. I was incredibly excited when I saw this came out and bought it to play right away. Why is my review years late? Well I got to the 4th level which is casino themed and just sort of lost interest. Years later while making list of my backlogged games I remembered it and was determined to beat it.

    The good
    Art direction
    Soundtrack
    old school platform vibes

    The bad
    The old school poor camara
    lack of levels
    Final boss fight

    I played through and expanded 4 of the 5 worlds, that's right there's only 5 levels which is a major disappointment. To be fair the expanded levels are fairly large but if one of the levels isn't fun for you, for me this was the 4th, then 20% of the game is just bad. I only got 3 pagies in that level and got everything else from the others which I did enjoy, even if the expanding bit felt like trying to stretch content by locking half a level away.

    I had a lot of fun, learning moves, solving puzzles, exploring and getting transformed was all amazing but that all ended at the boss fight. This fight was an incredible difficulty jump from anything previous in the game to the point where I felt the game had one vibe and totally switched. I understand it's a boss fight but it gets worse. This boss has more stages than a Final Fantasy battle and the inter-combat dialogue and cutscenes to match. Every death felt like a painful slog through spamming skip and watching 6 different transition scenes. The worst stage was the second which was so long. I often took damage just from the sheer boredom of that particular boss stage.

    In the end I realized I wasn't having fun anymore and I didn't really care to finish. I got what I wanted which was a platformer to go around and collect things and explore a colorfully animated world. What I didn't want was a clumsy and difficult boss fight. That wasn't what I really wanted after a game of smooth sailing and the tedious boss stage 2 and annoying transitions were too much.

    Over all I give it a 5 out of 10. 80% of the levels are really fun it's just that casino which really feels like filler. The soundtrack is good and the art and dialogue is clever. The limited number of levels, one of which is not fun and the terribly designed boss that feels too hard for what the entire game prepared are what really drag it down. It's an okay game and anything more would be me padding the score with nostalgia.    … Expand
  6. Nanelle
    Jul 25, 2021
    10
    As someone who has played Banjo-Kazooie innumerable times and has lived every minute of it, I get what this game was intended to be. As someone who has played through Yooka-Laylee twice, I can say with confidence it succeeds. The humor is fantastic, the world's are creative, inventive, and challenging, and the amount of heart the developers put in was unreal. Does game is an absolute joyAs someone who has played Banjo-Kazooie innumerable times and has lived every minute of it, I get what this game was intended to be. As someone who has played through Yooka-Laylee twice, I can say with confidence it succeeds. The humor is fantastic, the world's are creative, inventive, and challenging, and the amount of heart the developers put in was unreal. Does game is an absolute joy and it is everything the platform collectathon is meant to be. Except the mine carts. Those are miserable. But aside from that, this game is worth loving just as much as Banjo-Kazooie. It is one of the greatest games one played.… Expand
  7. Shenandoah
    Mar 20, 2021
    5
    Don’t get me wrong, I love Yooka Laylee, but the technical port of the PS4 version is just a shame. Looks like a PS3 game poorly running at locked 30 fps on a PS4 Pro. Save your money and wait of a remaster of this game or take the new „Impossible Lair“.
  8. Dr_Unk
    Oct 6, 2020
    6
    The game was OK. The controls seemed off to me, especially when you do that one roll move. One thing I hate about collectathons is when they make you go back to a previous level because you didn't have a move or item you needed. So I wasn't a big fan of going back to every level again. Also at one point, I couldn't stand the music, so I ended up muting it and keeping the SFX on..
  9. Descole
    Apr 6, 2020
    7
    Its an old school retro game. It promised not mutch and delivers much more. Its really fun to play with an retro soundtrack. If you like 90s games you will like that too
  10. lione81
    Mar 25, 2020
    0
    Cámara horrible. Controles imprecisos. Fallos y bugs aleatorios. Control de colisiones malo.
  11. OwtDaft
    Feb 14, 2020
    8
    + Story is very basic with some funny dialogue.
    + The 5 worlds and hub are very well designed and a lot of fun to explore.
    + Some of the mini games and challenges are frustrating but most are fun. + In the game you have many abilities to help you do everything in the worlds. + The game has a variety of game play elements, including an isometric area in one. - Rextro mini games you    + Story is very basic with some funny dialogue.
    + The 5 worlds and hub are very well designed and a lot of fun to explore.
    + Some of the mini games and challenges are frustrating but most are fun.
    + In the game you have many abilities to help you do everything in the worlds.
    + The game has a variety of game play elements, including an isometric area in one.
    - Rextro mini games you have to play to get pagies, would of been better had these been easier.    … Expand
  12. Vapor96
    Dec 29, 2019
    6
    While the game has a lot of charm and personality, Yooka-Laylee is so true to its genre roots that it tells the player pretty much nothing. Often playing it consists of roaming around huge areas hoping to find some challenges to beat, and this is just not my idea of fun. Add to that some grindy repetition and major camera problems, and you have yourself a throwback that falls right intoWhile the game has a lot of charm and personality, Yooka-Laylee is so true to its genre roots that it tells the player pretty much nothing. Often playing it consists of roaming around huge areas hoping to find some challenges to beat, and this is just not my idea of fun. Add to that some grindy repetition and major camera problems, and you have yourself a throwback that falls right into mediocrity, despite funny characters and a great soundtrack.… Expand
  13. Paulo969
    Oct 7, 2019
    3
    Apoiei o jogo no kickstarter. É uma confusao de desenho de niveis, nunca sabemos pãra onde ir ou o que fazer. Uma autentica trapalhada. Completamente desinspirado e hoje nao dava nem 1 euro por este lixo. Uma oportunidade de ouro desperdiçada. Kickstarter nunca mais.
  14. Platformer
    Jul 15, 2019
    10
    One of my favorite platformers of all time. Very fun game. I would recommend this game to everyone
  15. KratosKong
    Jun 20, 2019
    7
    A este juego de plataformas en 3d se le notan las costuras y tiene algun que otro problema de diseño. Pero es innegable lo divertido que es y lo gracioso de los personajes con las situaciones que generan. Si te gustan los plataformas en 3D dale una oportunidad. Aunque no haya resultado ser todo lo redondo que hubiera deseado, si hacen secuela, yo por mi parte le dare una oportunidad.
  16. smahlt
    May 9, 2019
    6
    A solid core surrounded by questionable decisions. The energy meter was a poor decision. The level design choices of having huge levels with tons of collectibles makes the game drag on. Some of the puzzles are annoying (looking at you ice castle maze). Controls are loose at times.

    As a longtime fan of Banjo-Kazooie, I'm slightly disappointed in this game, and hopeful for a sequel    A solid core surrounded by questionable decisions. The energy meter was a poor decision. The level design choices of having huge levels with tons of collectibles makes the game drag on. Some of the puzzles are annoying (looking at you ice castle maze). Controls are loose at times.

    As a longtime fan of Banjo-Kazooie, I'm slightly disappointed in this game, and hopeful for a sequel because with some improvements, we could have another fantastic BK style game.    … Expand
  17. M0NST3R_G4MING
    May 4, 2019
    7
    Yooka-Laylee is a wonderful 3D platformer, which should be fun especially for former Banjo-Kazooie or Donkey Kong players. The feeling of the old Rare-games was also conveyed in my opinion. Of course it's by far not as good as Banjo Kazooie or Donkey Kong, but Yooka-Laylee has its own charm and is a lot of fun! Yooka-Laylee's main goal are the veterans of the old Banjo Kazooie games.
    I    Yooka-Laylee is a wonderful 3D platformer, which should be fun especially for former Banjo-Kazooie or Donkey Kong players. The feeling of the old Rare-games was also conveyed in my opinion. Of course it's by far not as good as Banjo Kazooie or Donkey Kong, but Yooka-Laylee has its own charm and is a lot of fun! Yooka-Laylee's main goal are the veterans of the old Banjo Kazooie games.
    I decided to give Yooka-Laylee 7/10 points because there are still some mistakes that could have been avoided with today's technology.

    First of all I would like to go into the game world. It looks very nice. Especially the first world I liked very much. You are mostly free and can explore this world at your own discretion. In the world one looks for as collecting objects "feathers" and "Pagies". If one has already found many feathers in a world and therefore only few are missing, then these are difficult to find. This can be very frustrating.
    In addition there are different tasks in each world to get Pagies. Most of the tasks are actually simple - except for the mini-games. If you want to play Yooka-Laylee at 100% you will despair. The mini-games are so frustrating. In addition there is often the spongy control of the minigames. This makes the mini-games often unplayable and it is annoying to play them in every world again and again.
    Another point that really bothered me was switching between worlds. You couldn't "teleport" as you know it from other games: No, you had to go back to the upper world and search for the entrance to the desired world. This was also very annoying - and especially frustrating if you didn't find the entrance to the world.
    The controls are really good for a 3D platformer. You could execute the different learnable moves well and without any problems. But what I didn't like at this point was the camera work. It was terrible in many situations, especially in confined spaces. A big problem was that objects didn't become transparent.
    I really liked the dialogues in Yooka-Laylee. It was just the typical rare humor! There were always those funny noises, which were different with every character. These give each character its own charm.

    Conclusion: I like Yooka-Laylee very much despite some technical problems. I had a lot of fun walking through the different worlds and collecting feathers and pagies. The only big problem was some technical problems (which I discussed in more detail above). I can recommend Yooka-Laylee to anyone who enjoyed the old Donkey Kong and Banjo Kazooie games. Don't expect too much, though. That would be a mistake.
    I would be looking forward to a successor without these technical problems!    … Expand
  18. KatRat
    May 3, 2019
    9
    An undervalued game that will not disappoint. The creators of Banjo Kazooie really live up to the expectations revolving around this game. It is really a shame that this game is not as known as other platformers.
  19. leetl1
    Mar 4, 2019
    6
    I love Banjo Kazooie, but this game is lacking because the controls suck and the game feels even more flawed than Banjo Kazooie, which is sad because this is a 2017 game.
  20. Neper
    Jan 27, 2019
    6
    Unfortunately, I have to say that I didn't enjoy this game too much. I was a backer in Kickstarter so I played it with lots of interest, but Y-L kept disappointing me. It has some good ideas here and there, but sometimes its worlds feel dull and empty, with no really fun platforming most of the time. There's almost zero challenge to it as well, which adds to the overall 'meh' feeling IUnfortunately, I have to say that I didn't enjoy this game too much. I was a backer in Kickstarter so I played it with lots of interest, but Y-L kept disappointing me. It has some good ideas here and there, but sometimes its worlds feel dull and empty, with no really fun platforming most of the time. There's almost zero challenge to it as well, which adds to the overall 'meh' feeling I get.

    tl;dr I had some fun with Yooka-Laylee, but it feels old and clunky and it gets boring as well as a bit frustrating towards the end. Only for hardcore fans of nostalgia.    … Expand
  21. MarcosAlejandro
    Jan 11, 2019
    8
    Old School Adventure, excelent Graphics, super Gameplay, Story is fine, if you liked Games Like Banjo- Kazooie from N64, this is it. I don´t give this game a ten (10) just becouse the unbelievable "Campaign COOP MODE" (This is really something unacceptable on a game of this quality... it would be much better if programmers never add this CO-OP option and system ) . Any way you have otherOld School Adventure, excelent Graphics, super Gameplay, Story is fine, if you liked Games Like Banjo- Kazooie from N64, this is it. I don´t give this game a ten (10) just becouse the unbelievable "Campaign COOP MODE" (This is really something unacceptable on a game of this quality... it would be much better if programmers never add this CO-OP option and system ) . Any way you have other "Mini Games" MODES where you can play with up to tree Friends more and they are good, Veredict: This is a Great Single Player Adventure !! It worth it !… Expand
  22. peehsehterb
    Nov 25, 2018
    4
    I have never had such a bad time playing a game. I originally bought it almost purely for the art style, since it's incredibly appealing, but when I started playing, I slowly lost all form of interest. The game is weighed down by poor controls (with Flying and the camera for example), a camera that glitches out after death, levels that are so frustrating to navigate that I'm surprised thatI have never had such a bad time playing a game. I originally bought it almost purely for the art style, since it's incredibly appealing, but when I started playing, I slowly lost all form of interest. The game is weighed down by poor controls (with Flying and the camera for example), a camera that glitches out after death, levels that are so frustrating to navigate that I'm surprised that there's no map (Tribalstack Tropics being the one exception to me), and arcade games within it that are too poor, slippery, and unfair to play/control- This game just overall provides a frustrating experience and it's just not fun to play.… Expand
  23. KayVen17
    Sep 26, 2018
    6
    Deutsche Review - Kritik Der folgende Test ist in 5 Kategorien zusammengefasst. Diese 5 Kartegorien ergeben die Gesamtpunktzahl von 0 - 100 Punkten. Um einen passenden Userscore zu geben wird auf oder abgerundet. Bei 84 Punkten ergibt das einen User Score von 8. Bei 86 einen von Userscore von 9. Falls eine 85 kommt entscheide ich ob ich es eher positiv oder negativ nehme. RegelnDeutsche Review - Kritik Der folgende Test ist in 5 Kategorien zusammengefasst. Diese 5 Kartegorien ergeben die Gesamtpunktzahl von 0 - 100 Punkten. Um einen passenden Userscore zu geben wird auf oder abgerundet. Bei 84 Punkten ergibt das einen User Score von 8. Bei 86 einen von Userscore von 9. Falls eine 85 kommt entscheide ich ob ich es eher positiv oder negativ nehme. Regeln verstanden? Dann sind hier meine Punkte. Mein persönlicher Score = 64/100 Mein User Score = 6/10… Expand
  24. TatsMcGee
    Sep 8, 2018
    5
    This is probably going to go down as one of the biggest disappointments of my life. At least the gaming part of my life. I love Banjo-Kazooie, its one of my favorite games of all time (definitely top 5) so when I heard that the makers of Banjo-Kazooie were making a spiritual successor. I lost my mind and was convinced that this was going to be my favorite game of all time. I know that’sThis is probably going to go down as one of the biggest disappointments of my life. At least the gaming part of my life. I love Banjo-Kazooie, its one of my favorite games of all time (definitely top 5) so when I heard that the makers of Banjo-Kazooie were making a spiritual successor. I lost my mind and was convinced that this was going to be my favorite game of all time. I know that’s putting a lot of pressure on this game but all I wanted was it to be Banjo-Kazooie but with upgraded graphics and better controls. The controls weren’t going to be too hard because all it had to do was not be on the Nintendo 64 and that not so great controller.

    So yes I had high hopes for this game but all I wanted was an updated Banjo-Kazooie but what we got was Donkey Kong 64. The major problem with the game is, there are too many collectibles and at a certain point. It just starts to feel tedious and it stops being fun which is incredibly disappointing because this game has a lot of charm.

    Looking at this game, I love the way it looks. It so much fun to look at this game and look at the characters and the worlds. I also love the music, this is probably music of the year. So this game probably wins 3 categories this year, best-looking game, best music and most disappointing.

    This is going to be a shorter review because I can’t talk about this game too much. It breaks my heart when I think about it. I do want to be clear about one thing though. This is not a bad game, it’s just too much of a collectathon for me. So I burnt out halfway through and I don’t see myself finishing.    … Expand
  25. Luvs2sploog
    May 25, 2018
    8
    Yooka-Laylee is such a nostalgia trip to the days of Banjo-Kazooie in every little aspect, both good and bad. The good part of the game is how it's an easy pick-up and play 3D platformer that has a decent skill curve. The bad part is going to be the camera controls and it's over-reliance on nostalgia to fulfill the cravings of us aging gamers. The concept of expanding worlds to recreateYooka-Laylee is such a nostalgia trip to the days of Banjo-Kazooie in every little aspect, both good and bad. The good part of the game is how it's an easy pick-up and play 3D platformer that has a decent skill curve. The bad part is going to be the camera controls and it's over-reliance on nostalgia to fulfill the cravings of us aging gamers. The concept of expanding worlds to recreate them seems like an attempt to enforce replayability where it would have been just fine having the fully expanded worlds where our skills could be utilized without revisiting the worlds such as in the OG Banjo Kazooie.… Expand
  26. mrnice
    Apr 8, 2018
    5
    Creative enough to appeal to genre fans. The cheery presentation and characters deserved a more fun game. For example, I laughed out loud at my own frustrations during a mini-game about driving a mine kart through an obstacle course. The minigame was reused five times in the game, one of which had a bossfight locked away behind the minigame. So I had to beat it although I wanted toCreative enough to appeal to genre fans. The cheery presentation and characters deserved a more fun game. For example, I laughed out loud at my own frustrations during a mini-game about driving a mine kart through an obstacle course. The minigame was reused five times in the game, one of which had a bossfight locked away behind the minigame. So I had to beat it although I wanted to ragequit and get rid of the Yooka Laylee disc. The minigame exemplifies much of the annoyances with the overall game. It looks like fun, and it should be fun... but somehow, it's just tweaked a bit towards annoying the player. When it works and it doesn't annoy, then there are some great moments of basic platforming fun. But the joys are spread thin and the game has a lot of backtracking and confusingly laid-out mission 'hunt'... where the player can go look for next mission, but find that it requires better power-ups, only to have to return to earlier levels and try to find something there, and then traverse all the way back to newer levels with the required power-ups... etc.. I see no reason why the game shouldn't have been a linear, laser-tight experience without the gimmicky filler content. The game has enough ideas for an epic campaign, but the gameplay is spread out in a slightly confusing way, and technically the game does not assist the player in an enjoyable way, rather it can sabotage some moments spread throughout the game.

    I fondly remember Banjo-Kazooie, and Goldeneye... but it seems like the classic studio took a long time off and didn't keep their skills sharp... so naturally when they reunited to build Yooka Laylee, their resources didn't really fit the ambitions very well.

    It's a pretty long game, at 15+ hours for reaching the final boss. Getting there requires 100 small missions/tasks. I spent the last few hours of my game time 'scrambling' for decently fun missions to beat. It didn't get too stale or desperate... but I did feel the good content was already used and the only option was to think strategically about where the last few good missions could hide.    … Expand
  27. Comfortnumb
    Mar 8, 2018
    10
    I don't understand what's with all the hate with this game, but having played Banjo-Kazooie as a child, I have to say the developers really gave the fans something special. If i could give this game more than i 10 i would. Reminded me of Banjo-Kazooie, but with a twist. Thanks Team 17 for the good times.
  28. playstation94
    Feb 11, 2018
    9
    Although it had its flaws, the overall game play was exactly what I expected and was hoping for. As someone who grew up on Jak&Dexter, Rachet&Clank, even Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon, Yooka-Laylee makes me feel like a kid again. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the game, the story, or the graphics, It's what I wanted, what I hoped for, and was not disappointed,

    The    Although it had its flaws, the overall game play was exactly what I expected and was hoping for. As someone who grew up on Jak&Dexter, Rachet&Clank, even Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon, Yooka-Laylee makes me feel like a kid again. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the game, the story, or the graphics, It's what I wanted, what I hoped for, and was not disappointed,

    The reason I only scored 9/10 instead of 10/10 is because of the lack of a map, no current 'task' in the pause screen (i.e; during Kratos being able to pause and double check how many gems you need), and the controls can be a bit over-touchy. It's easy to get turned around in the worlds, as many characters throughout look the same. It would be nice to pause, and have a chance to look at what tasks you've unlocked through the world and what you're working on. Such as the knights, or amounts of gems. The controls seemed touchy to me, but that could just be me. Other than those small details, this game was completely awesome and not disappointing.    … Expand
  29. SOLIDSNAKEN64
    Jan 19, 2018
    6
    As a Banjo-Kazooie fan who has found memories of playing it back on my N64 as a kid. I was really stoked when i found out that the creators of the franchise decided to make a spiritual successor since they couldn't make a squeal. I do love platformers but this game was just ok to me, the story doesn't really pull you in and make you want to read every dialogue box. I do like the mainAs a Banjo-Kazooie fan who has found memories of playing it back on my N64 as a kid. I was really stoked when i found out that the creators of the franchise decided to make a spiritual successor since they couldn't make a squeal. I do love platformers but this game was just ok to me, the story doesn't really pull you in and make you want to read every dialogue box. I do like the main characters and there are a lot of memorable NPCs. The world designs are decent but the main world design was terrible trying to figure out where the next tomb is was more of a challenge then some of the in-world puzzles. Speaking of puzzles they ranged from really easy to hard, and I can say I enjoyed solving them and exploring the different tombs that you have to unlock by collecting the Gold Pagies. Environments ranged from really cool looking, detailed and unique to dull and lifeless. The enemies are more annoying than threatening, they could really use a more verity of enemies as well. Controls definitely need work and tightened up, camera was atrocious, never pointing in the direction that i need even when im the one directing it. The final boss is a cheating piece of **** I was about ready to rage quit! I feel like if platonic decides to create a sequel to YL there is plenty of room to improve on.… Expand
  30. gambetta69
    Jan 16, 2018
    8
    SUCH A GREAT GAME! very fun, more dificult than banjo or Mario 64 and many hours to play (35-45 hours to 100%) just that i want.

    For a negative site: we don't have a map, please launch a DLC that includ it.
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Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
78
#78 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 53 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 53
  3. Negative: 2 out of 53
  1. Power Unlimited
    Oct 19, 2017
    87
    Yooka-Laylee at times feels more like a remake of Banjo-Kazooie than a completely new game, that's how much they are alike. But in this case it is only meant in a positive way. The world needs more games likes this, you know.
    Read full review
  2. Wired UK
    Aug 30, 2017
    50
    When the original is so readily available, and still so thoroughly playable, Playtonic's recreation of the recipe can't help but fall flat.
    Read full review
  3. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Jul 7, 2017
    70
    Much more fun than it is frustrating, and don’t go in expecting evolution. That said, this is still a quill in the cap for a genre that is slowly making a comeback. [June 2017, p72]
See all critic reviews »