Yooka-Laylee (Playtonic's spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie / ONE, PS4, PC)

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I understand on the wii-u version being cancelled, and pleased it's coming to switch. The fact they've said they are working as hard as possible pleases me, but I wish they'd give us some more concrete updates. We know the Switch is really easy to port to.

[Graystripe2000]

GameXplain Q&A 

 

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

You know, now that I think about it A big reason I still have pretty good expectations since the Switch version will be the only console version developed by Playtonic themselves, which means there's a good chance of it being the best, or solid version Whereas the other versions were handled by Team 17

[PC the Hedgehog]

I'm just worried about Switch sales of the game. Like it or not, there's no denying that there will undoubtedly be lots of impatient fans who pick it up on other consoles because they don't feel like waiting.

[Agie]

Only too true. Heck, the main reason the Wii U cancellation didn't affect me too much is because I have a PS4, and I have an Xbox One, so if I didn't get a Switch by the time of its release, I could get it on one of those two instead.

[Cyalume]

Ohhh boy, here we go. Jim sure has been busy as of late.

[Graystripe2000]

Watch as this ends up being far from the critical consensus and people get mad at him for it to the point where people DDOS attack his site AGAIN. 

In other news: 

https://www.twitter.com/PlaytonicGames/status/847495409240948737

[JezMM]

To be fair I've kept my expectations fairly realistic because while they said they learned their lessons from it, this game is still brought to us by the team who made Banjo-Tooie as well as Banjo-Kazooie.  Should go without saying from my tone that I wasn't impressed by the sequel.

[JaidynReiman]

5 hours ago, Operationgamer17 said:

Watch as this ends up being far from the critical consensus

I'm fully expecting this. I don't expect Zelda glowing praise, but still for it to average in the low-to-mid 80's.

[Dejimon11]

I'm just expecting a good/fun game from a genre I love. I wasn't expecting GOTY material just a game that's fun and hopefully see more 3D platformers than just Mario and Sonic. That's pretty much it.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 hour ago, JezMM said:

To be fair I've kept my expectations fairly realistic because while they said they learned their lessons from it, this game is still brought to us by the team who made Banjo-Tooie as well as Banjo-Kazooie.  Should go without saying from my tone that I wasn't impressed by the sequel.

Curious. What happened with said sequel?

[PC the Hedgehog]

The game sure has been getting a bit of backlash as of late. Why? It's not just the whole JonTron nonsense, is it?

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

53 minutes ago, Dejimon11 said:

I'm just expecting a good/fun game from a genre I love. I wasn't expecting GOTY material just a game that's fun and hopefully see more 3D platformers than just Mario and Sonic. That's pretty much it.

Same, and I can't wait for the Switch version. Also I started with Tooie, then Mario 64, then played Kazooie years later, so the sequel is still one of my all time faves, and Yooka Laylee looks great to me. Although I have high tolerence.

[Dejimon11]

15 minutes ago, PC the Hedgehog said:

The game sure has been getting a bit of backlash as of late. Why? It's not just the whole JonTron nonsense, is it?

It's one of the major factor factor of it but there's a lot more

-Backers wanted a refund due to the recent decision were denied that and threads were closed 

-Folks who work at Team 17(the games publisher) made fun of the backers who got upset at Jontron getting removed. 

- Nintendo fanboys like Thebitblock as he's been making people know for a while now are mad that they canceled the Wii U version and feel like they've pretty much been betrayed even tho they could of gotten their money back or switch to the..erm Switch version

-The Casino level that they showed off a few months ago looks bland, barren and uninspiring 

-People have mentioned the games framerate isn't that good

 

[JezMM]

1 hour ago, Jovahexeon Joranvexeon said:

Curious. What happened with said sequel?

Some people liked it, but most (I think) felt the same as me - their idea of improving it was make everything bigger and more complex.  All the moves from the first game were kept, but they added even more on top of them.  Banjo and Kazooie could split up, also gaining a ton of unique abilities.  There were tons of minigames that used unique gameplay rather than utilising the standard moveset.  Levels and the hub were all interconnected rather than each level being completely seperate with only one entrance/exit.  Levels themselves were massive, making use of numerous warp pads to fast travel around.

This was all very impressive and ambitious back on the N64, but the end result was an overwhelming amount of stuff and land to take in, puzzles that spanned multiple levels and were really difficult to get started on if you didn't even know something had to be dealt with via arriving from another level or activating something in another level.  There was a lot of backtracking when you found things that only Banjo or Kazooie alone could interact with (and then backtracking again to reunite them after).  The general difficulty of the game was increased too on top of all this.  The idea of a jiggie out in the open at the end of a straightforward platforming challenge like many were in the first game was a significantly rare concept in the sequel.  If you've played Donkey Kong 64... basically you know the difference in scale between B-K and DK64?  Think that a second time round starting from DK64 as the base this time.  I felt they took it too far in DK, but they REALLY took it too far in B-T.  It's a good thing there was no significant 100%ing reward in B-T, because even with a guide as a kid, I only had the patience to complete the bare minimum to reach the final boss.  Don't get me wrong, I don't remember HATING it as a kid but... I never revisited it like I have done with B-K multiple times throughout my life.  B-K's scale and difficulty was JUST right... and they tried to mess with perfection.

 

Of course, all of this is peanuts compared to the fact that Grunty stops her rhyming shtick in the second cut-scene and the end-of-game quiz show just simply was nowhere near as good as Furnace Fun.  That was just offensive.

[Blue Blood]

When it comes to Rare's history of 3D platformers, there's only two that I like - the original BK and Kameo, and that one isn't even vaguely a collect-a-thon like the rest. DK64 and BT convoluted and messy for all the reasons that JezMM just outlined. They overwhelm you with so many different tasks as at once, requiring copious amounts of backtracking and will constantly make you cry "why can't I just do the thing I want to do?". 

I've not really followed YL at all since it was announced. It's certainly a very pretty looking game, that much is for sure. But that casino level footage posted above is all I've seen since then, and based on that, well... I'm not exactly itching to play it any time soon. I had ought to look into this more.

If this game gets poor or even average review scores, I'll feel really bad for Play Tonic. YL is an absolute labour of love. Not living up to the hope would absolutely crush the people who worked on it. It's not even like MN9 where the fans were shat on repeatedly by Comcept. 

[Dejimon11]

And that's the sad part about it. Contrary to popular belief you can tell that the guys at Playtonic Games genuinely wanted to make games that they love instead of being like Comcept and trying to make a franchise out of everything before testing the waters and trying to squeeze every penny that they can out of their fans and treat them like crap. 

As for the Casino area it's just one world. Apparently the more you collect the games MacGuffins the more lively/expansive it gets so maybe it was just the state at it's bare bones. I really need to see how that aspect turns out. At least the other levels that they've showed off look a lot more appeal than that..well to me anyways. 

 

[Blue Wisp]

1 hour ago, Dejimon11 said:

Apparently the more you collect the games MacGuffins the more lively/expansive it gets so maybe it was just the state at it's bare bones

That design choice sounds... Not good to me. Sure, it's a sign that you're making progress if it gets more lively/expansive but if the stages start bleak and plain, I'm not sure if people would like that. First impression matters a lot. 

[JezMM]

4 hours ago, Ariel Wisp said:

That design choice sounds... Not good to me. Sure, it's a sign that you're making progress if it gets more lively/expansive but if the stages start bleak and plain, I'm not sure if people would like that. First impression matters a lot. 

I think Deji was just referring to the Casino in particular.  Levels themselves simply start out small, and you can unlock further portions to them (this was their answer to making grandscale levels that aren't immediately overwhelming like B-T's were, though time will tell if it works).

[Blue Wisp]

8 hours ago, JezMM said:

I think Deji was just referring to the Casino in particular.  Levels themselves simply start out small, and you can unlock further portions to them (this was their answer to making grandscale levels that aren't immediately overwhelming like B-T's were, though time will tell if it works).

That sounds better. It makes more sense to me. 

Having the levels start out empty and only by playing it gets more life in a platformer is a bad choice imo. The only thing I can excuse is something like this which I wish was in the game. 

 

[Dejimon11]

So they did their own version of the DK Rap 

 

[Speederino]

I'm a little confused on the backer rewards. I pledged the $55/£35 tier, and I selected the Switch version. But since this also includes "all previous rewards", does this mean I'm also getting the Steam version? I would think so, but there are some things that make me believe otherwise.

I'm only curious because I'm pretty hyped for the game, but I worry it might be a while before the Switch version comes along. I still want it, but it would be kinda nice if I could play the game on release without having to spend more cash  

[Graystripe2000]

Two reviews leaked. Both positive.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2017/04/video-game-review-yooka-laylee/

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:s-GCDgCZT9wJ:www.brashgames.co.uk/2017/04/01/yooka-laylee-review/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Sigh this game is sounding so totally my style... Sadly I must still await news on the Switch port

[PC the Hedgehog]

Those reviews alleviate several of my concerns. When does the review embargo drop again? Tomorrow?

Surprised so many people are turned off by the familiar Banjo-Kazooie-esque grunts and squeaks. I mean, that was an aspect many fans were clamoring for. Now it seems like they're annoyed by them.