In Defense of Yooka-Laylee
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- Yooka-Laylee has received its fair share of undue criticism, so it's time to give it some love!
Yooka-Laylee: store.steampowe...
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Sources:
Gamespot Review: • Yooka-Laylee Review
IGN Review: • Yooka-Laylee Review
ACG Review: • Yooka-Laylee Review "B...
Easy Allies Review: • Yooka-Laylee - Easy Al...
Jim Sterling Review: www.thejimquisi...
Polygon Review: www.polygon.co...
Kotaku Review: kotaku.com/yook...
PCGamer Review: www.pcgamer.com...
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Footage Used:
Assassin's Creed Map: • Best Video Game Map of...
Banjo-Kazooie: • Banjo Kazooie - Part 1...
The rest of the footage was all gathered by me.
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Patreon: / kingdomklannad
Twitter: / kingklonoa
Twitch: / thekingklonoa
Last Life: last-life.net/
Unversed Cast (Podcast): www.youtube.co....
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Yooka-Laylee. Playtonic Games. Review. Critique. Commentary. Defense (against the dark arts). I'm really bored. KingK. PC.
This game gave my nephew ear cancer, this is the reason I hate this game. They should have hired you to do all the voice acting, then I would have loved it.
Flattery will get you everywhere.
Lil KeKingKlux just skip the noises
Should of seen banjo kazooie grunty's revenge...
Generic User I never enjoyed Banjo Kazooie, no idea why people thought recreating the same schlock in 2017 would be fun
As someone who had a relative die from cancer, I find this comment to be in very poor taste and its endorsement by so many to be a sorry indictment of the gaming community on CZcams.
I am mulling over whether or not to report you to the authorities.
So, what can be done to get Banjo-Kazooie in your hands? I'd LOVE to see you come at it from such a unique perspective, that of someone who played Yooka first.
The Geek Critique I've been stuck on what to do next... Maybe Rare 3D Collectathons?
@@KingKlonoa play Banjo Kazooie NOW! :)
KingK play Banjo Kazooie now. It’s by far the best platfromer to this day still. Tooie sucked
Tooie is superior.
@@spaghettiioassassin8151 tooie does everything better except one fewer level
As for your questions at the end:
"What is a collect-a-thon with a minimap?"
I think this is true enough. But there's a reason people wanted a mini-map: You get lost, in a bad way. Not lost as in "oh boy I'm exploring this level," lost as in "Oh boy, I have like 3 quills left and have no idea where they are. and also this map is 3 square miles" I believe Stop Skeletons From Fighting actually covered this really well in his video. He called quills "low-tier collectibles meant as breadcrumbs to subtly guide you to new parts of a level, but also to make it evident where you've already explored." Hiding them actually completely destroys their purpose.
"What is a collect-a-thon without elements of Metroidvania?"
Getting new powers is fun! Getting new powers, then having to backtrack to a hot tub just to swim under it for 2 seconds to open a cage is tedious. Doing that should've triggered the hot tub to open a trap door or something and have you do a challenge using the power you came back with. This is actually often a problem in Metroidvania titles too. Using my powers as a key to unlock a further reward is boring. Using my powers to unlock a challenge involving said powers and THEN earning my reward is way more effective.
"What is a collect-a-thon without variety?"
What? Who complained about the game having variety? Maybe I zoned out during part of the video.
"What is a collect-a-thon without a sense of space?"
A... sense of space? I'm not entirely sure what you mean here. But if I'm right, I think that not having that sense of "space" was what disappointed a lot of people. The levels feel large and aimless and boring. It wasn't out at the time you made this video, but just explore any Mario Odyssey level and then try to explore a stage in this game. Mario Odyssey is packed to the gills with secrets, enemies, way better variety, everything feels very intentionally placed. From any point in a stage you can look around and likely see something you haven't explored yet. Yooka-Laylee just feels... big? I like exploring big 3D platformer stages, but I think there's something subtle that developers themselves can forget sometimes. I noticed the same thing with the big first open level in A Hat In Time. It just feels aimless and meandering, same as Yooka-Laylee, its smaller, more focused levels feel much better. But it's not because I hate open levels, because exploring Mario Odyssey's big stages was a joy.
"What is a collect-a-thon with a focus on... combat?"
Is this meant to excuse the poor combat in Yooka-Laylee? Look, if you don't want a combat focus, that's fine. Just don't add a bunch of enemies. But no one's going to complain if the combat is fun unless it takes over the whole game. If it's included and also bad (like in Yooka-Laylee) then that's a problem. It's not the worst in the world, but it just contributes to the general sense of slowness.
Also I think that final focus on the game being a collect-a-thon after telling people they can ignore objectives they don't like was really tone deaf. People buy these games because they like 100%ing things. You really want to limit the amount of C-tier stuff you pack into a collect-a-thon because it's going to be seen by a lot more people than a C-tier quest in an action game or MMO or something. It's a case where it's actually worse than nothing, because it drags down the whole experience without adding anything except padding.
As a JRPG fan, I totally get where you're coming from on reviewers decrying a genre you like (or any genre, really) as a relic of the past. It's short-sighted, absolutely. But I don't think any of that excuses Yooka's failings. If you loved it, that's great. But I think trying to downplay these issues as "part of the genre" is actually just as bad as what these reviewers are doing. Because the developers will think that we're okay with that. I'm not okay with bad combat. I'm not okay with missing the point of low-tier collectibles as breadcrumbs. I'm not okay with confusing stages that I dislike so much that I don't even bother learning them. That's another thing: If I liked them, I'd have learned them much faster. But if you find the simple act of getting around a map to be an annoyance, then it doesn't matter how well you know it. You still don't want to be there.
Thanks for this comment man 😭🙏🏼
"What is a collect-a-thon with a focus on combat?"
Wario World?
One of my favorite games of all time :)
That game is something else isnt it
@@thomashudnall9238 nightmare fuel for kids
That game is so fun but I dread playing it because of all the stick spinning, I feel as if I'm gonna wear my thumbs, my analog sticks, or both lol
I may be blinded by nostalgia, but I think collectathons like Spyro and Gex 2/3 still hold up today if you go back and play them. I think what really helps them is that there were SO many different and interesting worlds to visit and explore that kept the player interested. I never played Banjo Kazooie, but Yooka-Laylee to me seems a little dry with the enormous open worlds. I would have preferred something closer to Spyro or Gex 2's format. Regardless, I still support what the team has accomplished because these types of games have been sorely missed by a lot of gamers.
Gex 3 didn't hold up even in its day (this coming from someone that owned it for a while, at a time in my life where I loved 3D platformers). It was a mediocre platformer at best. I've only played a little bit of Spyro and did so later on, but what I played didn't impress me.
Banjo Kazooie on the other hand (and you can accuse ME of being blinded by nostalgia here) is top in its class. By far the best 3D platformer I've ever played, and I would encourage everyone to give it a go. Play it with a N64 controller if you can though. The camera was designed for button presses and feels really wonky using a stick, and on top of that the C buttons all have secondary functions as special moves.
The games were good because they were as good as games could get. Not anymore - we have games like Dark Souls.
I think there's this fear of building smaller worlds because they'll be criticized for not pushing render distances to the absolute limits. In my opinion, these games work best with a higher number of levels (more variety) that each focuses hard on it's theme to bring out the most with what it's got. Big world collect-a-thons don't work as well because it's much easier to get bored or overwhelmed in it all. BK didn't have small worlds by any means, but they were limited by hardware BT pushed that limit a bit further and people even then started to feel they were too big and "empty". BT is actually my favourite, but I understand where the criticism came from. Without that hardware restriction in place, it seems it's difficult for devs to reign themselves in and find what actually works well, versus what sounds good on paper
I love Yooka Laylee. Its the first collect-a-thon i've played since finishing Super Mario 64 years ago as a child. There were no expectations of Yooka Laylee being the next Banjo Kazooie since I have never played it before. My expectations were kinda low considering a lot of the negative views I kept seeing. But I wanted to try something new, something other than an FPS/RTS/RPG that I always play. Because of this game, I have decided to play more platformers and Metroidvania style games. Once the new patch for Yooka Laylee comes out, I am going to finish my 100% playthrough (3/5 already done). I've learned over the years to keep my expectations in check because I kept getting burned out (Watch Dogs, Skyrim, etc). I feel like that is where all the negativity stems from (that and the camera which is getting fixed). Here's to hoping Playtonic continue their work and make even better games in the future, because so far it's looking pretty good.
"Because of this game, I have decided to play more platformers and Metroidvania style games"
Do you mind naming the games that Yooka-Laylee inspired you to play? I would be genuinely interested to learn which games you are referring to because I want to play some more ps4 platformers.
@@kpjlflsknflksnflknsamonkey king: hero is back is a good one
To me, it feels like Mighty No. 9 made it "cool to hate indie games", so even though Yooka delivered on exactly what it promised, I feel people are just looking for things to complain about.
These people are little more than "AAA" sheep who value big budgets over creativity.
No, it didn't deliver "exactly" what it promised, some of us wanted the game only because it seemed like an okay game with Jontron in it, but they distanced themselves from him because apparently statistics are evil.
I seriously doubt Playtonic will miss that "some of you". People who actually have some damn sense will step into your places just fine, thank you very much. Take a seat, alt-right clown.
Yeah, I admit, his foot was in his mouth, but taking away the wealthy still makes the statistics accurate, the federal crime statistics actually prove that.
Yeah, you're right, he fucked up the wording. As you can see with any non-friendly conversation Jon has been in, he's shit in pressure-filled talks. That's why he made the update video to clarify his points. I don't 100% agree with what he says, but he makes sense and he isn't saying anyone is inferior based on race or anything of the sort. The thing is, once you fuck up and the SJWs and such see that, no matter what you do, it isn't good enough. To me, that update video was more than enough, he apologized that his wording was so shitty and that he let it get taken like that, and clarified his point. What else do people want from him?
I backed it, put off playing it for several months, just finished it and loved it. Nobody can tell me otherwise.
Same!
There are people who love Sonic 06 after all.
@@Reggie1408 What a ridiculous comparison
Not having played Banjo Kazooie was also the argument for positive criticism about Nuts & Bolts
I have to agree with you on this one. The 3D collect-a-thon platformer, be it Mario 64, Sunshine, Banjo Kazooie, tooie, Spyro, Glover, Robot on Wheels, Billy Hatcher, is one of my most beloved genres. I've missed it terribly and I can't wait to get my hands on this game (waiting on that Switch port), and Super Mario Odyssey later this year.
Yet, ever since the release of Yooka-Layee it feels like every review is, either backhandedly or openly, basing that very genre. Now, I could take people not liking Yooka-Laylee. I could even handle it being a bad game, though that'd be real a shame considering the pedigree. But to just see people constantly shitting on the very concept as some relic of the past that has no business in this modern world. Meanwhile, having nothing but praise for the deluge of 8-Bits platformers currently flooding the market, for their timeless gameplay, retro-chic visuals, and "Nintendo Hard" mind set, is beyond frustrating.
Seriously? What the hell kind of double standard is that?
MarxForever completely agree
MarxForever
yes. That is just weird.
Don't forget about Donkey Kong 64!
Yes, I agree with you. 3D platformers in general are among my favorite games, and the collect-a-thon nature of many of them is often an asset. Are there sometimes beyond-frustrating and confusing tasks that they ask you to do that sometimes I just can't be bothered with after a few tries? Yes, of course! (Even Super Mario 64 and Sunshine had those, occasionally.)
But I do decry the shortage of such games (as well as GOOD 2D platformers, e.g. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze," "Yoshi's Woolly World") lately, in favor of an endless slew of FPS games (which seem to be 90% of the XBox and PlayStation lineup) and RPG's. They just aren't my thing. That said, it's great to see games like Yooka-Layle being produced, but if we hate on it so much, will it kill the genre? I sure hope not!
Granted, I have yet to buy and play the game. But I've put up with glitchy controls and bad camera angles before; I'm willing to do that again if the game itself has that fun, explorative platforming aspect to it (which, judging by the footage I've seen, it does). I just love the idea of running around a huge, expansive world, and I hope more games like Yooka-Layle are produced that allow me to do that!
Yeah, people complain how not enough videogames haven't "grown up", where I think really it's the complete opposite.
If anything it's the people INVOLVED with the very thing in the first place, which likely haven't "grown up". And I mean everyone. The publishers, the developers, the people reviewing them and of course the people who play them.
Yes, there are people who are actually mature enough to be considered "grown up", but really in this day and age those people might as well be considered diamonds in the rough, with how many despicable actions have been done in the industry and how this mass media, has essentially lead to counter-intuitively allowing the most deplorable of troglodytes to essentially gain some sort of power. And because of that, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the more intellectual groups of people in a few years, end up like Rick Sanchez and just decide to abandon what would seem to be to them, as a rather frustrating and insultingly degrading "fool's errand".
Thumbs up for stating Rocket: Robot on Wheels! That game was fantastic!
I think this game is quite good. Was shocked by the reception. It had problems, but by in large it was a great experience.
To be honest my major issue with Yooka fell onto three things
1. Collectibles were not really used to encourage explorations. Quills hidden in weird places that you wouldn't think to look. Singular quills. They were no longer like "Hey, look at these collectibles in this direction. Weird these would be here. What are they pointing to" like most lowlevel collectibles should be. Jinjos/Ghosts, special pagies etc, I'm totally fine hunting for. But Quills? Nawh man. I think they forgot that they thought collecting for the sake of collecting is fun, rather than collecting in the name of exploration and adventure.
2. The Bosses. Frankly I just wasn't really a fan of them. Icymetric's boss may have been the one I hated the most. When I think Bosses, I think of stuff like Patches from Banjo Tooie. Granted that's a very specific, and solo boss encounter, Tooie had a lot of stinkers as far as bosses go. I just felt as though they could be more unique, and less frustrating. This point could be, once again, nothing but salt from the really shitty experience of Icymetrics.
3. The Hubworld. Christ the Hubworld. A lot of things that looked like they should make sense, did not. Broken Glass? New Sonic Scream ability? No that doesn't break it. New thing to lick that you didn't know you can lick? K. Quiz Games? Kill me. Etc. IT was more maze like and less fun to explore. Grunty's castle was fun because the condensed format made its insane geometry more forgivable, barring the trip to Rusty Bucket Bay
the Sonic Scream ability breaks glass. 6:39 there. It literally says: "don't use near glass" in the description.
Yeah mario 64 and banjo kazooie has the best hub worlds imo. Banjo kazooie you opened up with notes and puzzles for pictures and you would find cool shit like click clock wood when you finally unlocked that, it was a hub world in its own and the music.. oh my god so good
@ well that is the point of my critique. A huge majority of items like Notes in BJK actually lead you to secrets, or key objectives, in this case jiggies. A lot of them in Yooka basically lead you nowhere in particular, so exploration for the most part was normally aimless and unrewarding
@@LumoBlaze you need to explore to shit you idiot. That's the point of exploring. Go get a brain before you comment next time, dipshit.
@ And it's fine to hold those opinions friend, but not every game will appeal to everybody.
Just because I find flaws with the game compared to it's predecessors doesn't mean you can't equally enjoy those things about it.
Honestly my biggest gripe with this game is not having a clear way of knowing what I have done so far in each world, because it makes getting the second half of pagies and quills a chore. Sometimes I'd clear a challenge cave only to discover that I had already got all the secrets there last time I played. A big part of it is because the visual design of the game isn't as strong as in BK or Mario. The environments are very detailed so it's not inmediately clear what's there for decoration and what's serving a gameplay purpose. The only way to know if a tube or door are entrances are to try and see if they lead somewhere.
So yeah, having a list breakdown would have been useful. Just for the ones I completed, at the very least. Either that or a good optional radar you could find by the late-game.
I usually try to complete these type of games but as it is, this one is harder to complete than any Mario or BK just because it's hard to keep track of 25 pagies in each world, so at least I'm happy that YL doesn't force you to do so. 100 is more than enough.
If they ever do a Yooka Laylee 2, I hope it's easier to understand the level layout just by looking at it, and that I can be sure of everything I collected so far so that I know where I should be going now, even if I don't know what I'll encounter there.
really good work!
Ayy, didn't know you would be here!
Hey Shesez, love hearing you on Game Club :)
my boys
I always appreciate your sober point of view
Mob mentality is a scary thing. This reminds me of how everyone suddenly hated Skyward Sword and Sonic Adventure overnight after Arin Hansen posted a video that one time.
It's called the Bandwagon Effect.
Everybody loved the Sonic Adventure games before but once Gamegrumps hated on them it became a popular thing to say that they suck and are terrible games and thats complete bullshit.
Matthew Vitelli or maybe this game is just no where near as good as a game that came out nearly 20 years before it. The only thing that holds up is the writing.
hey hey hey, i never liked Sonic Adventure, dont put me in that bandwagon
El todo poderoso Arceus Most people loved Sonic Adventure before Game Grumps made fun of it.
After that it became a popular thing to hate on the game and same with Sonic Adventure 2.
People complain now about Yooka-Laylee I'd say mostly because they expected it to be a masterpiece, something that 90's rare would produce with nintendo banking them. Instead what we got was a modest but healthful tribute to the "long lost" genre. When Mario Odyssey come out and rock everyone out of their socks, I'm sure all the "collectatons are dead for good reason" guys will quickly and mysteriously change their minds.
Also for as much as I love Jim Sterling, he does love to contrary everyone just for the sake of it, just to be an attention horse... and having a butthurt revenge from butthurt zelda fans complaining on a 7/10
to be fair, it IS a masterpiece. it did what it set out to do, and did it (mostly) well.
would you believe some morons are comparing this game to mighty number 9?
like... really?
you mean to tell me that a game that had a team of devs who have been nothing but honest with people, be as transparent as they can with their fans without spoiling the game, and actually have a game that was as advertised.... be compared to something like mighty number 9, a game whose history is so mismanaged it scared people away from kickstarter?
and yes. i AM one of the crazy people who backed this game (60 dollars) during the original campaign and have absolutely no buyers remorse.
Leonard Productions dude you need to slow down and learn to type your shit out. Idk what kind of “production” you produce, but it can’t be good.
Hopefully when you grow up, you will appreciate and respect anothers view point..."dude"
@@DrBreadPants How hard is it to understand 3 straightforward sentences?
supersmashbro596 it is not a masterpiece by any stretch. Banjo was a masterpiece. This game is broken on so many levels.
I love Jim but I feel like he's been scoring certain games lower because it get's him more site traffic.
Yep, and look where it got him. He got DDOS attacked. He wanted attention, but it certainly isn't any good attention. Fanbases can sometimes be like yellow jackets, wasp, or hornets' nests. Poke at it too many times, and you anger the residents within... The result WILL NOT be pretty.
I don't think he cares what sort of attention he gets, even the negative attention will make his name spread further
I think jim gets hung up on core game mechanics he doesn't like, but tends to be a little easier on games that are rough around the edges. Like with skyward sword and the item durability issue, for most people it'd be not a huge deal, but knowing jim I could see how that knocked the game down a few pegs.
I think that it's partially greed on Jim's part.
I wish this meme would die
For me, the biggest issue with the game was the "fly anytime" move. This trivialized exploration and turned late-game into a chore of flying to every part of every level. In Banjo, there were plenty of areas you could see, but had to *discover* how to access through more sophisticated level navigation. In Yooka, if you can't reach an area, much more often it's because you don't have the right move, which doesn't feel as satisfying when you figure it out.
ZodaStone it trivialized everything AND controlled like garbage AND only points out how much empty space and invisible walls there are in the game, especially the hub world.
+matthew Murphy You just contradicted yourself...if it is a pain to use, maybe it was because they didnt want people overusing it dont you think? I have completed the game, and there are literally two parts where it is a pain, to get a single pagie from the hub world which asked you for accuracy, and for 10 quills just at the start of the 5 world
Javier Gimenez Nope. The flying move just showcases how unpolished the game is and allows you to get Pagie's that you aren't supposed to just fly to.
I don't think you played a Banjo game before then. They locked levels and parts of them behind new moves and abilities.
Umm you can fly in banjo kazooie too. Sure it's limited based on picking up red feathers that fall off every flap of your wings but Laylee's flying is also limited based on energy levels albeit not as much.
Hype + Blinding Nostalgia is a powerful and incredibly unreasonable force.
I wasn't hyped for the game nor have I played any collectathons (unless Rayman Origins counts, which it doesn't). I found the game to be contrived and trite. The design of the game was fundamentally flawed and if the flaws are inherent to collectathons (which they very likely are) then they died out for good reason. Another indie game called Snakepass (only seen nerdcubed's video) seems to ignore these flaws by putting the focus of the game on controls. It's far better than this where it's about collecting and platforming, except you get a move which trivializes it and makes it a pointless endeavor as no effort is required (only time) for no enjoyment. What I'm saying is the game is trash. It's got good polish, but has a rotten core.
I didn't play any Banjo games as a kid, so I have no nostalgia for it, and I wasn't extremely hyped for it.. I'm really enjoying playing it, personally, haha.
Well no, the flaws of one game aren't inherent to all Collect-a-thons, that's quite the leap of logic.
A bad camera system ins't inherit to the genre.
Tedious back-tracking is a game design flaw in of itself and has little do with collect-a-thons. It just so happens that open games where you go back and forth from place to place to place can become a slog if the world-design isn't interesting, or the objectives or reasoning isn't enjoyable. This applies to any genre of game that has you traversing the same areas.
Things like poor world design or bad camera controls can be present in any game. Which I'm sure you know.
But the abundance of tasks you may or may not like is part of the intrigue of these types of games. Whether those ideas are well designed and fun or not is that differing factor, bad design isn't inherent to collect-a-thon's. I have to assume that this can't possibly be what you meant because as is, this is an erroneous assertion to make.
KingK's argument is predicated(if I'm understanding correctly) on the notion that the critique of this game doesn't come from a place of understanding thoughtful game design, but a misunderstanding of what these elements mean and why they're there at all.
You don't have to like the game, it's possible that what you find tedious and cumbersome others enjoy.
I do think KingK ignores some valid criticism, but does address other areas well. I do think that if a game dangles a bunch of carrots in front of you, with the idea being that the game wants you to do them....Then as many of those carrots needs to be as tasty as possible. That's the only thing I really disagree with in this video. Bad game design is bad design regardless of whether or not it's skipable.
Casper Dar oh look the same argument everyone uses
I personally found the B&K games to have slower pace and movement. I only grew up with the 3D Mario games, so I obviously don’t have nostalgia glasses on for B&K
Cashino
Cashino? Cashino. Shino. I smell a new Pokemon.
You know, with the introduction of Mario Oddessy, I feel this entire story should change. It may labor in the past more than Oddessy does, but it's also seems to be a genuinely good, if not misunderstood game.
Seeing this has intrigued me enough to say that I'd love to play this game and support its purchase. Playtonic seems to be a great Dev team that just happened to be under the fire of people thinking collectathons are dead. I highly doubt that's actually the case now more than ever.
I think it's also the simple fact that Banjo set the standard so high that almost all successors to it seem inferior. Quality is not an absolute thing it's a relative thing. There is no such thing as an objectively 'good' or 'bad' game. People simply don't function that way, we only deal in better and worse. What people consider 'good' and 'bad' is based on a standard they build up in their mind overtime on what constitutes that type of game and what kind of things it should and shouldn't have. Everything superior to this standard is 'good' and everything inferior to that is 'bad'.
If you set Banjo as that standard than yes Yooka-Laylee is bad as it's not as good.
God, please teach me how to be as effortlessly articulate. Solid video once again, dude!
That's like saying Persona 5 is bad because it's turn based.
Unfortunately that actually happens turn-based games immediately get dismissed saying that it is a relic of old game design and only worked at the time even though turn-based games provide a lot of strategy to what you do
Shanty Boonstabo True, but that applies to every genre. Dismissing it outright is the problem, I'd say.
Shanty Boonstabo Oh, I know. I just meant in general. And I must admit, even though I love turn based RPGs, after playing P5 and comparing the battle camera and battle menu with something like FFX it's hard to go back. I really hope devs take note of how much that can add to a game even though the mechanics stay the same.
Shanty Boonstabo Yeah, I feel the same way. It's a good compromise.
What I meant with Personal 5 is that it plays like FFX but the animations (combined with the way the camera captures the action) are way better. Did you play it?
One thing I love about turn based RPGs is that you can control your whole party. As much as I love action oriented games like Kingdom Hearts, Kid Icarus Uprising and Bayonetta in those games you can only control 1 Character. And if that one Character is someone I dont particularly like than thats a problem. As much as I love KH1 and 2 I am not to fond of Sora. And if you have party members they are AI controlled. And since you are busy with the action its harder to appreciate there help even if they do great. In turn based games I have a whole party I can control. I can choose who fights on the front line and how they are working together. If I dont like a Character I can just bench him ore here and let my favourite Characters steal the show.
In Persona 5 I actually like all the partymembers and the game makes it easy to use all partymembers effectively with the mid fight swapping and the shared exp. I bench Ryuji alot since I dont like his style but he gets his shinning moments. Fore example it just fells right using him against the 7th palace boss and ofcours I swap him in if I encounter an enemy that is weak to electricity. The one thing that bothers me a little bit is that Joker can do anything his teammates can do but better. I like him as a Character and his customisation is fun but its something that bothers me . I like it better in PQ1 (have not played PQ2 yet) where you can customize all partymembers thanks to skill cards and Subpersonas but because each of them is stuck with his Mainpersona the main Character is not any more powerful than the rest.
The game failed because people don't know what they want.
the game failed because Playtonic called their supporters and customers "Nazis" and banning/blocking them on Steam and Twitter for going against their political views.
Screw the Playtonic cucks!
@@gamephreak5 they were RIGHT
gamephreak5 Yeah that does make them obnoxious little whiny pricks but the game itself, detatched from Playstonic isn't bad at all, it's actually a good game
The game seems confused like it doesn't quite know which banjo game it wants to carry the spirit from. Its an okay game but banjo kazooie was great because it was deceptively simple. In this its like, some stuff is told to you, others is just like yeah go figure this shit out fucko good luck bye and the control for rollin around is slippery as fuck unlike kazooies talon trotting which felt very good to control. It just misses it and the writing is a bit.. eh wtf.. are you trying to be kazooie or not?
@@battyflaps5410 you are SO FULL OF SHIT. The controlls in Yooka Laylee are exceptionally good for a 3D platformer and it's a improved version of the Banjo, DK64 games. It's the best platformer ever for me.
I love Yooka-Laylee, but my one problem with the game is when there's like 1 quill left to collect in a giant map and you have no clue where it is, this can get annoying "yeah you suppose to get lost" yeah but... for almost an hour trying to find 1 thing???
There should be a sistem where the more quills from that world you have, the easier it gets to locate the last ones
Look the Spyro Trilogy remake, I love recompleting that game and getting all the gems, if you can't find a gem just press a button and Sparks will point in the direction you have to go, you still need to find the gem, but it's good to have a direction or a clue to go by
Yooka-Laylee seemed to have learned from Banjo 1 and 2... but not from the 17 years of gaming since. It was a spiritual successor in the strictest, most technical sense, but we were looking for a game to make us feel that same excitement that we did when playing Banjo. That sense of wonder and mystery, the joy of getting lost in its worlds. In that regard, Yooka-Laylee falls flat and feel very hollow, like Playtonic went through the motions but somehow their passion didn't show through.
It was definitely imaginative, but the game often feels very slow in its pacing, especially when compared to contemporary games like A Hat in Time.
Most of the things that weren't fun felt like they were simply included to be a reference to Rare games of old and like Playtonic felt they HAD to keep them in order to fulfill a promise or check a box.
I am interested to see what's next for Playtonic after this, but I don't see a Two-ka-Laylee working out so well. As a lifelong fan of platforming collect-a-thons, I completed (100%) Yooka-Laylee once, and I may never do it again.
Twentydragon that’s what this game feels like! A checklist.
I enjoyed this game so much that I rebought it for the Switch and played through the whole thing a second time.
You've quickly become one of my favorite game commentators on this site. Appreciate the honesty and impartiality, especially in the lengthy format. You seem like a really chill person.
Thank you for sharing King K. These game journalists are so pessimistic. Just because Yooka-Laylee has its problems, doesn't mean the entire 3D platform collectathon genre is outdated or not fun. It's like the exact argument people made about Sonic, that "it was never even good to begin with." I stilled have fun with the classic Sonic games. And I still enjoy replaying Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie at least once a year. This genre has so much more untapped potential that more developers need to take a chance on.
I'm having fun with Yooka-Laylee. Reviews like that from Jim Sterling were COMPLETELY unfair. People say they want an open world Rare like collectathon but maybe today's gamers only have the patience for linear experiences like Super Mario 3D World. Yooka-Laylee has NO INVISIBLE WALLS (just an invisible ceiling)! That alone should warrant praise.
Having said that the mine cart levels and arcade minigames are truly unfortunate. But again, this doesn't warrant a 2/10 score.
U are right, in fact this is wat everyone wanted.. "A NOSTALGIA game" in my book I would have to give it a nice 7.5 for the fact they made the game just like from back in the day... They didn't make a Banjo-kazooie... They made yooka-laylee.. Soo yeah a new game.. From the ground up on their own time.. Pretty good. Its not perfect... But it made me want to play to the end. =]
Most underrated game of all-time! Late to the party but picked it up a month ago.
Big banjo fan and had no idea this was even a thing. Read reviews and was like oh that’s a shame it isn’t good, then played the game and it is actually good. The internet is so cynical these days.
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Mauler does a good breakdown of the yooka laylee
There were some bad faith reviews due to canceling Jon Tron's appearence.
@@narkroshi88 ah okee
Regarding the mini-map argument, I believe the addition of a mini map would not make or break the game. For example, in mario 64 ds, there is a map given to the player that enhances the gameplay by informing the player of their goal while not explicitly telling them what way to go.
Only that it DOES tell them exactly where to go by having the star dead on the mini map. It takes away the need to explore and figure stuff out on your own. It just shows how retarded gaming has become when people WANT hand-holding and arrows pointing them to their goal. new generation of gamers become stupider and stupider and can't figure stuff out on their own anymore. Just look at Majora's Mask 3D a lot of people gave up during the first three days because they didn't know what to do even though they added new messages from Tatl that tell you exactly what to do, making the tasks much easier and having that weird stone thing that even shows you fucking videos on what to do! and people STILL couldn't do it because they didn't have an arrow on their map that shows them where to go. That is so fucking retarded... I can't even...
I beat this game twice:
First time was blind on Xbox One, had a good time.
Second time was a few years later on Switch. Going in again with knowledge that it's better to play the game without expanding the worlds at first, and after doing everything the base worlds let you do, go back to replay and expand them. Had a good time, and even 100%ed it.
That's exactly why the adventure genre died and will never come back.
Because Banjo-Kazooie was a Platform-ADVENTURE!
Gamers of today are a bunch of "I know everything" when they clearly don't know how to even aproach something that is not a military-FPS, an action, or an RPG.
Decades ago there were more than 3 genres, I WAS THERE.
Judging a Platform-Adventure for its combat is like judging Call of Duty for its sense of exploration and discovery!
The classic this isn't my generation gag. You clearly aren't from that time as otherwise you'd either be a grown man not playing games or would be making valid points. Get your fucking act together, kid.
Grammar Nazi AUS Nice try, troll
Read the rest of the comment section. Sorry I couldn't reply earlier, I was too busy pointing out the flaws in people's arguments. Your's was the hardest simply because of how stupid it was.
I don't like this genre of game but I like this genre of game from an earlier time.
That must mean all modern games are shit.
Also the adventure genre is the most common genre in the gaming industry, to the point of having no meaning anymore.
Psy-Crow Mantis Yes, they are.
The problem is that a lot of ytube reviewers are not familiar with the genre, and they are judging Y-L by the standards or pure platform in the best case, or action in the worst.
Otherwise I don't get why having to analyze the levels without a minimap would be considered a problem.
Y-L has its problems, but a reviewer who fails to even understand what he's playing should not be one of those.
This make me think about the Triple A stagnation and how they're all becoming too much the same.
They have to condider people who will not even understand something that's not familiar.
Or the problem that today no one seems to remember that not every major release could be adapt to every type of gamer only because it's a major release.
We're used to like more or less almost every Triple A game because selling to everyone is exactly their focus.
Psy-Crow Mantis Having played the old games and this one I have to say that it just doesn't feel satisfying when the enemies are functionally npc animals that occasionally walk towards you. There's no satisfying SMACK sound when you hit them, like out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. So I can defend the opinion that the combat could be better, even if I feel like it doesn't need to be more complex or a bigger part of the game.
What frustrates me is people can't recognise that Yooka-Laylee fails at making a Universe.
Basic props like trees look static, eyes on objects don't even blink, and characters feel like NPC's more than they're characters. It feels like a shell of personality, that's why its so really disappointing. The annoyance to me is if Playtonic had made the game have a universe that felt more alive, this game would have felt so much better.
Unfortunately though, its like watching the development of 'Crash 4' or 'Rayman 4' by a fan. It might look pretty, but it'll never be playable or shouldn't be because it will just feel like this: Yooka-Laylee.
Thank GOD someone is willing to defend this game. I've gotten REALLY fed up with the nonsense complaints. No, it isn't perfect; it's got plenty of flaws. But it's like they asked for a retro style platformer that was faithful to Banjo Kazooie and then got upset that it was a retro style platformer faithful to Banjo-Kazooie.
I'm completely with you on the "empty" and "getting lost" complaints. In fact, I can go one further on those. #1: If the stages weren't big enough, they'd complain they were too linear and small. So they're in essence complaining that a collect-a-thon platformer has open level design. Sure, you can decrease its "emptiness" by incorporating more collectibles, but one of the major complaints the genre started to get was TOO MANY COLLECTIBLES. So what exactly were they expecting? #2: The whole POINT of an open 3D platformer is to explore, and last I checked, when you explore in real life and don't check for landmarks, you get lost. So if you're complaining about getting lost in a collect-a-thon platformer...it's because you're not interested in what they have to offer in the first place.
And that's all just the tip of the iceberg. The crap Yooka-Laylee has been getting just exemplifies everything that I detest about the subculture of gaming as a whole.
I loved the game as is, but I definitely would've preferred a greater number (really, 5?) of smaller, more focused levels (100 Quills, 10 Pagies, etc) with some world inter-connectivity. Basically Banjo-Tooie. I really wanted them to progress Banjo-Tooie
The old games struck a balance between having lots to find, but not too much. Having many many interesting worlds with very contrasting themes, and requiring you to spend enough time in a world to learn it, but not so much time that you grew bored of it. This balance wasn't really found to the same degree with Yooka-Laylee, but I absolutely loved it to bits all the same
Sonicisbadazz so you’re mad that people pointed out how broken the game is? Poor you
People clearly had no problem with how "small and linear" the games that inspired it were if there was this much demand for a new one in the same style.
The thing is that it isn't just people who don't understand this kind of games that were not happy about it. If it was just that, the game would still have gotten great scores. But even those who did like this genre were often not convinced at all.
@@spaghettiioassassin8151When you can tell me what "broken" means in this context, I'll be happy to give those complaints the time of day. Last I checked, the game functions with few glitches, has a beginning and end that are reachable without cheat codes, and does what it set out to do. What precisely is "broken" here?
I'm not a huge fan of collectathons anymore. I was big into them as a kid because I loved exploring, but I grew out of it and now I like a little more meat when I go out exploring. The key with this? I grew out of it. I don't think the reviewers are looking at this game through the right lens because I feel like these games are aimed at children (like how the original collectathons were). They're colourful, engaging, with interesting and whimsical sounds. I'm glad I played Yooka Laylee and if I ever have a kid I'll be sure to let them play this, along side a Hat in Time, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Odyssey, and Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
This games biggest problem that i feel is overlooked with Yuka is that it does deliver on exactly what is promises, an old school style collecta-thon set in a cheery colorful world. No innovation (which is much needed) or cool ideas at work were ever promised or talked about just the same concepts youve seen again and again. Not that these mechanics are inherently bad but they are very tired.
Thus bringing me to the true enemy of a title like this and that is NOSTALGIA.
For too long has this concept of "Hey remember when you had a blast playing (insert old game) as a kid, well heres the exact same game without any thought to how the industry or gamers have grown and changed over the years".
I personally wish for the day we can get a good revamp on older IPs so titles like Megaman or Banjo Kazooie can fianlly see new light but not if it means we just get a carbon copy of what we played as kids (thats what HD remakes are for). Games like this need to be funded on the stipulation that something new is brought to the table because the truth is we need more fresh ideas that fail than we need old ones that have been played out.
The trouble with hot tub one is, at least at the time I played it, they required you to do something they've never explained once was possible. The ability to actually leave partial bubbles if you cancel out of the bubble ability before it completes around you. This was confusing. I know they've fixed a few of the obtuse requirements, such as the but lazer from your invisible form no longer requireing you to crouch, as that was another time an ability was never explained to you leaving people confused.
That said, I was a huge Banjo fan back on N64 (at least Banjo-Kazooie, I didnt like Tooie as much as I felt it overcomplicated its worlds.) And I still enjoyed Yooka-Laylee enough to 100% it and get all the achievements. I certainly think people came at it from teh wrong place.
The critics are wrong when they talk about collectathons. Banjo-Kazooie 1 is just as fun to play today as it was when it released. A Hat in Time, Psychonauts 1+2, Here Comes Niko, Tinykin, and Mario Odyssey are also a lot of fun.
The difference is the level design. I want to love Yooka Laylee as much as the other games listed, but for all the reasons already talked about in-video, it's just not fun for me to explore. It's very rare for me to do this, but I stopped playing the game during the ice world, as both it and the previous world were not fun for me.
I love this game! It's awesome! Seriously most of the criticism was probably for the initial release but they released an update that improved the camera and gave an option to reduce the vocal chatter, plus a bunch of bug fixes and improvements. I love this genre and I love this game! So nice to play a 3D platformer in full HD! Woohooo!
I honestly loved pretty much every objective in the game, and there is so much variety to it. Kartos is actually my favorite aspect of the entire game. It's honestly more enjoyable to play this game than older titles like Banjo Kazooie or SM64. It has its problems, but it is definitely one of the best collectathons out there for me.
You know, I find that I am a lot happier when I just live in my own little bubble. I loved this game. Didn't really know so many people didn't like it til your video came up in my recommended. Like I said, i find that I'm a lot happier when i just play a game and have fun...i dont care if you or your friend or the guy from IGN like it. All i care is that i like it and have a good time playing it. People care too much about other people's opinions when it comes to this stuff.
My biggest problems with the game were that it felt very repetitive, had too much backtracking, and it felt pretty easy to get lost in each world.
The whole game felt very repetitive. I felt like I was constantly jumping through hoops throughout the whole game and every citizen of each world is copy-pasted with minor changes. It all just felt kind of lazy to me.
The people at Playtonic bragged that you can play this game like either Banjo-Kazooie or Banjo-Tooie, but it seems like you can only really play it like Tooie. There was only ever one Jiggy in Kazooie that required backtracking, and I really liked that. Based off what they said, I was expecting to be able to go into every world and clear each one out, but that just wasn’t possible and was a total buzzkill for me.
Each level felt pretty easy to get lost in since there are no real landmarks, other than Rextro’s arcade machines (if you can see them), and every part of the level looks the same as every other part of that level. In Kazooie, basically every level has some huge landmark right in the middle that helps you navigate the level and there tend to also be tons of smaller landmarks in each level too. Freazypeaks, for example, has the huge snowman in the center, a big Christmas tree in one corner, colorful presents on side, and a bunch of cozy looking houses on the other side. It felt pretty easy to navigate Kazooie levels. Meanwhile, I actually missed tons of content in Yooka-Laylee because I would skip past areas, thinking that I had already been there before.
Before I even watch the video:
I just watched Hbomberguy's video about the game, and Yooka-Laylee looks really good, to be honest. I have a feeling people are comparing it too much to their nostalgic MEMORY of what the Banjo games were like (not what they were actually like) and therefore it can't live up to their expectations and is bad in their eyes.
Or they're immediately against it and have written it off in their head as "nostalgia bait" already and are biased against it from the beginning.
It looks very fun to me, for the most part. Not perfect, but definitely well-designed and not bad at all. Considering I never played the games it's based on, I am sure I'd have a great time with it and it'd be like a breath of fresh air due to a lack of actually good 3D platformers lately.
To me a lot of your rebuttal is that a lot of the things that people are complaining about are not obligatory in order to beat the game (mini games, certain missions, rextro etc)
but the thing is doesn't it make more sense for those things to be actually fun to play missions rather than just shrug and say well at least they are not obligatory
im 30 years old. grew up on Banjo! Loved it!........just realized why his health bar is honeycomb....Jeeez.
Had it since launch, never really got into following all of the negative reviews. Finally got round to playing in 2021 and I'm loving every minute of it.
I definitely had my reservations about this game, was a huuuge banjo kazooie fan, and seeing all the negative reviews made me wonder on whether it was just borrowing the aesthetic of that game for a cheap cash grab. But honestly, I had a ton of fun wih it! The worlds were all interesting, the transformations were all unexpected and interesting, and overall I had a really nice time with it. I didn't notice any issue with the camera, though I picked it up pretty late and I guess they patched it so who knows, but I'd say it was a very worthy spiritual successor to Banjo Tooie.
I like the idea of expanding the world if its too big the player can get lost or not know what to do first. but when it starts small and get biger if the player can tell what's new and what's back tracking the worlds can be biger and the player will take lest time learning how to get around the place.
This game is so unjustly scrutinized. Thank you for this video.
My main criticism is how quills were used. They want you to seek them and in the process explore the whole world, but they aren't supposed to be exploration's goal. If they had a world where every step earned you a quill I'd still say it's mostly empty. They are the glitter on an item you can pick up, the sprinkles on the cupcake. Instead they made them Mario Odyssey moons times ten crossed with Bubsy yarn.
This was exactly the remedy I needed for people's outlook on Yooka-Laylee. Thank you for this. Once again, I love your content!
I like Yooka-Laylee and people always look at me funny when I say I do.
Being 100% honest I LOVE collectathons! I beated Super Mario 64 DS and had a blast. Banjo is my next target to play but I've never really got hooked on Yooka. There isn't any main problem, more or less smaller ones. First off I just don't like waiting in my video games. I'd rather go get something to refill my energy bar then wait for it. Especially the roll move, being the new Tallen Troot. Also there is a general lack of reward for unlocking secrets. In 64 you got the whole roof to explore and can fly in the hub! Banjo's reward was to connect with Too and that game had many rewards. Yooka never really had rewards for much things in the game. The special code pagie only gave you a message for example. Even worse is that the small rewards is only a big deal because the levels are too big! Donkey Kong 64 would be jealous at this game's levels but there isn't any pads to help traveling. It's super easy to get lost and memorization (unlike stages like Bob-Omb Battlefield & Mumbo's Mountain) is impossible.
Mostly a pretty good video, but one problem I have is with the objectives section. Just because something is optional doesn't excuse it from being bad. Especially when you consider it's made to be completed, having even a bunch of objectives that aren't fun is a pretty big problem.
Yooka-Laylee had frustrations, but I love it
you've never played banjo kazooie??? DUDE PLAY IT
This popped up on my twitter and I got curious after finalizing my own review of Yooka-Laylee.
Even with its issues, Yooka-Laylee is far from a terrible game and it achieves what it is supposed to do.
I am not a fan of the "expanding worlds" thing mostly because it blocked my exploration of said levels.
It honestly feels like Yooka-Laylee was too focused on being true to its source material instead of aiming for its own identity in the end.
I friggin love this game and the exploration of it. Even the minecart rides, with their own intense level of learning required to figure out how to operate the cart with skill.
Love the video KingK, even five years later.
Ion Fury and Dusk came out around the same time. Ion Fury has been deemed by many to be too similar to the 90s games it was inspired by (though many enjoyed it).
Dusk, however, received near universal acclaim by expanding upon the level design and movement options last inspire by the original Quake.
Yooka Laylee is the former.
I would argue the first Yooka-Laylee does everything Kazooie and Tooie do, just not as effectively. That isn't to say it's a bad game.
The landmarks aren't as distinguishable. And the layout of the collectables don't exactly encourage exploration or leading the players around each level.
Tooie might have had less levels or worlds than Kazooie, but expanded and grew upon the formula set behind by its predecessor substantially, both in level design and movement.
In contrast, Yooka-Laylee has significantly less worlds than Kazooie and Tooie, but has HD graphics.
The main reason why I don't think it's as good though... predominantly... is because I played Kazooie first. That's literally it. I'm biased as hell.
If Yooka-Laylee had been released first, it would have been damn near a masterpiece.
However, because most players HAD played Kazooie and Tooie first it ultimately fell flat.
Most people that played Yooka were children 20 years previously and didn't have access or experience to the mountains of games they do now.
They had days, months, or even years in which they would play the same games again and again. Players in the 90s had the time to explore each world to an insane degree --- the same can be said for Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. I can finish those games in my sleep because I played them so much. I played those games when I was happy, or sad, or bored, but most importantly because I didn't have any other options. I projected so much of myself into those games.
And then comes the new game and it didn't have a chance. It can't compete with two decades of nostalgia. Yooka-Laylee wasn't built for old players. It was built for new players.
When you don't have access to many games, or don't play them as much, you don't play the game as logically as you would a long time pro. Most adults create an internal checklist of tasks they need to accomplish, categorise and group things together by time and effort required, and then play the game. Beginner players don't do that. They experience the game more emotionally - even irrationally. They don't yet have an internal concept as to how long things take to do, and how much effort or skill it takes to accomplish --- and yet, by playing games much like this, they grow smarter, and become increasingly more literate in how video games function. It's not just a game, but a teaching tool.
But I'll bet most pro players didn't consider any of this when entering into Yooka-Laylee, and likely expanded the worlds before they entered them. This isn't how the developers intended the game to be played. It ironically gave newer players an advantage into how you should play the game. Pro players had become increasingly complacent in how to approach these kinds of games.
Super Mario Odyssey had the opposite problem. Some may argue Odyssey is for newer players because the many moons are so easy to collect (there's 880 of them, plus 120 to be bought). But I would argue that it's for the older, more complacent crowd that have forgotten that games aren't just for entertainment, but also learning experiences. There's so many moons because players need that rush of dopamine that gives the illusion of competency when you collect one every five seconds.
Your bit at the end there about critics nonsensical claims about the genre not working in the modern age and leading to the decline of 3D platformers yet again is exactly what I feared. Arguably things still look good for 3D platformers, with Crash Bandicoot 4, and Clive and Wrench on the horizon and other promising indie platformers, but it's still far from being the top dog genre it once was, so I'm still worried... and even more that Yooka Laylee went 2D and everyone and their mother is giving it rave reviews, I'm worried we'll never see a proper Yooka Laylee 2 now...errr sorry for commenting on such an old video but I was fresh off of completing the first game and in the middle of impossible lair, so the series is fresh in my mind.
My fondness for the game is probably because there haven't been that many 3D platformers in over a decade. If it came out in 2005, I would probably think it was just okay. But in 2017, it's a nice throwback.
Actually, I feel like the only person on the planet that knows that Yooka Layle is not the first 3D platformer collect a ton in ages. I haven't played Yooka Layle, but in the last years I have played 3 games of this genre from start to finish:
-Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
-Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
-Poi
...and none of them gave me the same feelings than the old Mario 64 gave me decades ago.
In contrast, there are other 3D platformers that I have played in the last years that I really enjoyed:
-Super Mario 3D Land
-Rayman 2
-Psychonauts
What's the main difference?, the last ones are more action-adventure platformers instead of platformers about collecting.
So, maybe for me the 3D collect-a-ton formula no longer works, and possibly, I'm not the only person in the world.
I personally really loved Yooka Laylee when I first played it. Like you, I honestly didn't understand the hyper negative criticisms about the game.
I'm glad that you were able to explain that this game is flawed, but not horrible as many people are making it to be.
This isn't Mighty No 9.
i'm probably too late to the party and i personally haven't played yooka-laylee but i disagree with the argument "if you don't like the objective, you can just ignore it" "everyone wins". This is similar to the argument "if you don't like the game, don't buy it" and i'm strongly against this kind of argumentation, it dismisses any kind of criticism and it doesn't actually attacks the original argument. Saying that you can ignore a flaw doesn't make the flaw disappear. If something is optional (like an objective in a videogame or buying the videogame itself) doesn't mean that is above criticism. i recently discovered your channel, thats why i'm watching all this old videos, and i have to say that i'm loving your channel so far :)
I think you shouldn't compare it to buying one game but rather to a lineup. 1 2 Switch can be criticized but it doesn't make the entire Switch lineup bad.
As a fan of on-rails shooters I totally get your point. I don't like when reviewers dismiss entire genres like that just because they don't understand them or simply because they're not their cup of tea.
I was also very surprised by the reception, it is an amazing 3D plataformer.
Fábio Moraes amazing if you've never played a 3D platformer but if you play if you've played Banjo Kazooie this is just a lesser version of that.
While I didn‘t love it as much as I thought I would‘ve your video certainly still deserves a like for the good points you make and the game certainly doesn‘t deserve the harsh criticism it gets
Agreed with everything. I've noticed watching my siblings play 3D collectations that they struggle to figure them out. They weren't really around back in the day they were big. Playing the small handful of ones that exist my whole life, I know every level like the back of my hand. Seeing a newer generation play it and find them difficult is very interesting, if not disappointingly sad.
Now "professional" game journalists and reviewers on the other hand who *were* there...They like to all say the same thing as each other and always just say a bunch of buzzwords that sound good. I heard a few reviewers saying the same thing when Sonic Mania came out, even with that game's positive reception. "Yeah this is great and all but it falls into some of the same traps the originals did the style just doesn't hold up" People have forgotten what a real game is. It's especially confusing to me because open world games are very big these days. If those can be so widely praised, I don't see how a 3D collectathon is so foreign to people. Exploring a large 3D space looking for goodies, it's not that hard to understand :<
And of course, Yooka Laylee's design could have been much better in places, it's just the idea it's the entire genre's fault inherently that's disgusting.
I found your channel from your Kingdom Hearts retrospectives and appreciated your ability to point out the pros and cons of both games, but this Yooka-Laylee review is where you really won me over. I played Yooka-Laylee during a time when I really wasn't following game reviewers and I absolutely loved it for how much fun it was. I was shocked when I discovered many reviewers hated it. It seems we are on the same gaming wave length.
So ironically, the very reason this game was so hyped was also the reason for its mixed reviews: no one makes them anymore. Those of us who remember how this darn thing works LOVE it (though, of course, still have a few minor criticisms here and there), and those who don't... I'm not sure whether they fall more into the "old things are boring, no exceptions" camp or the "you kids with your new-fangled doohickeys" camp, mostly because the attitude is more of the latter but the timing is more of the former.
Well, hopefully these sorts of games keep being made, and eventually the required gaming literacy will be reintroduced to the people reviewing them.
Jirard and Caddy gave good, objective reviews of this game. And you made a good review too!
I'm a huge Banjo-Kazooie fan and Yooka-Laylee delivered exactly what I wanted when I backed it. It's quite fun, but I also didn't expect the same polish that bigger companies have.
I didn't even know people gave it bad reviews until now, but I have to assume people had forgotten about what this genre was like. I wonder if they have the same criticisms with the "gameplay style" of Mario Odyssey.
I've seen so many people talk about Yooka-Laylee but when they bring up examples of other 3D platformers and collectathons they neglect to mention Grow Home and Grow Up which I think are some of the best in the game right now! Grow Up especially because of just how free BUD feels to control.
Playing this game now. 22 hours in or so and having a good time. Not the greatest game ever, but its good fun. There are a couple of things that are really hard though. Been stuck on a kartos course and final boss for over 2 hours. Other than that it’s relatively easy going
Have some well deserved fun today, that was nice
Love this review. I'm curious if you think the reviewers we have these days have just grown too cynical to really appreciate a game like this? It seems like a huge draw for this game is the innocent, child-like exploring and sense of wonder. I only brought this up because for years of my adult life I only played games made for adults; some part of my brain told me something like this wouldn't be much fun. But after watching this review and the Completionist I came back to this game and game like Yoshi's Woolly World trying to just have that child-like sense of wonder. It worked too. Love both games.
From what I have gathered, many people seem to dislike Yooka-Laylee because it feels too unpolished, not because it feels retro. It was also one of the biggest anticipating indie games, so I bet the hype train derailed a little.
I disagree and think Yooka-Laylee is a terrible game, but I like your argument and the reasoning behind it. I agree that a lot of critics are in the wrong as to why the game is bad, especially when they say that it's dated which, like you, I think is missing the point of the genre.
My reasoning as to why this game is bad is just due to sloppy design; I thought the levels were too big and actually had too much to do and as such just became tiresome and boring; they were confusing and a lot of the shortcuts that should've alleviated these problems ultimately seemed pointless.
The controls were sloppy and there were several instances where the developers were clearly showing a lack of respect for their players, such as hiding necessary items in obscure locations or forcing you to play Rextro's arcade games twice.
That said, I don't have a problem with people liking the game and I'm glad that so many of the backers were happy with how the game turned out. Ultimately, I just think the scope of the game was too large for such a small team and as such they just bit off more than they could chew and the game suffered because of it.
Bucket Hat Aficionado But what if it was their intention for the levels to be big for others who loved large levels? I think they made expansion option to address both small and big fans.
As for a lot of stuff, isn't more better? I don't think adding more makes it bad. I feel that you might of played too much or rushed it.
More is not always better; I'd rather have a game be smaller and more tightly designed than one with more content that doesn't really add anything to the experience.
In this case it just seems like the team that made Yooka-Laylee tried to make a game that was much bigger than they could handle so they ended up repeating a lot mini games, such as running or jumping through hoops, which makes up like 1/3 of the game's Pagies.
But yeah, I don't necessarily think that adding more makes the game inherently bad, just that if the extra content you're producing ends up being too similar to previous content then you'd probably be better off just cutting it and using that time to shore up other areas of the game.
Bucket Hat Aficionado though some people want more open stuff. That's why Playtonic made an expansion of the levels being more optional sort of. I am not saying you have to like it but just wanted to make a point.
I see what you mean. I think I agree. They should of been more less repetitive. I don't think it makes a whole game terrible but I agree with your point I think.
Yeah, I get you; having repetitive aspects doesn't automatically make the whole game bad, in fact some people prefer that type of game, and in some games repetition can work in the game's favor. Just a matter of taste at the end of the day.
Coincidentally, "bite off more than you can chew" was half of the mantra that drove the original Crash devs.
What if you argued the Batman Arkham games were also 'collect-a-thons'?
Of course they're never seen as that because they're meant to be superhero action adventure games...but when you explore Arkham and Gotham City, there are Riddler trophies to collect, mysteries to solve, side missions to complete, and some AR and batmobile challenges to do.
Of course you have a map showing you where all these collectibles are and you can hunt down Riddler informants to show you where some of them are, because your role is 'the world's greatest detective' so you're looking around for clues and secrets to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
While these things may not be necessary to the main plot of the game, they immerse you and make you feel like you're really exploring those cities and taking in everything the developers intended you to.
And what about the Tomb Raider games? Though the old games are meant to be linear and story-driven, and the open world one, as far as I know, was the 2013 reboot, you can look around those levels and find lots of secrets and treasures, even in your own house! You even get a soundtrack cue when you find a secret which makes it fun and encourages you to find more of them on your playthrough.
And what made it really interesting in TR is there were two ways to find secrets, one in the main story where you're fully equipped and explore everywhere to your heart's content, and the other in Croft Manor where it plays like a Metroidvania game and you also learn how to swim, use your equipment, and swing from one place to another.
All that aside though, as someone who has never been nostalgic about the Banjo-Kazooie games and seen but not played Yooka-Laylee, I understand the criticism and reasons from both sides of the argument.
Jim had his reasons for giving this a 2/10, he is a very harsh 'journalist' (okay I say journalist, but he's done bugger all of that since he left Destructoid and the Escapist years ago) but if I were to try and be a little nice towards this game, I'd say it's mediocre at best. At least some of the hardcore Banjo fans had some fun with this while it lasted.
people not always realize its banjo kazooie "inspired" not a complete copy paste with new characters. this game shows a great way of making banjo kazooie fit in this generation
You know, in many ways, I feel that I resonate with many things those reviewers said. Not for this game, but for Kingdom Hearts 3. I felt that the worlds felt empty. They looked beautiful, but going around the cities and exploring felt like such a chore. I loved exploring for Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 and even exploring Dream Drop Distance.... but Kingdom Hearts 3 just felt like a drag to me. It felt empty, but I don't really know why. But it felt like it was just large but not filling enough.
I feel that maybe this game might suffer the same fate for these people. Sometimes, a game being larger can make the situation feel emptier, while making it smaller can also make it feel tighter.
But of course, I also realize that that is completely just my opinion. In the same vein, I am somebody who was never able to enjoy Halo and I couldn't enjoy first person shooters. For me, my favorite games are hack and slash with slight puzzle elements. Jak and Daxter is still one of my favorite games, and it was a Collect-A-Thon.
I feel that it's a genre that still holds up very well.
That being said, I never played Yooka-Laylee and as such, I refuse to judge it. I just liked hearing your opinion and just wanted to put down my thoughts in hopes that someone could either talk about it, get a new perspective, give me a new perspective, or maybe gain an understanding that further cements their thoughts that contradict my views (and do the same to me).
I am someone who loves respectful debate. I feel like opinions aren't wrong (depending on the context of course), but that they are flawed either because we ourselves might not understand it, or because there is a bias (which is not in itself a bad thing).
And the Internet is the best place to share ideas.
So I bought this game when it came out but the reviews put me so off of it I only played it for 30 mins or so. Then I was on my Switch the other day and I decided “heck, let me just give it a try again”. And you know what, it’s actually not that bad. It’s definitely flawed… like has serious design issues. But for what it is, I think does the most important thing right: it’s fun.
I really wish Playtonic would give it another shot. There is so much to love about this game, it just has a lot of problems too. The lack of polish and focus hurts a lot, but with a little more money and a little finesse, they could nail a sequel. I hate to see all that potential go to waste. It's unfortunate that hardly anybody played the impossible lair because that game is fucking fantastic.
I never played Banjo Kazooie, I backed this game on Kickstarter because I was generally intrigued and I thought the Kickstarter did very well in terms of giving the backers the product without any complications like MN9. As a backer I am really happy with this game and how it turned out.
The first review I read was from Jim Sterling and I was shocked to hear his opinions on the game and I felt like I was not going to enjoy it, it was MN9 all over again, but I played the game and I enjoyed it, a lot more than I expected and like KingK I thought "Why all the hate for this game?". Sure it is not no 3D platforming masterpiece or a game of the year contender but it's fun.
I enjoyed every minute, from the gorgeous graphics, great character designs, Yooka and Laylee's adorable emotes, level design, controls, the sense of truly looking and collecting all collectibles, sure they are elements of the game I can criticise and which do hold this game from being a lot greater but it was fun and I would recommend it to anyone.
Most importantly I love this game because it's the game PlayTonic wanted to make, looking back at interviews and stheir goal of making a game like those older examples but in modern day andI get the feeling this is the game they wanted and worked hard to make and produce, it is a lover letter to all those who grew up with these games and I am glad in the year 2017 we have a game like this. Sure adding a mini map to help navigate the area may be better but when you think it would take away the point of actually looking and navigating around these areas to come back to at later times, it's using your own memory to help navigate through the game and not some tool in the game and that's what I think the Developers intended.
I think some of the harder criticisms of this game want to mold Yooka Laylee into their idea of the game and not understand that the reason this game was designed the way it was was probably intentional. Again not everything in this game works and I understand some criticisms are legit but personally I think some players or critics are entitled and have been raised on games that are the complete opposite of Yooka Laylee of making the game help you play it rather than you playing the game.
Agree with a lot of your opinions KingK, sorry for the long rant here.
Finally not another "yooka-laylee isn't banjo kazooie so yooka-laylee bad"
As i watched late 2000 the internet, i was shocked that so many disliked the n64 Controller. I never had any problem with it.
Early 2000 i was shocked, that so many hated on Windwaker. I always loved it and i also was shocked about the arguments about yooka laylee. The game is a perfect recreation of what banjo made it so special. Ok for todays ears the language could be annoying. But i always thought, all these arguments coming from people, that has just nostolgia for banjo Kazooie but didn't played it for a long time. I was always the guy, that still played old games. Not for the nostalgia and later on, i played the games i have on a regular bases. Even it's just a few levels or through the whole game. So i was shocked about the reception this game got. In a way, it's all what we are asking. Sure some things are different, but still it's a true and close spiritual successor to banjo kazooie. I would be pleased if many just had pointed out some of the real flaws. But many seem to hang themself on points, that is so typical B&K. I just can imagine these people loved the nostalgic thoughts but mostly didn't play the old games anymore. As exsample, the language, speach. Maybe now it feels more annoying and as kid you didn't mind but damn. You guys do realize it's the same thing as what banjo did..... You in spoken to everybody that was on that mindset.
Thanks for the Video. It was much more objective as many of these so called reviews. :/ Bye.
Funny you'd mention windwaker on this channel. Have you seen his video on it?
@@legrandliseurtri7495 I don't think so. I should watch it. :)
@@SONGOKU02 Lol, it's just that he's kinda negative about it. I never played windwaker so it was interesting to watch, but who knows what you'll think.
@@legrandliseurtri7495 It is my favorite Zelda tbh. Loved the water theme and just driving in a boat and seek for far islands. It gave me a big feel of adventure a real one. Not this overly epic clishee story. *shrug* TP was nice, but this overdone try to beeing adult and dark was kinda annoying.
@@SONGOKU02 I only played Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and breath of the Wild, and I only actually enjoyed the last one. I guess Zelda isn't really my thing.
Playing this on the Switch and getting massive nostalgia vibes. I love it. I think I might even like this game more than Mario Odyssey. Although it's admittedly less polished. Mario was too easy I thought. This game gives me a challenge. I just 100% Capital Cashino and it wasn't bad. Not the best level but I didn't have much issue with its design.
Thank you for this I definitely agree with your assessment and I have always been puzzled about why people hate on 3-D collectathon platformers
Yeah I don't know why
that sequence break was glorious.
Sadly I have nothing to add to the conversation other than "yeah, we kinda got what we wanted when we funded that game"
Pretty much every critique made about Yooka Laylee by game critics here could and should apply to Mario Odyssey. Makes zero sense that one is panned while the other is endlessly praised.
I feel this game delivered the basics of what people wanted and it didn't do anything wrong. It just needed more content added into the game and stuff to come back to.
I completely agree. I really loved and enjoyed the game. Its a well made game that understands what it's supposed to be as a game. Not without issues, but not bad.
I really appreciate yours and Mauler's videos on this game. Yooka Laylee got unfairly shredded by so many "reviewers" it's such a shame. So many of these people just tie a bunch of fancy sounding words together that mean absolutely nothing when you think about it for more than 1/2 a second, and never provide examples for what they're talking about. A real review of a game takes time, and these people obviously rush out their hot takes to maximize on release buzz. Thanks for not doing that.
I always expanded as soon as possible, from World 2 onwards I never set foot on a small world. Didn't mind exploring the huge worlds.
I agreed with a lot of what you said, which is simply summed up with the "what is a collectathon without- " part. However, I disagree that unfun objectives should be excused because you don't have to do them. You don't have to kill the Moonlight Butterfly. That doesn't mean it still isn't a terrible fight.
Pat Fagan I agree they shouldn't be exempt from criticism, but I do think it shouldn't be weighted too heavily in the final opinion of a consumer review. In the academic critique realm, you can destroy it all you want. Hell, even I would do it.
I think you forgot the most important criticism: The lack of egg farting.
Okay, but Seriously, I really enjoy not only what you say, but *how* you say it. Your voice isn't too soft or bland, but it's also not overbearing or hyperactive, giving a nice medium where I can easily focus on whatever I'm currently playing/working on, while never tuning you out to the point where I don't retain or remember the information.