Yooka-Laylee / Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair

My advice (if you're after it): give Yooka-Laylee a couple more hours, give it until the end of the second world. If you're not enjoying it more by then, you can feel justified in leaving it unfinished. Five Pagies in is, what, twenty minutes in?

I laughed, damn it.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

My advice (if you're after it): give Yooka-Laylee a couple more hours, give it until the end of the second world. If you're not enjoying it more by then, you can feel justified in leaving it unfinished. Five Pagies in is, what, twenty minutes in?

Couple of hours I think? I've been taking my time. But I can get behind this idea. I'll give it until the second world: Jimbob's spoiler shows that it's not all bad in the fourth!

The third world was when the sighs kicked in. But World 4 was a lot more fun.

Yooka-Laylee is getting a follow-up!

From Playtonic's Press Release wrote:

"In this new platforming adventure hybrid, Yooka and Laylee must combine their abilities to take on a series of challenging and vibrant 2.5D levels and explore and solve puzzles in a beautiful 3D overworld. It's on them to rescue Queen Phoebee's Royal Beettalion Guard from each level, as they size up Capital B's most dastardly challenge yet - the Impossible Lair."

There's a good FAQ here too: https://www.playtonicgames.com/new-game-yooka-laylee-and-the-impossible-lair/

Honestly, not once since I completed Yooka-Laylee that I thought it would get a sequel. Even if it's actually looking more like a spin-off. I'm happy to see them return though, they're really good characters. This is looking more like Donkey Kong Country than Banjo-Kazooie, and I'm interested to see how this change goes. How about youse?

I've not played Yooka-Laylee as of yet, but I'm much more interested in The Impossible Lair than I was for its predecessor. DKC is a great comparison as that trailer really gave me vibes from that game, which is certainly no bad thing. The music sounds great too. Yeah, interested in this!

Yeh that looks decent, I'll definitely keep an eye out for reviews.

This looks like... a thing. Specifically, like a Zelda overworld with 'dungeons' that are DKC levels. I don't know how to feel about this: I was really excited about YL because it was a 3D platformer and we didn't (and still don't) have enough of these. Top-down adventure things and 2D platformers, though? We're swimming in 'em both. What's this going to add to the mix?

Also apparently it's 'not a sequel but a fresh take'. At least the music's incredible.

I'm caught in two minds - I agree with the man Balla above, in that I feel like I've done quite a few 2D platformers (ultimately all the DKCs and Yoshis aren't as good as Mario), but it's basically a spiritual successor to the original DKC and their team. So I'm hopeful. Plus it'll be funny and that.

Balladeer wrote:

At least the music's incredible.

Yeah, I enjoyed the tune that was playing during the trailer. I spy a music week for this one on the horizon.

I'm a little sad that nobody's done a music thread thingy for Yooka-Laylee to be honest: with Grant Kirkhope and David Wise on tunes, it seems like it's crying out for one. Anyway, the trailer is peak David Wise, and that's no bad thing. His style is, I'd say, as distinctive as Kirkhope in it's way... but better.

Yooka-Laylee's OST wasn't consistently as good as Kirkhope or Wise's finest work. It's got nice songs here and there, and it's quite nostalgic on the whole, but I don't think it's one of the game's biggest strengths.

That's a shame to read. I actually bought the soundtrack so that, once I'd heard most of it in-game, I could go back and listen to a collaboration between two of my favourite videogame composers. Not only may I never get to that stage in-game, it sounds like it might not be worth it when I do.

The above 2 are probably true. I keep thinking of the hub world theme from a Hat in Time - forgetting that's not actually in Yooka-Laylee! Oh Grant...

A Hat In Time is the 3D platformer that deserves a music thread thingy. I put a few up in the Nontendo Music Thread in the past, but I think all those links are down now. It’s a soundtrack that’s worth experiencing for yourself in-game though. Off-topic, but that’s almost a year since A Hat In Time was announced for Switch.

Getting back on topic: even though Yooka-Laylee was marketed on the premise that it was a tribute to Rare’s N64 collectathon games, it could still be criticised for being too close a clone of Banjo-Kazooie. It had no originality, just nostalgia, and you got exactly – and I mean exactly - what you expected. It’d really like to see a braver, more modern platformer later this year, one that tries new things. And one with better level design too! Although, with it being a 2.5D platformer, it’ll naturally be a lot more linear. And surely the levels won’t be nearly as massive, surely?

That said, I don’t think that The Impossible Lair will have even a fraction of the hype that the first Yooka-Laylee did. So whatever they do, they might just get away with it. Less hype equals less scrutiny, and that’ll mean no shitarses like Jimquisition giving it 2/10 for attention or something utterly dogshite like that.

Also, it’s really good that they’re changing the hub set-up too. That hub in Yooka-Laylee was mince, just not satisfying or interesting to navigate at all.

After it's released on Switch (in 2027), I'd be very much up for one of you two doing a(n unofficial ) music thingy for AHiT. And I'd be very much up for playing it! Some day...

I would like massive levels. I still haven't got past Tribalstack in the first game, but much though the areas leading to nowhere in the unexpanded version of the world irritated me, I liked the scope of that world, and I'll be sad to see it go. The new hub does look grand though.

If you want a good 3D platformer New Super Lucky's Tale is coming to Switch, I'd get that.

Chris Scullion was mightily impressed with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, awarding it an impressive 9/10 on Nintendo Life:

http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/yooka-laylee_and_the_impossible_lair

Other reviews are positive too - it mostly looks like 8s and 9s. Kotaku say it well: "Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a much better Donkey Kong Country than the first Yooka-Laylee was a Banjo-Kazooie".

That's good to see. Playtonic worked hard on their first game and I'm sad for them that it didn't quite come off.

Not going to be getting this for a good while, but it might be one for the wishlist, as opposed to the limbo I've cast the original game into.

This is very good news, I've been itching to get Tropical Freeze on the Switch for a while now but given this happened then The Impossible Lair might be the more viable option.

Ah, splendid - that comparison was one I was worried about, but I'm dead chuffed that YLATIL has come out favourably. This is another one for the ol' wish list!

Next up Playtonic: you've made your N64 homage, you've made your SNES homage... now give us Yooka-Laylee and the Carrying Things Around Space.

I've put a decent amount of time into Impossible Lair over the weekend and I've just passed the halfway point of the game. I've been trying to think of an intelligent way of saying this, but it's a Sunday night and I'm humped, so: this is really, really good. Don't miss out on it if you're into Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and games like that.

I've practically asked for this as a gift now. I'm intrigued, but... I've heard bad things about the titular Lair. Obviously you're nowhere near there Cappa, but I would be intrigued to read your views when you are.

Being a person who has complained about it, I would also like to hear your thoughts!

To me it's just a disappointing finish to an otherwise good-if-flawed game. I hope the overworld design is one that catches on at least!

There's now a demo for Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair on the eShop:

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/Yooka-Laylee-and-the-Impossible-Lair-1579339.html

It's also down to £16.74. I'm stuck at the last level, but everything before that is very recommended.