Yooka-Laylee
Released: April 11, 2017
Game Length: 15 Hours
Grade: A-
Expectations: I didn't have all the consoles growing up. I missed out on a lot of the platform games like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country, and Ratchet & Clank. I did manage to go back to play Super Mario 64 and a somewhat more modern game Hat in Time. So when a team of guys started a Kickstarter Project and raised £2,000,000 when they were only asking for £175,000, it sort of caught my eye. By the looks of it, I don't really expect to be playing too much of it. It looks very childish and I have a feeling the gameplay is going to be pretty bad.
Reality: So I played all 15 hours of it. My first impressions were pretty spot on with the unintelligible sounds coming out of the characters, cutscenes that you can't skip or make their text move any faster, and how the characters must tell you how to do every single thing through some weird tutorial. After turning down the voice sound and making it past the introductions, I found a really solid game placed in front of me. There is a wide-range of abilities you unlock, elements you use in the area, and a vast portion of collectibles to find. There are a large set of characters to keep you entertained, mini-games to mix things up, and creative boss battles to look forward to. They also alert you to "a new perspective" when adding the "Icymetric Palace" to Glitterglaze Glacier. Then there is the music... so awesome. It is too bad I wasn't able to do any of the large quantity of multiplayer options with anyone.
Homages: It is pretty clear when expanding the first level that they really wanted to replicate that old video game feeling. They have a tower that you climb, complete with fire shooting out the side and a giant block boss at the top, that plays on Super Mario 64. The mining cart segments play on Donkey Kong Country. The huge number of zany puns and blatant 4th-wall breaking jokes about its own style of gameplay definitely brings in a more humorous side to things. Shovel Knight also makes a couple of appearances. That spinball attack sure reminds me of Sonic the Hedgehog. And I don't know of any right now but I bet there is a video game they are referencing with all the wacky transformations you become under the scientist's ray gun. I still can't believe one of their stages is inside a casino... so classic.
Minor Gripes: That doesn't mean I was completely enticed by nostalgia while playing the game. There were several things I found fault with. Although they did tweak the camera angles, I still had a hard time steering my dynamic duo when in full fly mode. On rare occasions I found issues with the camera in small corners or when transitioning between areas. There is no map. I got lost several times in Hivory Towers just trying to revisit the books. I thought the giant green Q-signs were showing me the way. Honestly, there really wasn't any good hints on where to go. At the very least they included what each area had available in the "Stats" menu. "Quit Menu" is actually under "Options" instead of the main menu. You have to play every Arcade game twice, once for "trying it out" and the second time for the collectible. Some puzzles in levels require abilities you don't have access for yet. I also hated that their rules weren't really consistent. For example, does this ice block require you to create a sonic wave, fire breath, for you to be warmed by a torch pit, an explosion from a transformation, or simply a press of a button. One time I was dumbfounded with a light reflecting off an ice block that required invisibility.
Opinion: The game is beautifully made and has a lot of fun areas to explore. Before even visiting the final boss, I wanted to revisit every stage and check every crevice for spots I might have missed. Seeing that I only collected 105/145 pagies and 877/1010 quills, it is clear to me that there were still a bunch of secrets I never got around to completing. I'm just happy the final boss only required 100 pagies. The three quizzes they ask you periodically through the game was definitely entertaining, but I would have liked more mini-bosses instead of facing off with a final boss that has like 6 phases. Otherwise, I would totally recommend this game... for 50% off at least. $40 still might be a little too much for my blood.
11-14-2020