Yooka-Laylee is an all-new open-world platformer from key creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games. Reformed as Playtonic Games, the team is building a spiritual successor to its most cherished work from the past!
Playtonic’s new heroes, Yooka (the green one) and Laylee (the wisecracking bat with big nose) were conceptualised from the ground up for stellar platforming gameplay, created by the same character artist behind the rebooted Donkey Kong family and legendary N64 heroes Banjo and Kazooie.
Top comments
smoguka
5 May 176#8
It's exactly the game they promised. If you're a fan of the Banjo Kazooie games I see no reason why you wouldn't enjoy this one. It's also fairly priced and if you were to go for 100% you're looking at a little over 20hrs of gameplay. I don't think it's fair to say it's bad, the reviews were mixed sure, but I get the impression a majority of people who backed it were happy with it because they got what they were hoping for. It does come with issues such as flying and swimming being a bit awkward (Will a platformer ever get that right?) and the occasional framerate drops/glitchy camera bits. But none of those things are gamebreaking and it still manages to be fun. Sure, if you're not into this sort of game you're not going to enjoy it but there's a difference between that and a game being flat out bad.
ancn
5 May 175#13
I'm a huge fan of Banjo & Kazooie and the likes, got pretty excited when Yooka-Laylee was announced and backed it on day one, waited eagerly for it to be released, and ended up pretty disappointed... Don't get me wrong, I played about 10 hours on it, because I really wanted to give it a chance. Alas, I tend to agree with the average reviews. It's obvious Playtonic did put a lot of efforts into the game, but the magic is just not there :disappointed: It's not just about the gameplay being erratic, but the whole thing feels like an empty shell: character design is generic, levels are huge and untidy to the point were you constantly get lost and don't know where to go next, running after the collectibles should be enjoyable but it's more a pain than anything else, etc. The only true achievement in the game is the soundtrack, which is awesome.
I would not say it's a bad game, because many gamers actually enjoy it. Maybe this kind of game is just not for me anymore.
stevenhp1987
5 May 173#14
It's a bad game... in your opinion. I'm playing through it atm and it's one of the better games I've played recently.
theframe8
5 May 173#11
Couldn't agree more. Been waiting 15 years for them to bring out another game like this. The right mix of fun and challenging that takes me back. I love it
Latest comments (45)
Tequila
9 May 17#45
where did you hear that nonsense from? that's loads of bo*****.
anyways enough has been said, and I've made my point..I'm bored of this pointless discussion.
luffydude
9 May 17#44
I have no idea about previous Yakuza games but this is the only one that matters to me because it's the first one on the ps4, and a lot of people consider it the game of the year, and it sold out in the UK. What I heard about previous games was that the combat sucks and the localization sucked.
Don't try to dodge my point. Yakuza's best deal was £30 and the game has been out for 4 months now. And it's a VERY niche game with an action genre that has a lot of competitors. Yooka Laylee is a platformer game, a genre that barely has any competitors, yet the game is already at half price within ONE MONTH
Tequila
8 May 171#43
maybe you just got into Yakuza and bought the 0 because people were talking about it here but there are 6 more Yakuza games before that and the 4 of them which are all on PS3 had poor sales and dramatic price drops..everyone knows Yakuza games sell poorly outside Japan,I'm talking about Yakuza 4 being sold under £7 less that 12 months after release,this is while they are excellent games with 5 start reviews just like 0.
so your own example of Yakuza 0 and comparing it to Yakuza 3,4,..is a proof that poor sales does not NECESSARILY mean bad game.
a lot of things like marketing,target audience,localization,time,advertisement,other games that are launched at the same time etc play a role on sales.
to say if a game sales poorly then it's rubbish is just childish and arrogant logic.
luffydude
8 May 17#42
Your reply is all over the place.
Regarding sales, Yakuza 0 sold out here. I literally got the last copy of it in Argos, and every single Argos in central London was sold out on it. Also lol at dropping price, it's still full price AFTER 4 months on amazon, and the best Yakuza deals here on this site were still at £30. Again emphasizing the AFTER 4 months, not in LESS than one month like Yookalaylee
I thought you were trying to imply that being more niche means that the game would sell less and it's NOT the case. Both Yakuza and Persona sold out very quickly and are maintaining their prices a lot better than most games while Yookalaylee dropped like a rock to half price in less than a month
Tequila
8 May 17#41
that's not necessary true.
there are many reason's why a good game might not sell well and drop in price.
one example is Yakuza games which are excellent and their reviews are 5 stars all the time yet they sell very poorly and get massive price drop after few months.
but back to Yooka-Laylee the reviews are divided,and specially gamers reviews are divided, so when a noticeable portion of reviewers believe it's a good game, you can't just come and say it's a bad game that sells poorly.
Persona is a much more niche genre and a different case so is any JRPG..
when I said Yooka-Laylee is N64 style game I didn't mean just because it's a 3D platformer,but meaning it represents all the aspects of this genre in that timeline, including the "faults" like camera and voice acting etc etc
anyway as I said it is what it is : am N64 platformer with better looks.
luffydude
8 May 17#40
That's a very poor argument.
Persona 5 is a turn based RPG also dated to the late 90s Final Fantasy 5 to 10 era so not for everyone, yet it's so good that it sold out everywhere in the UK and shows no signs of a price drop. If a game is good then it WILL sell, if not then it will drop price, regardless of its genre
Worth noting that Persona 5 came BEFORE this game
Daltone
7 May 17#39
is there a reasonably priced PC deal out there anywhere? I want to give it a whirl, but not for thirty quid
rossackay
6 May 17#38
Yup, as many comments have said, it's almost a carbon copy of the Banjo Kazooie formula. If you loved those games, you'll like this one! I wouldn't say it had the same depth or character as the BK games, but it's enjoyable nonetheless!
bonzobanana
6 May 171#37
Looks like another game released in a poor state so prices drop immediately and then the game gets a huge patch sorting out most problems and by that time the game is a fraction of its original price and 10x better to play. Definitely one to buy later.
merkin51
6 May 17#36
The camera and some game mechanics are being patched, and I'm looking forward to that. But the one big mistake Playtonic made was to give the fans too much... the levels really are too big, and that's a common consensus even among fans of the game (like me). The levels in BK are so beatifully compact, practically to perfection. I wish Playtonic had aimed for that, they didn't need to try and make a sprawling world. When al is said and done, however, I can't wait for their next game now they've got this first one under their belts.
Tequila
6 May 172#34
calm down people..
it is what it is..
personally I think it's not worth £20,I will not pay £20 for it.
it is a good game but its worth £15 max.I'd say the same about Crash Bandicoot remake Rayman etc
I will pick it up when it reaches that point.
Paperlantern to Tequila
6 May 17#35
Have you played it out of interest?
dolanduck
5 May 17#33
They were owned by Nintendo near enough, but Rare were still their own entity.
This is all just nostalgia lol, that's great you felt nice about DK on the Snes as I'm sure someone will feel the same way about the recent games.
This just reads like a really boring "Back in my day it was all sunshine and rainbows, now these yuppies have ruined it all!"
Really boring, but each to their own :smiley:
math5871
5 May 17#32
No rush to buy yooka as I see this game continuing to go south for the foreseeable... heat added though as this price will please people itching to get a piece of nostalgia
robo989
5 May 17#31
There were a cross over of employees from Rare involved in all of these games.
Only the original Nintendo ones were any good, but any good. I mean having that magic feeling about them.
DKC and to a lesser extent 2 and 3.
DK on Wii/Wiiu were "awful" in relative terms. No magic, no mystery, no shiny bits. Sure, they were accomplished or whatever the gaming journalism industry and it's hoard of sycophantic teenage/twenty something consumers like to say, but that's all.
Kameo was just rubbish.
As a couple have pointed out Yooka Laylee is just anothter Rare husk game.
It's like trying to call FFXV a Final Fantasy game...it isn't.
This isn't the old nostalgia thing, these games really are rubbish and unbalanced, unfinished, over developed and under loved.
robo989
5 May 171#30
Angry pipe
Ninbox4
5 May 171#29
You pretty much described my exact feelings and experience with the game too! Absolutely agree with everything you said.
utopiangames
5 May 171#28
Pre ordered Yooka but might sell it on, big fan of the old rare boys but it falls short of previous games sadly :disappointed:
Old.Man
5 May 172#27
I paid £16 (Russia) and regret it. The game plays pretty much as you would expect from playing Banjo now apart from different characters. I personally disliked the stupid voices for each character, I would put up with just 1 line but every single screen you have to listen to stupid noises. Also the level designs do seem very empty even after expanding them. If you remember Mario 64 and Banjo then leave it at that, this will only make it feel worse. I would personally say £10 would be a fair price.
Joshimitsu91
5 May 17#26
What did you smoke before typing this reply?
dolanduck
5 May 17#25
Rare are not Nintendo, they are separate entities. This is irrelevant.
The DKC games were in no way awful, but okay :smiley:
Kameo was Rare under Microsoft, and there were various development issues. Rare really ceased to exist in all but name in 2002.
robo989
5 May 17#24
...But this is made by the same people that made Banjo.....for Nintendo
Mind you the DKC games on the Wii/Wiiu were awful Vs the old SNES ones too..
Kameo was also awful...
...All Rare games.
Tequila
5 May 17#23
It's not a bad game but it's a style of game that belongs to late 90s.it's Nintendo 64 Era platformer style with better graphics.so not for everyone hence the price drop.
Swarfega
5 May 17#21
Any previous fans of Banjo Kazooie playing Yooka-Laylee? What's your opinion of the game? The biggest complaint I see if the camera angles.
dolanduck to Swarfega
5 May 171#22
I think the reason why it's getting mixed reviews is because:
A) Nostalgia; we all 'remember' how amazing the late 90s platformer games were but when it comes to crunch time, that nostalgia fades away and you realise why the genre pretty much died, with the exception of Nintendo. And even then, there's a reason they have the monopoly on these types of games; they're just better at it than everyone else
B) Many of the things people loved are in Yooka Laylee but it seems none of the flaws have been fixed. Poor camera, irritating throwback dialogue sounds, poor quiz sections etc.
C) People just had unrealistic expectations.
Tbh, if you like Banjo but remember the annoying things about it, you'll like the game. Supposedly there's a patch that will at least fix the camera, but some things just seem very stuck in the past. From the bit I played of it, it was fun and refreshing to play. If you want Banjo HD in all but name, buy it. But remember the bad things about Banjo are all translated here.
luffydude
5 May 17#20
Can I ask which games have you played recently ?
AshleyJones94
5 May 17#19
I was really looking forward to this Yooka-Laylee coming out, but I have such a massive backlog already so I'll probably get it when it goes to £10 or I get through at least most of my backlog
robo989
5 May 17#18
Yes it does, ya fascist.
People like you want it both ways. Stuff you don't like is bad but stuff you do like and others don't is good because you can justify it.
Murder can be justified.
This is what happens when people parrot that crap about "reviews being subjective...yadda yadda".
Review are reviews and opinions are opinions. They always were and they always will be.
Just because you are unaware that you are projecting doesn't mean you aren't projecting.
Have a nice day.
Venezia
5 May 172#17
The talking drives me insane, you know what I mean if you have it.
luffydude
5 May 17#16
The camera for a platformer is game breaking in my opinion.
But if we are reviewing the game here: level design is also very subpar, the gameplay has some faults (notably, the attack rules), and overall the game just feels so bland
Yooka-Laylee isn't a bad game by all means, it's just not an amazing game either, still needs to drop a bit for people willing to pay for it, I'd say £10-15 is a reasonable price.
I'm not going to go into detail again the game as there's tonnes of reviews but if you see the game for under £15 and you're a big fan of banjo kazooie series/platform games it's definitely worth the play.
stevenhp1987
5 May 173#14
It's a bad game... in your opinion. I'm playing through it atm and it's one of the better games I've played recently.
ancn
5 May 175#13
I'm a huge fan of Banjo & Kazooie and the likes, got pretty excited when Yooka-Laylee was announced and backed it on day one, waited eagerly for it to be released, and ended up pretty disappointed... Don't get me wrong, I played about 10 hours on it, because I really wanted to give it a chance. Alas, I tend to agree with the average reviews. It's obvious Playtonic did put a lot of efforts into the game, but the magic is just not there :disappointed: It's not just about the gameplay being erratic, but the whole thing feels like an empty shell: character design is generic, levels are huge and untidy to the point were you constantly get lost and don't know where to go next, running after the collectibles should be enjoyable but it's more a pain than anything else, etc. The only true achievement in the game is the soundtrack, which is awesome.
I would not say it's a bad game, because many gamers actually enjoy it. Maybe this kind of game is just not for me anymore.
Couldn't agree more. Been waiting 15 years for them to bring out another game like this. The right mix of fun and challenging that takes me back. I love it
Joshimitsu91
5 May 172#10
It's clearly not a bad game. Might not be your cup of tea (I'm not sure if it would be mine either, tempted though) but that doesn't make it a bad game.
divid1
5 May 17#9
There is a patch coming out soon on Yooka-Laylee to sort out the bad camera and annoying which is the bad posts of the game apparently. Heat for current price but I'll wait a bit longer for in all honesty.
smoguka
5 May 176#8
It's exactly the game they promised. If you're a fan of the Banjo Kazooie games I see no reason why you wouldn't enjoy this one. It's also fairly priced and if you were to go for 100% you're looking at a little over 20hrs of gameplay. I don't think it's fair to say it's bad, the reviews were mixed sure, but I get the impression a majority of people who backed it were happy with it because they got what they were hoping for. It does come with issues such as flying and swimming being a bit awkward (Will a platformer ever get that right?) and the occasional framerate drops/glitchy camera bits. But none of those things are gamebreaking and it still manages to be fun. Sure, if you're not into this sort of game you're not going to enjoy it but there's a difference between that and a game being flat out bad.
BlagmanUK
5 May 171#7
Got 30 hours of fun out of yooka laylee and really enjoyed it. Controls and camera didn't even bother me after the first 30 mins. It's a shame it's getting so much hate really.
doncarlos83
5 May 171#6
No drama - cheers Buzz
doncarlos83
5 May 17#4
Is the Dishonoured 2 version the one with the remastered Dishonoured 1?
I can't access the site at work :disappointed:
BuzzDuraband to doncarlos83
5 May 17#5
Unfortunately not mate. That's the Limited Edition version.
Wortho
5 May 17#3
I've read many mixed reviews, which is why I don't want to pay full price and I'm happy to wait, but I loved the old Banjo Kazooie's so I will be checking it out either way :-)
Wortho
5 May 17#1
So tempted to get Yooka Laylee but it's dropped £8 already surely it's worth waiting a little longer! Heat tho op!
luffydude to Wortho
5 May 171#2
There's a reason why the game is less than a month old and it already dropped price this hard: it's a bad game. It's gonna drop even more next month
![PS4/Xbox One] Yooka-Laylee - £19.95 (£19.49 - Base) / Dishonored 2 - £14.95 (Base price matched) - TheGameCollection](/images/topics/168596_1.jpg)
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Yooka-Laylee (Base)
Yooka-Laylee is an all-new open-world platformer from key creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games. Reformed as Playtonic Games, the team is building a spiritual successor to its most cherished work from the past!
Playtonic’s new heroes, Yooka (the green one) and Laylee (the wisecracking bat with big nose) were conceptualised from the ground up for stellar platforming gameplay, created by the same character artist behind the rebooted Donkey Kong family and legendary N64 heroes Banjo and Kazooie.
Top comments
I would not say it's a bad game, because many gamers actually enjoy it. Maybe this kind of game is just not for me anymore.
Latest comments (45)
anyways enough has been said, and I've made my point..I'm bored of this pointless discussion.
Don't try to dodge my point. Yakuza's best deal was £30 and the game has been out for 4 months now. And it's a VERY niche game with an action genre that has a lot of competitors. Yooka Laylee is a platformer game, a genre that barely has any competitors, yet the game is already at half price within ONE MONTH
so your own example of Yakuza 0 and comparing it to Yakuza 3,4,..is a proof that poor sales does not NECESSARILY mean bad game.
a lot of things like marketing,target audience,localization,time,advertisement,other games that are launched at the same time etc play a role on sales.
to say if a game sales poorly then it's rubbish is just childish and arrogant logic.
Regarding sales, Yakuza 0 sold out here. I literally got the last copy of it in Argos, and every single Argos in central London was sold out on it. Also lol at dropping price, it's still full price AFTER 4 months on amazon, and the best Yakuza deals here on this site were still at £30. Again emphasizing the AFTER 4 months, not in LESS than one month like Yookalaylee
I thought you were trying to imply that being more niche means that the game would sell less and it's NOT the case. Both Yakuza and Persona sold out very quickly and are maintaining their prices a lot better than most games while Yookalaylee dropped like a rock to half price in less than a month
there are many reason's why a good game might not sell well and drop in price.
one example is Yakuza games which are excellent and their reviews are 5 stars all the time yet they sell very poorly and get massive price drop after few months.
but back to Yooka-Laylee the reviews are divided,and specially gamers reviews are divided, so when a noticeable portion of reviewers believe it's a good game, you can't just come and say it's a bad game that sells poorly.
Persona is a much more niche genre and a different case so is any JRPG..
when I said Yooka-Laylee is N64 style game I didn't mean just because it's a 3D platformer,but meaning it represents all the aspects of this genre in that timeline, including the "faults" like camera and voice acting etc etc
anyway as I said it is what it is : am N64 platformer with better looks.
Persona 5 is a turn based RPG also dated to the late 90s Final Fantasy 5 to 10 era so not for everyone, yet it's so good that it sold out everywhere in the UK and shows no signs of a price drop. If a game is good then it WILL sell, if not then it will drop price, regardless of its genre
Worth noting that Persona 5 came BEFORE this game
it is what it is..
personally I think it's not worth £20,I will not pay £20 for it.
it is a good game but its worth £15 max.I'd say the same about Crash Bandicoot remake Rayman etc
I will pick it up when it reaches that point.
This is all just nostalgia lol, that's great you felt nice about DK on the Snes as I'm sure someone will feel the same way about the recent games.
This just reads like a really boring "Back in my day it was all sunshine and rainbows, now these yuppies have ruined it all!"
Really boring, but each to their own :smiley:
Only the original Nintendo ones were any good, but any good. I mean having that magic feeling about them.
DKC and to a lesser extent 2 and 3.
DK on Wii/Wiiu were "awful" in relative terms. No magic, no mystery, no shiny bits. Sure, they were accomplished or whatever the gaming journalism industry and it's hoard of sycophantic teenage/twenty something consumers like to say, but that's all.
Kameo was just rubbish.
As a couple have pointed out Yooka Laylee is just anothter Rare husk game.
It's like trying to call FFXV a Final Fantasy game...it isn't.
This isn't the old nostalgia thing, these games really are rubbish and unbalanced, unfinished, over developed and under loved.
The DKC games were in no way awful, but okay :smiley:
Kameo was Rare under Microsoft, and there were various development issues. Rare really ceased to exist in all but name in 2002.
Mind you the DKC games on the Wii/Wiiu were awful Vs the old SNES ones too..
Kameo was also awful...
...All Rare games.
A) Nostalgia; we all 'remember' how amazing the late 90s platformer games were but when it comes to crunch time, that nostalgia fades away and you realise why the genre pretty much died, with the exception of Nintendo. And even then, there's a reason they have the monopoly on these types of games; they're just better at it than everyone else
B) Many of the things people loved are in Yooka Laylee but it seems none of the flaws have been fixed. Poor camera, irritating throwback dialogue sounds, poor quiz sections etc.
C) People just had unrealistic expectations.
Tbh, if you like Banjo but remember the annoying things about it, you'll like the game. Supposedly there's a patch that will at least fix the camera, but some things just seem very stuck in the past. From the bit I played of it, it was fun and refreshing to play. If you want Banjo HD in all but name, buy it. But remember the bad things about Banjo are all translated here.
People like you want it both ways. Stuff you don't like is bad but stuff you do like and others don't is good because you can justify it.
Murder can be justified.
This is what happens when people parrot that crap about "reviews being subjective...yadda yadda".
Review are reviews and opinions are opinions. They always were and they always will be.
Just because you are unaware that you are projecting doesn't mean you aren't projecting.
Have a nice day.
But if we are reviewing the game here: level design is also very subpar, the gameplay has some faults (notably, the attack rules), and overall the game just feels so bland
Here's a review from an actual long time Banjo and Kazooie fan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmUiVXW4R5E
I'm not going to go into detail again the game as there's tonnes of reviews but if you see the game for under £15 and you're a big fan of banjo kazooie series/platform games it's definitely worth the play.
I would not say it's a bad game, because many gamers actually enjoy it. Maybe this kind of game is just not for me anymore.
I can't access the site at work :disappointed: