Suprised that there hasn't been a thread for this yet. Have to do everything around here myself!

• Destructoid 8/10
• Eurogamer
• IGN - 7/10
• Jim Streling 2/10
• Polygon 5.5/10
• RPS
• The Escapist 4/5
• The Guardian 4/5

The game doesn't seem to have set the world on fire (around 70+ on MC) or received as much praise as the Ratchet & Clank remake as an example of a recent platformer, but besides Sterling's write-up, it seems to be getting mostly decent reviews. Haven't read every review from word to word, but I think the main gripes are coming from technical issues, not really doing anything revolutionary in comparison to the platformers it draws inspiration from and some gameplay issues, like at times plain&empty world, middling mini-games, lots of collectathon-ning and...uh, too much fourth-wall breaking.

In other words, fans of the old Rare games are seemingly the ones who'll most likely enjoy the game the most. I'm personally mainly irked by the technical issues (performance and camera) but at least Playtonic has already managed to put together a patch to hopefully solve some of those issues. Don't know if I'll pick this up on the release day, but the price being 20€ cheaper than your usual new release makes it a bit more tempting.

Will Jim Sterling get Yooka Laylee based death threats or Ddosing this time?

GameSpot was also not thrilled with it citing poor camera control and bad platforming - which are like the two things a game like this needs to get right.

Most of the commentary I've seen about this game mention that it is very much an old-school 3D platformer, and people buying into Yooka Laylee for that won't be disappointed, like you mentioned in the OP.

I'm a bit torn on this. While personally I know that there are some games I would like to see follow-ups too and would be reasonably happy if they stuck close to the roots, there is something to be said about making a video game that maintains the core gameplay people liked about the original titles while also still standing well on it's own as a modern video game. Especially considering the amount of money this raised, the fact that the team seemed content to just make another Banjo Kazooie is a bit disappointing. At least Kirkhope is still mostly on point from what I've heard of the OST.

Also, I don't know if this is just me, but in any of the gameplay I have seen I feel like the look of this game is very bland/flat. Sure it's colourful, but that's about it. It looks like one of those Unreal Engine 4 demos people make sometimes of Mario 64 or LoZ : OoT. Sure the graphical fidelity is up there, but it's obvious that the demos are made by people that don't really have a solid idea of how colour/shadows/lighting can all be used to really make an environment pop (and I'm not saying that I know a single thing about this either. I just know when an environment looks interesting vs when it looks boring). I know that Y-L is running on Unity but it's just what it reminds me of.

Has anyone found a review that mentions the co-op in any capacity? The multiplayer trailer released a while ago suggested it has a co-op campaign, and I'd really like to know if its actually present (and if its the same as the single player campaign, or separate).

I haven't watched that many gameplay videos, so I can't make a judgement on Yooka-Laylee itself, but this is definitely something that I feel the same way about as well, more so when it's presented together with some "This is how Zelda could look on a BETTER HARDWARE/PC, WOWZER!" topic. Platformers especially manage to look completely soulless just about every time I've seen one of those videos.

Why did Jim Sterling back the game if he admittedly hates everything about this particular branch of the genre? I think Playtonic was pretty open about what this was.

@disco_drew22: Yeah his review is extremely annoying to read. Not that I am some huge 3D platformer guy but him acting like the whole genre is this unplayable thing (he basically says it's one of the three worst games he's reviewed.... sure). I get if you don't like 3D platforming but I laugh when every games critic acts like it's impossible in every game and never any fun I have to shake my head.

Lines like "Additionally, the game is drowning in Quillies, or Quills, or whatever. They’re more contrived bits of magical bullshit you pick up so you can buy new moves from Trowzer the snake" like that isn't something that has been in everything in the genre and well just about every single game out there these days, from ME: Andromeda to Zelda Breath of the Wild.

Yet another "why do I care about reviews or games media?" moment for me that are coming with growing frequency. Games reviewers continue to go further and further up their own asses. Everything has "aged poorly" even genuine classics and genres fans still love. I get if he doesn't like the genre but why bother reviewing it then? It's like if Jeff put up a review for this game. I am not vouching for the quality but if you openly don't like the genre don't bother.

@disco_drew22: Because he's desperate for attention and this way he gets it.

The reviews don't necessarily surprise me but I also backed the game pretty secure in the knowledge that I'd be getting a 3D platformer where one collects a lot of random bullshit. Now whether or not it's a good "one of those" is something I'm definitely going to need to see for myself. I've been burned on RPG revivals, so why not platformers?

Man...the comments on that Jim Sterling review. It's a pretty great mix between people who are made "Jon-Tron" was removed from the game and are praising his negative review accordingly and people shitting hard on Jim Sterling for voicing his opinion. Some choice excerpts.

"This fat fuck can fuck right off. Another shitty troll review. I hope you lose a lot of fans because of that. Get your attention on dating sites. I know I won't listen to you anymore."

"I was looking forward to this game and even backed it. A big fan of Banjo kazooie and Jontron, but once these assholes removed him last minute even though he made a contract years ago, I'm glad this game failed."

"This is a shitty ass review, what fucking fat twat reviewed this."

And then there are these two comments:

"This review is as good as fridge magnets And as bad as old chess pieces. The truth is the string is as long as the past is remembered.The lies are as ubiquitous as leaves. Know the reaction, be the power. The change is within you!"

"And without truth you wandered around blurry pixels that cast solemn lines against foreheads. Yooka and Banjo dance in the harbour of 2001 with maidens that drift into phantoms."

Jim Sterling just can't resist scoring stuff way lower than everyone else, such attention seeking.

I don't know why people give him the satisfaction. This game probably isn't very good but he's always playing contrarian.

I'm not sure about that since there's a good number of promos before this game's release that diss BK Nuts and Bolts, but you never know. Here's what I'd like to see: Microsoft brings back Blast Corps, but bring back the vehicle construction system from Nuts and Bolts to let players create their own vehicle of destruction.

On topic, I'm kind of bummed that Yooka Laylee is getting mostly underwhelming reviews right now. This almost seemed like the anti Mighty No. 9 in many ways in that Playtonic still had the trust of its backers while the game was in development and had little to no bad PR to hurt its reputation. But based on what we've seen in reviews, it feels a little two accurate to 3D platformers and has some serious issues like the wonky camera. If the backers are happy, than cool. Hopefully Super Mario Odyssey at least knocks it out of the park (it probably will).

I was a huge fan of Banjo-Kazooie (and Tooie, and Nuts & Bolts for that matter) and I'm looking forward to this. I think I would enjoy it even it was getting 5's across the board because I love Rare's brand of platforming. So a 7 average (which is still good!) seems like gold to me!

jim sterling's review may be close to a general consensus on the quality of the game, but i wonder what his example is of a modern platformer that gets things right. maybe referring to ratchet and clank series.

I never played much of the Banjo games but I love 3D platformers, so for £27 I'll definitely give it a go. It's very reassuring to hear that they have already fixed a lot of the performance problems on consoles with a patch because playing on PC is not an option for me.

@ripelivejam: Quickly looking at his review he gave the last R&C 7.5 but that game is more of a shooter than anything else (and that's almost all his review talks about).

@pompouspizza: Rare Replay might be a better option if you have an Xbox One. Diving in to what is a nostalgia driven project without that point of reference could be rough.

@ripelivejam: "truth"?

@bollard: as far as I know there is no co-op campaign. I think the multiplayer is just mini games but I could be wrong.

@alistercat: in that maybe this is a mediocre/outdated game in general. but i guess it's what people wanted, so that's fine. sterling was probably exaggerating.

@ripelivejam: "truth" would imply that his judgement is objective, but it's just an opinion. His review is useful for people who might share a similar point of view, but it's not truth. Which is OK.

Guess i'm wrong then!!! What's new? Apologies all around. I'll modify my statement a bit then.

@ripelivejam: I didn't mean to pick on you, I just get irked by people conflating truth to agreeing with an opinion, or an opinion being widespread or popular. I don't think you necessarily meant anything by it, and who's to say you should care what I think?

@alistercat: I do actually own the Rare Replay collection so I should give them ago. I have seen a lot of the Bajo games and I'm very familiar with what they are.

I never had an N64 but my cousins did so I was exposed to a lot of that stuff that way.

This is one of those cases where it literally does not matter what reviews say. Banjo Kazooie is my childhood favorite game. This will be more of that. I backed it. My copy is coming in the mail. I'm all in. I'll be shocked if I don't enjoy it

Jim Sterling is just one opinion. Reading up about it on more than just one site is more interesting.

If the game would rank as a 6/10 in general fans of these type of nostalgia trips could easily add 2 scores, some people could probably add even more. And its not like reviewer scores are a ultimate anyway, they're at best a indication and since in this case most reviewer opinions seem to vary anyway I think this boils down to personal preferences.

See: @frostyryan

I'll admit I was holding out some hope that they modernized just enough to break out of a "people who want more Banjo Kazooie" niche, but for me personally I am 100% a person who wants more Banjo Kazooie and am pretty excited.

I'm torn about this one. My golden era was PS1-PS2 and I loved 3d platformers. I wasn't into rare games as a kid, but I appreciate them now. I'm far more excited for the Crash remakes, and loved PS4's Ratchet and Clank.

The only reason I want to support this game is to show that 90's game design is important. I'm genuinely sick of NES - SNES games and art style, the art style is fine but it A) was over done to death about 3 years ago, and B) I'm tired of 80's in general and 30-40 something critics giving it the "OMG my childhood bump". God bless these guys but man the 90's love train needs to get rolling haha.

Not a game where I particularly care about reviews. I'm fine with it being just as janky as some of those old games are, but clearly some of these reviews are not looking at it with that goal in mind. But maybe I'm just a giant sucker for old 3d platformers.

Just listened to Patrick talk about the game on Friday's Waypoint Radio and it was very in depth about what Yooka-Laylee misses on, in his opinion.

Although collectathon is in the game's nature, he critisizes that the collectibles aren't utilized in a way to encourage exploration. As someone that just 100% Jak and Daxter, I can comfortably say I can enjoy me a good collectathon, but Naughty Dog designed the game and levels so amazingly that it was a blast. The variety in environments and mechanics, and the verticality are what made that game amazing. Which is why Patrick and Danielle's critique of the game's lack of verticality concerning to me. And she was coming off of just replaying Banjo Kazooie which she still praised. Danielle also mentions that Banjo-Kazooie conveys a sense of adventure better because there is a progression to player mechanics that is missing from Yooka-Laylee, which makes if feel repetitive. Eurovqmer touches on all of this, summarizing with "by and large, going from book to book is more a question of altering the mood than the mechanics."

Can't wait to hear about user's thoughts on this game and specifically, the background of those user's with the genre to understand where they're coming from. I'm really interested in the opinions of people that already have their expectations tempered and whether or not the game still disappoints them.

I scratched my platforming itch pretty damn well with Jak and Daxter just this past month, so I may just end up playing Snake Pass for at least a new kind of experience.

Yooka Layle is a challenging and satisfying platformer. When it focuses on the basics, it succeeds with considerable flair. Yet, these moments arrive in short bursts that are padded out by confusing and hostile design.

@ernesto_limbag: care to elaborate on "confusing and hostile designs," and how they "pad out," the game?

I used quotes around "pad out," because I assume you mean the "confusing and hostile," designs pad out the game between the great bursts.

I'm definitely more positive on it than Danielle and Patrick were on Waypoint Radio. I'm having a lot of fun, even though Tribalstack Tropics, the only level I've spent much time in, isn't super intuitive to explore. I think it's because I love this kind of game so much but they're rarely released, and the basic mechanics work well enough that I'm willing to forgive a lot.

I'm into the style a lot, too. I really like the vibe of Hivory Towers as a hub, and Capital B is a solid villain with a great character design.

Some small complaints but really enjoying it so far

I think I'll wait for a small price drop but it looks like something I'll enjoy.

Would be cool if I could play it at least by launch day, considering I backed the game day 1 and then paid the extra money to have a physical copy shipped.

Guess that isn't happening though. Terrible launch for people who backed this game.

So... I've put about 5 hours in so far. (so it can't be all bad)

But man...that camera. It's like I'm constantly fighting against it, or that they don't trust me to use the camera. I wish there was just an option to "unlock" it or something.

There have also been some super annoying sections that had me almost wanting to turn off. A timing based thing in the snow castle for example was particularly annoying last night.

I should point out that, I played Banjo back in the day, but didn't really put a great deal of time into it till the 360 remake thing. (I finished it there). This feels like a fairly poor Banjo 3 in comparison. To be fair, those guys totally delivered on their Kickstarter pitch, but I feel like a few tweaks wouldn't have gone amiss.

I've only played a few hours but I absolutely love it so far, one of the best games I've played this year, no complaints.

I'm 8 hours in and love it. It has rough edges but it's something I've wanted for years.

I've played it a little less than an hour. Boring. Too concerned with imitating what people liked about the more soulful Banjo-Kazooie. I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it.

There are definitely camera and control issues but I am enjoying it. It's kinda a refreshing break from all the shooters, open world and driving games I've been playing for years so I'm glad I made the purchase.

I haven't played it yet, but a lot of the reviews seem very harsh on it not evolving the formula and feeling dated. I feel like that should be how these kickstarter projects go, no? They said they were going to make basically banjo kazooie again, for the people who personally funded a game that otherwise wouldn't get made. Those people got what they wanted. If you weren't a backer it seems fine to not be in to it, but why should it be something else?

@alistercat: That's exactly what I was getting at with my posts. I think like I said it is a good example of questioning niche games getting reviewed in these ways by people who aren't even interested. As games diversify so much it becomes more glaring. If you're actually into 3D platformers you need to do like fans of RPGs and other genres and just seek out niche fans at this point.

3D platforming is something I like in games and I constantly see reviewers complain about it in every game out there.

Jim Sterling condemns the bat as a racist. What?

The game is dope .

I loved the Banjo games. I backed this immediately. It makes me violently motion-sick. Bummer.

@kickahaota: That really sucks, is it something in particular that is bothering you with the game or is it hard to pinpoint?

I've found they delivered exactly what was pitched. It is a Banjo Kazooie game in the style of the first two - for good or for ill.

I feel like "evolving the formula" was never super on the table during the design of this game, because most people backed it wanting another Banjo game.

That being said, reviews are obviously just opinions and those reviews are just a reflection of what the reviewer wanted from the game, not what fans wanted. I think games that cleave close to their crowfunding campaigns will always run into some low scores on account of this, as the developers feel obligated to stick to their promises more than to go for ideas that might come up during the design process.

Also since some people bring up motion sickness, I think non-FPS titles and console titles really need to consider adding FOV to their standard settings. Never suffered from it in a video game, but I know people who have fixed the problem by finding the right settings in PC first person games.

I didn't back or get Yooka-Laylee because the pitch seemed too much on recreating those classic N64 Rare platformers instead of trying to improve the faults those games had. I would have much preferred if the pitch was making the Mario Galaxy to Banjo Kazooie's Mario 64 instead of a slavish recreation with modern graphics.