11 (!) years in the past, a bunch of ex-Uncommon workers shaped a studio referred to as Playtonic to make Yooka-Laylee, a religious successor to Banjo-Kazooie that promised to skillfully carry the 3D platforming torch. But when the precise recreation launched in 2017, following an extremely profitable Kickstarter marketing campaign, it didn’t totally ship on that promise.
Gamers have been met with a passionately crafted, however considerably janky expertise that some (like me) liked and others hated, and the cool reception resulted within the titular duo having a blended status. Now, Playtonic has determined to make issues proper with Yooka-Replaylee, and I’m blissful to report that the crew has carried out a superb job of delivering on that authentic promise.
First off, what precisely is Yooka-Replaylee? Although it’s debatable whether or not this qualifies as a full-blown remake of the unique, it’s instantly obvious that this goes far past a mere remaster that merely improves efficiency and visuals.
Yooka-Laylee was the epitome of a flawed gem, and Playtonic clearly took to coronary heart the criticism the preliminary launch acquired and used it to make this second go a a lot stronger displaying. Issues like tighter controls, quick journey, a map, and hundreds extra collectibles change up the gameplay expertise in some necessary and really constructive methods, rounding off these rougher edges that prompted some gamers to bounce off the unique.
The general construction stays unchanged, because the titular duo explores the central hub and its 5 worlds searching for dozens of Pagies, a sure variety of which is required to unlock the following world within the development. When you drop right into a world, there are round 50 Pagies scattered across the setting to gather, which might be picked up in no matter order you need.
Exploration is expedited and loads smoother this time round as a result of our heroes haven’t solely had their moveset retooled to really feel a lot smoother, but in addition have all their skills unlocked from the start. The devs additionally greater than doubled the Pagie depend for this launch, which has gone a good distance in the direction of making the worlds really feel much less empty. The environments are nonetheless fairly spacious, nonetheless, particularly on condition that they’re now by default of their ‘expanded’ state.
Second Opinion
I believe Yooka-Replaylee is value a glance, even in the event you walked away from the unique recreation with lukewarm emotions. It refines the enjoyable and trims the fats, all whereas making the gameplay really feel far more palatable.
There’s the 30fps cap on Change 2, and Playtonic is already investigating a efficiency mode, however based mostly on what I’ve performed thus far, there have been no indicators of this disrupting my general expertise. I did have some private battles with the sport’s digital camera every now and then, however because the self-proclaimed platforming veteran that I’m, it was no huge deal.
This definitive launch has actually obtained me enthusiastic about Yooka-Laylee’s 3D journey as soon as once more, and I haven’t felt that method for the reason that authentic crowdfunded marketing campaign.
Liam Doolan
Employees Author
To make them really feel much less daunting, Playtonic added a cute bookmark NPC named Mark who you can’t solely quick journey to at numerous factors on the map, but in addition pay to disclose the placement of Pagies you haven’t discovered but. I wasn’t precisely dissatisfied by the design and depth of the worlds within the preliminary launch, however the work Playtonic has carried out right here to streamline traversal and development by them has completely modified them for the higher.
Along with Pagies, there are additionally oodles of cash and quills scattered in every stage. The previous might be traded to Vendi in alternate for equippable Tonics that modify issue settings and myriad beauty adjustments, whereas the latter might be traded to Trowser for issues like vitality and Tonic slot upgrades to make the protagonists a bit extra sturdy.
General, I used to be actually happy at how thoughtfully they balanced the economic system right here – even discovering these ‘foreign money’ collectibles feels thrilling as a result of sheer number of stuff you should buy.
Taking a step again and seeing all these gameplay adjustments actually places into perspective how a lot effort Playtonic put in to shine and enhance their debut launch. Yooka-Laylee was by no means a foul recreation, but it surely had some quirks and flaws that often obtained in the way in which of the enjoyable, and nearly each a type of drawbacks has been modified or addressed indirectly right here.
I’ve seen it argued that Playtonic would’ve been higher served placing such effort into a real sequel, however I’d say that the adjustments right here convey this duo’s first 3D entry as much as par (by way of high quality) with Yooka-Laylee and the Inconceivable Lair. A lush, real-life orchestral recording of the unique soundtrack solely provides to that feeling of high quality.
So far as the visuals are involved, Yooka-Replaylee is a transparent enchancment on its predecessor however rather less so with this Change 2 port. The excellent news is that the environments function a lot richer element and higher lighting, giving them a much more vibrant and alluring ambiance in comparison with the often flat presentation of the unique.
The dangerous information? The body fee is capped at a disappointing (however secure) 30fps, which may make the motion look somewhat bit uneven at instances. The devs have mentioned they’re wanting into a possible post-launch efficiency increase after “restricted time” with the Change 2 dev kits restricted their skill to design for it, however proper now it is nonetheless up within the air whether or not that patch will ever materialise.
I additionally encountered a number of bugs on my playthrough that ranged from amusing to annoying. After leaving the Change 2 in sleep mode for a number of hours, I returned to the sport to seek out that there was no sound and after about 10 minutes of enjoying with out it, the sport merely crashed and I used to be booted again to the Residence Display screen. In one other occasion, whacking a treasure chest subsequent to a wall prompted my duo to clip by the extent geometry and tumble right into a formless black void, by no means to return.
Hiccups like this weren’t too frequent in my expertise, however additionally they weren’t precisely unusual, both. I am hoping the crew will handle these in some unspecified time in the future after launch.
Conclusion
Yooka-Replaylee, in most methods, appears like the sport that Yooka-Laylee was at all times meant to be. The core expertise has remained the identical, however a lot has been added or tweaked to make for a considerably extra assured and streamlined expertise.
Although the technical points maintain it again a bit, no less than on Change 2 at launch, that is nonetheless a transparent enchancment over the unique and a recreation that no fan of the 3D platforming style ought to miss out on. Even in the event you performed the unique to completion, I’d say Yooka-Replaylee continues to be very a lot value your money and time.
