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Yooka-Laylee- Review Thread

Fat4all

Banned
Yeah but its clearly a different thing the first Jak and Daxter has much more in common with the types of games Rare used to make. Its pretty telling that one of the main reasons as to why Insomniac let Spyro go is because they could not give the character a gun. Hence the design for Ratchet it was much more of a action game with some light platforming elements.

Again, just because it focuses more on combat and less on collectable doesn't make it any less of a platformer.

Skill-based platforming comes into play in most every level of the game (except maybe the first level).
 

Lijik

Member
By my calculations, the bare minimum you need to collect in DK64 is 1780 colored bananas, 100 golden bananas, 4 crowns, 1 Rareware coin, and 1 Nintendo coin.

In order to get the rareware coin you need 15 banana medals, which are acquired by collecting 75 out of a kong's 100 possible bananas in the world.
In order to uncover KRool's hide out, you need eight boss keys.
Completing Hideout Helm without blueprints means you have to perform it with zero room for error in ten minutes, and I dont believe is the intended way to complete the level. Lets be fair and say you only "need" 10 blueprints which bumps the timer up to 20 minutes for a sporting chance.
I dont know if theres a route through Donkey Kong 64 that allows you to collect 100 golden bananas without spending money on new moves and equipment, which brings a nebulous number of coins into the mix as required.

Calling Ratchet and Clank a platformer is being generous.
man this threads got all the hits
 

Neolombax

Member
Games that have reviews this divisive always catch my attention. I usually end up buying them, justifying the purchase by the things that it does right, and go into forums discussing about it.

From the review footage, it seems that the game looks way better than I remember it to be? Maybe that was an early build I was seeing earlier, but it was a pleasant surprise. Mechanics wise, plays out to be similar to any third person adventure game during the PS2 days. Looks fun, with the camera spazzing out and all.
 

Fat4all

Banned
Honestly, the best parts of DK64 were the boss fights, and when I originally played it they felt like very unique, very interesting encounters that were worth collecting a lot of guff to get.

But having played through the game and seeing all of them, the carrot at the end of the mile-long stick just isn't worth it anymore. I look at the road towards the cool boss fights and just can't walk down that path again.

its too much
 

slit

Member
I'm still getting it eventually. We have been so spoiled so far this year it's not like this is some huge disappointment no matter where you stand on it. I'm sure it's worth it for the nostalgia alone.
 

Fat4all

Banned
I'm still getting it eventually. We have been so spoiled so far this year it's not like this is some huge disappointment no matter where you stand on it. I'm sure it's worth it for the nostalgia alone.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm hoping for. It should be fun for a lark on the Switch.

Hopefully the Switch version doesn't end up too rough. I got Snake Pass on the Switch and I'm diggin it.

When is the Switch release date?

Don't think it's set in stone yet.
 

Ansatz

Member
I dont think they toned anything down, rather they tried to replicate something that was a masterpiece 20 years ago and couldn't get that in essence. OR, games from 1998 dont work anymore. Shan from press start au brought up a good point. You can keep good parts of games and update them for the now. This game seems to have not done the second half of that statement, or rather haphazardly. Enjoy the game for what it is, if you can. I backed from the start, and I will try and look at the good in it. But I never expected it to be a revolution and take the entire industry back to the 90s

It has nothing to do with age, games today wish they are as good as A Link to the Past and Super Metroid on the SNES, no qualifier whatsoever. Not even the graphics, everything is exactly how I want my video games right now, today, in this moment. Absolutely nothing outdated about them. They are perfect. The Wonderful 101 and Platinum games in general captured the whimsical essence of Rare games while also having that distinct Japanese style & game feel about them which I love.

These are the games that carry on the Rare spirit, and it works amazingly well for me. I love the way the narrator says "These powered exoskeletons' ultra-dense bio-metallic fibers grant super strength" in his glorious, over the top voice. The complete and utter nonsense delivered with a straight face is just brilliant. That's what I loved about MGS cutscenes up to 4 as well, nowadays games (and movies) tone down on this style in favor of portraying a more "gritty" tone that has as much personality and charm as an asphalt road. How can you release a new MGS title without Hayter's funny and overacted voice?? The new Power Rangers did the same thing, it's a typical Hollywood Serious Business movie, and Uncharted also took a darker direction after the success of TLoU. Can someone explain what's going on because I don't get it. I wanted Yooka-Laylee to be the game that brought back all the goofy randomness to 2017, I guess not?
 
No probably not. However, whilst I'd have rated Mario 64 an easy 10/10 in 1996 (one of the most mind-blowing games I'd played at the time), I wouldn't rate it that highly today, and Mario 64 DS somewhat suggests that many others wouldn't either.

That's more because Mario 64 was a mediocre port with garbage controls and questionable "enhancements"
 

Lijik

Member
The new Power Rangers did the same thing, it's a typical Hollywood Serious Business movie

My dude they cant go more than four minutes without stopping for comic relief in the more serious first two acts, and the third act revolves around
having to prevent Rita Repulsa from reaching Krispy Kreme
. Its not nonstop cheese, but its also not the nonstop dour serious power hour
 

Camjo-Z

Member
Can someone explain what's going on because I don't get it. I wanted Yooka-Laylee to be the game that brought back all the goofy randomness to 2017, I guess not?

What exactly do you feel is toned down? The first NPC you meet is a trouser snake. The main villain's sidekick is a duck in a bubblegum machine. One of your abilities is a fart bubble that lets you walk underwater. There's plenty of goofy randomness.
 

Ansatz

Member
My dude they cant go more than four minutes without stopping for comic relief in the more serious first two acts, and the third act revolves around
having to prevent Rita Repulsa from reaching Krispy Kreme
. Its not nonstop cheese, but its also not the nonstop dour serious power hour

I'm basing the comment on Chris Stuckmann's review of the movie, he says there is a clash of two styles. Presumably they tried to find a compromise between living up to its heritage while also living up to audience expectations. I'm tired of this shit.
 
No. Just no. It's time to end the DK64 comparisons. Yooka's main collectables (aka ones that aren't world-specific) are:

-Pagies (to unlock worlds)
-Quills (to buy moves)
-Mollycool (to transform)
-Butterflies (to restore health/meter)

Now let's count DK64's main collectibles. (x5 indicates collectibles that require you to scour the level seperately with each Kong for.)

-Golden Banana x 5 (to unlock worlds)
-Banana Coins x 5 (to buy moves)
-Bananas x 5 (to open boss doors and get Banana Medals)
-Banana Medals x 5 (to unlock Jetpac)
-Melons (to restore health)
-Ammo (to fire weapons)
-Orange Grenades
-Instrument Energy
-Crystal Coconuts (to restore special energy)
-Banana Film (to capture Banana Fairies)
-Banana Fairies
-Blueprints x 5 (endgame requirement)
-Crowns (endgame requirement)

...and of course, the Rareware and Nintendo coins.

Yooka-Laylee is not like DK64.


I'm not even talking about the amount of them, I'm talking about how you get them. So far every video of Yooka Laylee featured very basic lock and key design in levels that are only definable by their setting, plus random minigames. That's why DK64 wasn't as good as Banjo, the level design. Does Yooka Laylee has anything even close to something like Click Clock Wood? All I see is jungle level, ice level, casino level. The ice level in Banjo had a bunch of christmas themed elements, a snowman to climb in the middle and it introduced the attacking while flying ability. You had very involved tasks such as hitting the annoying snowmen that threw snowballs at you, saving the christmas lights so you can climb the three, giving presents to a polar bear family, do sled racing, turn into a walrus to go into ice water/hang out with your boy Wooza. What does the Yooka ice level have aside from merely having an ice theme? Even DK64 had some more involved moments that weren't simply playing a random minigame that was locked behind a gate that you needed a specific Kong to unlock, look at Fungi Forest with its day/night mechanic and distinct areas. I'm not seeing any of that in Yooka Laylee
 

emb

Member
buy Snake Pass in general.

I can't stop playing it.
I really hope they get a physical release sorted out soon. Reading so much about YL as well as comparisons to Snake Pass being brought up, I keep getting reminded how fun it looks.
 

jstripes

Banned
I have not played it in seven years but for what i remember that was much more of a third person action game. The platforming felt like a secondary concern during development. Not that there is anything wrong with it but Ratchet is clearly a different beast from all N64 3D platformers.

N64 faded into history and its 3D platformers faded with it.

We've had four Nintendo consoles since, and if they haven't come back there's got to be a reason.
 

Camjo-Z

Member
I'm not even talking about the amount of them, I'm talking about how you get them. So far every video of Yooka Laylee featured very basic lock and key design in levels that are only definable by their setting, plus random minigames. That's why DK64 wasn't as good as Banjo, the level design... What does the Yooka ice level have aside from merely having an ice theme?

I can't really say yet since I haven't played the game nor do I want to spoil too much of it for myself in advance, but from what I've seen there are some pretty inspired mechanics like
using a giant cloud at the top of the jungle world to fill/freeze/drain the rivers below, and an "icymetric" palace in the second world that plays like Knight Lore.

Which version sounds better? You tell me

Yooka-Laylee Main Theme
Banjo-Kazooie Main Title

It's slower and less catchy. Everything about YK is similar but for some reason it feels off, I don't like it.

I don't know what that has to do with your complaint. You specifically called the game "too serious in tone and atmosphere" and even from the song you linked that's clearly not true. I can understand being disappointed that you don't like it as much as Banjo but it certainly has nothing to do with the game lacking silliness.
 
Reviews be damned, I still can't wait to play this.

The fact that some of the reviews are complaining about "goofy dialog" just gives me more reason to ignore them.
 
N64 faded into history and its 3D platformers faded with it.

We've had four Nintendo consoles since, and if they haven't come back there's got to be a reason.

To be fair, a lot of that has to do with the fact that the main provider of them (Rare) ended up being sold to Microsoft. Nintendo themselves never really did many 3D platformers outside of Mario.
 
Which version sounds better? You tell me

Yooka-Laylee Main Theme
Banjo-Kazooie Main Title

It's slower and less catchy. Everything about YK is similar but for some reason it feels off, I don't like it.
Yea, I think Grant is wasted if they don't let him do big booming, catchy soundtracks that are almost a set piece in the stage itself. Could something like this be made for Yooka-Laylee I think is a question that might not be answered "yes" from what I've heard. Freezeezy's theme is as much of the stage as the giant snowman and Boggy. Maybe after I play the game, it'll be different, but that ice mountain music was not... at all what I expected for an ice level from Grant Kirkhope, who brought up Freezeezy peak, which is still my de-facto "snow theme" in my head because of how absolutely perfect the song is for the stage.

I might not have liked Nuts and Bolts at all, but I rank the music as some of the strongest in the entire series. He really brought his A game to that game. I mean that transition into Hailfire Peaks Colosseum, woo baby.

One thing I really, really, REALLY miss from the old N64 days of Grant is when he used to use background sounds as a bit of percussion. Due to not having layers to actually make the sounds within the map, they became part of the song, probably best heard with the boat horns on Rusty Bucket, but every stage has it, from the subtle bubbles of Bubblegloop Swamp, to the bees in Clickclock Woods. Even shifting sand, dinosaur roars and simple drips become another instrument in the song. And yet when they no longer needed to do that due to having as much space as they needed for sound effects, it was never tried again :(

I mean, listen how the dinosaur sounds you likely never even noticed follow the beat and act as percussion, while still serving as ambient noises. I always found that fascinating as a kid how they were worked into the song. And then after DK64, it was never tried again because there was no necessity to do so.

Oh well.
 
N64 faded into history and its 3D platformers faded with it.

We've had four Nintendo consoles since, and if they haven't come back there's got to be a reason.

Their aesthetic fell out of favor in a world of Gears of War/Halo/Call of Duty and in terms of gameplay and their place in the market they evolved into the modern open world game. They scratched that same kind of itch for people.
 

daTRUballin

Member
Yea, I think Grant is wasted if they don't let him do big booming, catchy soundtracks that are almost a set piece in the stage itself. Could something like this be made for Yooka-Laylee I think is a question that might not be answered "yes" from what I've heard. Freezeezy's theme is as much of the stage as the giant snowman and Boggy. Maybe after I play the game, it'll be different, but that ice mountain music was not... at all what I expected for an ice level from Grant Kirkhope, who brought up Freezeezy peak, which is still my de-facto "snow theme" in my head because of how absolutely perfect the song is for the stage.

I might not have liked Nuts and Bolts at all, but I rank the music as some of the strongest in the entire series. He really brought his A game to that game. I mean that transition into Hailfire Peaks Colosseum, woo baby.

One thing I really, really, REALLY miss from the old N64 days of Grant is when he used to use background sounds as a bit of percussion. Due to not having layers to actually make the sounds within the map, they became part of the song, probably best heard with the boat horns on Rusty Bucket, but every stage has it, from the subtle bubbles of Bubblegloop Swamp, to the bees in Clickclock Woods. Even shifting sand, dinosaur roars and simple drips become another instrument in the song. And yet when they no longer needed to do that due to having as much space as they needed for sound effects, it was never tried again :(

I mean, listen how the dinosaur sounds you likely never even noticed follow the beat and act as percussion, while still serving as ambient noises. I always found that fascinating as a kid how they were worked into the song. And then after DK64, it was never tried again because there was no necessity to do so.

Oh well.

The Jiggoseum theme wasn't by Grant. It was by Robin Beanland. At least I'm pretty sure....
 
Honestly, the game sounds exactly like what I wanted. I'm a bit sad to hear some criticism of the bosses, but I already knew I'd love this game without reviews. The negative reviews just don't bother me, because I knew this game wouldn't be for everyone.
 

Morts

Member
Hearing about performance issues on the X1 version is worrying. That wouldn't seem to bode well for the Switch version. Are there any Unity games on Switch yet?

Any PS4 Pro impressions?
 

HeroR

Member
This is a popular opinion here on NeoGAF, but also in the industry in general. I wholeheartedly disagree: hundreds if not thousands of philosophy books have been written on the relationship between subjectivity/objectivity.

What value does a subjective opinion on a product/work of art hold if you're not that person who has that opinion?

I can tell you "I like this hamburger", one hundred people can tell you "I like this hamburger", but that doesn't mean you will like the hamburger.

However if I tell you "this hamburger has these ingredients, it's medium rare, the meat comes from this place, it's very salty, the flavour reminds me of this, etc." you'll figure out if you like it yourself.

We can figure out guidelines to create hamburgers (i.e. recipes), and on those basis we can decided if the hamburger is well made or not, despite personal taste. Sure, there's always someone who'll like a hamburger so overcooked that it's basically charcoal, but that's the exception: we can reach a general agreement on what a hamburger should or should not be, and what is better or worse in general.

The same applies to everything else, games aren't an exception: I can listen for hours about people giving their opinions and doing long video analysis on games, but in a review I search a more objective critical sense. A good critic is someone who, through experience and study, knows what makes a good piece of art or what makes a good product, someone who can understand flaws and innovations and explain the essence of a piece of art or a product through words.

Now I have three questions:

1 - If I loathe racing games and I end up having to review the next Forza, is it okay if I give the game a 1/10? After all it's my sincere opinion.

2 - If I'm incapable to play FPSs, because I simply suck at them, yet I end up reviewing Doom, is it okay if I give it a 1/10? After all I'm honestly frustrated by the game, it offers me no enjoyment.

3 - If I love Final Fantasy so much that my life would be empty without it, is it okay if I review Final Fantasy: All the Bravest 10/10? After all I really believe that everything FF is essential and splendid.

If you anwered "no" to any of these questions then you don't really think that reviews should be subjective opinions, as you just placed a limit on what is and what isn't an acceptable opinion, while all opinions should of course be acceptable, being them all subjective.

If you answered "yes" to all of the questions, congrats, you really do believe reviews should be purely subjective, but then I may ask: what value do all those subjective opinions give to you? Why do you care to know that Jason Storlung thinks The Myth of Barbara is a 3/10 game? Why do you care to know that Geoffrey Garstminn thinks Leech and Cane is a 9/10? When you know their opinion, you won't be any closer to know if you will like it.

Letme ask you: why is it that people on GAF always post to know "what the general consensus" on a game is? Because they want an objective answer, not a subjective one.

Besides things can be subjective and at the same time objective: as Kant said, being all humans, we share a common nature and in general we all find beauty and good in the same things.

To add, subjective reviews do have value, if you trust the person giving the review. For example, Gamexplain gave a mostly subjective review, but I listened to them since I trust them on a level where even if I don't agree with their opinions I can at least see where they're coming from and see it as a valid criticism. IGN used to have the same level of trust from me, until around the middle of the Wii era. Now, I don't trust anything they say.

With that said having word salad like 'outdated gameplay' means nothing to me unless you explain what is outdated and how it is outdated. A lot of reviews tend to give out these broad statements and don't explain why they're talking about. Which is why in general I don't look at game reviews anymore and just used more own personal experiences and wants to judged if a game is worth playing. The only real exceptions are if I hear a game getting great word of mouth, which is how I ended up getting Bayonatte.
 

SNURB

Member
I really don't know what to think really.

I mean, I have no feelings for Banjo nor have I ever owned an N64 so I didn't backed the game as a result. I was more of a PlayStation guy so I mostly grew up with the likes of Crash, Spyro and later stuff like Ratchet. But the previews of Yooka made me cautious with the emptiness and such.

I love the genre regardless so it's probably best for me to try it out first before judging it I suppose.
 

Nuu

Banned
I REALLY hope that Jim Sterling isn't fond of Shenmue 3 and Super Mario Odyssey when time comes.

The meltdowns his reviews cause are incredible.

It's crazy how people don't realize that some people can have differenting opinions, even over "critical darlings".

For example, I feel that BloodBourne was 7/10 game at best, and could imagine giving it a 6/10. Super Mario 3D World is a 6.5/10 game for me. Shadows of Mordor put me to sleep and I would at most give that game like a 4.5. Street Fighter V is basically a 4/10 game and the actual combat is where it lacks the most.

People have different opinions.
 
I REALLY hope that Jim Sterling isn't fond of Shenmue 3 and Super Mario Odyssey when time comes.

The meltdowns his reviews cause are incredible.

So people can flood NeoGaf with threads about how Jim Sterling isn't a saviour to gaming, but rather a shit disturber who gets off at shitting at games people are hyped about?

Is that really something you want to see?
 

Nuu

Banned
So people can flood NeoGaf with threads about how Jim Sterling isn't a saviour to gaming, but rather a shit disturber who gets off at shitting at games people are hyped about?

Is that really something you want to see?

If that's the price we pay for more of these hilarious over the top reactions from people, then absolutely.
 

Cerium

Member
Hearing about performance issues on the X1 version is worrying. That wouldn't seem to bode well for the Switch version. Are there any Unity games on Switch yet?

Any PS4 Pro impressions?

Snipperclips and Super Bomberman R are Unity games.

If there's hope for the Switch port it's that it's being handled in house with assistance from Nintendo, whereas the other console versions were outsourced.
 
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