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Yooka-Laylee- Review Thread

J

Jonnax

Member
Backed the game and will still play.

But my fears started when they posted some sample music and it sounded like a rip off of Banjo Kazooie music. Like they were given the soundtrack to the old games and told to copy it just enough to evade copyright.
 
A

Artanisix

Member
Watching the ACG review, the game looks very, very solid for any Banjo fan. The main issues are the awfully painfully long cutscenes (quiz sections) and the HORRIBLE camera. I'll def pick it up day 1 as a big Banjo fan.
 
joecanada

joecanada

Member
Axass said:
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.

*Snip

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.
Click to expand...

The answer is yes as long as a person is up front and honest about their leaning. But your examples are extreme and odd. What person hates racing games so much they give Forza a 1 but then play enough to review one ? And if they're made to they still will likely say well the graphics are good music good I don't find it fun so it's a 6/10. No racing fan will then use that review as guide but plenty of non racing fans will thinking oh it's another racing game I won't like it. There's still nothing wrong with that .
 
Lynd7

Lynd7

Member
Jonnax said:
Backed the game and will still play.

But my fears started when they posted some sample music and it sounded like a rip off of Banjo Kazooie music. Like they were given the soundtrack to the old games and told to copy it just enough to evade copyright.
Click to expand...

I'll agree on that, the music throws you a bit cause it sounds like it's a Banjo song at first then zags slightly and it feels weird.
 
H

HeroR

Member
joecanada said:
The answer is yes as long as a person is up front and honest about their leaning. But your examples are extreme and odd. What person hates racing games so much they give Forza a 1 but then play enough to review one ? And if they're made to they still will likely say well the graphics are good music good I don't find it fun so it's a 6/10. No racing fan will then use that review as guide but plenty of non racing fans will thinking oh it's another racing game I won't like it. There's still nothing wrong with that .
Click to expand...


It happens all the time. They are reviewers who hate JRPGs, yet review JRPGs.
 
T

The Salt Life

Banned
Hours have passed and the reviews list has gotten longer but it's still looking pretty solid for a platformer.


(Imo 6/10 doesn't scare me and there are a lot of 8/10 and 9/10's)
 
joecanada

joecanada

Member
BigPete said:
A person whose job it is to review games. I do stuff at work that I hate all the time, but it's my job, so I shut up and do it.
Click to expand...

Well then thats their review so it is what it is. Reviewing art is not like other jobs. Who would do that job and hate video games for example? Every game is 1/10 video games suck. This doesn't seem likely at all.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
Had a passing interest in the game because I love platformers (but have never played Banjo), but those reviews don't inspire confidence. Darn. I'll give it a try if it's heavily discounted or on PS+ though.
 
S

SlasherJPC

Banned
I did a video review on it and while I had a lot of little issues. This is still a fun game that brings back the genre that we have been missing. Yes it's literally dated in terms of mechanics and the way it plays. Yet I still find it so charming and fun to play sans some frustration.
 
W

watershed

Banned
There's one major concern I have with this game after reading several reviews that also reflects an issue I have with sandbox 3d platformers in general and a concern I have for Super Mario Odyssey. Many reviews point out that the 3d gameplay in YL seems to place a greater emphasis on finding and collecting stuff over imaginative, challenging 3d platforming. In other words, the gameplay is centered around exploring 3d environments and collecting stuff, which in my mind is very different than 3d platforming with an emphasis on actual platforming.

The game is clearly a throwback to the 1st 3d games where just running around in a 3d environment was fun and fresh. But that's not so interesting to me anymore and I hope Super Mario Odyssey doesn't have the same issue.
 
B

BigPete

Member
joecanada said:
Well then thats their review so it is what it is. Reviewing art is not like other jobs. Who would do that job and hate video games for example? Every game is 1/10 video games suck. This doesn't seem likely at all.
Click to expand...

Well, ultimately the person who is assigning games to each individual reviewer should be doing so based on their personal preferences. I hate First Person Shooters for example, but love JRPGs. I would not be able to write a fair review of Call of Duty. I would be better suited to review Persona 5. Unfortunately 1 reviewer publications don't have that option so you are going to have biased reviews. This isn't necessarily a bad thing I feel you are familiar with the reviewer and have similar tastes. It just sucks that they can bring down the average a bit on a niche game that wasn't really targeted toward them in the first place.
 
M

MegaManTrigger

Banned
watershed said:
There's one major concern I have with this game after reading several reviews that also reflects an issue I have with sandbox 3d platformers in general and a concern I have for Super Mario Odyssey. Many reviews point out that the 3d gameplay in YL seems to place a greater emphasis on finding and collecting stuff over imaginative, challenging 3d platforming. In other words, the gameplay is centered around exploring 3d environments and collecting stuff, which in my mind is very different than 3d platforming with an emphasis on actual platforming.

The game is clearly a throwback to the 1st 3d games where just running around in a 3d environment was fun and fresh. But that's not so interesting to me anymore and I hope Super Mario Odyssey doesn't have the same issue.
Click to expand...

It's a dead horse at this point, but you can trace similar concerns back to the N64 with Banjo Kazooie (and Tooie) vs. SM64. They both accomplish completely different goals with platforming in mind. Mario focuses a lot more on technical skill whereas Banjo Kazooie has been about exploration and the adventure itself. It all comes down to what you prefer in a platform game.
 
joecanada

joecanada

Member
BigPete said:
Well, ultimately the person who is assigning games to each individual reviewer should be doing so based on their personal preferences. I hate First Person Shooters for example, but love JRPGs. I would not be able to write a fair review of Call of Duty. I would be better suited to review Persona 5. Unfortunately 1 reviewer publications don't have that option so you are going to have biased reviews. This isn't necessarily a bad thing I feel you are familiar with the reviewer and have similar tastes. It just sucks that they can bring down the average a bit on a niche game that wasn't really targeted toward them in the first place.
Click to expand...

But the whole idea of metacritic is that they don't bring down the overall and calculated true average because your premise assumes there are no reviewers out there who love all these games and give them higher scores which don't align also with 90% of players. This happens every thread where people are only focused on the small part of the pie they don't like. That's the entire point of metacritic. It's a way to judge all games against each other. It's still imperfect but it's a collection and average of good and bad. A mostly well reviewed game is "maybe" better than a mostly poorly reviewed game. There can be no bad review unless someone was trolling their scores purposely to skew scores like giving GTA 1/10 and ride to hell 10/10 for lols ...
 
V

Valahart

Member
Does anyone by any chance want to trade my PS4 key for a PC key? PM me.

The reviews threw me off a little bit but there's no way I'm not playing this.
 
bumpkin

bumpkin

Member
Jonnax said:
Backed the game and will still play.

But my fears started when they posted some sample music and it sounded like a rip off of Banjo Kazooie music. Like they were given the soundtrack to the old games and told to copy it just enough to evade copyright.
Click to expand...
Same. I selected Nintendo Switch as the platform for a digital copy, but my pledge tier included a physical PC collector's edition, so I'll be playing it on Mac first. I really wish they'd update backers on *when* the Switch version will be coming.

At any rate, the reviews seem to be harping on dated game design. The thing is, that is exactly what Playtonic was going for. The whole idea behind this game was a throwback to the N64 platformers we all knew and loved. To ding it for doing what it set out to do is complete bullshit, IMHO. If Playtonic had said it was a "RARE-vival" that was going to also revolutionize the genre, then yeah, it'd deserve to be knocked. But they didn't and so it doesn't.

But I'm not saying the technical gripes are totally unfounded. I haven't played the game yet. And Unity is known for not being so hot from an optimization standpoint.
 
R

ramparter

Banned
My only concern is of the game will have unfair mini games / challenges because I saw this as negative in some reviews, hope in that case they will be patched.
 
L

lt519

Member
Whelp in for the Switch version since I backed it. Too many great games out right now to mess with mediocrity. I'll give it a go, hopefully it hits home.
 
D

Dominator

Member
Just watched some gameplay for the first time, and my lord, I didn't know I would hate the sound that comes out from the dialogue so much. That might single-handedly kill this game for me.

I actually think it looks fun from a gameplay perspective, but my poor ears...

Reviews are disappointing for me but I'll probably still get it on the Switch. Volume will be at 0.
 
C

Colonel Mustard

Banned
I'll still probably buy this. Playtonic just has to deliver a physical Switch version at price parity with the other versions. (If the other versions have price collapsed by then, the Switch launch price better reflect that or have exclusive stuff to leverage.)

It makes me sad that this whole thing sorta turned to shit. :(

Oh well. 3D Mario and the ever-present possibility of a de Blob remaster should keep me going.
 
S

Sagroth

Member
If I hadn't backed this, these review scores would probably have had me waiting for a PSN Sale.

Still looking forward to playing this after I get a little more caught up on my backlog.
 
Laieon

Laieon

Member
Those reviews are looking pretty good, happy I kickstarted this. Looking forward to next week. Not too worried about Sterlings 2/10, largely because I almost never agree with him (he's one of the few reviewers I who's name I actually know, a large part of that is because of how much I tend to disagree with him).

7/10s are still good, so should be a fun game with some faults. Even if it turns out to be ridiculously mediocre, I'm still craving a collectathon that focuses more on adventuring then platforming that I'll still probably like it.
 
R

reKon

Banned
Eh,

I'll get around to playing this. Even if I don't enjoy it as much, at least Jak and Daxter 1 is coming to PS4 some time later. That will scratch my open world platformer itch for a while.
 
Z

ZeoVGM

Banned
Some of the complaints I'm seeing seem to go against my personal tastes.

One of them complained that the minecart levels required the player to be incredibly precise. But I hear that and that's what I was hoping for. It's what I wanted from the game.

It was never going to be a day one purchase anyway just because I'm building up quite a backlog right now but some of these reviews are strange to me.
 
M

Maengun1

Member
I really want the Switch version most, but as a 90s collectathon platformer diehard there's no way I'm not playing this day 1. I'll double dip on Switch if I really like it.

Camera issues and frame rate issues etc. obviously aren't ideal, but I honestly don't really care that much either? If anything it's actually more authentically retro lol
 
D

DieNgamers

Member
Colonel Mustard said:
I'll still probably buy this. Playtonic just has to deliver a physical Switch version at price parity with the other versions. (If the other versions have price collapsed by then, the Switch launch price better reflect that or have exclusive stuff to leverage.)

It makes me sad that this whole thing sorta turned to shit. :(
Click to expand...

But it didn't! Just because some don't like it as much as others doesn't necessarily mean YK isn't for you. Those who love what 90s platformers feel like will eat YK up, just as planned.

You could say the Banjo games somehow turned to shit over the last few years if you believe the word of mouth of certain groups of players. Sure, some find it difficult to get into those games today. If you are one of them you might read the reviews first.
 
A

AJ_Wings

Member
I'm actually much more interested in it now even though I backed it & enjoyed the Toybox demo. Just have to wrap up Snake Pass which Im really enjoying (& recommend!). Lots of mixed opinions on this one.

I have to wonder why developers are still having trouble working around 3D cameras up to this point. Like even the critically acclaimed & beloved Souls games have trouble with where they can just fuck up when a boss' ass is up your face & stomping. ACG's comment about wall transperency is interesting & I wonder why more developers dont implement it especially with game involving plenty of close quarters spaces.
 
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