Topic: Yooka-Laylee

I was confused why there was a ‘not so impossible lair’ to go with the ‘impossible lair’.

Seems they added the not so impossible lair afterwards, to add checkpoints and stuff. Whilst they kept the impossible lair with no checkpoints.

Anywho, loving this game so far. About 8 chapters in and I’ve just spent the last hour or so messing about with the graphic tonics lol. I completed the 2nd level in GB colour and resolution mode which was just bizarre lol.

Seems slower FPS with some of them? Is this intentional? Like, is black and white movie tonic set to a 24-FPS instead? Or is it unintentional and just the normal graphics run at 60-FPS?

Wait, they added checkpoints to the impossible lair? Was that a patch or something? I played/beat it like right at release, and I failed the impossible lair a few times and I don't remember any checkpoints.

@rallydefault yeah. Checkpoints have been added. It’s called the ‘Not So Impossible Lair’.

And all I can say after today’s gaming is...

WOW!

Currently playing through SMB3, DKC2 and the Impossible Lair for the first time over the last few days and Impossible Lair is the best of the three. It’s DKC on crack. Seriously, how is this game only scoring 7.9 with Nintendo Life’s users? It’s insanely good. Best game I have played so far on Switch.

Got 18 bees so far I think. Only played 11 chapters but I’ve been replaying them loads in different tonics trying to get all 5 coins. Some genius levels.

Halfway through each game and my early thoughts are;

1: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
2: Donkey Kong Country 2
3: Super Mario Bros 3

Ps, Yooka has now done Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country. For their next game I’d love for them to do a Metroidvania. Bring it on.

@Oswinner If they are doing old Rare games then they would probably skip Metroidvania since they never did one back in the day. There's Diddy Kong Raching's mascot racer, Perfect Dark/Goldeneye's FPS, Killer Instinct's fighting and Battletaods's beat 'em up left from their notable games.

Personally I'm not sure what I'd like to see them do with Yooka Laylee next. I didn't like the first one as much as I wanted to so maybe they give the 3D collectathon another try to take it up a level.

@jump a Diddy Kong racer would be quite cool. You could have Capital B as the big bad heavyweight, Laylee would be ultra lightweight and Yooka could be the middleweight. I’d love to race as Kartos lol. Then you’ve got Rextro. Could have races where Honey slows you down and the power ups come in Tonics. Maybe halfway through the race someone shoots a game boy colour/res tonic and you have to race in game boy style.

However, I know Rare didn’t create a Metroidvania but after playing Hollow Knight and Ori, I would love it if they did a big wide open 2D world with the platforming elements from Impossible Lair. Think it would be splendiferous.

The Impossible Lair’s loading times are so annoying, I just want to play a quick level or two. Argh!

@jump haha. Which levels are you playing? I’m up to 40/48 bees atm. Favourite level?

@Oswinner Hmm...Alot of them aren't fresh in my head as I played it properly a year or so ago but I remember really liking the the sticky factory level. What's yours?

@jump think that may be Sawblade Evade - Stuck? Very DKC2. Good level.

I really like the normal Sawblade Evade and enjoy the Production Path and Production Path - Panic combo.

@Oswinner I hated (in a good way) Panic Production Path, I've not even completed it properly as I found the secret exit mid way through. I really need to try it again soon if I want to 100%.

@jump funnily enough about an hour ago I just got the last coin on that level. Playing through with speed tonics is good fun on that level.

I haven’t defeated Capital B in the lair yet. However, I’ve currently got 43/48 bees and 171/200 coins. Think I’ll leave the lair until I get all bees and coins. I’m not normally a completionist (only got 101/140 pagies in Yooka-Laylee) but it just feels right to collect them all in this game before taking on the lair, especially the bees.

@Oswinner You got alot further in Yooka Laylee than I did, I gave up about half way through. What's annoying is I was a kickstarter backer so I could have seen myself in the end game credits if I did complete it.

Since Y-L and the Impossible Lair was pretty successful, do you guys think we'll get a sequel? Or will they do a completely different game, running the risk of poor sales?

@dionysos283 It was talked about at the top of the page already ;p

I'm not sure where they go next. Given how proflic Rare were back in the game they could be jumping to any number of genres if they wanted to. A beat 'em up or kart racer are possible if it's to mirror the success of their old games like Battletoads or Diddy Kong Racing which Yooka Laylee could fit into. I'm in two minds if I want them to do a 3D platformer again, I wasn't that keen on the first one but maybe it's a chance for them to get it right/better this time, perhaps a focus on platforming and action more so than collecting is the way forward.

Also their next aim seems to becoming a publisher more so than just a developer. Demon Turf which they are releasing looks really cool.

@jump have you played at launch on PlayStation/other or have you tried it after switch launch/patches on other systems.
I heard the game played fairly bad at launch but I had a really good time on Switch as long as what you wanted was a N64 style collectaton.

@Balta666 The first game? Yeah I played it after it launched and was a fan of Banjo, Mario 64 etc back in the day but I still didn't love it. The first level was good but I didn't enjoy the others, not bad and better than some other throwbacks collectathons but it didn't meet my (too high) expectations.

I think Yooka-Laylee suffered from expectations. I only found the game in Jan/Feb and had zero expectations after reading loads of reviews slating it. As a massive Banjo/90s 3D platforming fan I was pleasantly surprised and it was better than the reviews gave it credit for.

By contrast, A Hat in Time got great reviews around the same time. Most saying it was better than Yooka. So I’ve been left feeling disappointed by it as I was expecting it to be better than Yooka and it just isn’t (in my opinion). I feel like A Hat in Time benefitted in the reviews of that era from Yooka not living up to Banjo expectations.

I have Yooka down as a 7 or 8/10 (4* game) and Impossible Lair as a 9 or 10/10 (5* game).

@Oswinner
The first Yooka definitely did suffer from expectations, but they really dropped the ball when it came to some technical stuff that makes a 3D platformer fun. The camera (even with the fixes) just wasn't up to snuff, the hit detection was unintuitive, lots of the moves and therefore platforming was floaty, and I have no idea how the flight controls made it into the final version of the game. If they would have fixed even the flight stuff before launching I probably would have enjoyed the game much more.

They still created a charming world, great characters, all the trappings. But the technical stuff just limited my enjoyment so much.

Impossible Lair fixed most of those gripes.

@rallydefault I had no problem with the camera or hit detection. Probably because I played Super Mario 64 right before, I was actually happy with Yooka’s camera. Characters didn’t seem floaty to me either, A Hat in Time meanwhile...

I do agree with the flight controls. Although I got used to them near the end, they weren’t the best...