Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Update Makes The Final Stage Easier To Beat

It’s nice to see a lot of neat changes being added to this game. While I feel this and the first one suffer quite a bit from being just a bit too reliant on nostalgia, you can’t fault their passion for the games.

I don't know if I agree with making the Impossible Lair easier. Isn't that the entire point of the game? I felt real accomplishment beating it the true way.

@PsiSteve Which is why it's optional.

@PsiSteve At least it's all entirely optional. I do like the idea of practicing a section of the stage without having to go through every single other obstacle to get to it. Hopefully, the game will acknowledge whether you do the true Impossible Lair or not

I've just recently beat this game last week. Nice to see they've added these options for people struggling, since I don't think the Impossible Lair level is very fun to begin with. Some areas feel cheaply hard, and I couldn't think of a way to get through those areas WITHOUT sacrificing a bee. The rest of the game was fun, but they don't prepare you for the massive difficulty spike in the Impossible Lair level.

Doesn't that kind of defeat the entire purpose of calling the game "The Impossible Lair"?

Wait I'm confused. Is there a way to play the impossible lair normally? Or is it just checkpoints or no bee shield?

I don't mind toning down the difficulty, since it's really challenging, but I did have fun completing it without the checkpoints. I'd hate for that mode to be lost.

I had a good time with the game, but I HATE the impossible lair. I don’t mind a challenge, but it’s so punishing. I don’t want to have to start over every time I die, which is inevitable. This is a very welcome addition.

This is very welcome. I played almost every level( both sides) and I could not finish the impossible lair. I eventually gave up and left the game behind after putting a good amount of time into it. Now I can maybe finish it 😊

So glad they made it easier to earn the Golden Try Tonic!

@TJWorks
I disagree entirely. Each of the three sections of the Lair have definite themes, and once you figure out the mechanics of everything, it's not too bad, and certainly nothing is "cheap."

I thought the Lair was really tough my first few tries, but just like video games of old, it takes practice and elbow grease to get it down. I got to the point where I wouldn't even lose a bee in the first section or last sections at all. The second always gave me issues for some reason - I hate ice lol

I'm sure there are platforming gods out there who can do it without the bees, but I'll take doing it with only losing a couple dozen haha

Man I finally got all the bees and when I tried that level it annihilated me. Cannot wait for this update!! I was so sad I’d never be able to beat it without “git gud” or whatever the arrogant phrase is.

I'm interested in the 8-bit soundtrack!

@rallydefault I wasn't describing the entire sections as cheap. Only small areas that I couldn't beat without touching the same hazard on every attempt. The ice area in the second area you mentioned is a good example of this. Where you have to build momentum by rolling across the ice floor to duck under the spikes. But in my experience, they don't give you enough room to duck after rolling as I still touched the ice spikes during the roll phase in every attempt.

@Krambo42 Yeah this is totally a relief for people who just wanted to beat the game, the original challenge is still there for the "elite gamers" or whatever they want to call themselves.

This game was so clever and awesome. It's such a step up from the first Yooka Laylee game (which I still like alright but clearly lacks the same polish).

People should definitely check the game out. I've seen it for sale at great prices too. A stellar platformer, the idea where the levels change is so cool and well implemented.

Also this update may actually help me out because I had left off at the Impossible Lair lol. I was going to actually attempt it pre-update but had just set it aside because of so many other games I had gotten at the time. This section was just more demanding. Anyway, very cool!

This is exactly the update I was hoping for. I enjoyed the main game for its explorable 2.5D overworld and the fun twists on the levels, I'm not really interested in a brutal, punishing retro platformer, I just want something fun and unique. The Impossible Lair as it was was unfortunately more the former, even with the full Bee Shield it's extremely difficult and I found myself wishing there were Checkmates at the end of each section. I had to quit because it would just take too much time and I had too much on my backlog, but now that they've finally done this update I might go back and finish.

Defeating it is one of my proud accomplishments. They should turn off the achievement for people who beat it this new way.

The game is literally called The Impossible Lair... I don’t know why people got so upset when the game delivered its promise.

@patbacknitro18 I still feel that for determined players, the Idea that you have only really beaten the game IF you do the non-checkpoint route remains.

The other mode is just for practice – and if you use the checkpoint method you'll know in your heart you haven't really beat the 'Impossible Lair' yet.

So I don't think they have damaged the premise or the 'name' of the game with this change.

This is such good news! I love the developers! Tbh I haven't beat the impossible lair yet so hopefully the new mode will make it fun to beat instead of a chore.

Great news! I might first try the impossible lair the original way (I haven't done that yet). If that's to hard for me, its nice to know there is the checkpoint system.

@TJWorks
I gotcha.

@JayJ
I don't understand this, the whole "elite gamer" label thing you and others like to throw around. What's wrong with being able to beat a game? I don't go around crowing about it, but it's a fun accomplishment, and if an article comes around that deals with it specifically, then sure, I may mention that I beat it. I don't consider myself "elite," but I would say I'm pretty good at platformers, and the Lair was a decent challenge that took me back to older-school games.

Why has it become bad for people to be good at something?

I really don’t know what to think about this game. It’s trying to be something it’s not. And I still don’t like yooka and laylee. Terrible characters in my opinion

@Samuel-Flutter Checkmates in the lair are optional according to this, even in the Not So Impossible Lair mode. Not So Impossible + No Checkmates is existing mode, Not So Impossible + Checkmates is new, and Impossible was only available on a new save file previously.

@aSmilingMan visuals are my biggest gripe. Bland.

Oh man, 50% off if I own the original? I may look into this then...

@aSmilingMan I love tropical freeze and that’s actually a great comparison to this game and to me yooka doesn’t even come close to tropical freeze visually or gameplay wise. Other top beautiful games on switch for me are Mario odyssey,botw,Xenoblade,Luigis mansion, links awakening,dark souls has Its moments of beauty and also withcher 3. The new animal crossing is also gorgeous. Simple but gorgeous

@aSmilingMan I recently bought it physical for pretty cheap. not started it yet though but its in the backlog

@Anthracks because everyone has the exact same response time, reflexes, and ability to play games as you do right? Never once did you think that the whole point to gaming is about one's own individual enjoyment and that what you mind find entertaining others might be pushed away from or even discouraged to find if they weren't warmed prior? Yes it's called the impossible lair and rightly so it's difficult, but adding a difficulty option of any sort DOES NOT AFFECT YOU in the slightest. Your entitlement is just as bad as the Sea of Thieves playerbase attacking those who want a PVE only server to enjoy the game their way. You know what their argument is? Oh it's pirates so we're allowed to be or, if they did that the population would diminish... Because it hasn't already right? If people can't play a game they are interested in the way they want to, especially when it is solely their experience, they simply won't play at all. Gamers and developers alike should encourage players, not arbitrarily lock them behind entitled behavior and pride/ego.

Tl;Dr... get off your high horse and let others have fun.

@link3710 Thanks! It just didn't look like it from the picture.

Why are so many people missing the word optional from this statement?

@GoblinKing86 Game developers should respect their original vision. You don’t see From Software patching Dark Souls to make it more easily palatable. If a game’s premise is to be hard, I don’t think they should sacrifice that ideal. The enjoyment comes from toppling an “impossible” obstacle. I don’t have super talented reflexes nor are they required to beat the Impossible Lair. All you need is the determination to not give up. But if people want their hand held, I guess that’s cool too.

I think its a good change. I personally feel that its a major design flaw that this game has two rule sets, one for every other level where tonics and checkpoints are expected, and then for no reason other than making the finish difficult those rules were thrown out the window for the final stage.

Realise the level and games called the 'impossible lair', but they could have developed the game such that the rules and mechanics from other levels persisted to the end like most games do, while still building on the challenge. If the game is prepping players for that level, have levels prior to the final one lean into that earlier. Tropical Freeze (which is an often cited comparison to this game) for example has a bonkers final level, but its still grounded in the gameplay elements and logic from earlier stages where abilities you may have been using aren't stripped away.

This feels like an acknowledgement that something wasn't quite right consistency wise, and pretty much every review I read called this out.

Sounds nice to have this optional update. More options are always good.

My problem with the Impossible Lair was that its design is so contrary to the entire rest of the game. You play the game hoarding collectables to unlock Tonics, and being free to use checkpoints endlessly (complete with a Super Guide style "skip this hard part" option), then it suddenly throws this wall of bovine droppings at you and ruins it. No Tonics, no checkpoints, just deal with it. No thank you, say I. This update is long overdue as far as I'm concerned.

@aSmilingMan after all this yooka talk I’ve just been playing it and I remembered how disappointing it is to me. The loading times are awful and I encountered a glitch last night at the start of the impossible lair. I was climbing the vines and a spider attacked me I jumped and landed on top of a laser fire cannon thing and was stuck there I couldn’t move anywhere 🤷🏻‍♂️ Why did I buy it digitally 😪

I’m glad they put this in. I beat the game prior to this update but I’ll echo that the Impossible Lair wasn’t really fun. I know some people (the platforming elitists especially) are going to defend the final level endlessly but as someone else was saying...there are parts where you pretty much need to sacrifice bees to move forward. One other thing I noticed on my second play through I just wrapped up is that the hit boxes are incredibly wonky with some of the hazards. Case in point-the shifting buzzsaws in the penultimate part of the lair as you ride the escalator. If even the slightest pixel of Yooka’s foot grazes one even after it appears you passed the buzz saw...there’s one of your (probably few at that point) bees gone. It’s hard for the sake of being hard. I know some will say “iT wAs PaRt oF tHe TiTle” but that’s still no excuse for having it be poorly designed nor is it an excuse for an abrupt difficulty spike that the game in no way properly prepares you for.

That said, the rest of the game is excellent and I can more easily recommend it thanks to those AMAZING chip tunes and the broken final level being tweaked.

@Stuffgamer1 I pretty much played the game “naked” so to speak. I didn’t really screw with the tonics and, even after beating the game twice, really don’t think the game prepares you for the Impossible Lair. It’s like playing Super Mario World and then jumping right into one of the stupidly hard kaizo rom hacks people have been crapping out for a decade or so.

@Anthracks because the eponymous level in question isn’t well designed. At all. It would be one thing if it was a well designed final challenge (like Land of the Livid Dead from Rayman Origins) but as it stands it’s as if someone just made a BS hack of the game and someone at Playtonic liked it enough to include in the final product.