Video: Yooka-Replaylee Dev Demo Highlights "New Features And More Changes"

Why not make a new game instead of remastering a game that’s only seven years old? Don’t understand the remaster thought process these days.

@awp69 Making a new game instead is definitely the ideal, but in Yooka's case I kind of get it. That title wasn't exactly a perfect 10 - a very flawed product that fell short in its effort to be a Banjo love-letter, but still had some potential that could be improved on. Feels more worthwhile to remake a game that sucks rather than remake one that's already good.

I loved impossible lair, I remember feeling guilty getting it for $4 because it was so well done. It was a game I really didn't want to finish because I didn't want it to end.

The first game never clicked with me. I got like 5 hours in, which I think is a reasonable amount of time and just kind of walked away, I know I won't be picking up the remaster. Please make more impossible lair games!

Been loving all the changes they're making to this fun, but very flawed game, and I hope this'll become the great Banjo love-letter it was meant to be ^_^

Getting all moves from the start is something I'm 50/50 on though...

On one hand it'll avoid potential problems for newcomers with stuff like the security camera section in the 1st world and not knowing that it requires an ability from later in the game, but how are they gonna balance stuff like getting the flight ability this early?

It also removes one of the big nice things of entering a new world: getting new moves to play with.

Hmm... now that I think about it, they could do it like Banjo-Kazooie did and make it tied to specific pads in the worlds, so you can't activate whenever you want and cheese everything.

@obijuankanoobie wow I love video games because I'm the exact opposite. I thought impossible layer was awful (floaty controls/bland level design) and thought this had potential. I still think it is too soon for a remaster but whatever, not my circus.

@awp69 they are making a new game. They've confirmed this "helps set foundations" for other things they're working on.

I imagine just like the Metroid prime remaster, they're using this project to iron out the base formula (controls, physics, camera) for their next game.

I'm just looking at the dismal sales of the Braid remaster as not boding well for this...

I know I recently made a comment about how I'm getting burned out on indie 3D platformers and won't be buying as many of them moving forward, as they often lack the standard of quality I'm looking for. But this is an exception. I'm really, really excited for Yooka-Replaylee. I think this is shaping up to be something truly special.

@awp69 I hear a lot of people say, "Good games don't need remakes as much as games that didn't quite live up to their potential do," so that's exactly what the devs are doing here. They know people were disappointed when this game came out originally, but they really believe in the brand they created and want to change people's hearts by taking another crack at it. I understand why this would rub some people the wrong way, and I don't necessarily blame them. I get why you wouldn't want to pay a second time for an enhanced version of a game you can already play on current-gen hardware that was just kind of middling to begin with. But I have a lot of respect for the developers for saying, "Hey, we know we made some mistakes, but we've learned a lot since then, and we want to set things right." I don't think they're doing this just to be Yooka-Layzee.

I do appreciate starting with the moves from the beginning. I think the gliding is the reason I didn't dislike the game, but that's not unlocked until world 2. Going across large distances is the single most fun part of the game, so having more of that sooner is for the best.

That being said, it is still really annoying that they've not even made a 2nd 3D game in this series that exists entirely because of nostalgia for 3D platformers. I understand game dev isn't as simple as it was during Rare's peak, but the length of time between Yooka Laylee and now is almost as long as the entire length of time Rare made first party Nintendo games (so DKC1 through Star Fox Adventures).

When was it confirmed for Switch? It was confirmed for Nintendo... not Switch

@kkslider5552000 8 years separating DKC and SFA is absolutely insane to think about

This really just seems like a project that can't possibly succeed honestly. The game itself has a pretty mid at best reception and is routinely on sale for dirt cheap, and it's pretty unlikely a remaster alone will be enough to fix all the problems the game has.

Just feels like a project doomed to inevitably flop when people balk at buying a mediocre game for the second time just for it to look slightly different (and honestly, I think it looks worse than the original but that's neither here nor there). This whole project just seems like a lazy, poorly thought out cash-in that's likely to backfire.

Eh.
Who was asking for this really?
Should have taken feedback on board to make a much better sequel.

@Paper_Yoshi

Most of the things you mentioned they're already doing. Filling the levels with more collectibles, challenges and enemies, snow now reacts to you walking through it and a bunch of other small things to make the levels less empty and lifeless.
(I do wish they'd show off more then just the snow level, but it was the most empty and lifeless level in the game, so I get why that one gets shown off so much)

A bunch of QoL improvements too like a map and fast travel system and a bunch of gameplay flow improvements. From what we can tell, they're going all out on polishing the game as much as possible.

Fixing load times is gonna be the difficult one, the Switch is not good when it comes to loading times. Nintendo themselves are wizards at optimizing, but you can tell with 3rd party games that this part of the Switch is just plain weak.

But considering the graphical enhancements and the original game struggling on Switch, I really think this remaster is gonna be a Switch 2 game and the few leaked specs we have do point to the Switch 2 having wayyy better hardware in terms of loading power.
Them announcing the game for all platforms and just saying "Nintendo" instead of Switch, also hints at this.

Disappointingly they didn’t mention the one thing I want to hear about: the map screen. The levels were so large and sprawling that it was really difficult to find my way back to a character that had given me a task to complete. Mario Odyssey really spoiled me in that regard.

For me, this remaster is great. I loved Impossible Lair, but never got into this one because I didn't hear many good things about it. But after Impossible Lair, I actually felt like playing it many times, so this announcement was fantastic.
I'll be getting it day one if it reviews well.

@BulkSlash They showed it off in the video @ 8:31. Did you not watch it?

@LXP8 No, there’s no video in the article for me. Must be a browser thing.

Well, cost matters. What will we be asked to pay, I wonder for a replay.

I think they should have released a sequel with the new engine first. Then surprise dropped an already finished remake with this updated engine soon thereafter. I loved the game but there’s no way I’m buying this until it’s like 10-15$.

It looks like every game is trying to pull off a No man's sky nowadays, even the infamous YIIK: A Postmodern RPG just released its own massive update.

Going back to Yooka layle, I hope they improve the placement of the feathers, unlike Banjo Kazooie, they weren't placed to guide the player through the levels.

We need better camera, better controls, and less difficulty on certain things, like minecart, mini-games, bosses...
I did 100% the original game, but not a second time, event if I loved it, and I want to play this one too (but it's surprising having a remake so soon...).

@awp69 Because they already have the bones of a good game in place.

I didn't think they would be changing the game THIS much. It's definitely getting my interest.

What I'd really like to know is what their plans are for the people that supported the original Yooka-Laylee. If you already bought the original or were one of its Kick starter backer you basically have to buy Replayee to get the game YL was supposed to be.

@awp69 Lemme guess, you hate stuff like this, but don't mind TLOU2 getting a "remaster"

@mikegamer No, that was even more ridiculous.

@awp69 spot on, the remake nobody asked for

It looks great, but the original looked great too so I don't know if that really says anything.

I liked Yooka-Laylee mostly, but there were a lot of bad decisions localized within the Casino level (Rextro's game was broken, the helicopter barely worked, the minecart was impossible, what was up with that boss, etc.) and the final boss so unless those are fixed I'd really hesitate to play a remake.

Didn't Yooka-Laylee come out like two years ago?

@Gryffin Nope. The latest game was released five years ago.

@awp69 Because they weren't happy with the original, and they know it has potential, so they want to fix it before they commit to a third game in the franchise. Imagine releasing something like Banjo-Kazooie, then getting the spiritual successor so wrong that die hard fans denounce the studio; not only was this happening, but I can imagine it was disheartening for all the hard work they'd poured into that game.

And this isn't the typical remaster, this is a studio admitting they could have done better and wanting to prove it, something almost unheard of an industry that wants to move onto the next project so fast it leaves little room for criticism, and certainly zero room for any sort of redo. I'm glad this studio is doing well enough to be able to do this kind of thing, makes me very excited for the future!

I hope they tweak the levels a bit, the biggest problem I had with the original was the amount of dead air in the levels, it would take nearly 10 minutes getting from one side to the other.

I am looking forward to it and enjoyed the first game but come on. Show us some footage of the other worlds too. We saw that world in the last update. 😄

@Gryffin No. The original 'Yooka Laylee' came out in 2017 and the 2D sequel 'Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair' came out in 2019.

I think this remake is targeting people like me that were so close to getting the original but put off by mixed reviews. I’ve certainly got my eye on this. If it reviews well I’ve take the plunge.

Hopefully these changes will be enough to make the game enjoyable for those, who did not like it and more enjoyable to those, who liked it. I had a good time with the original and got the platinum trophy.

I will avoid most if not all remasters and remakes from now on though.

Why did they wash out the color temp so much? It really affects the atmosphere, especially in this environment.
https://youtu.be/NavOiYwfE0Q?si=6PYawVjnv2kDZCn0
I came home and watched this just to be sure
Woof.

The game looks very tedious in the video in the part where they shoot rocks or seeds at enemies and objects.