Yooka-Replaylee

A soulless re-imagination of a beautiful game.... this is not how you honor something this is how you spit on something. Broken loop animations, slop intro and nothing to work for the fools just out right give you all the moves and they removed the quills leaving Trowzer an empty character. Yes the graphics look better but so what!? the original looks absolutely fine maxed out... Why was this made?

Yooka-Replaylee feels like Banjo-Kazooie brought into the modern era. It has the same sense of adventure and collectathon exploration, but with beautiful, vivid graphics, huge draw distances, comfortable controls, and plenty of quality-of-life improvements. More than anything, it reminded me how much I love games where I can explore every nook and cranny and simply see where my curiosity takes me. The five worlds are huge and wonderfully themed, from tropical ruins and snowy landscapes to a gloomy forest, casino, and fantastical space setting. The music is catchy and fun, the environments are full of color and personality, and I loved reaching a high vantage point, spotting something interesting in the distance, and thinking, "What's over there?" Then I could just go find out. There's a surprising amount to do along the way: mine cart rides, a recurring retro-style arcade game, races, mini-bosses, timed challenges, collectibles, power-ups, and different abilities to play around with. My favorite power-up lets you fly around the environment! Each area also has its own unique transformation, such as becoming a snowplow in the ice world or a pirate ship in the space world. The variety makes each place feel like a giant virtual theme park filled with different attractions. I spent around two hours in each world and regularly lost track of time. It was incredibly satisfying to gradually learn the layout, reach all the places I'd spotted in the distance, and naturally find most of the collectibles. I'd actually get a little sad when I had explored nearly everything because I knew it was time to move on and I didn't want to leave. The very easy difficulty was a strength for me. Yooka-Replaylee is incredibly relaxing and forgiving, but I never found it boring. I was still jumping, gliding, flying, exploring, racing, fighting enemies, and hunting for Pagies. There was just very little stress or punishment interrupting the adventure. Despite how large the worlds are, I also never felt lost. I also appreciated that the game never made me feel like I needed 100% completion. I explored as thoroughly as I wanted, collected whatever caught my eye, usually did a few once-overs, and moved on when I'd had my fill. What probably says the most about my experience is that I wasn't playing because I wanted to get through the game. I kept playing because I couldn't wait to spend an evening adventuring in the next world. Yooka-Replaylee is a relaxing, comfortable, cozy adventure in the same family as A Hat in Time, Tinykin, Little Gator Game, and Smushi Come Home. If you're a fan of those games and enjoy this genre, you're going to love Yooka-Replaylee!

I haven't played the original game, so I can't say which improvements this poses over it. That being said, from what I've played, I had an awesome time. The gameplay's really fun (except a couple frustrating minigames, I admit), the art style and character designs is awesome, the dialogue is funny, etc. I loved hunting the collectibles and exploring the diverse worlds the game has to offer. Really, I just wish it was slightly longer. It took me about a week to 100% everything, achievements included. Note that you don't actually need all the Pagies to finish the game; I just decided to get them anyway because that's just how much fun I was having. I think I'll try Impossible Lair next. I want to see more of Yooka and Laylee.

Softlocked on the map 4 times in the first two hours, had to alt-f4 every time. Playtonic is aware of the bug but doesn't seem to actually want to fix it, because it's been around for months.

Peak game, big difficulty spike near the end. Great sountrack and level design. Definitly play this over the original. I had a couple hickups with crashes as well usuially having the frames die but it wasn't as bad as other games I've played.

dahora demais

If you like old school 3d platformers you will like this game. It feels great to play and it has a ton of collectibles to pick up and some progression systems. It's not doing anything too new, but what it does do, it does well. I was surprised by the graphics. They really look colorful and amazing. I'm playing it on a steam controller and it's awesome.