Yooka-Laylee (2017)

I have tried vehemently to defend this title, especially after the phenomenal "Impossible Lair", but god damn, after 13 hours and most of the worlds unlocked, I think I can't defend it anymore. This game SUCKS. Like, it's just boring. It's not enjoyable, and it's not even really understandable to progression most of the time. This may not come as a surprise, considering I also loath Banjo-Kazooie, but boy howdy is this thing a stinker through and through.

I really REALLY wanted to like it, and honestly the first two worlds are pretty okay, but once you reach the marsh and unlock the other worlds, everything just kinda crumbles and you realize how absolutely empty and devoid of life it is, which is shocking, considering how much life they put into it. It's somehow brimming with color and characters and yet missing all the charm those things should bring.

The first game stinks. I can't deny it anymore. Decent ideas, but bad execution, and in the end it just isn't even fun to play. A real shame. Hopefully if they make a 3rd title, it'll be more in line with Impossible Lair, or maybe even go a different route to switch things up, but let's hope they never revisit this style of gameplay.

It's weird, I love stuff from this era. The 3D adventure platformers. Spyro and the like. But something about this, and games like it like Mario 64, just are abysmal to me. I grew up in that era. I should love them, and yet I don't. A shame. I try so hard not to bail on things, but this is one I'm finally just gonna have to put to rest. Sorry guys.

Yooka-Laylee is part of games with gold for September, so I thought I would give it a try! I am still early in the game, but it feels like pulling teeth so far. Before diving into this post, understand that I will continue to play this game. I refuse to discard a game so early.

Characters Talking Is Extremely Annoying When you speak to any NPCs or, god forbid, you listen to a cut scene, you're hit with this awful sound. It sounds like they didn’t know what sounds to use, so they jumbled something together and made it as high-pitched as possible.

The weird sounds they choose also carry over into the menu for some reason. Instead of happing a simple beep, or nice background music, you're greeted with awkward grunts and squeaks.

You can adjust the volume in the options menu, so this is just a nitpick at the end of the day.

The Platforming feels old A lot of the animations feel off-putting like the game is fighting itself. Sometimes the character moves too slow, and other times too fast. Usually, this would not bother me, but I am starting to get a little annoyed with the awful sound effects.

I could not finish this game. Something about this game drove me away. The menu sound effects are awful, and despite the game being pretty, I could not trudge through the clunky feeling of the gameplay itself. There are so many better platformers; this game just feels like a waste of time and effort.