Yooka-Laylee

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair follows on from its first game in different formats and dimensions where we must once again defeat the fearsome Captain B. At this point we have the option of saving the 48 bees lost in the 20 chapters plus the open world outside them to serve as a shield during this long and arduous battle or going it alone with the determination that despite there being no save points or tonics to save you, you will persist until the end. More challenging than its predecessor, but still nostalgic for the old games like Donkey Kong that have held our hands so much in the past. And yes, Laylee is still as annoying as in the first game (someone should change this character's voice actor...)

I'm sure this game has its flaws, but I can't see them. There's this giant nostalgiaboner that keeps getting in the way.
It gives off Tropical Freeze vibes.
That's the best kind of vibe possible.
I’m a simple man. I see a game with a soundtrack from David Wise, I buy it.
I've always looked at Impossible Lair as "DKC Tropical Freeze: Budget Edition". It's a fantastic game that apes DKCR/Tropical Freeze's style big time, but does that kind of gameplay like 80% as well for a fraction of the price. It’s nothing like the original YL, which was a Banjo-Kazooie clone. The DKC: Tropical Freeze inspiration is evident throughout, from level design, to move set and controls, to soundtrack. But it also has a 3D over world which is almost another game itself. The soundtrack in particular is amazing, which features both Grant Kirkhope and David Wise, and Playtonic’s staff composers, Dan Murdoch and Matt Griffin, successfully mimicking the style of those two. It’s just all around fantastic.
Controls and gameplay are pristine. Responsive, tons of tight platforming where you are always completely in control, plenty of momentum based moves where you roll off edges and jump (just like DKC), we got enemies to bounce off, ropes, swimming, environmental hazards, you name it. Game feels fantastic to play. Level design is top notch. Large and long levels with plenty of secrets. Several stages have hidden exits, along with 5 hidden coins. These were a joy to hunt down, I found nearly all of them by being observant and noticing small clues in the levels (barely out of reach areas, hidden walls, etc). There are 40 levels, and they maintain a very high level of quality throughout.
MUSIC IS AMAZING. Do you like the music of Donkey Kong Country? David Wise is back with some very excellent songs that will stay in your head long after you put the controller down. I cannot stress how much the music elevates an already great game, it creates a perfect mood that remains extremely "chill" even during very challenging and intense segments. Also, go into the settings, under "Sound", you can swap out the music in each stage for an 8-bit remix (with some of them weirdly sounding even better than the original arrangements!)
Again this is very comparable to the DKC games, so this game won't be a walk in the park. However the levels are so delightfully challenging, there are also no lives, so the only downside to dying in a stage is losing all the Quills/Coins you've collected since your last checkpoint. There are also Tonics that you can equip to make the game easier (or harder) to your liking, so you can really adjust the game to hit your sweet spot. For example, on stages I already completed where I wanted to look for any off the collectible coins I missed, I equipped a tonic that let's me keep Coins even if I die before hitting my next checkpoint. Made it extremely stress-free to go back and explore, and there are dozens and dozens of tonics you can mix and match.
The overworld is practically a game in and of itself. While it is certainly not as deep as a top down 2D Zelda game, that is the closest thing I can compare it to. You don't earn any extra powerups or abilities in the overworld, however by exploring and fulfilling small tasks you will open up and unlock the more of it, including additional stages, Tonics, hidden bees, and more. It also provides a great break from the action, I loved getting into a new area and spending the next 10 -15 minutes checking out every nook and cranny, trying to piece together clues and context to find all the secrets.
I cannot stress how well designed the levels are in a way that perfectly compliments gameplay to create a delightful challenge, I was actually bummed that I was coming to the end. The impossible lair did f**king pissed me off for a week or so when I finally sat and got serious enough to beat it. Bits can be very frustrating, but generally fair. Great game overall, very nostalgic and just a fantastic game to play. Yeah I may have thrown a controller towards the sofa in frustration once or twice. Yeah, it may have bounced and hit my wife’s hip. Yeah, I may still be in trouble for this. Overall though, expectations were high. Challenges were awesome and to be fair its all the little things that make this game as good as it is. The dialogue is just funny, and very tongue in cheek. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes new games, old games, board games, card games, game games...... you name it, you'll like Yooka-Laylee.
10/10

Overall more good than bad, however designing a final boss that takes ~30 minutes to complete that is extremely difficult with with no checkpoints is just poor game design. I understand that it's called the Impossible Lair for a reason, but don't have a sudden extreme difficulty spike at the very end; try to progressively build to that throughout the game. The rest of the game is pretty good and would recommend playing if 2.5D platformers are your jam. 15 hours for a sale price of $3 is worth it - you get 40 levels with a bunch of overworld puzzles to solve as well. Overall the developers did a good job with about 95% of this game and that alone warrants the thumbs up.

Game's okay.... gameplay is plenty fun..... but variety and engagement factor is pretty low after you grind a bit of chapters, first time variants come up is something really cool... but again it gets stomped below all the rest and how repetitive it gets.
To add a sting, difficultly for some very specific things get insanely ramped up (nothing impossible no worries, but enough to make it frustrating). And sadly... there are some specific parts of the game (very few) that are badly designed, to the point that it is clear what you should do but the timing is badly coded so it doesn't really work as intended
In any case, it is still fun for a while and an okay buy

Another game by Rare / Ultimate , the people behind legendary games: Banjo Kazooie, Goldeneye, Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini, DK 64, Jetpac, atic atac and Donkey Kong Country to name a few classics.
This one belongs in there - not the greatest of the set , but worthy enough alongside them.
The soundtrack is outstanding.
It's a side scrolling platformer of the SNES generation , but modernised.
Googly eyes on everything
Collectables
Exploration
Unlockables
Craftmanship
British banter
9/10 would pay Trowser Snake to get past a paywall again.

Yes, this is a good game and you surely will enjoy it if you like platformers like crash bandicoot. But, there are several flaws that are annoying. Sometimes the level design is off and you don't know if you are exploring a secret part of the level or if you are continuing and cannot return once you progress except for restarting the level. Often tonics you unlock are useless and you probably will play the whole game with as few of them as possible due to the quill tradeoff you don't want to suffer.

The level transformations are cool and I really like the artstyle, but like the title of this game, even with the full army of beeguards it is impossible to beat the final level, and I don't feel like this game is worth the effort to keep trying again. It was fun right up to the end. unfortunately I will miss the ending.

Pain Points: Very generic level theming, visual design in general that felt like B grade (I just got tired of playing "new" levels), controls *almost* felt great but you retain momentum a bit too much in certain areas (cannon chaining level, parts of the Impossible Lair), the Impossible Lair doesn't scale properly in difficulty so chapter 2 is by far the hardest (easier escape sequence was fine though), Tonic system felt very much tacked on (them being useless in the final level made the strong ones pointless to collect), combat is janky with airborne collisions leading to me taking damage or getting away with a hit for reason I couldn't describe
Overall its pretty solid, but its lacking in charm and isn't mechanically tight enough to justify that. I enjoyed the final level, it is disproprtionately hard though. I'm fine with the difficulty, but the game isn't interesting or solid enough for me to try and hone my skill in perfecting the titural Impossible Lair. Worth on sale, I got it for like 3 bucks, but it made me want to try the games this was inspired by, because they look better and might very well play better too. I had heard extremely high praise of this game, I was disappointed to an extent, but after the first bit I warmed up and stuck out until final completion