Yooka-Laylee

I think a lot of the negative reviews of this game are blinded by nostalgia, honestly. While it may not fill you with as much wonder and excitement as earlier Rare titles, that probably has a lot to do with not being 10 anymore.
Speaking as someone who first played the Banjo-Kazooie series and Conker's Bad Fur Day in the mid-2000s rather than as I child, I think the gameplay and levels are a big improvement over those games.
For those unfamiliar with these games, the basic idea is that you explore a number of open worlds to find collectibles, which often involved completing specific puzzles and challenges. Doing this will unlock new worlds, and new abilities to add to your moveset.
Worlds are surprisingly large with varied environments, and you unlock new worlds and abilities at a steady rate. Those new abilities also give you reason to return to earlier areas to complete tasks and visit areas you couldn't get to before.
One area where the game definitely drops the ball however is in the worldbuilding. The levels are fun and look great, but there is no context to anything you do in them beyond collecting the stuff. Other games in this genre, for example Conker's Bad Fur Day or more recently A Hat In Time, give each world self-contained stories and characters that help to keep things fresh. Yooka-Laylee does have a few world-specific characters, but mostly you're tracking down the same NPCs who ask you to do the same kind of task in each world. It doesn't affect the moment-to-moment gameplay at all, but it definitely feels like a waste of the whole 'going into book worlds' framing device.
Another complaint is that a few challenge and puzzle types are repeated a bit too often, but there is so much to do in each level that you can usually get enough collectibles out of a world without doing the challenges you don't like.
In conclusion, if, like me, you are an adult who enjoyed the 3D platforming genre back in the day, Yooka-Laylee is very effective at bringing the genre into the 21st century. It is its own game however, so don't expect too much nostalgia here.
If you are looking to buy something for a child, this is mostly a fun, easy to understand and play game with a substantial amount of content, though there are the occasional difficulty spikes that might cause frustration.

Sure, it's not quite Banjo Kazooie, but will anything ever be?
Fun characters, bad jokes, solid platforming, and a perfectly horrible camera.
If you like early 3D platformers, you'll probably enjoy it.

Whereas this game's fanbase is a cancer, this is still an excellent ghame. Try not to listen to the people calling it overrated garbage. The small but vocal amount of people calling the the game overrated were told by others that it was the best game ever made, and when it did not meet those expectations, they justifiably thought it was overrated. This may be the best game ever to many, but not all. No matter what however, calling the game simply 'bad' instead of 'not perfect' or 'not my thing' would be an outright lie. Gameplay is tight and very creative, playing into the plot perfectly. I will not reveal any spoilers about this game since it is best to go in completely blind. If you are even somewhat interested in the genre or intrigued by the screenshots, buy this game. You will not regret it.

Fantastic game to play. Bosses frustrating. May have thrown a controller towards sofa in frustration. it may have bounced and hit girlfriends hip. I may be in trouble for this.
Overall though, expectations were high. Will be buying number two. 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.

Information
Yooka-Laylee ist ein liebevoll gestaltetes Jump-'n'-Run-Computerspiel, das von Playtonic Games entwickelt wurde.
Gameplay
In Yooka-Laylee übernimmst du die Kontrolle über Yooka (der grüne Typ) und Laylee (die Sprüche klopfende Fledermaus mit der großen Nase), die sich mit Zungenpeitsche und Sonarstrahl springend, hüpfend und fliegend ihren Weg durch viele farbenfrohe Scgauplätze voller bizarrer Charaktere und gewaltiger Bosse freikämpfen. Deine Aufgabe besteht darin, das du alle alle magischen Pagies (Buchseiten) sammelst, um die Welten um dich herum freizuschalten, sie zu vergrößern und dann ihre Magie zu einzusetzen, um den hinterhältigen Plan des fiesen Industriemagnaten Capital B zu vereiteln, der alle Bücher dieser Welt aufsaugen und in puren Profit verwandeln will.
Pro
+ kann mit Tastatur/Maus und Controller gespielt werden, beide Varianten funktionieren super
+ Grafik ist stimmig und bunt
+ Sound passt gut in das Spiel
+ Spiel erinnert an frühere Zeiten, wo der Spaß an erster Stelle stand und nicht wie realistisch das ganze auf einen wirkt
+ finden und Verdienen von Sammelobjekten fühlt sich fast immer wie eine Belohnung an
+ angenehm fordernde Bosskämpfe
+ kompromisslos albernes Gequäke
+ viele selbstironische Gags
+ stimmungsvoll variierender Soundtrack voller Ohrwürmer
+ Errungenschaften und Trading Cards
Kontra
- schlecht platzierte Speicherpunkte, hätte besser gelöst werden können
- Story hält sich etwas zu sehr im Hintergrund
- Kamera funkt vor allem in engen Räumen dazwischen
Fazit
In Yooka-Laylee erwartet dich ein riesiger nostalgischer Hüpfmarathon mit toll eingebundenen Fähigkeiten und Rätseln, der allerdings ein wenig vom fehlenden Feinschliff getrübt wird und nicht ganz an die Banjo Kazooie Reihe ran kommt.
Information
Yooka-Laylee is a lovingly designed platforming computer game developed by Playtonic Games.
Gameplay
Yooka-Laylee is a platform game played from a third-person perspective. The gameplay is similar to that of games in the Banjo-Kazooie and Chameleon Twist series. The player controls two characters that work together to explore their environment, collect items, solve puzzles and defeat enemies. The playable characters are Yooka, a male chameleon and Laylee, a female bat. During their adventures, Yooka and Laylee explore worlds contained within magical books and complete challenges to collect "Pagies": golden book pages that act as the main currency in the game. Players can use their Pagies to either unlock new worlds or expand those which have already been unlocked.
Yooka and Laylee can learn a variety of abilities, including "sonar blasting", "tongue whipping", "sky soaring", eating berries for temporary powers such as fire breath, and a "fart bubble" for breathing underwater. Most of these abilities use a power meter that is filled by collecting butterflies (which can be eaten instead to restore health). Each new ability is earned by collecting enough quills to purchase them from Trowzer, a snake salesman who wears pants. Collectibles by the name of Mollycools are given to Dr. Puzz, an octopus scientist, in order to give Yooka and Laylee various transformations that grant them exclusive abilities. Play Tonics are RPG-style ability modifiers that are purchased from Vendi, a living vending machine, and equipped to modify or enhance players' ability stats. Also found in the levels are Ghost Writers, collectible characters who provide various challenges like catching or fighting them, and Play Tokens, which are used to play the secret arcade games that are found once per level, hosted by a low-polygon tyrannosaurus rex named Rextro Sixtyfourus. There are several "quiz show challenges", similar to the Banjo-Kazooie games. Furthermore, there is another character named Kartos, a sentient mine cart who allows "mine cart" sequences, similar to those of Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64.
Pro
+ can be played with keyboard / mouse and controller, both variants work great
+ Graphics are consistent and colorful
+ Sound fits in well with the game
+ The game is reminiscent of times gone by, when fun was paramount and not how realistic it all seems to you
+ Finding and earning collectibles almost always feels like a reward
+ pleasantly demanding boss fights
+ uncompromisingly silly squeak
+ many self-deprecating gags
+ moody soundtrack full of catchy tunes
+ Achievements and trading cards
Contra
- badly placed save points, could have been solved better
- Story is a little too much in the background
- Camera interferes especially in tight spaces
Conclusion
In Yooka-Laylee you can expect a huge nostalgic jumping marathon with great integrated skills and puzzles, which is, however, tarnished a little by the lack of fine-tuning and does not quite reach the Banjo Kazooie series.

Super fun game, a lot of adult humor hidden in which is hilarious. It is surprisingly challenging.

This is Banjo-Kazooie with extra steps... I'm in love