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Thursday, December 14, 2017

Well, Would You Look At That? Yooka-Laylee Released on the Switch!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Looks like the Switch ditched the bad stigma of eight months ago.

Remember our article for Yooka-Laylee's release on the non-Nintendo consoles? We trotted out the mediocre Metacritic critic reviews, and the poor user reviews.

Then, at the end in the footer, I wrote...
Ludwig believes that the Nintendo Switch version will just conveniently never exist and that its cancellation is upcoming.”

Turns out that Yooka-Laylee on the Nintendo Switch wasn't cancelled. It was just delayed for a long time. It looks like that delay went into it being better, or Nintendo reviewers/fans really like Yooka-Laylee more than fans of other consoles:

Yooka-Laylee Metacritic Nintendo Switch score rating December 14 release
80 critic score, and 9.6 user score on Metacritic? The sample size is tiny, but it's obviously not greeted with a score of haters like before.

According to Playtonic Games, the Nintendo Switch version of the game has been fully optimised for the console, and has inherited a lot of updates that the other versions have gotten since the release. Plus, it'll be the only way to portably play Yooka-Laylee.

Playtonic Games Yooka-Laylee website released on Steam GOG.com Xbox One PlayStation 4 store
...Someone tell Playtonic to update their website because the Nintendo Switch version is out.

Like the other consoles in terms of pricing, Yooka-Laylee is available as a digital download for $40 on the Nintendo eShop. Do we recommend it? Well...

RawkHawk2010 is a backer to the original Kickstarter (so he's in the credits somewhere), and he has finally gotten his Switch code. In fact, he got it a few days before December 14, so he got it “early” if you discount the whole eight month delay thing.

Rawk does plan to play Yooka-Laylee “eventually.” (That means no giving away his code.) He says he doesn't want to ruin the streak of consistently fantastic games he has experienced for the year* with a mediocre product like Yooka-Laylee. Really, the whole problem now with Yooka-Laylee just coming out on the Nintendo Switch is that it is completely outclassed by Super Mario Odyssey. That's not an original thought from me. EVERYONE has thought that before. ...Which probably means that Yooka-Laylee is a knowingly inferior product to EVERYONE who would otherwise buy it.

Here's something to look forward to: When Rawk does play it, we are planning for a collaboration article between Rawk (Nintendo Switch version of Yooka-Laylee) and Kamek (Xbox One version of Yooka-Laylee) to review the game. That'll be unprecedented on this site and will either be beautiful or a total disaster. Hopefully, it'll at least be better than Yooka-Laylee.

...And, just like the Nintendo Switch version of Yooka-Laylee, hopefully we won't end up cancelling that announcement!


When Rawk says eventually, he means whenever the Nintendo Switch has a game drought. That has to happen eventually, right? ...Right? Anyway, does anyone reading this believe that Yooka-Laylee is worth your time investment during a non-drought gaming period? If so, go ahead and comment in the comments section! Also, do you think that whatever enhancements Playtonic added to the Switch version are worth its (as-of-publishing) good review scores, or were the original versions dragged down because of external, non-quality factors? Is anyone displeased because the game never released for the Wii U?


Perhaps since everyone has forgotten about that incident with Yooka-Laylee before its release regarding a voice-actor, people are willing to at least tolerate it?
*When Rawk provided this reasoning to me, he had totally forgotten about playing Sonic Mania.
Before it gets reviewed by Kamek, he's streaming it some more!
The Nintendo Switch version got reviewed by Rawk after all? 
The sort-of sequel Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is released on all systems, including the Switch, right from the start.

19 comments :

  1. " Is anyone displeased because the game never released for the Wii U?"

    is anyone supposted to care

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some of the backers who own a Wii U and not a Switch.

      I'm trying to figure out if anyone cares by asking.

      Delete
  2. At Least A Hat in a Time can live alongside Odyssey because it is not even on a Nintendo console and therefore won’t be overshadowed. I am trying to speed up my PC for that game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There could, you know, be a large overlap between PC players and Nintendo Switch owners.

      Delete
  3. I think the difference in score really illustrates how easily influenced by external factors contemporary reviews are (The reason for that is likely to be found in the way information and reactions are shared), since it is the same game and the updates didn't really change anything substantial (I own Yooka-Laylee for the PS4 since its release).

    I do dare to say that the original XBOX/PS scores were too low (based on an objective score that does exist, but is unbeknownst to us), due to the bad publicity surrounding the game as well as the predictable feeling of disappointment, realizing this is not Banjo-Threeie and can't seem to scrape the perfection of the two main Banjo games.
    We had a very similar effect with Nuts and Bolts, which might not have been a half bad game, but it was a terrible Banjo game, so this - again - artificially lowered the score.

    That being said I really do hope for another Yooka-Laylee game, since the characters are one of its strong-suits (Granted: Yooka's character/personality is based on Banjo's, Laylee's on Kazooie's, Capital B's on Gruntilda's, Dr. Quack's on Klungo's, Dr. Puzz's on Humba Wumba's, with Trousers being the only character that doesn't resemble his predecessor's character in the slightest [although that is a good thing, since Trousers shady personality is magnificient]) and the things that dragged the game down could be fixed easily (Rextro, mining car, stupid minigames, too little content, too many meaningless collectibles, etc.)
    Especially the worlds of Yooka-Laylee just weren't as memorable as Banjo worlds. (I can still remember the names of ALL the Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie maps, while I have trouble remembering the names of the first 3 (out of 5) worlds in Yooka-Laylee. That isn't to say there is no hope. Galleon Galaxy was by far the best world and it shows, that they can create memorable levels.

    Since Girafarig mentioned it:
    I'm really looking forward to A Hat in Time, although, judging from the trailer, I can't seem to unsee tropes/designs that were present in Yooka-Laylee return:
    a sky-piercing Mountain, a Casino, a Lighthouse, a portable toilet.
    All things considered not the most intriguing stuff.

    I wish for 3D platformer level design to get inspired by masterpieces like Rusty Bucket Bay, Click Clock Wood, Hailfire Peaks or Cloud Cuckooland (just their names are poetry and the later 3 are easily nominees for best jumpNrun stage of all time), which had much more complex themes than most Yooka-Laylee levels.
    I also hope for Grant Kirkhope (or anyone else) to get back to the musical genius that shaped the Banjo games. I mean I still listen to stuff like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnk9ZBVFSXI on my fruit-related music player.

    I could go on for days about how great the original Banjo games were, but I'll just leave it at that. If you haven't already played them, it is well worth buying a N64 or a Xbox360 just to play them. (Or an emulator compatible controller I guess)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always been a bit displeased with how reviewers don't review games on their own merits. They seem to not like reviewing it in a vacuum. Yeah, this does especially get into sequels, especially sequels that try to be different. It's different than wot you expected, but that doesn't make it a bad game.

      It's okay for, say, a commentary article to not be in a vacuum, but reviews are supposed to be focused and, you know, sacred. That's why KoopaTV does so few reviews. They are... really hard to do and take a lot of effort, but you see a lot of outlets pump them out kind of without care.


      I asked Rawk, our resident Nuts and Bolts fanboy (and self-proclaimed "only person who bothered to dedicate any attention at all to Nuts & Bolts's dialogue-lore"), to comment on your comment:

      Rawk: "I stand by my pitch that if you view Nuts & Bolts as a Diddy Kong Racing sequel (and remember that Banjo's first appearance in a video-game was in DKR by vehicle), it becomes a lot less offensive.
      DKR was popular cuz it was a racing game where you could pilot three totally different things: car, plane, hovercraft
      So then Nuts & Bolts takes it to the next level and reduces the boundaries altogether.
      And in the races Banjo is always racing his friends.
      In N&B
      Now if only Rare had went full-on DKR atmospherically and marketed it as such
      it would get press simply from shock of finding out that Microsoft owns almost all the DKR dudes."

      Then he linked this:
      http://i.imgur.com/WAxOg4p.jpg

      Delete
    2. Judging from the DKR DS adaptation, the only two characters of the rooster that Microsoft owns are Banjo and Conker. Nintendo even got to keep the Turtle, although it appears in the Banjo games.
      And I think it is quite a stretch to consider Nuts&Bolts as the spiritual successor to DKR. It isn't even a pure racer after all, but still incorporates JumpNRun elements.

      And like I said, I don't think the game is bad or offensive - it just demonstrates the great fall from Nintendo Rare to viva-pinata Rare.

      If they marketed it as DKR successor the fan rejection would remain the same. Since DKR was another gem (on par with the Mario Kart franchise of the time) and NutsNBolts was more of a LEGO than a Gran Turismo in terms of racing game experience.

      Delete
    3. http://web.archive.org/web/20071007164810/http://rareware.com/extras/scribes/25jun07/index.htmll

      "As far as I'm aware - after asking around - all the major DKR characters who aren't Kongs or Kremlings still belong to Rare. Which would make Diddy, Dixie, Tiny and Krunch the 'licensed' ones in this case. And that means we can still do the M-rated Bumper prequel story! Thank you Jesus!"

      Delete
  4. Yooka-Laylee may not be as bad as other Kickstarter backed projects, but it still does not hold a candle to the first-party titles on the Switch, including the aforementioned Super Mario Odyssey. If it had released earlier in the spring or summer, then perhaps that would be a different story. Now, however, it's a little too late.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree that Yooka-Laylee is more redeemable than, say, Mighty No. 9, which remains a total laughing stock to this day.

      Delete
  5. And meanwhile, this poor shmuck here is still bawling his eyes out because he doesn't even HAVE a Switch.

    Because he is, in point of fact, a total geek pleb. :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seriously doubt it, money's tight in the family right now. :(

      Delete
    2. Santa isn't a person in my world sadly. He's more like the personification of the SPIRIT of Christmas.

      Delete
    3. The hell? No Santa?

      Dang you guys suck there.

      Delete
  6. I was waiting for the Switch version to come out, so it looks like I'll be playing Yooka-Laylee! (Although not right away, since I'm finishing my in-progress games first and Xenoblade 2 is beckoning to me.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...Yeah, that'll be hundreds of hours of gameplaying 'til you get to Yooka-Laylee.

      Delete

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