Version tested: PlayStation 4
Sometimes they come back…
The nice duo created by the guys of Playtonic Games and Team 17, returns to do damage, with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.
As many of you will remember, the chameleon Yooka and the chatty bat Laylee were born in 2017, as a spiritual sequel to Banjo-Kazooie, the historical platform saga of the Rare house, all thanks to the passion of the guys of Playtonic Games and Team 17, without forgetting the record of funds obtained through crowdfunding.
The first title, however, did not achieve the desired result, many were the players who saw this return to the past as a gamble, in fact modernity has upset the rules of the game, leaving the platform titles little room for maneuver.
Other players, on the other hand, remained in love with the title even if enriched by some shortcomings, which did little honor to the founders of the past.
With Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, the development team has decided to make some changes, from the first moments you can see how the game has transformed, moving everything from the 3D structure to a 2.5D gameplay. The game map has undergone a change, tracing the structure of the games dedicated to the Nintendo plumber.
The guys from Team 17 and Playtonic explained this change by saying they want to always offer a new experience to their players. In fact, if the first game evidently followed the historical successes of Rare, this second title is much closer to the recent Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze.
In these days we had the opportunity to try Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, discover with us what this particular sequel looks like.
You again, but we weren't supposed to see each other again?
Like many similar titles, the new game from Playtonic and Team 17 has fairly generic narrative premises. It all starts from the end of the first title, when the evil Capital B is locked up in a Great Tome by the two protagonists.
As the proverb confirms, bad weed never dies, in fact, our archenemy returns in possession of a new weapon, the Hive Mind, a scepter capable of controlling all the bees in the kingdom, including Queen Phoebee.
So it's up to our heroes again to save goat and cabbage, even if it would be fair to say, bees and honey.
Leaving aside these questionable puns, let's move on to the adventure, after the first clash with the main antagonist of the title, we are catapulted into the central hub, a fairly open world, to explore freely, as long as you face the different levels and recover the industrious bees trapped by Capital B.
The most interesting aspect of the whole game is that you can try to face the Impossible Lair as many times as you want, without any penalty.
At this point it is more than legitimate to ask the reason for all these levels if it is possible to end the game immediately. The incredible level created by Capital B is really difficult (it is not called impossible by chance) and without the Beetalion (the different bees that you will recover by facing the levels) you will not have much chance of succeeding.
What do the small and industrious little bees offer that are so important? It is easy to say, a disposable shield that will make you invincible as long as they are with you, comfortable, don't you think?
One game, many possibilities
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a title with a strong hybrid nature, in fact it starts from well-structured 2.5D levels up to the three-dimensional map with a fixed shot from above, all without forgetting secrets and puzzles that enrich both aspects.
To move to the new areas you will have to play as in the good old 90s, no collectibles, game currency or other will have to escape your search, because only and exclusively by finding all the allbile you will be able to proceed smoothly.
During the test I was able to pleasantly rediscover what I saw in Cologne, in fact some levels will be modifiable, thanks to the presence of fruits or other elements in the hub. In fact, you can face different versions of the same level, from the underwater world to the frozen one, accompanied by the one with a huge amount of enemies, kindly offered by Dr. Puzz.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair also makes use of another particular return, we're talking about Sell, the tonic vending machine from the first game. In this version of the game, she will introduce you to the magical world of tonics, unlike the first chapter, these additions will offer that extra pinch of spice to an already rich gameplay.
The tonics, in fact, will act as real game modifiers, first you will have to find them in the most remote corners of the map, then you can choose which one to use in the level start screen.
Each of them will modify different aspects, from the graphics (Black and White, Game Boy, N64, etc.) to the controls, also affecting the presence of enemies or checkpoints, increasing or decreasing the multiplier of golden feathers, useful game coin to unlock delete or receive clues.
Level Design
The new structure presented in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair eliminates a good part of the problems that had somewhat saddened the players and the press, starting with animations that were anything but pleasant to a slightly too woody camera.
Apart from the dialogues, a bit dull in my opinion and deprived of the translation in Spagonolo, the game presents itself to us with a high quality level design, both in the aesthetic composition, often able to amaze for the liveliness and richness, and for the construction of the same.
Trust us if we tell you that you are faced with a title that has a strong retro character, in fact, after the first simple levels, you will be catapulted into a sea of millimeter and collectible jumps.
- - First-rate level design
- - Good balance of difficulty
- - Nice to see
- - Interesting system of multipliers related to tonics
- - Little variety of enemies
- - Lack of the Spanish language
