- Significant improvements over original game
- Excellent 3D platformer experience
- Engaging story and humor
- Critical game-breaking bugs reported
- Unpolished combat and cutscenes
- Poor controller support issues
Emotions
Players are highly satisfied with the extensive improvements and fixes implemented in the game, particularly regarding controls, graphics, and overall polish compared to the original. The game's enhanced quality, new content, and the addressing of previous complaints have led to a feeling of a genuinely great and complete experience, often exceeding expectations.
Joy stems from the fun and engaging gameplay, including exploring vast worlds, discovering secrets, and enjoying minigames like Rextro arcade. The overall enhanced experience, new content, orchestral music, and humorous character interactions contribute to a delightful and enjoyable time for players of all ages.
Frustration is primarily caused by numerous technical issues and specific gameplay mechanics. Frequent game freezes, controller input problems, game-breaking collision bugs, and difficulties with the camera during challenges or water controls significantly hinder progress and make the game unplayable for some.
Disappointment arises from the game's buggy launch and recurring technical problems, especially for fans of the original who expected a polished re-release. The presence of game-breaking bugs, soft-locking issues, and missing features prevents players from progressing and mars an otherwise potentially good game.
Players express excitement over the high quality of the remake, its new features, and enhanced gameplay. The game's engaging flow, improved graphics, and comparisons to beloved titles like Banjo-Kazooie and Mario Odyssey generate anticipation for future content and the studio's next projects.
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 79% · Negative 21%. Score: 21 / 100
Positives:
- Players overwhelmingly praise the remake for its substantial enhancements in graphics, camera, and controls, making it a much smoother and more enjoyable experience than the original. Many feel it's what the original game should have been at launch, addressing nearly all past criticisms.
- Players describe the game as a fantastic 3D platformer and collectathon, highlighting its smooth animations, responsive controls, and engaging gameplay loop. The game's design promotes a continuous flow of collecting and exploration.
- The Rextro arcade minigames have been completely redesigned and are now a highlight, offering unique challenges and a captivating art style. Players find them significantly more fun and engaging than the original versions.
- The game successfully evokes a strong sense of nostalgia, reminding players of classic 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie and Mario Odyssey. It captures the essence of these beloved titles while still maintaining its own unique identity.
- Early feedback indicates strong positive sentiment, with players loving the game and finding the initial levels to be well-designed and engaging. This suggests a promising start to the overall experience.
Negatives:
- Players are experiencing frequent freezes, soft-locks, and progression-halting bugs, particularly a severe collision bug in the starting area and issues related to interacting with the character 'Mark'. These issues make the game unplayable for many, even after restarts or reinstallation.
- Combat is criticized for being simplistic, lacking 'hitstop' for impact, and featuring a permanent attack hitbox that removes risk. Frequent, unskippable cutscenes disrupt gameplay flow and feel poorly implemented.
- Significant issues exist with Nintendo Switch Pro and DualSense PS5 controllers, including unresponsiveness, incorrect button mappings, and game-breaking bugs on specific screens (e.g., map screen) or during certain events (e.g., races). This severely impacts playability for controller users.
- The camera is reported to feel worse than in previous iterations, with invisible triggers taking control, snapping near walls, and causing motion sickness during aiming. This negatively impacts navigation and challenges.
- Players note a lack of detailed graphical options (e.g., render scale) and comprehensive control customization, which is considered unacceptable for a modern re-release. This limits player agency over their experience.
Gameplay:
- The game offers a player-friendly achievement system with no missable, multiplayer, DLC, speedrun, time-gated, or RNG-based achievements. Difficulty settings do not impact achievement progress, and full item collection is not required for completion.
- Players need to collect 120 pages to reach the final boss, but they can explore at their own pace without needing to collect all pages in a current map to advance. The game includes various collectibles like feathers for upgrades, hidden puzzle pieces, character outfits, Pirate Treasure, and Play Coins.
- The game features larger and more expansive levels compared to its original counterpart, with worlds being fully expanded from the outset. Each unique world is a meticulously designed sandbox level, filled with puzzles and mini-games.
- Players control Yooka the chameleon and Laylee the fruit bat, utilizing their unique abilities for traversal and interaction. Yooka can roll quickly, Laylee can glide with Yooka, and Laylee can also use ultrasonic waves to interact with environmental mechanisms.
- The game provides useful map guidance and progress tracking to assist players. Additionally, a new warping feature allows players to pay a small fee at warp points to mark the location of the next page, streamlining exploration.
Performance:
- Players report excellent out-of-the-box performance on Linux with Proton and Steam Deck, even on lower-end hardware. No special tweaks were needed for a smooth experience.
- While the game runs well at 30 FPS on Steam Deck, uncapping the framerate in settings does not consistently achieve a locked 60 FPS, suggesting potential optimization needs for higher framerates.
Recommendations:
- Many players strongly recommend this game, especially to fans of the original or classic 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie. It's seen as a significant improvement over the original, offering enough new content to justify a purchase even for those who didn't enjoy the first iteration.
- A free demo is available, allowing potential players to try out the game and get a feel for it before committing to a purchase.
- One reviewer specifically recommends the game for children, suggesting it's suitable and enjoyable for a younger audience.
Miscellaneous:
- Players who own the original game are generally satisfied with the discounted price, which is below $20. New players pay around $30, which is considered fair for the content.
- Players are expressing a strong desire for future content, specifically new levels through DLC or user-generated content via a Steam Workshop. This indicates engagement and a wish for extended gameplay.
- One player indicated a preference for a direct sequel over a remake. This is based on limited feedback and suggests a desire for new narrative or gameplay progression.
