The platforming itself is solid. I never came across a "that moment" where I felt like I was cheated off a ledge or clipped incorrectly. The controls are responsive and feel like they make Yooka move in exactly the way you want him too. In fact, the platforms can be too precise at times- there are a couple sections early in that let you access areas in ways you weren't intended to by "Skyrimming" up a craggy surface. Granted, this never led to any major sequence breaks, just a few extra quills and the like. Even the swimming controls feel responsive, which is rare even in stellar platformers. The one issue with the platforming is the flight power. Unlike in Banjo Kazooie, where you could only start flying on specific panels, you can engage flight literally anywhere, and keep flying until your stamina runs out. If you play the game in order, this won't really become a problem, as the final level seems designed around it more or less. However, if you rush flying, you can really break a lot of the intended platforming. Is this a flaw in the game design? Yes. But it's easily bypassed if the levels are played sequentially.

The levels themselves are competently designed. Its parent game, Banjo Kazooie, of course had superior level design. Those levels were smaller, but compat, meaning every corner of it had something going on for it. This was a huge downfall of the sequel, Banjo Tooie. Tooie had much larger levels, in fact they're similar in design to Yooka Laylee's large levels. However, where Yooka Laylee actually surpases Tooie is that it has more evens going on. Tooie had 10 jiggies per level, as did the first game, but the overall number of collectables was slashed. This made the levels feel more diluted and empty. Yooka Laylee has 25 pagies per level, and in fact more collectables than Banjo Kazooie. This prevents the levels from feeling vacant like in Banjo Tooie. It's still not perfect, however. They're too large to capture that "perfect size" feel of Banjo Kazooie, but they're still a vast improvement over Tooie's barren levels.

The writing, I will admit, is not as good as Banjo Kazooie's. Yooka Laylee uses much more fourth-wall humor than Banjo Kazooie, so take that into your own personal tastes. Thankfully, the writing never reached cringe-inducing levels. No references to outdated memes, pop-culture, or the like, it relies on puns and a heaping helping of sass from Laylee. The music is pleasant but nothing outstanding. I enjoy every track but I don't ever find myself humming along or nodding my head to the beat like I do with tracks like Click-Clock Wood or Gruntilda's Lair. The graphics are pretty. I enjoy looking at this game, it has great use of color, but of course you can see all that from the Store previews.

All in all, this is a very enjoyable game that I'm driving towards 100% in. The last games to drive me to that level of dedication were Banjo Kazooie and Ori and the Blind Forest. Is Yooka Laylee as good as those games? No. But it is still a great game. In fact, I'd say it even surpases Banjo Tooie. If you're hankering for a solid collectathon, pick it up. If you've been curious about this game, catch it on sale.

[h1]A grand, solid collectathon we've been waiting years for. In short, if you enjoyed old games like Banjo Kazooie, Jak n Daxter, etc., you'll enjoy this game.[/h1] The platforming itself is solid. I never came across a "that moment" where I felt like I was cheated off a ledge or clipped incorrectly. The controls are responsive and feel like they make Yooka move in exactly the way you want him too. In fact, the platforms can be too precise at times- there are a couple sections early in that let you access areas in ways you weren't intended to by "Skyrimming" up a craggy surface. Granted, this never led to any major sequence breaks, just a few extra quills and the like. Even the swimming controls feel responsive, which is rare even in stellar platformers. The one issue with the platforming is the flight power. Unlike in Banjo Kazooie, where you could only start flying on specific panels, you can engage flight literally anywhere, and keep flying until your stamina runs out. If you play the game in order, this won't really become a problem, as the final level seems designed around it more or less. However, if you rush flying, you can really break a lot of the intended platforming. Is this a flaw in the game design? Yes. But it's easily bypassed if the levels are played sequentially. The levels themselves are competently designed. Its parent game, Banjo Kazooie, of course had superior level design. Those levels were smaller, but compat, meaning every corner of it had something going on for it. This was a huge downfall of the sequel, Banjo Tooie. Tooie had much larger levels, in fact they're similar in design to Yooka Laylee's large levels. However, where Yooka Laylee actually surpases Tooie is that it has more evens going on. Tooie had 10 jiggies per level, as did the first game, but the overall number of collectables was slashed. This made the levels feel more diluted and empty. Yooka Laylee has 25 pagies per level, and in fact more collectables than Banjo Kazooie. This prevents the levels from feeling vacant like in Banjo Tooie. It's still not perfect, however. They're too large to capture that "perfect size" feel of Banjo Kazooie, but they're still a vast improvement over Tooie's barren levels. The writing, I will admit, is not as good as Banjo Kazooie's. Yooka Laylee uses much more fourth-wall humor than Banjo Kazooie, so take that into your own personal tastes. Thankfully, the writing never reached cringe-inducing levels. No references to outdated memes, pop-culture, or the like, it relies on puns and a heaping helping of sass from Laylee. The music is pleasant but nothing outstanding. I enjoy every track but I don't ever find myself humming along or nodding my head to the beat like I do with tracks like Click-Clock Wood or Gruntilda's Lair. The graphics are pretty. I enjoy looking at this game, it has great use of color, but of course you can see all that from the Store previews. All in all, this is a very enjoyable game that I'm driving towards 100% in. The last games to drive me to that level of dedication were Banjo Kazooie and Ori and the Blind Forest. Is Yooka Laylee as good as those games? No. But it is still a great game. In fact, I'd say it even surpases Banjo Tooie. If you're hankering for a solid collectathon, pick it up. If you've been curious about this game, catch it on sale.