I appreciate that Playtonic made a thoughtful and intelligent effort to modify the structure and progression of the 2D platformer formula. What they did was clever, and it worked perfectly well for this game. That said, throughout my playthrough, I found myself wanting traditional boss battles, hidden levels, gradual difficulty increases and aesthetic variety. I liked that they took chances and tried something creative, but the changes didn't necessarily improve the platformer template.
I don't think I've ever had a more lackadaisical approach to playing a game. I would meander around the overworld trying to muster the enthusiasm to enter another chapter to the point that I thought I probably should have played Yooka-Laylee (1) instead (I skipped it because this has a much better reputation and I think of myself as someone who prefers 2D platformers to 3D, but that's probably just because I have played so few of the latter). Simultaneously, however, I also thought I can see myself getting all the coins, badges, etc., because it's easy and fun enough. Then I got sucked into the Impossible Lair, got frustrated and wanted the experience to end as quickly as possible (not seeing the achievements through).
I have read or heard multiple comparisons of this game to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I understand why that comparison is made, even if I think it's a little generous. I also thought of Tropical Freeze, particularly the K levels, when attempting the Lair. In DKC, I would make a little progress, die, die some more, figure it out, make a little progress, die, memorize a series of button presses, make some progress, die, die, figure it out, die, then, eventually after building on each previous playthrough, breezing though earlier challenges, finish. It was the same in Yooka-Laylee, but you are able to measure your progress in the size of your remaining beettalion, so it was very easy to figure out if you were on track to improve or, alternatively, do well then get caught in a single fuck-up that snowballs into a bee-massacre.
Because check-points were so spread out (and started with a boss fight), in runs where I tried to conserve bees, I found myself restarting more often than dying. Surely the developers foresaw players hemorrhaging 8 bees in the water section, getting below 25 total and wanting to restart, so I'm genuinely befuddled as to why there wasn't an option to do so in the pause menu (instead of having to exit the level). A minor gripe in a vacuum, sure, but when you do it 30 times, it gets annoying. Maybe it's a me-sucking problem, and they didn't build the game for bad--but obsessive--players patient enough to get lucky.
Otherwise, the chapter level design is frequently great. It's the kind of easy that rewards your experience and makes you feel clever, while offering an occasional challenge (nothing to prepare you for the endgame though). I typically roll credits on a platformer before going for collectibles, but because I had so much fun exploring, I finished half of the 40 levels with all five coins on the first run (and all but about 35 total); it meant getting told by the obnoxious check mates I suck and should skip a level, a lot. Anyway, fun game, and I'm now much more eager to play its predecessor.
- Took 20:25 to beat eventually beat Capital B on my 43rd attempt (23rd with all 48 bees); 169 coins, 41 tonics. Very good: ★★★☆☆
I don't think I've ever had a more lackadaisical approach to playing a game. I would meander around the overworld trying to muster the enthusiasm to enter another chapter to the point that I thought I probably should have played Yooka-Laylee (1) instead (I skipped it because this has a much better reputation and I think of myself as someone who prefers 2D platformers to 3D, but that's probably just because I have played so few of the latter). Simultaneously, however, I also thought I can see myself getting all the coins, badges, etc., because it's easy and fun enough. Then I got sucked into the Impossible Lair, got frustrated and wanted the experience to end as quickly as possible (not seeing the achievements through).
I have read or heard multiple comparisons of this game to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I understand why that comparison is made, even if I think it's a little generous. I also thought of Tropical Freeze, particularly the K levels, when attempting the Lair. In DKC, I would make a little progress, die, die some more, figure it out, make a little progress, die, memorize a series of button presses, make some progress, die, die, figure it out, die, then, eventually after building on each previous playthrough, breezing though earlier challenges, finish. It was the same in Yooka-Laylee, but you are able to measure your progress in the size of your remaining beettalion, so it was very easy to figure out if you were on track to improve or, alternatively, do well then get caught in a single fuck-up that snowballs into a bee-massacre.
Because check-points were so spread out (and started with a boss fight), in runs where I tried to conserve bees, I found myself restarting more often than dying. Surely the developers foresaw players hemorrhaging 8 bees in the water section, getting below 25 total and wanting to restart, so I'm genuinely befuddled as to why there wasn't an option to do so in the pause menu (instead of having to exit the level). A minor gripe in a vacuum, sure, but when you do it 30 times, it gets annoying. Maybe it's a me-sucking problem, and they didn't build the game for bad--but obsessive--players patient enough to get lucky.
Otherwise, the chapter level design is frequently great. It's the kind of easy that rewards your experience and makes you feel clever, while offering an occasional challenge (nothing to prepare you for the endgame though). I typically roll credits on a platformer before going for collectibles, but because I had so much fun exploring, I finished half of the 40 levels with all five coins on the first run (and all but about 35 total); it meant getting told by the obnoxious check mates I suck and should skip a level, a lot. Anyway, fun game, and I'm now much more eager to play its predecessor.
- Took 20:25 to beat eventually beat Capital B on my 43rd attempt (23rd with all 48 bees); 169 coins, 41 tonics. Very good: ★★★☆☆