The Yooka-Laylee Toybox Has Me Feeling Like A Kid Again
For those who had backed Yooka-Laylee, they can get their feet wet within the Yooka-Laylee Toybox, a sort of playground where you can get acquainted with the basics behind the plucky duo’s movements. There are no enemies or anything along those lines, but with how good the game handles, you’ll be enjoying yourself too much to care. The game’s had a lot of eyes on it due to the pedigree, and you can rest assured that this title feels like a natural evolution of the popular series Banjo-Kazooie. Yooka-Laylee is about as close as we can get to capturing the unique experience that series presented without causing a legal kerfuffle, but backers have every reason to be excited about this game.
Across the Toybox, fans can get a feel for just how easily Yooka and Laylee handle. You have limited combat moves, but the mobility options will all be put to use as you go about collecting every single item in this brief demo. It’s not something you’ll be able to replay much, but with how many people are eagerly anticipating this game’s full release, you just may dip your feet more than once. You’ll have plenty to see and do in the Toybox though, and you’ll roll, high-jump, and glide your way to collecting all 100 Quills, this game’s version of the notes from Banjo-Kazooie. You’ll also get to encounter a few other instances of the game’s items, such as the Ghost Writers, the spiritual successor to Jinjos. There’s even more planned for the full release but from what I’ve gotten to play and see so far, this game is well worth the attention it has been receiving.
As you collect all 100 Quills in the Yooka-Laylee Toybox, you’ll get to set your eyes on a few fun little secrets. Naturally, I won’t spoil them, but there are a few sly nods to the previous games as well. Playtonic has put their heart and soul into this so far, and it shows. From the sound design and controls to the animations and platforming, this game feels like the sequel to the Banjo-Kazooie titles we’d been clamoring after for so long. I couldn’t help but grin at the liveliness of Yooka and Laylee. They have plenty of endearing little idle animations, and I’m sure that is just scratching the tip of the iceberg in this case, as well.
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“From the sound design and controls to the animations and platforming, this game feels like the sequel to the Banjo Kazooie titles we’d been clamoring for for so long.”
I did run into a few camera issues while playing through the Toybox and hopefully this receives a bit of adjusting before the final release. It’s a common complaint on the community hub, but the camera had the odd tendency to decide to stick its head between its legs and spin around, which was incredibly disorienting. That being said, this is still a very, very early look at the title, and isn’t even close to an Alpha release. The sheer polish otherwise for a title still so far away is re-assuring, especially with how some other big-name Kickstarter campaigns had ended up coming short. I’m sure we can expect great things from Yooka-Laylee, but the wait for it is going to be a painful one, that’s for sure. Be sure to keep your eyes on COGconnected for any future updates on this insanely promising Kickstarter title.
Oh, and shoutout to Itssocreamy on deviantart for the solid mockup Boxart. It’s always tricky when the titles are purely digital.
*** PC code provided by the publisher **
