Yooka Laylee Review: Yooka-Failee | The Jimquisition

Yooka-Laylee is a game out of time, clinging so desperately to past glories it doesn’t seem to understand the Earth kept spinning after the N64 was discontinued. It’s everything wrong about the formative years of 3D platforming and it somehow retained none of what made the genre’s highlights endure.

[-Foxtrot]

Owch

[joab777]

He seems to really be bucking the trend!

[bouzebbal]

This game looks so boring tbh, it doesn't have its personality.
It wants to reinvent the platforming genre and being back nostalgia but it fails in every single gamelay video they show .. And I'm a big platform genre fan

[FlyingFoxy]

I don't give a shit personally what critics rate games or movies, they are useless because it's all subjective at the end of the day, i play what I enjoy and I'm no sheep.. I do my own thing because i have a brain. I already knew this game would get slated because i posted a few times about it over the last few days.

IMDB is full of shit usually too xD

[naruga]

@bouzeball ...exactly... i m feeling the same and i also m huge platfomer fan

[Mr Pumblechook]

Jim Sterling complains about the bad writing and the awful jokes. PlayTonic hired the ex-CVG news reporter Andy Robinson. He had no previous experience story writing.

[mikeslemonade]

It's still probably better than Ratchet.

I liked Knack and Recore more than Ratchet. Atleast it has more platforming than Ratchet. Ratchet is just about weapons, graphics, and story. In a platformer I just want platforming!

[darthv72]

If he doesnt like the nostalgia that this game is trying to rekindle... then what is he going to say about Crash and the N'Sane trilogy? Is he going to say that ship has sailed as well since its a remake built on nostalgia and platforming that was popular back in the same time frame?

[IamTylerDurden1]

Mikeslemonade

Are u kidding? Ratchet & Clank on PS4 is a masterpiece, they truly blended the outline and nostalgia of the original with stunning visuals and tech. It has platforming, but it also has very satisfying combat. It's a 3D platformer/tps, it's exactly what the original was but with some modern weapon mechanics. I enjoyed Knack for what its simplicity, but Ratchet is a far better game.

[Deep-throat]

Jim is one of THE WORST game reviewers, IMO.

Fallout 4 (9.5/10), WHAT?
The Order 1886 (6.5/10), it deserves less than that
Dishonored 2 (6/10) "Mediocre" my butt.

[FlyingFoxy]

Well what do you expect? He's reviewing based on his own taste, because he's biased.. thus it's subjective. Ignore reviews and play what you like, if you enjoy it then who the hell cares what others think. Better than being a sheep who follows only what others do.

[Paytaa]

Yeah I don't follow Jim Sterling, but the 9.5 for Fallout 4 and 6 for DH2 is incredible considering FO4 is Far Cry: Apocalypse and DH2 is a great game, definitely better than The Order.

Then again, it's just one man's opinion. Highly doubt Yooka-Laylee is realistically a 2/10.

[generic-user-name]

"The Order 1886 (6.5/10), it deserves less than that"

Pathetic.

[ninsigma]

"The Order 1886 (6.5/10), it deserves less than that"
I'm getting a sense that your whole comment was for the purpose of saying that one line.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Fallout 4 - 9/10
The Order: 1886 - 8.5/10
Dishonored 2 - 9.5/10

My opinions ^^

[_-EDMIX-_]

It's the craziest thing, it's almost as if everyone's opinions are different...

[trooper_]

Yes, because you played 'The Order'.

[franwex]

Except for fallout those scores seem accurate to me. Specially Dishonored.

[Krysis]

Your opinion is not widely shared amongst your peers

[jaymacx]

@FlyingFoxy I like how you think. As for following the crowd, I have found out the hard way to play what I like. Sometimes its good to listen to others though because you might try a game you maybe would normally overlook.

[NotanotherReboot]

Agreed the Order is 5/10 at most

[yeahokwhatever]

"FO4 is Far Cry: Apocalypse" Oh shut up. You've either never played Far Cry, or never played Fallout.

[DarXyde]

Jim's score for The Order is more or less agreeable. It was "okay". It felt like a chore to finish it at times, but it was solid in terms of performance and gameplay mechanics when they were present. 6.5 seems fair. Otherwise, I disagree with him on just about everything else.

Some of these scores are pretty polarizing for Yooka-Laylee. Then again, I don't have time to care as Persona 5 is calling me back.

[COMMENT-OF-THE-YEAR]

The Order 1886 was actually alright. Just had some major pacing issues. I enjoyed it.

[starchild]

Well all I can say is I don't tend to agree with his tastes or his views on games.

[soulrebel]

You need to learn that he is stating his opinion. He can't be 'wrong' or 'bad'. It's his view. You can't tell him how he should feel and what he should like. You don't have to get upset if it is different to what you think. One day, maybe in a thousand years, civilization will have evolved to the point where this doesn't need explaining every single day. Ffs.

[rivaldoo777]

Fallout 4 is 7 at best
The order is 8
D2 is 8

[Utalkin2me]

@FlyingFoxy

So you're saying he should go spend 60 bucks and make up his own mind? Thats the point of reviews to try and help us decide if we want to purchase this game. Best thing they could do is make a demo for every single game that comes out and we could judge for ourselfs. They dont do this cause they know it could possible hurt more then it could help.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Jim is a traditionally harsh and somewhat divisive critic, but having said that Yooka Laylee never looked good to me and it's getting mediocre reviews across the board. It always seemed like nostalgia was THE ONLY card Playtonic had the entire time.

6.5 falls precisely in line with what The Order received on Metacritic so i don't understand your argument with that one. Also, did u play and finish The Order 1886? I'll admit that Yooka Laylee doesn't look great to me, but i obviously haven't played it so i can't say definitely if the mediocre reviews are warranted or not. I can however say that The Order 1886 is closer to an 8/10 (imo) rather than a 6.5/10. So, in theory and imo Jim did get that one wrong. The main criticisms on The Order would be length and replayability, but tbh neither of those things have a huge effect on a games quality. My single ten hour playthrough (hard) was satisfying and no different than running through any other sp one and done game. Visuals, voice acting, production value, and day 1 polish alone make The Order higher than a 6 or 6.5. I really fail to see where the major complaints are when you judge the game on its own merit rather than wrongly judging it as a Gears clone. The world and lore were phenomenal and begged to be further explored in a sequel. The weapons and combat were enjoyable, and if you breakdown the White Chapel boss fight as simply a "qte" you are grossly exaggerating the simplicity of it. That White Chapel Lycan chase/fight was a finely crafted experience that expertly blended cinematics and gameplay. It was multifaceted, involving aspects of shooting, melee, cinematics, and "qte".That boss fight should honestly be celebrated, not used to degrade the game.

[IamTylerDurden1]

It's funny how virtually everyone thought this game was going to be the apex of nostalgic platformers, but i didn't. It never looked great to me and now reviews are confirming its mediocrity. I never understood the appeal, the characters are rather cheesy as well. If u want a spectacular nostalgic platformer play Ratchet & Clank PS4, it's a true masterpiece.

[-Foxtrot]

It's still a start

I'll be getting it anyway.

[Hugodastrevas]

No mercy by Sterling!

[Fullmetalevolust]

You know, I cant take him seriously based on that score, a 5 or 6 based on personal preferences sure, and that's assuming he didn't know what he was walking into playing this type of game. People who follow him probably understand his game taste, however, you still have to make an objective task of your review.

But a 2 is a game so flawed it's unplayable to all, not you personally, but you are telling your audience this game is broken beyond repair. And at the end of the day, Yooka-Laylee is a playable platformer with no game breaking glitch. It is reminiscent of those 3d platformers of the past when 3D was all so new and it is fair to give a warning to those who don't know what that era was like. It is frustrating and the camera work could've been done better, but it's not a 2.

[Hugodastrevas]

A 1 is a broken game a 2 is more of a complete mess that is a torture to play.

[Elda]

LOL.

[MasterCornholio]

Well he did warn us about his review.

[Der_Kommandant]

DAMN!! i wasn't expecting this, but in Jim Sterling i trust.

[FlyingFoxy]

Critics are the worst, The Simpsons nailed it when the critic guy was constantly going "It stinks, it stinks" in the hostpital.. "Yes Mr Sherman everything stinks"

They pick at anything, and i am not being told what to do. I don't follow trends and all this crap, that's for brainwashed people.

[Veneno]

To this day The Critic is still the best "Simpsons Clone". Even though the show was gut splitting in its own right.

[bluefox755]

You rebel, you! You don't have to blindly follow critics, they're meant to be used as a tool to figure out if a game fits your tastes. If you only read the score and take that as gospel, that's not the critics fault, it's yours for being an idiot. Reviews are obviously subjective, for instance, Jim said the character is crude and unlikable, and that's a negative for Jim, but maybe that's a positive for you? There are other things however that I doubt anyone would like, such as bad controls, that's really not subjective.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I like Jim Sterling as well but I seriously think some of you guys need to stop assuming that these people are mind readers or carbon copies of you

I enjoyed many of his reviews but I also know he has his own opinions just like I have my own.

So what do you mean by trust? So you trusted Some other person shared one hundred percent of the same views as you?

It's just extremely unrealistic to assume that any game journalist out there is going to have one exact gamer in mind in which they like all the exact the same games , genres, features etc

[MadMax]

Never trust a fruitcake lib, who's had lawsuits against him.

[Hugodastrevas]

Lawsuits he won easily.

[Bjorn-c-blocker]

I would not trust him as far as I could throw him. He is an attention whore with a cult of idiots that believe the stuff he spouts, 90% of which he never bothers to research. He is an angry kid on gamefaqs that somehow made it to be taken seriously. A troll who gets away with trolling.. it is pretty sad that people cant see through this guy.

[rainslacker]

Not an issue of trust. Trust has nothing to do with if your opinions allign.

I often disagree with Jim on a score, but I do trust that he will explain and back up his reasons for scoring a game the way he does.

It's the primary reason i respect his reviews, even if half the time his scores rarely line up with how I'd score a game. usually off by 1-3 points from my own.

[bluefox755]

Oh snap!

[TXIDarkAvenger]

lol won't be getting any ad money from me.

[Blastoise]

He doesn't even run ads on his website lol

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Either way still an attention seeker. Attract more people = more money via patreon. His review scores are all over the place. Scoring doesn't even match what he's saying.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@tx-or he legitimately doesn't like the game.

So you're just now finding out that game reviews are based on subjective concept?

I'm still going to purchase this game, his opinion is not going to stop me, that doesn't mean I hate him or anything like that it simply means our opinions of games are different and that's 100% okay I wasn't looking for at my carbon copy through reviewers.

I've noticed that lots of people have this extremely hard time dealing with that other people have different views than them.

There is no right or wrong about this ,people just have different opinions.

[BEASELY]

I won't deny that this game kinda looks like shit, but there's no doubt in his mission to be controversial. It's plain as day.

[GamePeace]

That's exactly what I thought. I won't buy the game, but not because of the reviews, it's just not my cup of tea. That's the prove to take his future reviews with a grain of salt ...

[ShadowWolf712]

Or he's pissed because he actually invested in this game's Kickstarter and it wasn't near as good as he expected?

Jim's been open that he'll be a lot harder on projects he's backed as he both invested in them AND he wants to see crowdfunded games turn out good, and those that are mediocre or bad ruin it for others.

[BEASELY]

For a game's journalist to be at all surprised/outraged at the outcome of a Kickstarter project (one that a fair amount of other outlets find serviceable?) and let that development/funding somehow sway the review is pretty unprofessional to me. He should know disapointment comes with the territory. Additionally, you have to review a game according strictly to the merits of the game itself and not let the development story taint your professional review of the product. As gamers on a message boards, we have every right to take that into account when discussing these things but as soon as you enter the role of a critic; those things are off-limits IMO. No Man's Sky and FF15 can't be slighted critically befause of rocky development or PR.

It's a tad over the top. Save that discussion for post-review/podcasts. The man let his personal investment cloud his morality to a point. Shit on the hard work of devs trying their best to capture a relic spirit of the past because your big baby ass didn't get a mind blowing final product.

It's sad and almost toxic to a point.

This is coming from somebody who couldn't give a fuck about Banjo or this game - so stone me if you want but this seems wrong.

[ShadowWolf712]

Cloud his morality? lol

You guys need to watch this before speculating on the man's motivations. He's been nothing short of open about the standards he holds games to, more so than any other reviewer you care to name. I don't always agree with his reasons, but he doesn't have some sinister "hidden agenda".
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[_-EDMIX-_]

Or he really doesn't like the game....

[Platformgamer]

i got the feeling that this game is mediocre even if likable...
but OMG to this review, i don't think this game it's worst than a steam indie FPS generic game

[DanteVFenris666]

No way is this game a 2. I would say 5 is reasonable for thinking a game is not great and meh. But a 2 means the game is absolutely no fun and completely broken.

Once it's out I'm still buying it though. Looks like a great platformer and at least appears to have more soul than most triple A games now a days.

[starchild]

I find it amusing how some people talk as if there is some objective universal score for each game that all people must agree with.

The truth is that many reviewers loved this game. It has received many 9s and 8s.

I just don't understand why many people act like when a game gets mixed reviews that somehow the metacritic average is the one and only "true" score. That completely ignores the fact that many people loved the game and you may love it too. Or you may really dislike it and rate it lower than the average.

So the game isn't "mediocre" any more than it is great or terrible. There's no single label you can slap on a game that is universally true. Every person is going to have their own opinion. I wish people would stop being so influenced by reviewers and, especially, metacritic averages.

[GamePeace]

Cleary a biased review and not one that weights out the pros and cons of the game carefully. I never liked his attitude and way of presenting himself, he shouldn't be taken that seriously in my opinion, because he seems like a comedy figure to me. If I want to see more professional reviews I chose to take other sites way more seriously. It would have sounded more realistically if he would have giva a 6/10 or even a 5/10, but 2 out of 10? Stinks to me ...

Maybe he wanted to take revenge for his distant cousin: JonTron

[Relientk77]

Yeah no. 2/10 is for broken games

[generic-user-name]

If a game is broke it should get a 0.

[Veneno]

There's different degrees of broke.

[Swiftfox]

How else would you define a game with poor camera, poor level design to the point of players constantly having to backtrack with poorly explained padding and unsolvable at the moment puzzles, bad sound design, unlikable characters, humorless jokes, pathetic A.I, and overall unsatisfying gameplay which keeps all the problems of a 90's platformer with zero improvements? Would you honestly call it an average game? A below average game? Or would you cut the patronizing B.S and just call it what it is: a bad game. A bad game by any number is still a bad game.

[DanteVFenris666]

man is it April 11th already or did you formulate that opinion from not playing the game somehow?

I don't think anyone was expecting this to be better than 90s platformers. I was expecting on par with modern graphics. Hell most games today can't stand up to banjo and Mario 64 so even in modern standards it's a feet to me.

[starchild]

I guess all the reviewers who loved the game and gave it 8s and 9s are just wrong then huh? I mean, since Jim has spoken and made it clear it's a "bad game".

[PlayStation_5]

Yooka-Laylee clearly has some issues...

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

... but there's no way in hell this game deserves a 2/10.

Maybe Jim Sterling was molested while playing Banjo-Kazooie... : P'

[GrimReaperGamer]

I'll never understand why people give this fat POS any views. Anything less than a 4/10 is for a broken game. Every other reviewer has given this game at the very least a 5/10 and most scores are between 7-9. Stop supporting this overrated moron and play the game for yourselves.

[Hugodastrevas]

He doesn't need views, he's crowdfunded, that's why he can give his undiluted opinion.

[Veneno]

That don't mean shit. He can still play up to the donors. So that monkey will still dance for tips. Or should I say gorilla in Sterling' case?