After the half misstep of Yooka-Laylee, which arrived on our consoles in 2017 following a Kickstarter campaign that had achieved its goals by popular acclaim, Playtonic (British development team founded by ex-elements of Rare) is ready to return to the attack with her dynamic chameleon + bat duo, leaving half a dimension on the street in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.
Because if the first game was clearly inspired by the platform games of yesteryear in three dimensions, born as a tribute / spiritual sequel in particular to Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair follows the path of another timeless masterpiece of the Nintendo era of the studio now in charge of Sea of Thieves: Donkey Kong Country.
The cousins of Kecleon and Zubat thus embark on a second adventure in 2.5D that we had the pleasure of trying - in an almost definitive version of the software - at Koch Media studios, in view of the official release scheduled for next 8 October. And it is precisely in the very first minutes that we spent with the joypad in hand that the most original idea of the title was revealed immediately, in the guise of that Impossible Lair that gives its name to the game.
Try it, if you dare
Starting the adventure we will be launched directly (after a disguised mini-tutorial) against Capital B, the main enemy of the series, challenging him in single combat within his lair, strong (if we can say so) only of our reflexes and without no power-ups. Technically, from then on, you may already finish Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, in the case - highly unlikely - that you were able to overcome the pitfalls of the final level without any new skills, tonic (they return from the original Yooka-Laylee) or above all protection given by the faithful bees of the Royal Beetallion, to be found later around the world of the Playtonic title.
When you lose - because you will lose we can assure you (but we expect some good attempts on Twitch!) - you will be catapulted on the game map with isometric view from which access the real levels, from which to obtain the necessary upgrades to try again your luck at the Impossible Lair (the game takes into account your progress and the number of attempts).
Once in the internships, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair proves to be a more than competent two-dimensional platformer, with a good level design and controls with sufficient responsiveness (60fps help), definitely far from the precision of any Mario or other productions such as Hollow Knight. In fact, the mind goes back to the "heaviness" of jumping of DKC or LittleBigPlanet, but lacking, at least in these first tested levels, the strong visual identity and the brilliant ideas of these two milestones. What left us a really strong impression are the already memorable music composed by Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) and David Wise (Donkey Kong Country).
Homework? Partly
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, although it comes with a non-linear structure and a few brilliant ideas - another interesting addition is the one that each level will have its own modified version which will change its composition, as a result of actions that we will take on the map - it knows both a step forward and a step backward for Playtonic, at least for what we have been able to experience so far. On the one hand, this new Yooka-Laylee looks like a more refined game than its confusing predecessor, but on the other it certainly loses its originality and ambition, offering us yet another side-scroller of the last few years instead of a potentially intriguing revival of 3D platform games of what was the fifth generation of consoles.
As much as the Playtonic guys could end up doing a good job with the final version, will this formula definitely already seen to be enough to impose itself in the very full winter season 2019, although cleverly presented at the budget price of 29 €? For Playtonic Games the exam is difficult and the challenge on the shelves of the shops will not be as impossible as its Lair, but we feel little lacking, also counting the little justifiable absence of multiplayer. At our upcoming review, the task of giving you the final answer on a title that still gave us very pleasant moments during the hands-on.
► Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a Platform-type game developed by Playtonic Games and published by Team 17 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 08/10/2019
