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jp's Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4)
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| [September 23, 2023 05:20:55 PM]
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On the one hand this is a by-the-numbers platforming game with collectibles out the wazoo and cute characters and a silly story. On the other hand...
(a) The game's difficulty is a lot higher than I expected - and it's not easy to pick up (sometimes even find) the five bonus coins hidden in each level (that you need to use to pay to open access to more of the overworld map). On the other hand, if you fail a section too often - the game lets you skip it (I haven't done this myself yet, but it's what a character promises AND they even make fun of the developers while they're at it by muttering things like "I told them it was too hard" and stuff like that). Also, one of the game's collectibles is "tonics" (like potions?) you can select. Up to three per level. Many of them make the game a bit easier - slow it down, add more checkpoints, give you more time to grab Laylee if you've taken a hit (Laylee is sort of like a shield, take a hit and she flies around - catch her and your shield is back, don't and one more hit and game over). The tonics come with a price - they lower your feather rewards (the currency used to unlock tonics when you find them) at the end of the level. It's interesting to see how many different options and ways the game incorporates to help smooth out any difficulties.
(b) The game's main conceit is that you have to defeat the big baddie - and he's in an "impossible lair". So, to make things easier for you, you need to rescue bees and each bee acts as a "one hit shield". Presumably you can attempt the lair whenever you want. I thought you just had to defeat the baddie, but it turns out that he runs away (after taking a few hits) and it's a whole level you need to clear - and it's really hard. I wasn't able to make it past the first area (after hitting the baddie a few times). Officially I completed 3% of the impossible lair! I'm guessing there are people that can just clear it - without any other stuff - and I wonder if playing more will result in more stuff to make it easier other than more bees. You can only rescue one bee per level! (I've got 11? 12?)
(c) The game has an overworld from where you enter all the levels - they're like pages from a picture book. The overworld itself has secrets and things you need to puzzle out to open more areas and reach more book pages. So, that's really neat to - and it's a lower stakes activity. BUT, you can also just straight up teleport to the pages - so even here the game is accessible, but allows you to explore and so on. I've really enjoyed this part of the game as well...
So, there's lots of smart and considered design here - my guess is that the designers were trying to make a game accessible to a new (kids) audience, while also keeping things interesting for (older) fans of the franchise.
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jp's Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Something better came along
GameLog started on: Saturday 16 September, 2023
GameLog closed on: Saturday 23 September, 2023 |
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This is the only GameLog for Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. |
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