Yooka-Laylee didn’t live up to expectations on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Critics mauled it for a choppy camera angle, insufferable character voices, and design choices that haven’t evolved since the era it was aimed at. Luckily, two of those can, and will, be fixed with a patch, and one doesn’t have to be.
Which one is that? Well, the idea that the game hasn’t kept up with leaps that gaming has made over the last 20 years is misplaced. Developer Playtonic designed it specifically to be retro. If you’re hoping that it sacrifices the authenticity for today’s hand-holding design choices, that’s your expectations in the wrong place, not the game failing to live up to them.
As for the other two, Playtonic is working on a “Spit ‘n’ Polish” patch that vastly improves the camera and reduces the gibberish voices that pollute our ears.
That means stuff like the optional ability to skip dialogue faster, bypass cutscenes or reduce those pesky gibberish voices, which should please the speedrunners among us. We’ll also be adding a sprinkling of design polish throughout the adventure and by popular request, changes to how the camera operates (gif the image on this page a look).
Playtonic did not provide a release window for the patch.
Nintendo Switch owners benefit from the delay
Well, Nintendo fans! I hope you’re enjoying watching this soft launch from afar because it means you’ll never have to experience “broken” Yooka-Laylee like the rest of the world. By the time it comes to the Switch, the game will be polished beyond recognition, and Switch owners will only get the best first impressions.
Now, it’s just a matter of waiting.
