Set in the future where a strange event caused AI to turn against humans, players utilize mechs called Arsenals as part of The Outers to fight them. Along with customizing their avatar, players can also modify their Arsenal in numerous ways. Battles are fairly straightforward and taking down an enemy allows for scavenging its various parts and weapons for future skirmishes.

Though it’s also available on the Nintendo Switch, the PC version supports 4K resolution and up to 200 frames per second. Cross-save is also supported between both platforms, allowing Switch players to jump into the PC release without losing progress. A follow-up for Daemon X Machina is apparently in the works but Marvelous First Studio is also working on a “completely new large-scale RPG.”

For the entire month, Darksiders 3 will be available for all Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. It was the latest game in the action series from THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games. For August 1st to the 15th will be Capcom’s Lost Planet 3, the final entry in that series and one that took a more narrative-based approach than its predecessors. From the 16th to the 31st is Garou: Mark of the Wolves, the final entry in the Fatal Fury fighting series. Rounding out, the original Yooka-Laylee will be available from the 16th going into September.

The slate of games will be available for subscriptions starting August 1st, and will be playable on all Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles, with Lost Planet 3 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves also being playable on Xbox 360.

Who’s ready for some free games? We’re happy to reveal next month’s Games with Gold selections are Darksiders III and Yooka-Laylee, with classic titles Lost Planet 3 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves available via Backward Compatibility. https://t.co/InmY9e1Dkn

— Xbox Wire (@XboxWire) July 28, 2021

A rumor began circulating recently about Microsoft expressing interest in Playtonic Games. The studio is mostly composed of former members of Rare and has released two games in the Yooka-Laylee series (including the recent Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair). Apparently, Microsoft was looking to acquire the studio to create a new Banjo-Kazooie title.

Playtonic Games has issued a statement on Twitter, denying that it’s working on a new Banjo-Kazooie. It also noted that it was staying independent. Though the developer would “love to work with the bear and bird again”, it unfortunately stated “that ball isn’t in our court.”

It’s a shame, for sure, but Playtonic has plenty going of its own work going on. Besides, if Microsoft is serious about reviving the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, why wouldn’t it utilize its own resources like Rare? That’s not accounting for studios like Double Fine Productions which are currently under the Xbox banner and could create an entirely new property that’s exclusive.

For now, we’re just going to have to be content that Banjo-Kazooie are playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

A statement from us! pic.twitter.com/nZHqI5GaYe

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) November 6, 2019

Earlier we finally got a release date for the upcoming Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. The game will be hitting shelves at the beginning of October. Instead of building on the first game’s ode to 3D platformers, this one is going even more old school with a 2.5D style, and today we got an extended look at some aspects of the game.

Via GameXplain, we got 15 minutes of unfiltered gameplay. In it we see some new levels and bosses highlighted that we haven’t seen before. We also see some neat visual filters that give the game an interesting new coat of paint. It’s definitely a big departure from the first game, but looks to be a solid attempt at something different.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will release on October 8th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. For a look at more levels and their alternative states, you can go through here.

https://youtu.be/Yx2aIsb2_Us

When Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was first announced, it’s fair to say it was not what many people expected. The first game was a throwback to the era of 3D platforming, albeit one that got mixed reception. With the sequel developer Playtonic Games went a very different direction with a 2.5D platformer. Whether that’ll pay off remains to be seen, but we now know the date for when we will see whether it does or not.

There’s been hints that the game will release in October from the developer in the past, and in a new press release from publisher Team17, it’s confirmed that the game will launch across all platforms on October 8th.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. The console versions will all see a physical release as well at select retailers. For an idea of how the game plays as well as alternate level states, take a look through here.

Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will be releasing this October. This is according to a new tweet from the developer where the snippy Laylee comments that it’s “sometime” in October. A final release date will likely be confirmed in the coming weeks. Good news for fans of former Rare composer Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007 fame) as some of this music was teased in the video snippet.

Unlike its predecessor, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is more of a 2.5D platformer akin to Donkey Kong Country. There is a 3D overworld which leads to 20 different levels. However, it’s possible to alter the states of these levels in different ways – flooding Gasping Glade’s book results in rain throughout the level, for example.

The story itself focuses on the duo setting out to rescue Queen Phoebee’s Royal Beettalion Guard . Capital B is going to be a threat again, though you have to wonder if any more game show-esque mini-games are inbound. Stay tuned for October when the game releases on Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Good things are coming in October… pic.twitter.com/Qn9JykH2Ws

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) August 15, 2019

And yes… that's a sneaky snippet of @grantkirkhope you hear! We'll be releasing a full track next week. 🙂

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) August 15, 2019

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, a 2.5D platformer that’s a follow-up to 2017’s Yooka-Laylee, has received a new trailer. It showcases alternate states for some of the game’s 20 levels, activated through certain conditions. Check it out for yourself below.

Along with side-scrolling platforming levels, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair also has a 3D overworld. So you could, for example, flood the book containing Gasping Glade and play a rainy version of the level. Similarly, opening up the air flow will see Urban Uprise experience tornadoes and updrafts, significantly altering how the level plays.

It’s a nice touch and one that should help each level stand out on repeat plays. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is slated to release later this year and will see our heroes on a quest to rescue Queen Phoebee’s Royal Beettalion Guard. A more concrete date has yet to be announced but will be coming to Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee is out on April 11th but reviews went live earlier this week, detailing the highs and lows of the throwback 3D platformer. The developer, meanwhile, has announced what will be in the game’s Day One patch.

Several bugs have been addressed including the camera locking in place following the Gravity Room challenge’s completion in Galleon; the game softlocking if the player leaves the course and faints during the Nimble Race in the first world, thus prompting a reset; and a softlock on the Hub C slide if the player faints when the timer hits zero.

Performance improvements are also promised for camera transitions in the introductory cut scene. These improvements extend to Shipwreck Creek and Hivory Towers with camera movement also seeing improvement.

Certain sections like the light beam in Icymetric Palace in Glittergaze Glacier or the House of Cards ball roll course in Capital Cashino will also see improvements. Check out the full patch notes here for more information.

Banjo-Kazooie in particular has always been a game that’s stay closed to my heart. The Nintendo 64 had dozens of 3D platformers, even the Japanese juggernaut’s own flagship title that was Super Mario 64, but Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie series had its own distinct charm, visual style and quirkiness that continued to be the studio’s trademark for quite some time. Even when it was eventually bought by Microsoft and had numerous people leave, I still look forward to whatever they’re cooking up next (which isn’t just another Kinect Sports sequel, that is). To their credit, Sea of Thieves looks to be the game they really want to make.

But we’re not talking about the Rareware of today. We’re talking about Banjo-Kazooie, a game that didn’t see a proper sequel for nearly 17 years, not counting its platformer-meets-Bob the Builder spin-off that was Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for the Xbox 360. While many series diehards have casted it aside (personally, I enjoyed it for what it was), the Banjo-Kazooie experience that they truly craved would never happen. At least, not in the form they were probably expecting.

Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign in May 2015 by several key ex-Rareware developers, fans finally got the spiritual successor that they were clamouring for: a 3D platformer in the vain of the Banjo-Kazooie series. But replace the bear and its bird, plop in an iguana and a bat, and you get Yooka-Laylee.

"From the minute you begin from its logo intro to its title screen, make no mistake, this is classic Banjo-Kazooie."

From the minute you begin from its logo intro to its title screen, make no mistake, this is classic Banjo-Kazooie. Everything from the updated and spruced up graphics, the way characters talk in their jibber-jabber, the Looney Tunes-style sound cues that play when you’re about to start a world, the familiar music beats – the nostalgia hammer hits you hard and never quite lets up.

Even narratively, the set-up seems all too familiar. Yooka the Iguana and Laylee the Bat stumble upon a magical book which contain golden pages (sentient beings called Pagies, because why not) within it. But before they can make any sense of it, the game’s corporate villain Capital B and his fowl assistant Dr. Quack use machine to steal all the books in the world and have them “digitized.” It’s up to the unlikely duo to make their way through the game’s hub world that is Hivory Towers, and find these mythical books that will grant them access to worlds where the remaining Pagies reside.

On the way, they’ll run into several characters that will give them a leg-up. For instance, if the player collects Golden Quills scattered through the worlds, they exchange them for new moves with the Snake-y Salesman, Trowzer. Some of these range from turning yourself into a morph ball while Laylee rides on top to using Yooka’s tongue and absorbing the attributes of power-up plants, like fire, ice or bombs.

Even your actions will also have you unlock ability modifiers in the form of “Tonics.” Pay a visit to Vendy the Vending Machine, and she’ll list out tonics that can boost your health, decrease the amount used for your power bar, and more. Or if you stumble upon Dr. Puzz and deliver her a molecule, she’ll let you use her transformation gizmo to turn the duo into a plant or a snow-plow pickup. There’s a fair amount of things to see when visiting each world, filled with ridiculous characters and silly situations that will net you some Pagies, with some wink-wink, nudge-nudge fourth wall humour for good measure. Because who doesn’t like joking about Next-Gen Cloud Gaming while racing an actual Cloud?

"There’s a real sense of exploration when trying to remember the different layouts and landmarks, further enhancing the satisfaction in finding a nearby Pagie or Ghost Writer, with some platforming and puzzle solving thrown in for good measure."

While Quills will expand your moveset, Pagies are vital to accessing newer worlds within Hivory Towers. The breadth of the first world is something that threw me off initially. For someone who hasn’t played a 3D platformer since the Mario Galaxy series, the scale and lack of an in-game map was intimidating yet really exciting. Not having to rely on marked objectives and trying to figure out how to navigate through each environment was refreshing, something I miss from titles today. There’s a real sense of exploration when trying to remember the different layouts and landmarks, further enhancing the satisfaction in finding a nearby Pagie or Ghost Writer, with some platforming and puzzle solving thrown in for good measure.

When you’re not busy scouting around, you’ll also have the opportunity to play some mini-games. One of these includes Kartos the Minecart where you’ll engage in a side-scrolling race to collect as many gems as possible. This is likely a nod to fans of Donkey Kong Country, the first three games which Rare developed in the SNES era. Or you can sample some of the arcade games from Rextro the 64-bit T-Rex, some of which can also be played in local multiplayer. However, I really didn’t find them all that enjoyable. Whether it was because of certain controls in games, or just how dull they came off, I struggled to play multiple sessions. Even as little diversions, they pale in comparison to the main quest’s platforming and exploration.

Because what’s here is very pretty. The first two worlds in particular really make an everlasting impression, and the fact that you can further expand their scope by using up your Pagies is a clever approach. Tribalstack Tropics (the first world) is probably my favorite for its lush green looks. Though if I had to nag, the later worlds don’t quite impress you as much the further you progress. However, bright colours abound and quirky characters are littered around nearly every turn with enough snarky dialogue and current in-jokes to warrant a smirk.

"It certainly doesn’t push the boundaries of the genre and that’s okay. Playtonic Games promised exactly what they delivered in what’s the best homage to the series that we’ll ever see."

On the other hand, the camera deserves some criticism. For the most part, I didn’t find it all too disastrous but there were certain situations where I wished I could pan out just a wee bit more. In some more enclosed spaces, the camera would get stuck or clip through the environment once in awhile. This was only really detrimental when trying to navigate in smaller areas or during one of the later obstacle-ridden slides that has you going through rings under a strict timer. That, and a few performance stutters were present but only in the fourth world, Capital Cashino. Otherwise, frame-rate was a solid 30 fps throughout on the PlayStation 4 and the day one update should further enhance the excellent performance. Playtonic Games certainly deserves kudos for working their magic in the Unity engine both aesthetically and technically. (Note: Performance and camera are known issues and be fixed in a future update).

If it hasn’t become obvious already, I’m quite smitten by Yooka-Laylee. If I had to be especially critical, it certainly is TOO much like Banjo-Kazooie, and that includes some of the qualities those previous games would carry. Some people may love it while others not so much. It certainly doesn’t push the boundaries of the genre and that’s okay. Playtonic Games promised exactly what they delivered in what’s the best homage to the series that we’ll ever see, until maybe Yooka-Tooie. If you’ve never played the Banjo-Kazooie series and often wondered what the big deal behind the gameplay style was, then Yooka-Laylee is a great introduction.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Except for Nintendo, most modern AAA game makers seem to almost revel in making their file sizes as obscenely big as possible. In an era when game file sizes routinely approach 50GB, it is therefore refreshing to see a major anticipated game not be a death sentence for your hard drive.

Playtonic Games, the folks behind the highly anticipated upcoming 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee, a new age revival of the Nintendo 64 style of 3D platforming, have confirmed that the game’s file size will only be 2.9 GB on PS4. It is reasonably safe to assume that its file size will be around that on other platforms, including Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch, too. So hey, you won’t have to clear too much space to make room for it.

Yooka-Laylee will launch on April 11, for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. A Wii U version was originally announced, but the decision was made to scrap it in favor of moving the game to Nintendo’s new system instead.

[Pure PlayStation]