‘Yooka-Laylee’ Reviewers Suggest Reconsidering Pre-Orders Before Release Date

Yooka-Laylee gained massive Kickstarter traction as the modern Banjo-Kazooie reboot when it was announced in 2015, but some reviewers aren’t happy with the game so far. Despite not finishing their critiques, the internet’s Jim Sterling and Laura Kate Dale have advised fans to rethink their pre-orders before release. The warning arrived during the most recent episode of Sterling’s Podquisition podcast.

Even though the Yooka-Laylee review embargo doesn’t lift until next week, both Sterling and Dale seemed unimpressed by what the developers at Playtoinic Games have delivered. “All I'm gonna say is, if you pre-ordered it, think twice," Jim mused. Laura followed up that claim by clarifying that “this is not a review because the review embargo has not yet lifted but...ooh."

Read: Yooka-Laylee Joins Growing Nindies Game Lineup On Switch

It’s not made clear precisely why both impressions are so negative, but Sterling hinted that performance appears to be a chronic issue. "If you looked at trailers and ever thought it looks a bit choppy, yeah,” he said. He added, “even talking about the bits we're allowed to talk about, I can still say ugh.”

It’s worth pointing out that these points of view only capture the perspective of those who expressed them. Sterling in particular is known for being extra critical in his reviews. That’s his prerogative, of course, but subjectivity didn’t stop Nintendo fans from attacking his website after he gave The Legend Of Zelda: The Breath Of The Wild a controversial seven out of 10 score. Dale has received similar fanboy flack for her eight out of 10 score of Persona 5 over the last few hours.

To date, Yooka-Laylee has accrued more than $2 million in Kickstarter funding from more than 73,000 backers. A large portion of those donors have committed to digital pre-orders and bonus content. Sterling has offered his preview as a word of caution to those supporters. “Next week is gonna be brutal-aylee,” he teased.

Yooka-Laylee comes to PS4, Xbox One and PC April 11. A Nintendo Switch version is in development for release later this year.
Do these previews make you worried about Yooka-Laylee? Will this game join the ranks of Mighty No. 9 as a Kickstarter bomb? Tell us in the comments section!