More Details Released on Banjo-Kazooie Successor Yooka-Laylee

By Reed Strength | May 20, 2016 | 4:23pm

Images via Playtonic Games

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About a year ago, the Kickstarter for Yooka-Laylee, the spiritual successor to cult-classic N64 platformer Banjo-Kazooie, began. More than 80,000 backers later, the game is now developed and gearing up for a release. Today, developer Playtonic revealed fresh details on the game’s plot, characters and a soon-to-be-released demo.

Where the original 1998 release saw the bear-bird battling an evil witch attempting a makeover, Yooka-Laylee’s lizard-bat pair will face off against the corporate control of business tycoon Capital B (who is indeed a bee) as he attempts to “absorb all of the world’s literature… and convert them into pure profit.” The pair will apparently do this by collecting “magical Pagies” to unlock “the mysterious Grand Tomes” by traversing “land, air, and sea” levels throughout Capital B’s Hivory Towers. Along the way, the player will need to collect “tasty Butterfly energy” to refill and maintain health and power bars. In addition, the pair will collect hundred of collectible “quills” in order to purchase and unlock moves from a “serpent salesman” named Trowzer.

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In addition, Playtonic also released details about two other other supporting characters: Dr. Quack and Dr. Puzz. Quack is apparently the owner of Quack Corp., which experiences a “ruthless takeover” by Capital B at the beginning of the game. This changes Quack for the worse, as he invents “all manner of crude inventions to satisfy the demands of his new boss.” Puzz, meanwhile, is a former colleague of Quack’s who leaves the company after the takeover. Apparently, it will be her inventions that help the player traverse the many puzzles found in Hivory Towers. Playtonic’s post also makes a small reference to Puzz’s apparent creator, one Ed “Mumbo Jumbo” Bryan who at least shares a name with Banjo-Kazooie’s transformation-happy witch doctor.

Beyond the cast, Playtonic also announced the release of the Yooka-Laylee Toybox in July. This download will go beyond a traditional demo by offering a “self-contained, spoiler-free sandbox” allowing certain Kickstarter backers (those who pledged $32 and up) a “taste of the platforming to come in the final game.”

At the moment, Playtonic is avoiding an official game release date, but is working toward the originally announced release window of October 2016. “We’re a group committed to releasing games only when they’re polished, complete and at the quality level you expect,” wrote Playtonic.

Yooka-Laylee is due out on all major consoles and PC.