I've tried a few of the Wonderboy games, but they are either slow or really simplistic, not like other old game classics I'm used to playing (I mostly play old games). This game, however, is great and reminds me of Zelda but as a sidescroller (like Shantae).
This game is awesome, and feels like a mix between Hollow Knight and Hyper Light Drifter. In terms of tone, this is basically Hollow Knight but with soul and attention to detail. In terms of gameplay, this feels a lot like Hyper Light Drifter (a game I do like, unlike HK) but easier. You have a hub, from where you access different areas which play around with the immersive structures you find in HLD, or a Zelda dungeon. Opening up paths, solving puzzles and fighting enemies/bosses. The simplistic plot is unique and creative, unlike Hollow Knight's copying of Dark Souls' backstory. It's kinda short, but sweet (again, unlike Hollow Knight).
I expected this game giving a lot of freedom of choice going into it, regarding how to tackle problems. It doesn't, which I'm generally fine with. I play a lot of "Metroidvanias" and they're all masters at imposing natural barriers to progress. This game can't even pretend it gives players freedom. I tried killing the lizardman NPC early in the game, and I succeeded. Guess what? He just comes back later in the game, pretending nothing happened, still throwing the same mockeries at you (he's so strong and you're worthless). Wait, I just killed you, why are you here? The game needs to keep its stupid narrative of calling players worthless going, so this NPC has to stay alive. A natural way of making this possible is to simply make the NPC too hard to kill, strengthening his message of you actually being worthless (rather than you beating him to a pulp which invalidates his message, yet still making him repeat it over and over without any idea of what I did to him). Making him such a high level that he can't be killed is a much more natural way of keeping him alive than to just resurrect him to pretend players from going off the intended narrative tracks. Just... trash, it's sad to say. Secondly, the 'chapters' in this game serve to prevent players from returning to past locations. Pretty much, chapters are there to make areas feel like levels, which hurts the idea of a living, breathing world. I know games that do chapters in a much more natural way. Mother 3, Terranigma, even Paper Mario. In Mother 3, chapters provide opportunities, not hindrances. You get to play as a different character, which blocks off some parts of the game, only to open them all up in the next chapter. Nothing is lost. This game doesn't benefit from its chapter-based structure at all. It doesn't make you switch characters (for obvious reasons, it's a character-driven RPG. It's all from your character's point of view). It only makes stuff inaccessible and less open. Bad experience.
This game's incredibly linear. I was expecting a CRPG that's like a CRPG, as a newcomer to CRPGs. Instead, I read that you can't even go back to previous areas after finishing chapters. Insane.
...if you have played Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie (the sequel). This game does exactly what backers asked for: Bring back this type of platformer/adventure game back to the market. If you have played the N64 games 20 years ago and recall them being the perfect games, I recommend you play these games (XBOX, emulator) before buying this one. If you still love the two Banjo games, you will love this one. The camera is a bit wonky (a little more than in the Banjo games) and there are some minor framerate drops, but the rest is simply amazing. The common criticisms, like the HUB world being confusing, are mostly found in the Banjo games as well. Gruntilda's Lair (the HUB world in Banjo Kazooie) is way more confusing to navigate than Hivory Towers (the HUB in Yooka Laylee). The minigames have controls that take time to get used to (like most minigames in Banjo Tooie), but they aren't necessarily bad. I can understand people getting frustrated with them, though. Also, this game feels a lot more like Banjo Tooie than it feels like Banjo Kazooie. The worlds are bigger and more open. It's harder to find the main collectibles and the game feels more open-ended. If you only played the first Banjo game, I recommend taking a look at Banjo Tooie and see if you like that game. If you like both of the Banjo games, you will love this one.
