Forefront 1 : Yooka-Laylee

Today I'll talk about the upcoming game Yooka-Laylee, developed by Playtonic Studios (http://www.playtonicgames.com).

First a bit of history:
Back in the 90's, when 3D platformers first came out, there were a series of very popular ones, among them Donkey Kong 64, and Banjo & Kazooie. These games similar in a lot of ways - colourful, cartoonish platformers with lots of collectibles. With the recent popularity of indie-games and games made by smaller studios becoming famous, some of the developers from back then have taken to crowdfunding and produce projects that harken back to those ages - with updated graphics and functionalities of course.

On such project, and a very anticipated one at that, which crushed its Kickstarter-campaign (and which I helped back, for that matter! Does not happen often), is Yooka-Laylee.



Headed by people who were on the actual teams who made those games back then, Yooka-Laylee has been receiving lots of positive early-view previews.

Trying to analyze the game a bit, from videos, interviews and previews, the game seems to simply be a modern day version of some of the games that inspired it - with changes made where a contemporary gaming-community expects it of course, so a thing like incessant grinding for coins, which was acceptable back then, has most likely been turned back a bit, but we will have to wait for reviews to get the complete picture.
The game largely speaks to and benefited from the nostalgia of gamers who played the games from back then, and this is also the feeling that the developers seek to bring forth:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7piOjxp13-U)






Yooka-Laylee is a prime example of the forefront of the 'indie-'industry, which I am attempting to pry my way into, and even further, an almost direction comparison to my own project:

• It is a new version of an old game, the type of which isn't really made anymore.
• It embraces its heritage without copying it, upgrading graphics and features.

 Most importantly, it fills a hole in the gaming industry, taking a place that no one really is really occupying.
All of my skills are vastly inferior to the Playtonic team's, but their sense of character, colour, design, and the very fact that a project like my own can succeed is inspirational.


Sources:
Playtonic Games. 2016. Home - Playtonic Games. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.playtonicgames.com/. [Accessed 02 September 2016].