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Old 4th October 2019, 12:30 AM
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qwertykins76 qwertykins76 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: japeville
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You're Appreciated! Grey Note Medal INFECTED - B2K1 
Impossible Lair's coming out! It releases for PS4, XBO, Switch and Steam on Oct. 8th; Tuesday!


In brief
  • 2.5D platformer ala the Donkey Kong Country series
  • Story (like it matters in a DKU game?) is Capital B is enslaving the wider bee population with the use of the Hive Mind
  • Save the bees to progress. Each bee saved gives you another health point. Lot of bee imagery
  • Our bois Kirkhope and Wise rockin' the soundtrack again, with Wise doing the bulk of it. Impossible Lair's music is less "epic" than Tropical Freeze but that's not a bad thing
  • Still on the Unity engine — and you can tell it. But I think the game's style helps make up for it
  • Levels are apparently somewhat lengthy, and decently challenging, keeping in line with the DKC games
  • 20 levels, but they function like 40. In the same vein you could expand worlds in YL, you can change levels. This is done by altering the environment of the level in some major way or introducing some large novel concept to it. I've heard a few separate people saying that the altered stages are different enough that they feel almost completely new. They're also optional, anyway
  • The hub world is surprisingly vast, and unexpectedly extensive. This is a BIG map, though mostly linear. There's lots to do and many secrets to be found. You change levels by literally changing something in the overworld to affect the corresponding book you enter the level in
  • Tonics make a comeback. They seem fairly extensive too as there's lot of options to choose from to alter the gameplay experience
  • . . .Unconventional in some ways, cliche in some others (spikes and bottomless pits, oh my) Not wholly innovative, but it appears unique enough in its own right and seems to offer a fun time.
  • Sounds like the levels are solidly-made. Won't knock the King Kong of the genre, Tropical Freeze, off its skyscraper, but the overall consensus seems to be "pretty good, better than expected." So perhaps it's somewhere on par with DKCR
  • The final level (The Impossible Lair) is hyped up as quite difficult throughout the game, and apparently lives up to it, as the Impossible Lair is an incredible difficulty spike. Like BOTW, you can complete the final level at the beginning of the game, but of course you will not have enough health. Whether the grand finale being so harsh is annoying or rewarding, depends on how you see it.
  • The game "isn't easy, but isn't unfair". It's hard, but also has a forgiving checkpoint system. (No checkpoints in the final gauntlet) Impossible Lair lives up to its name, then. Casuals get ready to to get their butt whupped
  • Apparently the game's just plain fun, has well designed levels and has a lot of heart


  • Reviewers allocate anywhere from a 7/10 to 9/10 in score


Gameplay




I dig these background environmental designs. I dig them a lot, especially all the honeycomb patterns. New enemy and character designs are hit-or-miss but they all have a lot of personality to them.

All in all, quite a nice addition to the Playtonic Universe, especially after the sour reviews of the first YL. The guys at Playtonic can wipe the sweat off their brow and rest easy.
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