On this final day, we’re covering Best Performance and Best Surprise, as well as handing out the dreaded Most Disappointing and Worst Game medals. Let’s do it.

Best Performance: Melina Juergens as Senua (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice)

The key element that turns a good performance into a great one is subtlety, and there has rarely been a more subtle, nuanced performance in games than Melina Juergens’ portrayal of Senua. Granted, some of that owes to the incredibly powerful technology Ninja Theory were working with; but it cannot be understated just how good Juergens is in her debut role. From slight, barely noticeable facial ticks, to manic, wild eyes and an agonized, desperate delivery of her lines, Juergens is legitimately wonderful, transitioning from vulnerable fear to furious frenzy with poise and tremendous grace. Senua doesn’t say all that much; yet Juergens manages to brilliantly communicate everything about her as she runs the gamut of emotions, from her most vulnerable, to her most unhinged, and finally to resolution.

Runners-up:

Hidenari Ugaki as Goro Majima (Yakuza 0)

Hidenari Ugaki has been voicing Goro Majima for over a decade now and it shows, the ease in which he inhabits the character is nothing short of masterful. Couple that with motion capture work that’s as vibrant as the voice behind everyone’s favorite cabaret club manager and you have one of the best performances of 2017.

Kyle McCarley as 9S (NieR: Automata)

Kyle McCarley’s performance in NieR begins as innocuous, then becomes manipulative, and then manic, decimated, furious, and emotionally dead. It’s a performance so nuanced and subtle that the meaning changes depending on whose perspective the player is in. 9S is a tortured, terrible being, and McCarley brings him to life with aplomb.

Most Disappointing: Destiny 2

The first Destiny, after some struggling, was able to right the ship and eventually made itself a real powerhouse. So when Destiny 2 was inevitably going to be released, we assumed the overall package would be akin to where Destiny 1 left off. Instead Destiny 2 made its own series of missteps and mistakes seemingly ignoring the lessons it should’ve learned. Your character no longer speaks, the characters that do are annoyingly comical, and everything feels like a hollow experience leading you down a path towards a lackluster end game experience. Nothing about Destiny 2 feels like a true sequel but instead like a half measure. Unwilling or unable to produce something that could propel Destiny into the stratosphere, Bungie and Activision went down the easier path and sold another disappointing loot shooter.

Runners-up:

Yooka-Laylee

Fans desperately wanted a predecessor to the well-loved Banjo-Kazooie games, and boy did we get it. Created by a handful of people who worked on the previous game, it built up hype only to let us down with poor controls, bland characters, and annoying-to-navigate worlds. As it turns out, this type of platformer did not age the away we all had hoped.

Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+

Playing the Binding of Isaac has always been an ordeal of trade-offs, and Afterbirth + was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back. With a rebalancing that makes the game more frustrating and just downright unfun to play, a slew of game breaking bugs, bad console ports, and a half-baked set of mod tools, it’s impossible to look at Afterbirth + as anything but the worst.

Worst Game: Outlast 2

Sure, Outlast 2 might not be a dollar-priced fidget spinner game on Steam, but it is still a representation of everything that constitutes lazy, hacky game design in the modern era. In what wound up being a truly tremendous year for the horror genre, with the likes of Resident Evil 7, Observer, and Detention all bringing the fire in unique and terrifying ways, Outlast 2 commits the biggest sin of them all – it’s boring, uninspired, and completely ineffective as a horror experience. Outlast 2 is an utter failure as far as being scary goes; its stitching so apparent that you can see every “scare” coming well before it happens, making the whole thing feel completely pointless. It doesn’t help that the spooks are so cliché either; everything happens exactly as you’d expect it to, with not a single idea that wasn’t worn thin in the early 2000’s. Sprinkle in enemy AI that’s so stupid that you can literally just walk past them most of the time, and lame, trite attempts to shock and provoke that prompt little more than an eye-roll, and you have a recipe for the worst game of 2017.

Runners-up:

WWE 2K18

WWE 2K18 feels totally lost and directionless. A cool suite of new character creation tools gets absolutely swallowed by a game that’s simply not fun to play. Thankfully, the monopoly this franchise holds on a profitable niche is slowly getting loosened with better games like Fire Pro World coming out.

Moero Chronicle

Look, I’m not a prude, quite the opposite in fact. But when a game is so overbearingly and annoyingly horny, someone has to take a stand. Moero Chronicles has no redeeming value, and its sexual content is trite and laughable. There are far better RPGs out there, and there are far better ways to ogle anime T&A. Love yourself and skip this.

Best Surprise: The Sexy Brutale

Like a storm in the night, The Sexy Brutale appeared from nowhere and blew us all away. Distilling the best elements of its inspirations to create a wholly unique experience, The Sexy Brutale marries a refined version of Majora Mask’s cyclical structure to a bizarre and compelling murder mystery, in which nothing is as it seems. As you attempt to solve the murders of each guest at the casino mansion, you observe, experiment, and retry until the cogs come apart and you can prevent the needless deaths. The engaging gameplay and strong sense of style makes The Sexy Brutale hard to put down, even if it is a short experience. That being said, short and sweet is better than long and bloated, and The Sexy Brutale strikes all the right chords without making a single misstep. That these high-level concepts could mesh so well to become such a singular indie game is impressive, and part of why The Sexy Brutale is the best surprise of 2017.

Runners-up:

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Nobody was entirely sure just what exactly Hellblade was going to be; but the safe and worrying assumption was that we’d be treated to a Heavenly Sword-esque game with a less than subtle or mishandled depiction of mental illness. That we instead got a sincere, well-handled narrative experience was nothing short of amazing.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

When most of the gaming world saw a Mario and Rabbids crossover game was on the horizon, many decried that this was a step too far in the crossover department. But when the game was shown at E3, those same people, ourselves included, changed their tune. Mario + Rabbids is a great strategy game with a cute sense of humor and fantastic music, and we’re all very glad we were wrong about the goofy Rabbids game.

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That Kickstarter led to Yooka-Laylee, and now that the game has finally been released, I’ve realized that maybe some things should stay in the past. With numerous development issues, glitches, and perhaps over-confidence, we’ve been given a game that’s, well, not exactly as wonderful as we thought it’d be. Despite negative reviews and warnings, I gave it a shot, hoping to spark some childlike nostalgia. Instead of wishing for what had been, I was left with other wishes

Yooka-Laylee begins innocently enough: you, the duo of Yooka and Laylee, wake up on a sunny day to see that one of your books, stolen from a pirate ship, has been sucked into a distant factory-esque building owned by the villainous Capital B, in his search for a powerful and special tome. Upon seeing its golden pages, or “pagies,’ scattered about, you decide to make a borderline unwilling effort to recapture your treasure by traveling through multiple worlds. The story is kept simple, as most Rare games were, to highlight the vast exploration and puzzles to be found along the journey.

Similar to Banjo-Kazooie, you have multiple collectibles to retrieve upon entering each level. These collectibles include Pagies, Quills, and Ghostwriters, which are parallel to Jiggies, Music Notes, and Jinjos. However, Yooka-Laylee has brought a new depth to these items, forcing the game to be a bit more challenging and take more time away from your busy life to gather them.  Quills can be traded to a pants-wearing snake named Trowzer for new moves and power ups, while each ghostwriter has to be collected in a unique way, such as feeding one snowballs or battling another atop a looming cliff. This new perspective to collecting would have made hunting for treasure more enjoyable than it already was- if it weren’t for numerous issues within the core gameplay.

The first notable issue is perhaps the most bothersome: the camera. While Playtonic made an effort to fix any complaints before the official release, the camera is still subpar. It’s designed to automatically adjust itself, yet gives you the power to control it manually. Naturally, this causes a battle for power when the camera clicks back directly after you move it in the direction you want.  This, of course, is why most games have a button which allows the game to take back possession of your view, and is one important thing Yooka lacks.

The slippery and inconsistent controls drive home another important problem I faced while playing. Like most games, any change in mobility can be a change to your comfort. This, however, is not something that you can manually adjust to in Yooka-Laylee, due to the each area’s ever-changing controls. It’s aggravating, as you’ll find the controls to be firm and easy to navigate one second and suddenly hard to manage the next. The struggle comes from pointing Yooka and Laylee in the direction you want them to go and finding them swerving and inching away from that area. This leads to falling off cliffs, bumping into enemies and inanimate objects, and having a bad time in general. This makes directional specific tasks, such as sliding down ramps while avoiding electric fences, quite the hassle. While swimming is already difficult in any platformer, Yooka takes it to a whole new level by including a terrible flying sequence that re-uses the swimming movement. I still haven’t figured out exactly how to land gracefully, and I’m not sure they even provided that input.

There are few good things that truly catered to my long-standing nostalgia. The music was particularly impressive with its jingles which occasionally featured small segments from Banjo games, the colorful atmosphere kept me engaged and curious as to what was around the corner, and the characters remained quirky and clever with their usage of puns and vastly contrasting personalities (despite reusing the same very few characters and enemies throughout the whole game). These elements were best incorporated at Hivory Towers, which is unfortunate considering that it’s only the hub world.

The poor world design wasn’t the biggest dilemma in the game for me, however, it did make it hard to feel totally immersed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of the ability to use collected Pagies to enter a new world or expand a world you’ve already entered. What bothers me is the simultaneously empty and cluttered areas with no consistent route, even after an expansion which adds bonus sections to explore, as well as new tasks to complete. It looks like it was created in a lifeless version of Minecraft with bits and pieces of scenery thrown about. It’s hard to navigate, which makes hunting for treasures frustrating, especially when there are roughly 20-25 Pagies and 200+ Quills to look out for. Circling a controlled area for hours and not being able to find what I’m looking for isn’t particularly my cup of tea, unless there is, at least, a map.

But the pain doesn’t stop there. In fact, if you ask me, the biggest nuisance that comes with playing Yooka-Laylee are the glitches and feelings of incompleteness. The whole of Yooka has a very dead essence to it, and I can’t help but wonder if the team was perhaps rushed. Clipping through walls, standing on air, infinite spawning of enemies, and not knowing whether you will be able to walk through a box or push it causes struggles for the leisurely gamer. The glitchiness tends to be more apparent the further you journey into the game. This poor platformer feels as though it was neglected, as if it was rushed to cater to audience anticipation, and it was ultimately infuriating trying to complete tasks with both the horrible controls and bugs continuously playing off of each other.

I know, I know. I’ve done nothing but trash what some people do enjoy, and they do enjoy it for a few good reasons. Yooka incorporates plenty of what Banjo fans loved, from sassy dialogue to puzzles that are actually quite challenging. It also introduces new concepts such as, my personal favorite, minecart rides, as well as the adorably short retro-inspired mini-games. When it comes to concept, Playtonic absolutely had the right idea. Yes, I would even go as far to say some of the newly acquainted material could’ve caused Yooka-Laylee to surpass Banjo gameplay in the rankings if it weren’t for the numerous failures in other categories, and what a shame that is.

I don’t want to say that Yooka-Laylee is the worst game I have ever played, but it’s definitely on the list. This platformer had a lot of potential that was dealt out wrongly, and with that, I salute them for at least trying. The game’s inconsistency in many aspects as well as lack of a finished-feeling product ruined quite a lot for most players, and, unfortunately, it couldn’t be saved by a great soundtrack or colorful designs. If you have an extra $40 in your pocket and are looking to spend it on something juicy, Yooka-Laylee is probably not for you, or your child, or your enemies.

The post Yooka-Laylee (PC) Review appeared first on Gamesline.

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The Internet is understandably down on Kickstarted video games right now. After seeing Mighty No. 9‘s rancid trailer a week ago, I get it. Thankfully, Yooka-Laylee, the Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor made by ex-Rare devs, looks right on the money.

Yooka-Laylee‘s first trailer has a lot of power ups, traversal mechanics, and that adorable thing where the characters make lil noises while they talk. The only bad thing is that Yooka-Laylee has been delayed slightly into 2017, but that just means it’ll be even more polished.

After watching this trailer, some of my fears were quelled. Yooka-Laylee seems to not just embrace Banjo‘s legacy, but updates it for the modern age. Of all the genres that needed to be renovated, mascot platformers were right at the top, and who better to do it than Rar-I mean, Playtonic?

The post Yooka-Laylee Drops a Trailer, Slight Delay appeared first on Gamesline.

We’d like you to meet our new friends… introducing #YookaLaylee! More on @IGN: http://t.co/gP5rxg3SGJ pic.twitter.com/f0o3wUEzLz

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) April 30, 2015

Yooka the chameleon and Laylee the bat will traverse a vast 3D world, collecting items and defeating enemies with their skills. Yooka can use their tongue to grapple and slam, while Laylee can glide and fire sonic booms. Famed Banjo composer Grant Kirkhope has been confirmed for the soundtrack, and IGN is also reporting the Killer Instinct announcer Chris Sutherland is involved in some way. We’ll find out more about Yooka-Laylee in the coming days, especially once the Kickstarter is up. The most important aspect of a 3D platformer is traversal methods, and watching the footage, Playtonic seems to have that down pat. Count me in the interested camp.

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