Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a 2D platformer released in 2019 by Team17. It acts as a successor to the original Yooka-Laylee. The game is inspired by the Donkey Kong Country series as opposed to the Rare collectathons that inspired the original.

Gameplay
The game works somewhat similar to the recent Donkey Kong Country games like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. The player controls the pair of Yooka and Laylee with Laylee acting as a free hit if the player can get her back. With the two together, they have a full repertoire of moves to get around and fight but this is severely restricted if the player loses Laylee. The game is built primarily around having access to the game's final level, The Impossible Lair, from the start. The level is extraordinarily long with many phases and difficult challenges. To make the challenge easier, with ever regular level completed, the player gains an additional Beetalion which will take a hit for the player for a total of 48 Beetalions. Still, the player can beat the game without complete any of the regular levels.

The other main element of the game is overworld that connects all the levels. This portion of the game is played in a top-down perspective with many puzzles blocking the player's path to the next level. Around the world are many hidden secrets, most notably the various Tonics. The player can find signposts that can tell players hints for a price, but it isn't a requirement if the player can figure out themselves. In the overworld, the player will interact with various characters from the previous game.

The game has a special Tonic system to modify how the player plays the various levels. Tonics can make the game easier but reduce the amount of currency able to be picked up in the level. However, there are several Tonics that make the game harder and multiply the currency in the levels. Several Tonics are just for aesthetics and have no bearing on the multiplier. The various Tonics are hidden around the Overworld or given out as rewards for performing certain tasks for characters.