• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Yooka-Laylee launches April 11th, considering Switch version instead of Wii U

The Wii U version was the most backed version of the game....

Yooka-Laylee is in a very weird situation and the exact opposite of, say, Bloodstained.

YL was being done first for PC and WiiU with another developer handling ports for X1 and PS4. It's also a spiritual successor to a series born on a Nintendo console and a good chunk of backers backed a WiiU version. I don't envy them right now and I'm sure they have their plates full with complaints.

Bloodstained on the other hand was being done for PC, PS4, and X1 first while hiring an external studio to port the WiiU and Vita versions. Its a spiritual successor to a game that first released on, and continues to be more associated with, Playstation. Also the biggest chunk of people backing BS were for PS4 (and Steam) versions with WiiU being a tiny amount in comparison. Add to that the fact that this game is coming out more than a year after the Switch comes out and you have the perfect storm for a relatively easy cancellation with little to no backlash.

I, for one, never thought YL would've been cancelled on WiiU because of the reasons I just said and because we knew it was coming relatively soon.
 

Gleethor

Member
Yooka-Laylee is in a very weird situation and the exact opposite of, say, Bloodstained.

YL was being done first for PC and WiiU with another developer handling ports for X1 and PS4. It's also a spiritual successor to a series born on a Nintendo console and a good chunk of backers backed a WiiU version. I don't envy them right now and I'm sure they have their plates full with complaints.

Bloodstained on the other hand was being done for PC, PS4, and X1 first while hiring an external studio to port the WiiU and Vita versions. Its a spiritual successor to a game that first released on, and continues to be more associated with, Playstation.
no
 

Oh wow. What a significant contribution to this discussion. i feel elevated already after this fruitful exchange of ideas!

Now, please, tell me what part did I get wrong? Is it or isn't it true that Castlevania Symphony of the Night first launched on the first Sony PlayStation game console? Unless you thought I meant "franchise" but I didnt because I clearly said "game" referring to SotN and that game first came out on a PS1, was it not?
 
It's a tough road to walk. I'm kinda in the same area with my own game. Trying to get it looking and playing great on the Wii U is a challenge and there will have to be some compromises for that to happen. Still, I won't be canceling that version because I said it was coming and it will. I just hope people can also understand some of the development challenges that go into bringing the game to that system. Unity and the Wii U just don't mix very well. At the end of the day, I think Wii U owners would rather have something than nothing and I think that's the key here. Offering another version is not a consolation for that.

But on a technical level, YL is far beyond your game or any other Unity game I've seen on Wii U. It's not hard at all for me to believe that it was literally impossible to get it running in a playable state on the platform.

Still, Playtonic should have been able to reach that conclusion before they launched the Kickstarter in the first place; it's not as if Unity's performance on the platform wasn't a known quantity by May 2015. Either they deluded themselves about what could be accomplished with Unity on Wii U, or they disingenuously promised a Wii U version they weren't confident of being able to deliver in order to boost their funding.

I'd guess the former, given that all indications are that they genuinely tried to get YL working on the system, but it wouldn't hurt them to be more candid.

I, for one, never thought YL would've been cancelled on WiiU because of the reasons I just said and because we knew it was coming relatively soon.

Arguably, more people should have seen this coming, given the lack of any Wii U footage and the comparison to other Unity titles on the system. It only really crossed my mind recently, though, so I can't really say I told you so.
 

Taichu

Member
Dang, I was looking forward to playing this on the Wii U. I'm glad I didn't back this Kickstarter, because I only have the Wii U and don't plan on upgrading immediately to the Switch. I'm not sure I buy their 'technical difficulties' excuse since the Wii U was the target platform. Definitely seems a little shady IMO.
 

Roo

Member
If anything, I expected the game to release on both, Wii U and Switch at some point.
Being the lead platform next to PC, it's really odd they actually waited until now to announce the Wii U version was cancelled.

Oh well, looking forward to the Switch version.
 

Cerium

Member
Oh wow. What a significant contribution to this discussion. i feel elevated already after this fruitful exchange of ideas!

Now, please, tell me what part did I get wrong? Is it or isn't it true that Castlevania Symphony of the Night first launched on the first Sony PlayStation game console? Unless you thought I meant "franchise" but I didnt because I clearly said "game" referring to SotN and that game first came out on a PS1, was it not?
The Igavania games have long been more associated with Nintendo handhelds.
 
The Igavania games have long been more associated with Nintendo handhelds.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spiritual successor to Castlevania Symphony of the Night. The best renowned, best selling and most recognized of them all. The first game of this kind was first released on Playstation.

The guy I quoted very eloquently told me I was wrong in saying that the first Igavania was released on PS1. Maybe he should've offered a better explanation to his argument other than "no".
 

MaLDo

Member
This casino trailer looks ugly, bland, boring, etc

It's like an engine demo with no logical order or art in the asset placement and design. Really bad.
 

Kathian

Banned
I mean yeah it makes total sense. Though I really disliked that latest trailer and say that as someone excited for hr game. Seemed kinda barren?
 
The Igavania games have long been more associated with Nintendo handhelds.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a spiritual successor to Castlevania Symphony of the Night. The best renowned, best selling and most recognized of them all. The first game of this kind was first released on Playstation.

The guy I quoted very eloquently told me I was wrong in saying that the first Igavania was released on PS1. Maybe he should've offered a better explanation to his argument other than "no".

You're both right. It's not wrong to say Igavania's are more associated with Nintendo handhelds since they pretty much exist entirely on those platforms.

But, this is specifically a call to Symphony of the Night, and that game (and this genre) were born on PlayStation.
 

Persona7

Banned
Why is Bloodstained considered a spiritual successor to SOTN and not Castlevania in general? First I've ever heard this. Can't find any links or interviews where Igarashi states this.
 

Lynd7

Member
I think they handled the messaging poorly, they should have said Wii U was canned earlier and not at the same time as giving dates for other platforms.

If they have to wait to announce Switch version in Jan, they should have held off giving any date at all and given a release date after the Switch event. Especially if they do indeed intend to release Switch version at the same time as the other platforms.

Messaging says sorry Wii U people, your version is cancelled and a Switch version will probably not happen at the same time now.
 
Why is Bloodstained considered a spiritual successor to SOTN and not Castlevania in general? First I've ever heard this. Can't find any links or interviews where Igarashi states this.

Most people associate SOTN with Metroidvania style gameplay, while they associate Castlevania with the Nes and Snes style gameplay. SOTN is inspired by Castlevania, but not the other way around.
 

grim-tales

Member
I'd forgotten all about this kickstarter - I'd backed the Steam version but remember reading that "the game wouldnt work with intergrated graphics" or something like that, so may wait and see if it comes onto Switch :s
 

Eusis

Member
Most people associate SOTN with Metroidvania style gameplay, while they associate Castlevania with the Nes and Snes style gameplay. SOTN is inspired by Castlevania, but not the other way around.
This, essentially. It's going for a specific TYPE of Castlevania, but it's considered distinct from classic Castlevania. It's kind of akin saying a Warcraft successor for a game styled after WoW, versus saying just a WoW successor for a game styled after WoW while a hypothetical fantasy RTS would be the Warcraft successor instead.
 
Why is Bloodstained considered a spiritual successor to SOTN and not Castlevania in general? First I've ever heard this. Can't find any links or interviews where Igarashi states this.

Because its creator has said so.

Also the guy working on Bloodstained only worked on Metroidvanias when dealing with 2D Castlevanias. The linear classic Vanias of old were not his creation nor did he particularly liked them either. He's been on record saying he hates bottomless pits in the classic CV games.

Bloodstained is a spiritual successor to SotN first and foremost. You could make a case that its also a succesor to his other GBA and DS Igavanias but not the older ones.
 
I'd forgotten all about this kickstarter - I'd backed the Steam version but remember reading that "the game wouldnt work with intergrated graphics" or something like that, so may wait and see if it comes onto Switch :s

Can confirm the Toybox runs on very low spec Intel integrated graphics at low settings.

I say 'runs' though, not 'runs well'.
 

D.Lo

Member
Because its creator has said so.

Also the guy working on Bloodstained only worked on Metroidvanias when dealing with 2D Castlevanias. The linear classic Vanias of old were not his creation nor did he particularly liked them either. He's been on record saying he hates bottomless pits in the classic CV games.

Bloodstained is a spiritual successor to SotN first and foremost. You could make a case that its also a succesor to his other GBA and DS Igavanias but not the older ones.
Igarashi did not make Symphony of the Night, it was produced and directed by Toru Hagihara.

Igarashi's production credits started with the abysmal Harmony of Dissonance, and every one of his 2D Metroid-style Castlevania games (with the exception of the XBLA weird crossover Harmony of Despair) was released on a Nintendo platform. His Playstation brand games are ironically all mostly action games instead of non-linear adventures.

Of course he himself can state the game Bloodstained is a successor to SOTN, and that's fine. But it's pretty bizzare to claim the 2D Metroid style Igavania is associated with Playstation.
 

Ooccoo

Member
I wonder what is next for Playtonic if Yooka sells well enough. I would love something akin to CBFD or maybe Perfect Dark.
 
Skimmed through a couple pages and didn't see any discussion about when the Switch Version would actually release. Sorry if this has already been discussed, but does anyone think the Switch version will release the same time as the others? I think it's safe to assume Switch owners will be getting this months later than other platforms. No?

I don't actually know anything about game development
 

Astral Dog

Member
This, essentially. It's going for a specific TYPE of Castlevania, but it's considered distinct from classic Castlevania. It's kind of akin saying a Warcraft successor for a game styled after WoW, versus saying just a WoW successor for a game styled after WoW while a hypothetical fantasy RTS would be the Warcraft successor instead.

Most people associate SOTN with Metroidvania style gameplay, while they associate Castlevania with the Nes and Snes style gameplay. SOTN is inspired by Castlevania, but not the other way around.
The game reminds me alot of Order of Ecclesia combined with a bit of Portrait of Ruin i think its a successor to those games too.
 
Igarashi did not make Symphony of the Night, it was produced and directed by Toru Hagihara.

Igarashi's production credits started with the abysmal Harmony of Dissonance, and every one of his 2D Metroid-style Castlevania games (with the exception of the XBLA weird crossover Harmony of Despair) was released on a Nintendo platform. His Playstation brand games are ironically all mostly action games instead of non-linear adventures.

Of course he himself can state the game Bloodstained is a successor to SOTN, and that's fine. But it's pretty bizzare to claim the 2D Metroid style Igavania is associated with Playstation.
Bullshit. That guy quitted/got fired from the project and Iga was promoted. He might've not started directing SOTN but he sure as shit finished it.

SOTN is Iga's baby and no amount of revisionist history will say otherwise.
 

D.Lo

Member
Bullshit. That guy quitted/got fired from the project and Iga was promoted. He might've not started directing SOTN but he sure as shit finished it.

SOTN is Iga's baby and no amount of revisionist history will say otherwise.
Receipts please. Preferably not just interviews with Igarashi just bignoting himself. SOTN is literally credited to Hagihara, who also directed Dracula X and Belmont's Revenge.

And I note you didn't address the main point, that ALL Igarashi's actually credited 2D Metroid style productions are on Nintendo platforms (and one on Xbox), and all his credited playstation games are either linear action game remakes or 3D games.
 

Aranjah

Member
So I double checked and apparently did pick Wii U when I backed this. I see people in this thread saying they "have changed" their choice to one of the other platforms. Where do you do this? All I see on backerkit is "survey has been answered, answers are locked".

Or do people just mean they've decided what platform they're going to switch (ha) to when the option becomes available?
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Soooo, how do you get the toybox demo with the pre-order?

It should be in your library already, at least as far as the PC version is concerned. On the console side it may be a matter of Microsoft/Sony having to manually add the game to the appropriate accounts.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Receipts please. Preferably not just interviews with Igarashi just bignoting himself. SOTN is literally credited to Hagihara, who also directed Dracula X and Belmont's Revenge.

There are barely any interviews with Hagihara out there but the ones that exist basically state he didn't intend to direct the game at all and only co-directed the game for a period once the original assigned director left the project, and then Igarashi fully took over once Hagihara was promoted.

I don't know why people treat it like some sort of conspiracy--IGA's never tried to shit-talk or diminish any of the people he's worked with and always gives them credit when their names are mentioned, it's just that people rarely ask. (Hagihara produced another game with most of the same people, even--it's an RPG called Elder Gate.)

I also think people read way too much into credit titles for games with small teams, but that's a whole other argument.
 

Gaspard

Member
So I double checked and apparently did pick Wii U when I backed this. I see people in this thread saying they "have changed" their choice to one of the other platforms. Where do you do this? All I see on backerkit is "survey has been answered, answers are locked".

Or do people just mean they've decided what platform they're going to switch (ha) to when the option becomes available?

Little late of a reply but a few months ago I went to the Kickstarter page and scroll all the way to the bottom until you see "Ask a Question".

Then I asked "hello, may I change my pledge console from Wii U to PS4" and a couple of days later I got an email confirmation from the PR team that my platform was switched.
 
Not sure how Kickstarter works. Could someone get a refund if they backed this game and they only owned a Wii U?

you might request it, but I don't think they have the luxury to give money back. They're a start-up developer.

You can always request to change your game version to one of the other devices.

If you ONLY had a Wii U, then this might be a situation that Kickstarter's logic of 'you aren't guaranteed anything, you're taking a risk backing these' comes into play. There are plenty of projects that once backed ended up producing nothing.

In this case they'll still produce something, they just moved to a different console of choice that can likely run the game not like total ass, if not at least better.
 

Kinsei

Banned
you might request it, but I don't think they have the luxury to give money back. They're a start-up developer.

You can always request to change your game version to one of the other devices.

If you ONLY had a Wii U, then this might be a situation that Kickstarter's logic of 'you aren't guaranteed anything, you're taking a risk backing these' comes into play. There are plenty of projects that once backed ended up producing nothing.

In this case they'll still produce something, they just moved to a different console of choice that can likely run the game not like total ass, if not at least better.

Playtonic is offering refunds to people that backed this for the Wii U. You just have to send them an email.
 

Hale-XF11

Member
It should be in your library already, at least as far as the PC version is concerned. On the console side it may be a matter of Microsoft/Sony having to manually add the game to the appropriate accounts.

My plan was to get the physical version for PS4, but it's looking like the pre-order bonus is only available for the digital version.
 

D.Lo

Member
There are barely any interviews with Hagihara out there but the ones that exist basically state he didn't intend to direct the game at all and only co-directed the game for a period once the original assigned director left the project, and then Igarashi fully took over once Hagihara was promoted.
i asked for receipts, not more heresay. Links or it didn't happen.
 
Top Bottom