I know they sometimes did, but not in all instances, right? Thinking of shooting Konga or destroying buildings in Mumbo's Mountain or killing Snowmen in Freezeezy Peak. As far as I remember (nowadays I of course know which moves I need and I always play the game fast, so I don't approach anything that I cannot do yet), it were only few, specific points where such an information was given. Still, I would appreciate it in Yooka to an extend as well.
I missed it, in particular when I had to endure the horrible voice acting in Zelda BotW. I'm loving the fact that they are using this kind of speech in the game. I am reevaluating if I should do that in my own game though, because of the almost general hate for it.
While Yooka-Laylee is in my eyes extraordinarily charming, I don't think this is the major point towards the suprise at the negative reviews. In fact, even if it had some horrible aesthetics and atmosphere, I would still be hard pressed to see how one could call it a bad game. Even strictly from a gameplay perspective, I think this is a very, very well-designed game, where minor issues or absolute non-issues (that lie more on the lack of platforming skills with the reviewer than the game) are blown well out of proportion. In particular, Sterling's claim that you'd need to be desparate to get enjoyment out of the game is, in a word, outrageous.