WMG / Yooka-Laylee

Pre-release

The main antagonist is a Warlock or some other variety of magic user.

An expy of Gruntilda.

• Jossed. The villain is a Corrupt Corporate Executive instead.
• Don't be so hasty. That doesn't mean he won't be a magic user. Just look at that scepter! Also, it's been pointed out how out-of-place a Corrupt Corporate Executive is in a fantasy world like Yooka-Laylee's. Maybe one of his goals will be obtaining magical power from this world?
  • Still Jossed. Capital B doesn't even use magic or any supernatural power in the final boss battle against him. He instead drinks a growth tonic which enlarges himself.

The devs will toss in a nod to Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Probably in the form of some character musing about making the sequel full of raunchy and crude humor like dancing poos or scantily-clad women to appeal to today's "modern" audience.

• They already did throw in a mild reference in one of the latter Kickstarter goals ("Polished to the Nth degree!"), so it's at the very least likelier.
• At least one reference has been found, with the possibility of more to come.

Shaman Transformer

Yooka and Laylee will be transformed by a shaman or some other type of magic user.

• The transformations are already confirmed, but the jury's still out on the shaman(s).
  • Jossed. The transformations are done via science instead of magic this time.

There will be a Take That! against Nuts & Bolts.

Perhaps the duo will have to destroy a car for a mission, and afterwards claim that they can get around on their own two feet just fine.

• While we're on the subject of Take Thats, how about a Moneybags-style Corrupt Corporate Executive, or other digs at Microsoft for "ruining" Rare?
  • This one is somewhat doubtful, seeing as a few of the Playtonic staff have actually said that Microsoft was largely Mis-blamed for Rare's decline.
• Confirmed, but it's very subtle. According to the development team's Hawaiian dictionary, "lele" (as in, Laylee's half of "ukelele") means "to get off of a vehicle".
  • Furthermore, in the E3 demo (https://youtube.com/watch?v=329VH0WW4_k) there's a sign that suggests there could be a "fun building mechanic" in the final game. And the reason he wants that is so he could move.

The game will have one or several extensive Game Over cutscenes.

Just like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64 and Conker's Bad Fur Day did, and with all the Nightmare Fuel that those game over screens are known for!

• Jossed. Lives do not exist in this game, which means no Game Over screens.

Possible powers

What kind of powers might these two have?

• For Yooka, I think there might be segments where he'll camouflage himself to sneak past various enemies and obstacles.
• How about a poison breath for Yooka that will be reminiscent of Spyro's fire breath? Maybe it can be colored white like Chameleos' if they think purple looks too "evil"...
• I bet there will be the puzzle platformer elements in levels like hovering (that'll be Laylee lifting Yooka for a while), using Yooka's tongue for Building Swing sections, using the aforementioned breath attack to push balloons and boxes, etc...
• Maybe one of the moves will involve Yooka wrapping his tongue around certain objects or enemies, then quickly pull back to make them spin like crazy; this could work as a stunning move and a puzzle-solving move.

Yooka and Laylee will not be the only playable characters.

Much like how Mumbo was Promoted to Playable in Banjo-Tooie, maybe one of the duo's friends will be controllable for brief sections. There's also the multiplayer mode which, like Tooie's, could have multiple other playable characters.

• There was a conference with Playtonic Games where they announced a few plans for Project Ukulele. One of those plans was that the main characters will meet several characters throughout their quest that could eventually spin-off into their own games if interest in them was high enough. They even showed a few silhouettes of some of these potential characters.

There will be Jinjo-like creatures to save.

And this time, not only could they give you rewards more or less directly upon finding enough of them, but they could make the Final Boss easier; in a sort of nod to how the Jinjos helped Banjo and Kazooie fight Grunty.

• This is Confirmed the items/characters are called the Ghost Writers.

The main theme, as well as several tracks in the game, will be played on a ukulele (or have ukulele sections).

The game's name is based on "ukulele" after all, and Banjo-Kazooie used a banjo and a kazoo in several of its own tracks.

• Confirmed.

There will be a TV show adaptation of the game

Considering a certain other Creator-Driven Successor to a popular platformer series that lost its way is getting a cartoon, this wouldn't seem too out of the ordinary.

• I'd hate that if it had to happen. For one thing, Banjo-Kazooie never had a cartoon series.
  • Secondly, a lot of backers tend to view that Mighty No.9 cartoon as a waste of Kickstarter money that could be directed towards making the game better (Which still hasn't come out yet despite all the hype surrounding it).
    • Mis-blamed. (The Mighty No.9 cartoon was made by an animation studio licensing the characters and setting from Mighty No.9, it is not funded or made by Comcept at all. Kickstarter's TOS explicitly says Comcept have to put the funding towards the goals and stretch goals.)

There may be nods to Dream in this game.

Dream was the original game that Rare planned for the SNES way back in 1994 which eventually morphed into the 3-D platformer known as Banjo-Kazooie.

• Maybe some leftover ideas for Dream could be used in Yooka-Laylee? It's not like Dream was ever finished, so maybe it's fair game to take ideas from it.

There will be some sort of cheating system

Like the sand castle from Banjo-Kazooie (you know, "GIVETHEBEARLOTSOFAIR", that sort of thing).

• Confirmed, sort of. There is a character named Vendi, who specializes in "Play Tonics". These tonics are essentially game modifiers, such as increasing butterfly energy, preventing fall damage, high-pitched voices, etc. Unlike Cheato from Banjo-Kazooie, you need to do a certain requirement of tasks before you can access that certain tonic.

There will be a Butt-Monkey Recurring Extra.

Just like Gobi, who Banjo and Kazooie have to constantly harass to get his water (And in one case, honeycomb piece), maybe there will be a character who Yooka and Laylee need to pester to get Pagies.

There will be a secret, durable transformation for Laylee or Yooka

Much like Dragon Kazooie in Banjo-Tooie.

The last world is some sort of collaberation book

Shortly before they died, the authors of the books Yooka and Laylee travel through wrote one last book, possibly a crossover between each of the previous books. When they get freed, they are actually warped to the final world. It would be a good excuse to bring back old enemies (assuming they aren't from outside the books or could already travel through them) and could add to the difficulty of the world by brining back all the previous Ghost Writers (characters who are already meant to be hidden).

• Jossed. It is a space/pirate hybrid world called Galleon Galaxy.

There will be a pre-Hub World area, a la Spiral Mountain and DK's house

Pretty self-explanatory. Like those two areas, it could also have special secrets inaccessible at the start of the game, and maybe even a secret mini-game, much like Bottles' bonus in Banjo-Kazooie.

• Confirmed.

There will be a special 100+% ending

Just like Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64.

The first world will not be the world seen in the prototype, but a mountain

And it will be named after the shaman who transforms the duo, just like Mumbo's Mountain.

• Half confirmed, half Jossed. It's confirmed that the first world isn't the world in the prototype, but it's still a jungle-like world and is named Tribalstack Tropics.

There will be a Stop 'n' Swop-esque feature.

You collect items from this game and carry them over to a sequel to unlock special content.

There is another villain.

There is a Man Behind the Man, a Gruntilda-Style Villain... A queen bee that wants to Bee-Witch the world.

• An evil queen bee who serves as The Man Behind the Man in a video game? Gee, that sounds familiar! As if Capital B's similarities to President Haltmann weren't enough!
• There is indeed a Greater-Scope Villain, but it's a board of directors rather than a queen. However, we don't see what they look like, so one of them might be a queen bee.

There will be a nod and/or Take That! to Despicable Me.

Capital B looks like a cross between Gru and a Minion. Just a thought.

• Maybe he'll use a freeze ray at some point, or drive a vehicle similar to Gru's (which would also make more room for Take Thats against Nuts & Bolts!)

Animal Stereotypes will be lampshaded or discussed at some point.

Yooka is a chameleon, Laylee is a bat - both animals with bad reputations. Maybe someone will make a remark on how unusual it is that the two are good guys.

The B in Capital B's name stands for something embarrassing.

And Yooka and Laylee (or maybe just Laylee, since she seems to be the more brash of the two) will not hesitate to make fun of him for it - just like when Banjo and Kazooie learned Grunty's last name.

Capital B will make a lot of bee puns.

Gruntilda had Rhymes on a Dime, so he'll probably have a similar shtick. Bonus points if other characters make Lame Pun Reactions. Double bonus points if it's his own minions!

• It's already been implied that his shtick will be business puns.
  • It is.

There will be a reference to The Wicker Man

NOT THE BEES!

Dr. Quack will either make a Heel–Face Turn or become The Starscream.

Let's hope it's the former.

• Although, admittedly, it would be interesting if he was The Starscream. It would make him a great Contrasting Sequel Antagonist to Klungo. And it just might make room for a reference to Ratchet & Clank (2016), which also has the Mad Scientist betray the Corrupt Corporate Executive he's teamed up with.
• Jossed, but the ending indicates that he already had a higher position than Capital B.

If the rumors about JonTron doing voice work are true, he'll play an In-Universe celebrity.

Like how Shakira voices the pop star Gazelle in Zootopia.

• It is confirmed that he was going to be in the game, but his role was apparently removed after some controversial statements he made. Whether or not Playtonic will change their mind about removing his cameo, as well as what exactly his role was, is currently unknown.
• Jossed. He played a minor, unseen character having a Potty Emergency.

Dr. Quack will be redeemed... kind of.

He will be freed from his shoddy mech suit, revealing that his body is now featherless and scrawny, a metaphor for atrophied creative muscles. He boldly declares his intention to start making what he wants to make (maybe something about pirates) - look out world! - and begins enthusiatically but feebly slapping at a keyboard. Yooka and Laylee just walk away - not so much a Heel–Face Door-Slam as a Heel-Face Door-Slowly-Shut-While-Peering-Sadly-Through-The-Ever-Closing-Gap.

• Jossed, he's still evil, and still trapped in his mech suit.

And if Rare announces Banjo-Threeie...

Possibly as an original part of that sequence, possibly as a 100% completion bonus or possibly added later like Portal's Sequel Hook ending, the resulting gibberish on Dr. Quack's computer's monitor begins to coalesce into an anthropomorphic shape as ominous music plays. What will Dr. Quack make? Could it possibly succeed? Will it fall flat on its face? Or will it be so terrible as to threaten its entire genre? Time will tell.

Capital B will make references to Steve Ballmer.

For example, one of his attacks may be shockwave-generating claps like in the infamous DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS video.

Doctor Quack will be a Recurring Boss.

Similar to Klungo in Banjo Tooie, since he is most likely The Dragon. Each time you fight him, he uses a different machine to fight you, like how Klungo uses a different potion each time you fight him. Also like Klungo, after you beat him the final time, he performs a Heel–Face Turn.

• Confirmed-ish. You do face him multiple times, but instead of fighting, he challenges you to a quick quiz show.

Each version will have some exclusive content.

Like how Shovel Knight had cameos by Kratos and the Battletoads in the Sony and Microsoft versions of the game, each version of the game has a cameo appearance from a character owned by the system's creators. Yooka and Laylee could run into Donkey Kong in the Switch version, Jak or Ratchet in the PS4 version, and of course, Banjo and Kazooie in the Xbox One version, bringing it full circle!

• You just know that if the developers can wrangle this, they'll put in inside jokes. Donkey Kong might be spooked by the retro arcade machines, thinking that they'll render the game unrereleasable for years due to possible rights issues.
  Yooka: I know what you're talking about, DK, and there's no evidence of anything like that happening.
  Laylee: Yeah! Maybe they just didn't care!
  Yooka: Or they knew people would suspect legal issues so they sat on it until people gave up on it so they'd rush to buy it as soon as it came out, even though it has more stupid collectibles than this game has polygons. I mean, let's face it.
  Laylee: ...Wow. Didn't know you had it in you.
• Jak would warn Yooka that if his own series is anything to go by, future games may be Darker and Edgier. Daxter would let Laylee know that her species might turn out to be the legendary race behind the series' setting.
  • On that note...

The PC/Mac/Linux versions will contain entertaining anti-piracy measures

Of course, entertaining anti-piracy measures have always been a staple of PC games, and considering this is coming from ex-Rare employees, we can expect some fun little 'screw yous' to the pirates. It could be subtle, like Laylee not being able to fly like in a legitimate copy, or maybe, we could see shenanigans like one-hit kill deaths, the quiz level made Unwinnable by Design, and maybe even a bad guy insulting you by saying that they might be evil, but at least they don't pirate games people worked hard on.

The arcade machines will be each based on old 80's era rare games.

While the game is mostly a tribute to 90's era rare, there could also be sections that are mini spiritual successors to older games. For instance, one could be like Snake, Rattle and Roll except with Trowser replacing the snake from the original. There could be a Jetpac clone with Dr. Puzz or Dr. Quack replacing the original character, or even a Battletoads clone as the final, most difficult arcade machine.

Capital B didn't found Hivory Towers.

The founder, long stepped down and now pursuing humanitarian goals, is an anthropomorphic mosquito. In fact...

Hivory Towers' bespectacled original founder will appear throughout the hub.

He will fill the role of Brentilda, refilling health and giving inside information, possibly for the obligatory end-of-game quiz.

• Jossed.

Capital B will be a Final-Exam Boss.

Just like in Banjo Kazooie and Tooie, the final fight with Capital B will use all or most of the abilities you've gained throughout the game in the various phases of the fight. Perhaps in one phase he'll fight you in a machine that shoots metal balls at you that you have to eat as Yooka to turn metal, or something to that effect.

Every game Playtonic makes will be a Creator-Driven Successor to a different Rare game

This isn't entirely related to Yooka Laylee, but I couldn't think of a better place to put this. This game could be followed up with a Conker Creator-Driven Successor, then maybe one for Blast Corps or Battletoads, and so on, establishing Playtonic with a lineup of games that parallel the original Rare's.

• I can't wait for the Spiritual Successor of Anticipation :P

Post-release

If there's ever a crossover with Banjo Kazooie, the Final boss will be L.O.G

and the last segment will be banjo and kazooie restraining him so Yooka and Laylee can kick his screen in.

• Since he's the boss of all video and computer games in existence, the screen will blink out like a CRT. Cue four plain white squares realizing they just screwed up big time.

V.I.L.E. is that V.I.L.E.

The person at the top is a Fourth-Wall Observer - unlike everyone else, who only knows about reality when it's funny, the leader knows that existence is just a game. They've long stopped caring about the video games in which they dwell. As far as they're concerned, video and computer games are just for making money, so it's far more lucrative to churn out mediocre dreck that everyone will buy anyway than to actually put love and care into anything. The joy of it may have long evaporated, but they still treat what they do like a personal challenge... like they always have.

Which leaves just one question.

Planette is actually Janet

Unbeknownst to everyone (including the creators of the show), Janet and her moon, Maurice, fled the galaxy to get away from Lord Dominator, changing their appearence and hiding out in the Galleon Galaxy book world. And then Maurice/Moonie gets blown up anyway, followed quickly by the enraged Janet. Some celestial entities just can't catch a break.

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