Yooka-Laylee's latest patch fixes camera issues with manual mode

Update 2: After months of waiting we finally have a patch. The developers of Yooka-Laylee added a manual mode to control the camera which fixes the lingering problems the game has. This is a welcome addition. For the full patch notes, visit their Kickstarter page.

Yooka-Laylee reviews are out and many have criticized the game for its poor camera controls and platforming issues. Luckily, Xbox One owners won’t have to endure the problems at launch as a patch just hit the console. According to Playtonic, the update includes fixes to the camera in certain situations as well as performance improvements. The changes are as follows:

• [Fixed] Camera will become locked in place after completing Gravity Room challenge in Galleon
• [Fixed] Grappling the seeds as they break in Planker’s challenge causes erratic behaviour in Moodymaze Marsh.
• [Fixed] Game softlocks and has to be reset if the player leaves the course and faints during the Nimble race in Tribalstack Tropics.
• [Fixed] Softlock will sometimes occur on the Hub C slide if the player faints at the same moment as the timer reaching zero.
• [Fixed] If the player leaves Brreeeze Block’s room in the Icymetric Palace in Glitterglaze Glacier but remains in the world and returns to the same room then the isometric camera will be deactivated.
• [Fixed] If player is killed by a bizzy in hub B and knocked back into the archive door at the exact same time, the screen will still transition. When the player respawns, they will be unable to move.
• Performance improvements to various camera transitions in the introductory cutscene.
• Performance improvements to Shipwreck Creek and Hivory Towers. Various areas have been improved including camera movement.
• Performance improvements when using the light beam in the Icymetric Palace within Glitterglaze Glacier.
• Performance improvements during the House of Cards ball roll course in Capital Cashino.
• Performance improvements in the Bee-Bop arcade game.

It’s great that Playtonic are aware of the game’s problems and are actively working to fix them before launch. We tried out this patch and it definitely improves many of the areas where we experienced issues. However, there’s still a lot of work to be done. The update should automatically download if your console has that setting enabled. If it doesn’t, you’ll be prompted to download the patch on April 11 when the game goes live.

Update 1: In a recent statement to gamers who purchased Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic promised to fix the game’s lingering issues in a future patch. The team said:

“In the days since launch…the team has been frogmarched back down into the development mines to uncover our next big game update, which will add significant improvements and introduce some of the most requested features…That means stuff like the optional ability to skip dialogue faster, bypass cutscenes or reduce those pesky gibberish voices, which should please the speedrunners among us. We’ll also be adding a sprinkling of design polish throughout the adventure and by popular request, changes to how the camera operates.”

Hopefully this will address the camera problems because at times Yooka-Laylee can become unplayable. We’ll have to wait a few weeks until we find out. That seems to be when the developers hope to push out the patch.