At this point, many should be familiar with Playtonic Games and its spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee. The game only just recently became one of the most successful KickStarter campaigns of all-time, which was almost expected following the title’s ability to hit its initial goal within an hour of the crowd-funded project’s launch.Bit by bit, the former Rare staffers behind Yooka-Laylee have been unveiling pieces of the game’s contents, and now a handful of new characters have been confirmed for the title – although they may not be quite what fans were expecting.
Taking to the game’s official KickStarter page, Playtonic has unveiled a gaggle of characters known only as the Ghost Writers. According to the developer, these newcomers inhabit the various “book worlds” that Yooka the chameleon and Laylee the bat will be traversing through during their debut adventure. The role of the Ghost Writers is not to be side characters like the previously announced Trowzer the snake, however, but rather to be collectibles for the game’s protagonists.
It sounds as if these haunting individuals will be taking on a role that’s similar to the Jinjos that appeared in Banjo-Kazooie, although they are a much darker take on the cutesy characters. Still, the collectible nature of these Ghost Writers means that there are rewards for gathering them all, something that Playtonic Games has confirmed, but the developer isn’t detailing just what that will be yet.
As more and more information is released about Yooka-Laylee, it’ll be interesting to see how much of the final product resembles the beloved Rare-developed platforming franchise that it’s based on. Understandably, those making the game want it to stand on its own two feet, but deviating too far from the tried and true formula that the backers are expecting for their money would be a concern for many. With a team full of veteran game designers though, it’s hard to be concerned for the time being.
Yooka-Laylee is currently set to release at some point in 2016 for PC, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Xbox One.
“The Ghost Writers haunting the book worlds will add a fun twist to collecting. There are a variety of different types hidden in every world, each with their own unique requirement for being caught. Mix that with the different areas in which you’ll find them, and hopefully they’ll result in a fresh challenge with every encounter. They’re like a living (un-living?) collectible.”