One of the cooler features from the upcoming Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is the ability to alter the states of levels by changing the weather in the overworld. It wasn’t really present in the E3 demo, but we now have a short look at how that will affect maps in the final game. Developer Playtonic and publisher Team17 have uploaded a trailer that shows off just how that new mechanic will impact the game and it seems really neat.
The whole gimmick with this new 2.5D platformer is that you’re collecting bees to give you more hit points for the final level (the titular Impossible Lair). To gather those bees, you need to alter the levels and explore new parts of them. It’s a great way to make a smaller scale title that can reuse level geometry in interesting ways. It reminds me a bit of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, just without all the existential horror and killing.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is still on track for a Q4 2019 release on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
Source: Destructoid Playtonic gives us a glimpse of Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair’s alternate level states