I mentioned my experience with the early chapters of Bug Fables in its dedicated thread here.
I'm also playing Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. While the first Yooka-Laylee was an attempt to recapture the spirit of the N64 Banjo titles, with mixed results, this sequel hews much closer to Donkey Kong Country. Specifically, it feels very similar to leaning further into the direction the original series was heading with DKC3. That means overworld interaction is a huge part of the gameplay. It's full of puzzles, secrets, and character interactions. For the first few stages, I was spending very little time there, eager to play the sidescrolling platforming stages that I saw as the meat of the game. But the overworld is so full of variety and paces its rewards for exploration and puzzle-solving so well, that I quickly found myself ignoring levels and trying to explore more of it.
However, the platforming is really enjoyable itself. It's very exploration-heavy, but it seems like no significant content is locked behind 100% completion. It's extremely creative, and each stage gets a "Doc Robot" variation of some kind. Exactly what changes varies wildly (flooded, frozen, more enemies, something chasing you, filled with honey), and I've only seen an "element" reused once.
The environments are a beauty, and the music is superb. While David Wise and Grant Kirkhope lend their talents to the soundtrack (and Wise was music director), newcomers Matt Griffin and Dan Murdoch are credited with the majority of the tracks, and they do an excellent job.
This game is a lot of fun, and I wouldn't let any of the first Yooka-Laylee's shortcomings dissuade you from checking it out!