... - So the thing I think that's maybe the most interesting is that it is gated in the way of a Super Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie, where you have to have enough of the Balan statues in order to unlock the next set of worlds. ...

I like, if I'm playing a 3D platform, one of which I've played many, I like them to feel like they're part of an existing overworld, Banjo-Kazooie being like the pinnacle.
In Context
... yeah, it looks blurry and messy and a bit kind of, yeah, not finished. But the level designs themselves, I'm not really a fan of like levels that are just suspended in mid-air. I like, if I'm playing a 3D platform, one of which I've played many, I like them to feel like they're part of an existing overworld, Banjo-Kazooie being like the pinnacle. like all these worlds are joined together by an overarching, bigger world. Here, it just seems like the Isle of Timbs is just a thing that's floating in the world, ...