Astro Bot (PS5 - 9/6 - 94 Metacritic)

[The Merchant]

Hype check time! Recuse Mission was just about the closest thing I've felt to a AAA Mario platformer not on a Nintendo console...and now this full release is looking to be just as good, if not better than it's predecessor. Can't wait for Friday.

Click to read more...

 

[Blitzkrug]

After watching some of the leaked gameplay, it looks like someone finally, truly figured out how to copy Nintendo's homework with the movement and level design. And that's not even remotely a bad thing. The reason platformers have kinda died off is because no one could recapture that lightning in a bottle. For a lot of people it's either Mario or nothing.

With the amount of love and care put into this, it essentially being a love letter to Playstation's history everything from Aloy to the super old school stuff like Ape Escape(and games that made their name on PS like Metal Gear/Resident Evil) being included and Astro's Playroom establishing this as something people wanted i think Sony has a big hit on their hands.

A good chunk of the cameos have been shown/confirmed (61 of the supposed 150) so there's absolutely going to be some surprises. Like there's no shot they do a game like this without some type of nod/representation of Final Fantasy 7, which is easily one of the most important games in Sony's history. Then probably some deep cuts like stuff from Legend of Dragoon/Chrono Cross

Spoiler

apparently Kazyua from Tekken leaked from some of the gameplay streams that has popped up. If his level appearance doesn't end with somebody getting thrown in a volcano then what are we doing here?

 

[trojansoilers]

Had no idea they were developing another one of these. Can't wait, the original was so much fun.

 

[robertmac43]

Looks incredible! Looking forward to this one!

The original was such a fun little game.

 

[pistolpete11]

I was really surprised how much I liked Astro's Playroom. Not really my cup of tea and I don't know Playstation's history so a lot of it went over my head, but it was a lot of fun.

My first ever platinum

 

[syz]

There's something sad about this being the highest reviewed standalone game of the year after Sony's CFO was out there talking about how they didn't think they had enough original IPs.

 

[93LEAFS]

Can't wait to get my hands on it. Astro's Playroom was such a fun tech-demo that came with the PS5, so I'm really glad Sony invested in a full scale game of it to build on the momentum.

Does Sony finally have it's platforming/family friendly mascot? Crazy to see Sony launch such a well reviewed platformer.

 

[Blitzkrug]

currently sitting at a 94 on metacritic.

I was expecting positive reviews but not "this is the best game to come out this year" good. Legitimate GOTY contender with very little left to challenge it (what like, the new Zelda and maybe Metaphor: ReFantazio?)

Picked it up. I was pretty sold given what they showed but the reviews made it a slam dunk.

 

[93LEAFS]

currently sitting at a 94 on metacritic.

I was expecting positive reviews but not "this is the best game to come out this year" good. Legitimate GOTY contender with very little left to challenge it (what like, the new Zelda and maybe Metaphor: ReFantazio?)

Picked it up. I was pretty sold given what they showed but the reviews made it a slam dunk.

I think Helldivers 2, Black Myth Wu-Kong, and FFVII Re-Birth are probably at the very top of the list right now (even if they aren't games I particularly love outside FF) with Astrobot. Astrobot if it lives up to the hype though is likely to be my personal game of the year. I am very excited for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, since I've loved MachineGames work on Wolfenstein, and the original Indiana Jones trilogy is an IP I absolutely adore. So, if that lands it will be very high on my list, but I think it's release date is post the Game Awards cut-off.

If Sony has finally made something that can at least be in discussion with Mario Odyssey, it's such a massive success. Sony has a lot of must play games for older gamers, but rarely something that 6 to 10 year olds are really gonna want to play, and this may finally be it. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[robertmac43]

Does Sony finally have it's platforming/family friendly mascot? Crazy to see Sony launch such a well reviewed platformer.

Feels like this should have been Sackboy in retrospect but the IP fizzled out.

Hopefully this Astrobot game is just the start and they can continue to create excellent platformers.

 

[93LEAFS]

Feels like this should have been Sackboy in retrospect but the IP fizzled out.

Hopefully this Astrobot game is just the start and they can continue to create excellent platformers.

Early on it was Crash/Spyro (although they didn't outright own the IP), past that they've had things like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper etc. but those games tended to be a headed by a bit more ambitious development teams (just look at how Naughty Dog and SuckerPunch have developed). Ratchet and Clank was also a bit less innocent in humor and a larger storyline than a typical kids game. This game looks like it could punch all the right boxes. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Feels like this should have been Sackboy in retrospect but the IP fizzled out.

Hopefully this Astrobot game is just the start and they can continue to create excellent platformers.

Little Big Planet as cool as the idea was on paper, was really, really shallow gameplay wise. That, and the problem with games that rely on user generated content to fuel it is you need to swim through the ocean of trash to find the good stuff. Mario Maker had this problem as well.

 

[Jovavic]

Adding it to my list of games to get on discount over the holidays

 

[Blitzkrug]

I think Helldivers 2, Black Myth Wu-Kong, and FFVII Re-Birth are probably at the very top of the list right now (even if they aren't games I particularly love outside FF) with Astrobot. Astrobot if it lives up to the hype though is likely to be my personal game of the year. I am very excited for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, since I've loved MachineGames work on Wolfenstein, and the original Indiana Jones trilogy is an IP I absolutely adore. So, if that lands it will be very high on my list, but I think it's release date is post the Game Awards cut-off.

If Sony has finally made something that can at least be in discussion with Mario Odyssey, it's such a massive success. Sony has a lot of must play games for older gamers, but rarely something that 6 to 10 year olds are really gonna want to play, and this may finally be it. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

One of my gaming hot takes is Mario Odyssey is kinda overrated imo.

A lot of the core mechanics are amazing with Mario being the most mobile he's ever been, the hat transform stuff is a legitimately good idea and opens up a whole new world of variables to throw on top of the basic gameplay loop (which is imo where Mario has excelled post 2D era), it feels good to play and look at. What kinda killed it for me is the level design. There's a few cleverly hidden/enjoyable moons to find in each world but the rest feel like they're just thrown about with no rhyme or reason to them in the name of "deepening" the experience. It felt dangerously close to ubisoft checklist type design.

Though i must admit, Mario as a whole lost a bit of its luster as i got older and i'm not sure why especially when i still adore the other Nintendo IPs i grew up with. Still love the original 2D games, Mario 64 is still one of my all time favorite games to this day. Past Galaxy 1 the games did less for me.

Odyssey had a chilling effect for me, which is weird since it's the most the series has evolved since probably Sunshine. Compare that to something like Zelda where i was absolutely fed up with the series direction from Twilight Princess up until Skyward Sword completely re-igniting my love for the series with Breath of the Wild radically changing the formula.

Astro Bot looks like it's a much more streamlined platforming experience which looks like a good thing.

 

[robertmac43]

Little Big Planet as cool as the idea was on paper, was really, really shallow gameplay wise. That, and the problem with games that rely on user generated content to fuel it is you need to swim through the ocean of trash to find the good stuff. Mario Maker had this problem as well.

True - but man, when you found those gem levels with a group of friends it was always a blast!

 

[93LEAFS]

One of my gaming hot takes is Mario Odyssey is kinda overrated imo.

A lot of the core mechanics are amazing with Mario being the most mobile he's ever been, the hat transform stuff is a legitimately good idea and opens up a whole new world of variables to throw on top of the basic gameplay loop (which is imo where Mario has excelled post 2D era), it feels good to play and look at. What kinda killed it for me is the level design. There's a few cleverly hidden/enjoyable moons to find in each world but the rest feel like they're just thrown about with no rhyme or reason to them in the name of "deepening" the experience. It felt dangerously close to ubisoft checklist type design.

Though i must admit, Mario as a whole lost a bit of its luster as i got older and i'm not sure why especially when i still adore the other Nintendo IPs i grew up with. Still love the original 2D games, Mario 64 is still one of my all time favorite games to this day. Past Galaxy 1 the games did less for me.

Odyssey had a chilling effect for me, which is weird since it's the most the series has evolved since probably Sunshine. Compare that to something like Zelda where i was absolutely fed up with the series direction from Twilight Princess up until Skyward Sword completely re-igniting my love for the series with Breath of the Wild radically changing the formula.

Astro Bot looks like it's a much more streamlined platforming experience which looks like a good thing.

Level design wise it Astro Bot struct me a bit more as like Mario 3D World. To be honest, I'm very curious where Mario goes next after what they did with Bowser's Fury (which seemed like where they are gonna try to go whenever they drop the next mainline Mario 3D game on Switch 2. I personally loved Odyssey but I can see the complaints. I also took a long break from Nintendo (hadn't owned anything really since Gamecube), and during the pandemic got Switch OLED and just loved jumping back into those iconic IPs. So, as someone who grew up a Genesis kid, and then switched to 64 it brought in a whole bunch of nostalgia.

As for Astrobot, I'm very excited to see Sony be ambitious and try to make their own great platformer. While, most people thought the presentation from earlier this year was disappointing (which I agree in many ways it was), I was so hyped closing with Astrobot. While I love Sony's huge cinematic 3rd person games like God of War, Last of Us, Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon or what they've done with Ratchet and Clank, I'm just ecstatic to see them make a great 3D Platformer and see what an ambitious kids friendly platformer made by Sony on a piece of hardware as powerful at the PS5 (considering how great Nintendo's platformers are on the Switch) can be. By all accounts watching the Digitial Foundry review this game runs flawlessly and mostly at a minimum 1440p/60 and often at 4k/60 with great feedback from controllers combined with the haptics. And, as someone who has been with Sony since the PS2, an amazing nostalgia trip for someone who has played their exclusives and games for over 20 years, just how Smash Bros is a love letter to Nintendo and gaming's history, this game is that for the history of the Playstation.

 

[The Merchant]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1831698913721795017

 

[Shareefruck]

One of my gaming hot takes is Mario Odyssey is kinda overrated imo.

A lot of the core mechanics are amazing with Mario being the most mobile he's ever been, the hat transform stuff is a legitimately good idea and opens up a whole new world of variables to throw on top of the basic gameplay loop (which is imo where Mario has excelled post 2D era), it feels good to play and look at. What kinda killed it for me is the level design. There's a few cleverly hidden/enjoyable moons to find in each world but the rest feel like they're just thrown about with no rhyme or reason to them in the name of "deepening" the experience. It felt dangerously close to ubisoft checklist type design.

Though i must admit, Mario as a whole lost a bit of its luster as i got older and i'm not sure why especially when i still adore the other Nintendo IPs i grew up with. Still love the original 2D games, Mario 64 is still one of my all time favorite games to this day. Past Galaxy 1 the games did less for me.

Odyssey had a chilling effect for me, which is weird since it's the most the series has evolved since probably Sunshine. Compare that to something like Zelda where i was absolutely fed up with the series direction from Twilight Princess up until Skyward Sword completely re-igniting my love for the series with Breath of the Wild radically changing the formula.

100% agreed. Its collectathon progression system is pretty terrible.

That said, personally, I'm not sold on Astrobot's visual identity, and that's really holding me back from it. It just looks so sterile and lacking in style.

 

[Blitzkrug]

The Crash astro does the same stupid f***ing dance the real Crash does.

11/10 GOTY

 

[The Merchant]

About 55 bots in and it's already easy to see why it's earning the scores it is. Charm, challenge, polish, creativity, and (most importantly) fun factor...the game exemplifies all of these. The levels are diverse, the secrets are aplenty and the switchups are never dull or frustrating. PlayStation might finally have their very own crown jewel of platforming.

 

[Blitzkrug]

This game is fantastic. Finished the first world before turning in for the night and everything about it is just so right. Smooth as butter to control, surprisingly good soundtrack, each level has a different, enjoyable gimmick.

Star of the show is obviously all the references/nods to previous/current Sony IPs. Was shocked to see them go as far with a nod to MLB The Show and Toro the cat thingy. Really curious to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

 

[Soldier13Fox]

I haven't played and enjoyed a platformer game since I was sitting on the floor in my bedroom as kid with an SNES 2 feet away from a 16 inch tv/VCR combo. This game is just pure no stress fun. 10/10

 

[LevelingSolo]

Happy to see this scoring well!!

Hopefully this sends a message to Playstation and the industry as a whole

More of this and less of Concord and Dustborn

Hope to grab this one in the next few weeks

 

[93LEAFS]

Put a couple hours in so far. As someone who has grown up with Playstation and has owned games from every generation of Playstation (thank you PS2 backwards compatibility), and loves a good 3D platformer. This game is amazingly creative, and a love letter to Playstation's history. Once I finish this game though, I'm gonna need a list of what each unique bot is a reference too, most of them I get, but no chance can I figure out every single one.

 

[syz]

Happy to see this scoring well!!

Hopefully this sends a message to Playstation and the industry as a whole

More of this and less of Concord and Dustborn

Hope to grab this one in the next few weeks

Review scores don't mean anything to the industry. Only thing that sends a message is sales.