I’ve expressed my liking for several PlayStation franchises in the past. They make a good chunk of my favorite games of all time and the moments they’ve given me live rent free in my head. I will always remember the emotional and heartbreaking scenes of the recent God of WaR games. The secrets I’ve uncovered in Horizon Zero Dawn. The legacy I pursued in Ghost of Tsushima, thrills of Uncharted, miles I’ve hiked in Death Stranding, and don’t even get me started on my love for Bloodborne. One of my most played games ever. You won’t believe me when I say I’ve played it over seven times and have over one hundred seventy hours in Bloodborne. Got every single trophy including DLC and can perfectly describe the layout of every area from memory. I love the games Playstation has come out with. There’s the argument made of recent titles and how they’re ‘movie games” but I don’t really care because I’m still having fun. All of that being said, I also kinda hate Playstation. Well I wouldn’t say I would say more specifically Sony. I do like their business practices. I do like how they overfund games only just to get the same thing again. I don’t like how they shut down Japan Studio earlier this year and killed any creativity they have going forward. I hate how anti consumer they are and how they just announced a new version of the PS5 that is seven hundred dollars, and doesn’t even contain a disc drive!
I may have given several Playstation games perfect scores in the past, but trust me when I state I really HATE Sony. I hate Sony, but I love Playstation. I love all the games they’ve come out with over the years and am eager to play more of their titles. That eagerness has been raised now that I’ve completed the biggest surprise of the year. A game I had low expectations for, but was better than I and several other people have expected. Astro Bot, the latest title from Team Asobi and a celebration of the last thirty years of Playstation’s existence. This isn’t the first Astro Bot game they’ve made nor is it the first game they made in general. They did that freeware game called The Playroom back in 2013 for the Playstation 4. Just in case you didn’t have enough money to buy a game alongside the system, because games cost too much even back then. Then they did a VR version of it, because Playstation wanted to experiment with VR tech but didn’t quite get it like other companies at the time. Then they eventually made a good VR game that was the first Astro Bot. It was called Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and from what I’m told is an underrated gem. A game that makes clever use of the VR headset while also being a well made 3D platformer. Only thing holding it back was having to own a PSVR, but nonetheless a great first major title.
Then the Playstation 5 rolled around in 2020 and most buyers were most likely broke from this five hundred dollar brick. Team Asobi was tasked with making another freeware game for this brand new console and they made Astro’s Playroom. A nice one to two hour long adventure that was better than what most people expected. I didn’t get a PS5 until late 2022 and I remember it not being the first PS5 game I played. Instead I started off with The Pathless and during a sale I bought a copy of Demon’s Souls because that was the main reason I wanted a PS5. Then during a boring weekend I played Astro’s Playroom and was amazed by what Team Asobi had made. It’s what I call the best 8/10 game made. It wasn’t all too big, but Team Asobi managed to achieve a lot from what was a freeware game. If only they had made a full title or got more backing from the Sony higher ups, but eventually they did and here we are with a full Astro Bot game. No VR headset required, no two hour runtime, and no overfunding. Just a compact, focused, and pretty well designed 3D platformer. When I saw the first reveal trailer I knew Astro Bot was going to be good. It’s an idea that could appeal to anybody, young and old, but as I said earlier I and many other people did not expect it to be as amazing as it is. The PS5 doesn’t have a lot of exclusives right now that make purchasing one worth it, and I still wouldn’t say to go buy one despite being the owner of a PS5. However, I cannot deny that Astro Bot is Team Asobi’s magnum opus. The game that truly makes good use of PS5 hardware and pushes the tech to its limit.
I’m gonna say it right now because I don’t want to wait till the end of this review: Astro Bot is a masterpiece. It reminded me why I love video games so much as it’s a celebration of all the great games Playstation and all its studios have put out. Its design is as tight as a gnat's ass and right now it’s competing with 1000xResist for being my game of the year. I won’t say it’s the defining game of the year, because having to own a PS5 for a game that glorifies the PS5 doesn’t give me a good feeling. We’ll see how this view changes as time moves forward, but right now I’d like to sing my praises for a game about a cute little robot. Something I could hold in the palm of my hand and give a pat on the head for what great of a job it did. Light the party candles, pop the champagne, catch up with some old friends, and let’s discuss why I love Astro Bot.
Story
The plot opens up with a magical Playstation 5 soaring across the stars. No, I am not making this up. This actually happens. Within this magical PS5 is a crew of tiny cute robots. All of which are happy to be sailing through space alongside the pilot, Astro Bot. They help maintain the ship and make sure each of the five core parts are maintained and protected. All is well until a giant green alien appears. The green alien rips the PS5 apart and steals the CPU which helps power it. This giant magical PS5 begins to malfunction, and quickly falls apart. Scattering the other four key components into the vastness of space as well as the entirety of Astro Bot’s crew. The vessel then crash lands on a desert planet where it were to rot, but the unpowered body of Astro Bot is found nearby. It’s powered up again and he manages to repair what is left of the PS5. The task is clear now. Locate the missing parts of the PS5 and rescue all of their missing friends. There’s a total of five galaxies to venture through and each contains a foreign entity Astro Bot must overcome. They will make due, use the resources they have, and gain the help of their friends. Good luck.
Gameplay
So the story is pretty straight forward compared to most Playstation games, but that’s okay cuz the main focus of Astro Bot is its gameplay. What you’ll be doing throughout the entirety of the journey over and over again. There are five galaxies in total and each one contains a variety of levels to venture through. Each level contains their own gimmicks and hazards that test how the gimmicks are used. Now wait just a gosh darn minute. You explore a galaxy and navigate a set of linear designed levels? Doesn’t that sound like Super Mario Galaxy!? Well that’s not anything new as every single person I’ve seen cover this game made the same comparison, and what’s not great is having a game similar to something else that’s also great. Each level throws new ideas at you and if not builds upon a mechanic you messed around with previously. One level can give you a rocket dog to cross long gaps or bash through surfaces you wouldn’t normally be able to. A level with boxing gloves to break barriers and swing around on sticky monkey bars. A flower to fly into the air with, or glass that breaks when you walk over it. The game is willing to blend these ideas so that no level concept feels the same, repeated, or uncreative. It’s great and some of these mechanics make good use of the Dualsense controller for once. Something I haven't seen with other PS5 games.
Even without these gimmicks Astro Bot has a good handful of moves to use. Not as flexible as a lot of platforming heroes out there like Mario or Raz, but good enough to get the job done. You can punch enemies and charge up to perform a spin attack. This can also be used to activate some of the contraptions you may encounter in levels. You can jump obviously, but pressing the jump button again allows you to do a cool little hoover maneuver. This emits a laser below you can even damage enemies which is very nice. Very simple moveset but again it’s the hazards, level mechanics, and different enemies types you face that make good use of your limited arsenal. You may face an enemy that requires you to use the spin technique, like the nut and bolt you have to screw off. An enemy you can’t punch directly like the spiky dude, or you just gotta knock out a bunch of them at once with a good spin. Do what works. Throughout each level are bots you can rescue and puzzle pieces to collect. Some of these robots are VIP bots resembling characters of Playstation games you might know. You might rescue a hunter from Bloodborne, Kratos from the new God of War games, Aloy, Jin Sakai, Cole McGrath,Kat, a few third party cameos like Ryu and Leon Kennedy, or a bunch of lesser known games I’d be surprised you wouldn’t know. The more robots you collect the better, because the robots return to home base and can help you get to places you can’t access in the crash site. There’s also puzzle pieces that unlock new facilities like the gacha machine to unlock personal items for the VIP bots, or an outfit change.
At the end of each world there’s a boss who protects a special VIP bot, and then after that there’s a level themed around the VIP bot’s game. You gain an item fitting that character, run around, and save one of the four missing PS5 parts. You fix the PS5 part, install it into the system, unlock the next world, and move on. You can’t unlock boss levels without finding enough of the missing bots, so always be on the look for them in levels. Besides that there’s not much else for me to say as the game is pretty straightforward. It’s fun though, and what could be wrong with good old fun on a console designed around having as much fun as possible? Let’s just hope you can find the missing crew, rescue, and fix the giant magical PS5. I’m having a hard time believing.
Thoughts
Now comes the part of expressing my love for Astro Bot. Explaining why I love it so much and what makes it click for me and several other people like me. I want to avoid using as much bias as possible, because I don’t want it to look like a diehard Playstation fanboy who thinks every bit about them is good. Yet, Astro Bot is a 3D platformer and I love 3D platformers. Been playing quite a few of them as of lately and this is the one that made me the most happy. In fact, I would say it’s a high point in the genre alongside Psychonauts and one of the 3D Super Mario games. Pick whatever I don’t care which one you choose. It’s so well designed and crafted and there was no part of Astro Bot where I thought I wasn’t having fun. Each level expresses a different mechanic or gimmick to mess around with, and despite some levels bringing mechanics you used before they don’t feel like they repeat too much. I say a gimmick is used two to three times in the game, and usually not within the same galaxies. They’re spread across and this helps give the game lots of variety. No idea gets old or annoying, because levels aren’t long so the mechanic does not overstay its welcome. It’s good pacing and knowing when to switch things up.
The levels also never contain a specific theme, which I really love and again reminds me of what made Super Mario Galaxy work. You venture through a beach, then a haunted graveyard, snowy mountain, construction site, searing volcano, underwater palace, overgrown forest, etc. Levels are colorful, the music is energetic, there’s fun stuff happening within the background, and they know when to whip out set pieces to either excite you or test the gimmick you have currently. I think robots, puzzle pieces, and secrets are very well placed. At no point did I struggle to find a hidden bot or puzzle piece. Usually you can hear a bot’s plea for help signaling they’re nearby, or the level design guides you to check a corner you’d normally pass over in other games. Even if you do miss a bot the levels are small and short, so retracing your steps to find them isn’t bad or annoying. Now I know some people may complain how you need a certain amount of bots to go unlock the end world boss fight, but I enjoy this design choice. It encourages you to explore the stages and completion is actually pretty fun in Astro Bot. I got every robot, puzzle piece, gacha reward, costume, and controller paint color before I faced the final boss. It was fun and I would say this is the best platinum trophy I ever worked towards in a game since 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
Another aspect I enjoy about Astro Bot is that despite there being a couple challenge stages that test your metal and having died quite a few times too them I never found the game overly hard or too difficult. In fact I’d say this is one of the easier platformers out there, which is fine with me because there’s nothing wrong about making an easy game. The world is harsh and if you’re me you get tired from all the soulslike and shooters you cover. Playing a game that isn’t aiming to be a cruel or chaotic experience is nice. I love the many cameos and series this game has. I’m pretty sure a lot of players love this as well. Bloodborne, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Loco Roco, Horizon Zero Dawn, Infamous, Demon’s Souls, Sly Cooper, Uncharted, Ape Escape, Killzone, Medievil, and it doesn’t stop there. Third party titles like Resident Evil, Yakuza, Street Fighter, Persona, Okami, etc. I don’t want this to sound like nostalgia speaking, because I have not played a good chunk of the games mentioned. In fact, there’s a debate right now as to how many of these games are playable on the Playstation 5. Yahtzee Croshaw did an analysis recently and found twenty percent of the franchises in Astro Bot are not playable, which sucks. However, this is a celebration of the last thirty years of Playstation. Mentioning all the amazing games talented people have made and thanking them for the contributions they’ve made not just to Playstation but to gaming in general. The memories they’ve created for people like myself and getting us through harsh moments in life. The people who made Astro Bot love video games, I can tell.
I have no complaints about Astro Bot and the game itself is nearly perfect. The only thing I dislike is how you need a PS5 to play it, and buying a five hundred dollar brick for one game feels like a scam. I also know people say it’s a glorified PS5 advertisement treating it as a magical box of dreams. A bit concerning, but whatever. There’s also a debate of whether this is a kid’s game. As someone who loved it I’d say yes. I mean the robots floss, and the first time I saw that I cringed so hard I choked. My main concern is how many children can play the games that are referenced in Astro Bot? They can’t play God of War, because I’m sure their parents won’t let them play a game with ‘war’ in the title. They can’t play Metal Gear Solid because I’m not sure they’re cognitive enough to understand the topic at hand. They certainly cannot play either Bloodborne or Nioh, because they aren’t experienced enough to go through hard games. This is a debate I think would be interesting to have. Anyways, to reiterate what I said earlier I personally believe Astro Bot is a masterpiece. I paid full price for this game and without a doubt every little penny was worth it. If you have a PS5, love 3D platformers, or video games in general then this is a must play. I give Astro Bot a 10/10 for being incredible.
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