Astro Bot

Luna84

The sooner this comes to PC the better.

Retr0gamer

Bloodborne in 60 fps almost makes up for recognizing Legend of Dragoon

https://twitter.com/pungter/status/1831742852893962289?t=DcjXJ_Wz3in6_nNASeTYGg&s=19

johnny_ultimate

Screw path-tracing. All I want from my graphical showcases is hundreds of discreet physics objects tossed around the place just because they can.

Andrew76

Yes the main levels are very easy (so far anyway) but those lost green triangle void levels are tricky enough! Nice contrast.

jj880

Yeah Im hoping these levels are going to be a bit trickier:

Spoiler Warning

Lost galaxy

Have about half of them found

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122594158#Comment_122594158

Those are a piece of cake compared to the triangle levels. I defy anyone to complete the below level in under 10 tries. I must be on twenty deaths so far but it’s so bloody addictive! The catchy music helps too. 😁

Spoiler Warning

Fragile Frenzy

Edit: Finally got it! And I have no idea who the rescued bot is. 😂

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122594187#Comment_122594187

Yeah the triangle levels are the first real challenge I’ve come across. All surmountable but definitely a fair bit trickier than anything else.

The bot is…

Spoiler Warning

… Aigis from Persona 3!

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122594274#Comment_122594274

Cheers JU, not played that game. Probably recognise about 90% of them and now I want a remaster of Ico. Loved that game.

johnny_ultimate

Jesus, Team Asobi are just showing off with the levels that mess around with size and time. Spectacular stuff.

recyclops

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122591531#Comment_122591531

Some levels ya can go collect everything then backtrack which is handy. The ones you can't are annoying

recyclops

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122594187#Comment_122594187

I don't know if it's years and years of doin these type of trials or pure luck but completed that one on 2nd go the hoping the triangle levels get more difficult three I have done have Ben standard enough

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122595204#Comment_122595204

Let's just say Triangle isn't the only face button on the controller.

Retr0gamer

There's some absolutely insane deepcut references in the game. Plenty from games that never got released over here like a PS1 cooking sim.

recyclops

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122595466#Comment_122595466

Yep breezing through them as well.

Spoiler Warning

New fav, hidden bot is the kurushi bot.

Penn

Platinumed. Wasn't too far off it anyway once I'd finished the game as I'd been fairly strict on collecting everything before moving on, and I'd found a lot of the secret-type trophies just by trying to do as much as I could anyway.

Can't complain about a single thing. Just a bunch of fun the whole way through. The levels, abilities and bosses are all superbly designed. Some of the more unique levels are terrific. The way the dualsense is used is once again miles ahead of nearly every game on the PS5.

johnny_ultimate

The boss and special level of world three: chef’s kiss

Spoiler Warning

The funky remix of the Uncharted theme is incredible

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122594790#Comment_122594790

The size level in particular, the instantaneous perspective shift with the flick of a button is marvelous.

Potential-Monke

Well that was just a bundle of fun from start to end. An extremely easy game, easier than the Lego games, but a welcome throwback to the Spyro type of game. Choc full of characters, each with their own little animations and interactions. Some really old references, and super recent ones.

Each level is a joy to see, hear play. Everything has a place and a purpose. Everything reacts. The special levels are fantastic, and really show what Astro could do in the future. One completely unexpected but fun musical throwback I thoroughly enjoyed. But they were all uniqely amazing.

Basically a full length tech demo for the PS5 again, and masterfully crafted. Even the credits were fun. Truly showed the power of the PS5 tbh, and sublime use of the DualSense which further shows how great a controller it really is.

Collecting everything was easy enough, but some of those challenge levels gave me some guff. The final one tested me. All my fault, but it by far took the longest.

Sony have a massive potential cash cow here. Not just with more of these games, but expanding into other franchises. I'd pay all the monies for an Astro version of the Lego games. And I also want to start throwing money at good quality Astro themed funko pop type things. I'll even take movies, give the licence to the lad who did Wall-E. By far the most fun Platinum I've earned. This will win all the awards.

SomeSayKos

What a game!!!!!

I've been really apathetic about video games for the last year or two, but this game has been the perfect antidote. You can't help but smile at its creativity and charm. Yes, it's very similar to the last 2 Astro Bot games and yes it's quite easy, but the game is filled with so many clever touches and ideas that it never gets boring.

Plus, it looks incredible and it feels so finely tuned and polished. It's up there with anything Nintendo have ever done in the 3D platformer genre in my opinion, and I'm glad to see the game and developers getting the plaudits they deserve.

I love it, and I'm already starting to feel melancholic about finishing it 😅

RocketRaccoon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122595954#Comment_122595954

It's the muffled noise, amazed me.

Potential-Monke

Yeah, there's actually so much in the game you can quickly forget just how much is happening. It may not have another GPU banger, but Papa Tree had me smiling like a toddler. The reworked themes on the special levels were brilliant. Everywhere you go or look, there's something moving and reacting to the world and music. It's blowing my mind that some kids will experience this as their first proper game, it must set an awfully high bar!

There's so much to discuss in this game, but everyone needs to experience it themselves first. I didn't watch anything beyond the announce trailers and I'm so happy I didn't, because experiencing all that without prior knowledge definitely helped. It played flawless, it sounded flawless, it looked flawless, it performed flawlessly. It really is as close to perfect as one can get. I haven't played a Mario game since Galaxy so I can only assume this is what they are like, but glad to see Astro getting held up there with the granddaddy of gaming.

For anyone not sold, I recommend listening to the Digital Foundry tech review. Don't watch it, but do listen, it should sell you the game. It does remind me of why I love gaming.

Retr0gamer

Constantly surprised by the deepcut references

Spoiler not working so I'll just link

https://twitter.com/eurothug4000/status/1833111723215040611?t=7JeXTUhjb77GjfA7a4NRJw&s=19

johnny_ultimate

Most of the ‘face button’ levels are quick 5-10 minute efforts, even though they’re a fair bit more challenging than the core levels. But that bloody lava level probably took me the best part of 20-30 mins 😅 Definitely would like more of the game to be pitched at that difficulty level, as infuriating as it can be.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122600112#Comment_122600112

That was the one that gave me the most guff too.

Necro

The chameleon boss caused me a lot of trouble. The rest weren't hard at all. Agreed on the face button levels being a bit more challenging but short. Only 13 bots to go now myself to platinum it.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122600131#Comment_122600131

There’s a lot more obstacles to avoid given you have to rely on somewhat more random physics going your way. Even the opening bit can go wrong if the rubber duck water spray misses a spot of lava (lol sounds insane when you type it that way). Then there’s homing missiles and random goo to avoid once you get past that.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122600161#Comment_122600161

Yeah I had a weird amount of trouble with the lava section right at the start, but then if you touch the smallest bit of goo in the next part you have no chance avoiding the fire beams, and then it's back to the lava section again.

Potential-Monke

Crash Site lives rent free in my mind... the soundtrack is brilliant. Been listening to it in the car.

brady12

As a person who doesn't love platformers and never really buys them I have to say I love this game . Finished one set of planets and mad to visit the next world . It's so much fun !

jj880

Into the 4th world now. Slowly going through the levels searching for everything. Dont want it to end.

johnny_ultimate

Wrapped this up over the weekend. Generally have no notes: it manages to keep up the energy and imagination right up until the end. I thought the Lost Galaxy was interesting - felt like little sketches they couldn't quite flesh out to full-length levels (though all levels are fairly brisk here), but polished the ideas into a neat little smaller levels so they wouldn't go to waste.

I was skeptical about the Playstation fan service going in, as I do think the PS branding is still corporate branding, no matter how lovingly rendered. But it did win me over through sheer volume of homages and deep cuts - you'd think there were no new depths for them to plumb, but then you'd find a cameo from Boku (no Natsuyasumi) or the quiz master from Buzz. They just keep going deeper, and some smartly randomised crowd physics means the actual gameplay becomes an amusing assault of bizarre, entertaining cameos.

Spoiler Warning

Honestly, the lack of Square Enix cameos was the only absence I really noticed.

More than that, by far the most successful aspect of the game is how it becomes a homage of sorts to the late, great Japan Studio. The studio made so many great or at very least fascinating games, and seeing them all lovingly rendered here - including some more involved gameplay homages - kind of feels like the celebration they deserved after being fairly unceremoniously shuttered in favour of Jim Ryan's doomed live service gamble. Their spirit definitely lives on in Team Asobi. Although it was also at times a frustrating reminder of how many of these games remain unavailable commercially these days - the PS3 / PSP era was a wonderful time for first party PS1 re-releases in particular, and that approach has been all but abandoned by Sony. Really a lot of these games deserve to be more easily available.

There's definitely room for Team Asobi to push further here - their character designs, while bright and colourful, do remain fairly bland and non-descript. Certainly Astro Bot and the various foes he encounters are nowhere near as effortlessly iconic as a Mario or even some of the characters who make cameos here. But they more than make up for it with the immaculate 'game feel' of the thing and the endless stream of imaginative, delightful ideas that get tossed at the player with giddy abandon. I don't think any of this is a surprise - I mean, it's now the third time Team Asobi have pulled off the same trick. But still: this is a team in a real good creative spot, and I'm excited to hopefully see them challenge themselves even more next time around.

recyclops

Same finished it up over the weekend a very good game although I did find it got a tad repetitive with enemies and the movement of Astro is a bit bland when they dont have abilities it's pretty punch and glide.

As most have said it's very very easy (I did three X levels on first attempt) I can't see me returning for any real reason as everything was picked up on first play through

Spoiler Warning

Biggest omission I found in cameos was twisted metal, a playstation stable for majority of people) sweet tooth and axel would have been great.

Retr0gamer

Jim Ryan closing Japan Studios was either one of the stupidest bonebeaded corporate decisions ever or else he was sealing away the possibility of a Legend do Dragoon and is therefore a hero.

SomeSayKos

Finished this at the weekend and working my way towards getting the platinum.

I loved it, although I found the last story mission/boss kinda dull and it was the only part of the game where the Sony Playstation advertising/fart smelling got a bit too much for me because it focused on hardware instead of their games.

Yes it's pretty easy although some of the x, triangle, circle and square levels gave me some issues, and I appreciated the challenge.

Probably my favourite game of the year!

Andrew76

Watched/helped the 7 yr old finish it up yesterday so will need to go and do the same on my account. Think I have 1 world left and still tons of bots to collect. Fantastic game as others have said and that must be one of the better end credits I've seen in a game.

Unearthly

Got the platinum. The grandmaster challenge I found very very difficult. I must have been at it all evening

lertsnim

Such a lovely and easy going game. Enjoyed it tremendously. That was until Splashing Sprints. It is so frustratingly awkward but it's good that they have included a level like it.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122623764#Comment_122623764

I didn’t find it quite as hard as that (though still took a fair few attempts), but the final cameo at the end couldn’t have been more apt :)

SomeSayKos

I think the level that gave me the most difficulty was 'Splashing Sprint': The lava one with the rubber ducks spraying the water out….

Took me a good hour to beat it!

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122624900#Comment_122624900

just finished grand master challenge and yeah splashing sprint took a lot more attempts for me also.

Getting close to platinum. Need about 3000 coins though. Wondering whats a good level to get some quick coins…

RocketRaccoon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647142#Comment_122647142

I gave the controllers to the kids and let them play for a while to get all the coins I needed.

Still have to the beat and the grandmaster challenge to finish, I'm taking a break from it for a few days because they're just too stressful.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647273#Comment_122647273

Wouldn't call it a stressful game even the challenge levels. More joyful and relaxing for me. Going to sell it on once I platinum it.

Just did a dance with all the bots joining in behind me at the crash site. Crash bandicoot is my favourite.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647142#Comment_122647142

I smashed everything on every level while unlocking everything. Some levels, like the size ones, have hidden big coins on top of a series of flowers. Lots of hidden ones like that. I assume the later levels have more coins, so go backwards through them.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647697#Comment_122647697

Near the start of the last lost galaxy level there are 4 gold coin boxes. Im grabbing them and restarting the level. They give 30 each so pretty good for some quick coins.

RocketRaccoon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647674#Comment_122647674

Love the game, my favourite game on any console since Rescue Mission on the original VR but these last 2 levels are slowly killing me. 2 bots left of 305 and it's annoying me so much I can't get them. Off work today so may give them a try again.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648199#Comment_122648199

Yeah once it gets down to the last few bots / puzzle pieces it was mildly annoying. I had 10/11 puzzle pieces left for hours in the crash site. Then for some reason something that Id done several times before produced the last piece:

Spoiler Warning

knocking down all the bowling pins

Same for Rescue Mission. Some fine day there'll more Astrobot VR. 🤞

jj880

https://youtu.be/xQpZM1fVSBg

Free DLC incoming. Nice.

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122618894#Comment_122618894

Looks like they may be rectifying your spoiler in the DLC along with a couple others…

recyclops

This is fairly bang on by Yahtzee

https://youtu.be/I4Pv_oERvwk?si=sJB3zByJLlRey_aF

Niska

Astrobot s the first game that I've used the PS5's built in Help feature.

It's well integrated - finish a level but miss a bot or jigsaw pieces - onto the help screen and the a video for the exact missing bot or piece is there.

Cheaper than spending 200 coins on the scout.