Is Astro Bot the quintessential PS5 game? ( For Now)

onQ123

Gold Member
With so many games being multiplatform or cross-generation now it's harder to say what game defined a console. But I feel that Astro Bot made a pretty good case for it's self with the heavy use of the DualSense while also making the PS5 part of the game.
 
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Glad to see one of my posts inspiring the creation of a thread (not the first time it happened). And yes, it absolutely is.
 
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I think it's the quintessential video game right now. Plain fun, looks great, can be taken in small chunks or you can play for hours, can be enjoyed by all ages...it's what makes a great video game.
 
I hope it's a turning point in gaming developement.
Not only cinematographic experiences but also great games with smaller budget from a wider range of gameplay types
 
If it wasn't coming to PC I'd buy a PS5 just for it, so yeah, I guess it is. Haven't played it but I know I'll adore it (Rescue Mission is in my top 5 of all time btw).
 
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Just finsihed Astro Bot with my son, like 15min ago. That ending... one boss moment after the other. Its right up there with Captain America raising Thors hammer.
 
Not buying "Astro bot" under my own power, it's a cool plug in game that will be free on ps plus but we're expecting a heavy dose of AAA games with stories however uncharted has been mia, unfortunately they fumbled the last of us, shooters hasn't had a presence, kratos is one game in I can go on.
 
Probably, if you're a kid.

Otherwise, I'd say Demon Souls or GT7. DS is for my money one of the best looking games out there, on any platform, and it doesn't have any RT or whatever.
 
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Astro Bot shows how proper Dual Sense integration can considerably enhance the experience we have with a video game. And it makes me hate every developer who's too stupid or lazy to follow this example.
Even other Sony studios should feel ashamed while playing Astro Bot. You have this fantastic controller and you don't use it. Shame on you.
 
With so many games being multiplatform or cross-generation now it's harder to say what game defined a console. But I feel that Astro Bot made a pretty good case for it's self with the heavy use of the DualSense while also making the PS5 part of the game.
Demon souls is better.
 
Astro Bot shows how proper Dual Sense integration can considerably enhance the experience we have with a video game. And it makes me hate every developer who's too stupid or lazy to follow this example.
Even other Sony studios should feel ashamed while playing Astro Bot. You have this fantastic controller and you don't use it. Shame on you.

It makes the world of sense to use it in a horror game.

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As much as I love Astrobot, I think it's not going to have quite the legs that it could have had. For all that it has going for it, it also has a strangely undefined world. The levels don't seem to make any sort of cohesive sense. It's very old school in that sense, which is fair and likely what they were going for, but I'd be lying if I didn't want more cohesive world-building. For example, Mario Odyssey is able to have the same type of go anywhere do anything design while still having a narrative that ties all those disparate elements together. While I don't think doing something like that is an absolute necessity, I do think that for Astro to have a chance at more staying power in the long run, it will need to lay down some serious groundwork to define itself. I don't think a sequel with generic ice level, lava level, jungle level, space level, genie level, casino level, etc. will make quite the same splash that this one did. Divorced from all the delicious fan-service, the game is as impossibly delightful as it is generic.

I know it sounds like I'm being harsh, but I'm trying to look at where Asobi goes from here. To be clear, I think that all the Astro games have been 10/10's (especially VR Rescue Mission) and would love to see the series continue. We just need a more compelling world for Astro to inhabit. Nothing, I think, highlights this more than Astrobot's phenomenal end-boss gameplay being tied to such an incredibly uninspired and dull antagonist.
 
Spider-Man 2 is developed by Insomniac, Horizon Forbidden West is developed by Guerrilla, Astro Bot is developed by Sony.
It's the most 'PlayStation' game on PS5, as simple as that...
 
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Spider-Man 2 is made by Insomniac, Horizon Forbidden West is made by Guerrilla, Astro Bot is made by Sony. Simple as that...

Despite all being first party I get the principle that Asobi "is Sony" much like Nintendo EAD would be a "more Nintendo" game than one made by say Monolith.

But hey, Master Chief got to be mascot and he came from a first party that was "boarded on" so...doesn't necessarily mean it's a lock.
 
At least I know how to read a Wikipedia page.

All the studios you mentioned are first party.
the fuck are you talking about now
below, never said otherwise, did I?

Despite all being first party I get the principle that Asobi "is Sony" much like Nintendo EAD would be a "more Nintendo" game than one made by say Monolith.

But hey, Master Chief got to be mascot and he came from a first party that was "boarded on" so...doesn't necessarily mean it's a lock.
Yes, that's where I was going. People don't realze that Team Asobi is just a development unit within SIE and not a subsidiary (a whole separate company) like Polyphony Digital, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, etc. So saying that Astro Bot is developed by Sony is 100% correct.
I wouldn't get into the Xbox thing too much, Microsoft has historically operated very differently to SIE and Nintendo.
 
As much as I love Astrobot, I think it's not going to have quite the legs that it could have had. For all that it has going for it, it also has a strangely undefined world. The levels don't seem to make any sort of cohesive sense. It's very old school in that sense, which is fair and likely what they were going for, but I'd be lying if I didn't want more cohesive world-building. For example, Mario Odyssey is able to have the same type of go anywhere do anything design while still having a narrative that ties all those disparate elements together. While I don't think doing something like that is an absolute necessity, I do think that for Astro to have a chance at more staying power in the long run, it will need to lay down some serious groundwork to define itself. I don't think a sequel with generic ice level, lava level, jungle level, space level, genie level, casino level, etc. will make quite the same splash that this one did. Divorced from all the delicious fan-service, the game is as impossibly delightful as it is generic.

I know it sounds like I'm being harsh, but I'm trying to look at where Asobi goes from here. To be clear, I think that all the Astro games have been 10/10's (especially VR Rescue Mission) and would love to see the series continue. We just need a more compelling world for Astro to inhabit. Nothing, I think, highlights this more than Astrobot's phenomenal end-boss gameplay being tied to such an incredibly uninspired and dull antagonist.

Ultra agreed, its superb but its so close to a masterpiece it fan be better for sure.
 
Probably, but you have to remember that Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch combined have developed and released a grand total of 0 games so far for PS5... which has been out since 2020...
 
Even if it's cross-gen I think Ghost of Tsushima has given me the best experience with the DualSense so it's my "quintessential" PS5 experience. The vibrations when riding the horse over rocky ground or using your grappling hook to pull off stuff made the controller shine.
 
Nah, Astro Bot is basically a Nintendo game by design. If we were talking Jak and Dexter Sony then yes, but it's probably the least quintisentialy Sony game at the moment. Astro Bot doesn't even have a sexuality from what I can tell and their isn't even a BLM Galaxy.
 
From an "outsider's" perspective I'd say it's still more like the TLOU and Spiderman series. Astrobot has more of the Nintendo/children's optics which I don't think is going to stick.
 
After cross gen titles en masse, closed studios, thousands of sacked people and games like Concord I feel Astro Bot is just the game we all needed.
 
Astrobot has a lot of personality and loved the end credits haha. Some are pointing to "fan service" as a negative but I think it makes Astrobot's universe very adaptable.
 
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