Astro's Playroom is a 3D platformer developed by Japan Studio's Asobi Team and it was published by Sony Interactive along side the release of the next generation Console the Playstation 5.
The Game was in released in November 2020. The game itself is already pre installed in every Playstation 5 console and it is ready to be accessed the moment the console is booted.
Who is Astro, and what is Astro's playroom
Astro is a small Robot that was introduced back 2018 when Sony introduced and pushing the Vr headset. Team Asobi made a game called Astro's rescue mission which was a nice way to introduce people
to virtual reality with a nice Game which foccussed on the Vr capabilities. This time around, the little robot is tackling 3D platforming while showcasnng the controller of the playstation 5.
To elaborate Sony teased how one of the most major change between the Ps4 and Ps5 was the power of the controller. Similar to 2018, Sony entrusted team Asobi to create a game whose main purpose will be to
show the people what this Ps5 controller is all about nd what it can do.
The game has no official Story mode, nor something close to a story. The player is instantly thrown into Gameplay.
Levels
The game is simple , the players are introduced to a lobby called CPU Plaza that has six different Gates.
These are :
The GPU Jungle
The SSD Speedway
Memory Meadow
Cooling Springs
Playstation Labo
Netwrork Speed
The first four levels in the order mentioned above are levels that, on their own are also seperated in four different levels each. In every level,no matter where some1 may look up, there eye will eventually
spot various of bots or areas representing or referencing something from Sony. Some bots are discuised as Characters from beloved Sony properties or from Games that had a huge impact in Sony's history
exclusive or not. Bots disguised as characters like Crash Bandicoot, Kratos(God Of War), Spiderman ,Dante (Devil May Cry) and plenty of others. On the other hand there are items such as the iconic buster sword
(from Final Fantasy Vii), wall piantings of Patabots(Representing the Patapons form the PSP) and plenty of others. Seriously the game has so many references that listing them will definetely surpass 100 and there
will be some missed guarantee.
Each of the level as their name suggest represent a part that make up for the Playstation5. GPU as the name suggest is the part of the console that is responsible for the Graphics processing. The SSD Speedway
represents the SSD the console has. SSD allows for the Games to run smoothly without any loss of frames or performance drop (aka Lag.) Cooling Springs is a map that represents beach and ice and it represents the console's
newest cooling system that prevents the Ps5 from overheating. Memory as the title suggest is about the new memory that the ps5 has over in general. Network speed represents the new speed that the ps5 has when connecting to
the net, as it's way faster than the prior model the Ps4. The labo, acts as the museum, unlike the other gates, it does not represent a direct location in the actual console but it's responsible for Sony's history(More
details can be seen in the collectable.).
Gameplay
Astro's playroom is a 3D platformer, that being said, it means the player dies from one out of two things. The first one is dropping off them map into a none playable area. These areas beeing cliffs, fire, frozen waters and
the vast depth of space. Dropping from a high area to a a playable area does not punish the player as there is no fall damage in the game. The second cause of death is hit by enemies or enemy traps. Astro is very fragile and anything
can one shot the hero and any trap such as Giant rocks, spikes and electric platforms will kill Astro. There is no Game over screen so the fun will carry on.
Astro has a few abilities that help him through the game. Astro has his normal movement with L3, his jumping ability with X , extra lazer boosters to help him reach higher grounds or even delay him from landing. Enemies hit with the lazer
bosters will die upon impact. The Laser boosters are activated by holding down X. Moreover, enemies can also be killed by punching them, shooting them with a weapon (in levels that allow it) and even tornado punch them which is astro's
normal attack when charged. Normal Melee is square, tornado is square held down and shooting is R2. R2 is also the button used to grap items. Several areas have wires comming out from the ground and Astro has to get close to them, grap them with R2 and
move backwards to pull the item out.
The enemy variety is really good for a game it's size. It has normal enemies, enemies with spikes, shooters, electick enemies, snake enemies and others. Each of them have their own way to be defeated. For example, enemies with spikes cannot be melleed, so they have
to be hit with the lasers, others have to attack to expose their wires for the hero to pull. The game also has some boss fights that are really nice, they re not over the top but they have their own level of dificulty and uniqeness. Some require shooting bow, others
rely on the platfroms and plenty of others.
The game uses the Game style of interactivness. Outside of the manuvering abilities, the game has a few more extra, more interactive ways to play. This means using the moving sensors of the dualshock, the touch pad, the pressure power applied to the buttons and
last but not least the blowing sensors. For example, there are ares where astro flies with a glaider or in a mini rocket, and the way he moves is by tilting the controller left and right. When astro climbs a wall whilst on a monkey costume, the player is requested to tilt
the controler left and right, which represents a hand of the monkey costume . The touchpad is used to launch astro of the controller when booting the game, it is used to close the Zip of certain power ups and also is used to manuver the hero when he is inside the sphere bot.
The blowing sensor, requires the players to blow on their controller in order to reveal items behind the walls.
Outside of the Gameplay interactivness, the dualshock also shows it's power though the movement and actions of astro. The player can feel it from the controller whether or not they re hovering over wood, water, ice metal or even the jungle. Honestlly
its hard to explain it but its something along the way of the vibration level alongside the sound effect . It's really something unique.Last but not least wind effects also applied a different level of preasure when astro is in a windy area or a snowy area.
Honestly in order to avoid spoilers,there won't be a deeper explanation but it should be stated that the interactivness alongside Sony's scavengers hunt make for a fantastic Game.
Online Mode
The game offers an online mode and it can be accessed by selecting the area known as Network Speed. In this area theres a few maps and the player is task to platform his way around the game and score a good timer. Some Challenges
have Astro running in normal 3D environments and others have Astro in a certain costume power up. The player can unlock one achievement, by playing all of the levels and scoring an over all time below 7 minutes. Other than that there is an
online leaderboard with all of the players times set. It's a normal way to compete with friends or even to try be the no1 speedrunner of a certain level.
Collectables
The Game has two types of collectables, Puzzle pieces and Playstation Artifacts. First things first the puzzle pieces can be found everywhere within the game. Both inside the hub world, the actual levels and the gatch machine. The same can be told
for the other collectables the Artefacts. There is a total of 96 puzzle pieces for the player to collect. Each area of the map has a total of 4 pieces. There are 4 maps that make up for a realm, so it's a total of sixteen puzzle pieces. Since there
are four realms it means that a total of 64 pieces can be ackquired from the levels. The hub world also has some puzzle pieces to be acquired in the plaza. There's a total of 4 hidden pieces in the plaza. The rest 28 can be acquired by the gatcha machine
found in the museum. The gatcha machine can be used with Astro coins collected through out the levels. The Puzzle pieces are full posters that are placed around the museum and they hold the history of Sony. From 1994 when the discussion and release of the
Ps1 happened, all the way to the release of the Ps5 in 2020. This included all the Consoles, side consoles and other inbetween the era.
The artifacts very similar to the puzzle pieces can be acquired from the levels and the gatcha machine. There are no hidden artefacts in the hubworld. There's a total of 46 collectable artefacts. These artefacts are also placed in the museum and they themselves
are part of Sony's history. For example,as mentioned above, there are four areas and a secret area. With the Playstation 5, it marked 5 generations of main consoles, so each levels collectables represent an era of the company. When visiting the museum the main
ground is seperated in 5, a circle cut in 4 pieces and a circular platform in the middle. All the Consoles and their accessories can be seen in the museum. These Accessories are the controllers, all the variations of the console (Fat,Slim,Cheap(Consoles with less
Memory such as Ps3(12GB))). The library of collectable in display also showcases the two hand held Consoles PSP, Ps vita and the Japanese exclusive machine. In the same category of collectable are Bots with a certain Playstation items such as , Bots observing the
trophies (acvhievements(Bronze,silver,gold,Plat), Bots playing with Knack pieces (representing the Knack game),and so many more easter eggs.)
Final Thoughts
Over all this game is an amazing game and it is given free with the purchase of the Playstation 5 Console. The Levels, created are very beutiful with a very complex look and design filled with plenty of references to Sony. Whether its something in the background or Bots
cosplaying as their favorite Sony hero. Astro is a very cute robot with a very cheerfull attidute. The music escortiing the game is very cheerfull and beutiful that escorts any of the levels. The buttons respond in time when the button is smashed and the puzzles are
easy and not very complicated. There is no story mode and that is absolutely fine as the gameplay is so good. The games enemy variety is sufficient and most of them have their own way of dying. The collectable of the game re unique as they re all a trip down to memory lane
for anyone who previously experienced any of the past consoles. The platinum trophy of the game is easy to achieved as pretty much the trophies are given for playing the game's levels and collecting the collectables, there are some tricky ones but they re very straight forward.
The game promised to show the power of the Ps5 Dualshock and it deliver on it's promise.
This is a video with my Honest review close to when i played the Game
