Julius

Plans change of course, but VGC reported just last week that during their visit to Asobi last month they were shown a presentation which stated that initial plans for the DLC (I'm assuming this means initial in the sense of "first of their plans" and not "the first permutation of their plans") were for 5 speedrun levels and 10 challenge levels. Obviously, plans can change, but with launch just around the corner at the time it would have been very late in the day to change those plans. So, @drahkon, you can keep hoping for now and I'll continue to hope for my speedrun levels What I think might change given the game's reception is when it is planned for the DLC to launch; originally I felt like a month or so later might have made sense, but with GOTY discussions heating up in November, that mid-to-late November voting window for the TGAs would be a great time to bring the game right back to the forefront of the conversation, similar to how we've seen DLC drop in that same window for some other games trying to bring themselves back into GOTY discussions at the end of the year. I also don't think it's impossible to imagine that the scope of this game's DLC might widen given its fantastic reception, but I think anything beyond the previously announced free DLC is likely going to depend on sales figures. Again, haven't finished the game yet myself, but if a certain IP doesn't turn up by the time credits roll, it would be hard to argue against fans, Asobi, and the publisher of said certain IP wanting to see perhaps a galaxy dedicated to it. Or they go the Tears of the Kingdom route and firmly slam the door on DLC after the free stuff because of just how many ideas they've got, and decide to go all-in on a potential sequel in time for the demise of the PS5/launch of the PS6 in 3-4 years

Kenneth C M Young continuing to kill it with the Astro Bot soundtrack. Really hoping this gets a proper physical release, or at least gets put on streaming platforms like Astro's Playroom did – hopefully doesn't take as long this time around, though! Very David Wise, very intentional, very clearly an homage to the man and Aquatic Ambiance – perfect music for a great water level, but there's just enough new there to add some Astro character to it all. The music when you get out of the water is just a swell time too, so jolly Found it: my favourite track of the game so far, and it's not really close. Looking for any old excuse to wander off down into a cave just because of this track.

I'm now at 100% in four galaxies, and am still having a great time! Couple of things I want to talk about. I had thought a certain company was getting an insane amount of representation, but I still can't believe... That's a whole lot of stars There's one particular publisher who seems to be MIA so far, obviously I'll see the rest of the game through before commenting (in a spoiler tag) because maybe they're represented later on, but considering the great spread and variety for so many others...man, I'm just not sure. It would be a really odd exclusion. I want to talk about the final, final levels of some of the worlds I've played through, so...back to the spoiler tag we go. Ah, the old familiar places... There's a clear favourite power of mine so far which I just can't get enough of, and man, as far as water levels go, this game has a damn great one. Did this one today – yeah, you weren't kidding, that's probably the most time I've spent on/deaths I've had in any level so far in the game, but damn did it feel great to beat. I come with clips. Duck, duck...what the f—?! Those challenge levels are really something else, but the shapes with eyes can do one, they're creeps and should be behind bars. Oh the stages of grief I went through when this happened because those sneaky Asobi sons of guns got me, took me way too long to notice they were on their side! Gave me a good chuckle though Looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow/later today

100%'d the Tentacle System, loved that final level. Was not expecting to hear a certain track today, so I was momentarily choked up All of those Dual Speeder skins need to become actual DualSense colours, by the way. Of the ones I've unlocked so far, that Snowglow one is lovely, so fingers crossed it can become a reality, eh?

The triangle with eyes looks like it needs to be on a list and should rot in hell. That's all

That would be... Of Mice and Men Yeah, for me the monkey hands in Playroom were one of the weaker power-ups, and it's probably the most slowed down I feel by any of the power-ups in this game so far. I do love that it has a use besides climbing, now, though, and it is just a very little niggle for me. Kind of praying it doesn't turn up in a major way in the later levels, though, it was that and the rolling speedrun levels in Playroom which dragged my overall time down... I find I basically kind of have to "dig" with the controller like I'm tracing an infinity symbol with the triggers to climb somewhat accurately/at a normal pace unless I hold it up so that I'm looking at it face-on. Reminds me a little of some experiences back on the Wii. Yeah, mine arrived first thing this morning too – how typical rather than send it back, seeing as I'd just buy a physical copy when it's on sale anyways and the planet is on fire as it is, so I think I'll just claim the £5 from the release date or compensate thing. But yeah the sticker is stupid for sure, think I've still got mine on my physical copy of GT7 from back when I picked up the digital version for that too

Launch trailer:

Fantastic write-up @Hero-of-Time, loved reading through your post as much as I love to read and watch reviews from a lot of different places and see this game getting such high scores on review aggregate sites, there will always something special about reading a post here on N-E which gets you pumped to play a game, so thanks for taking the time to post those thoughts that it gets me more hyped to play a game that I already own is the cherry on top of it all I would respond to particulars but I'm only 2ish hours in and, uh...kind of want to go play the game right now My ears are ready EDIT: damn it, didn't want to start a new page at that point! Go back a page and read H-o-T's awesome thoughts on the game you silly people!

Look forward to hearing your thoughts, but for now...

While I wait for more tracks from Astro Bot's OST to drop, I've got to drop what I can in hear from what I've played so far to keep track of it all. Crash Site is the hub world track, and I have no idea why it's Western High Noon as hell, but I ain't complaining Just jotting down here that the lowest level version of the Funky Fungi track is one I need to keep an eye out for...

Couple hours in and all Bots and puzzle pieces in the Gorilla Nebula have been found, while I've done everything available to me in Lost Galaxy as well as at the Crash Site. Damn, this is just a blast, isn't it? Completely living up to the hype so far. Visually stunning, and man, the DualSense just feels spectacular and absolutely essential playing this - this is the first time since getting my PS5 where I've made sure to double-check my DualSense settings before jumping in, and I'd definitely say set everything to Strong and crank the controller mic volume up to at least halfway. The way it feels when Astro's screen is a bit battered and there are those brief shots of "static" emitted through the controller in just the opening minute or so of the game. The sound design and tactile nature of it all just scratches the corner of your lizard monkey brain which feels so damn good to scratch. Charming as all hell, but is that really shocking for anyone who has enjoyed a journey of Astro's before? Not in the slightest. Astro's still this hybrid of a curious cat and a small child which is adorable and a great avatar for the player to run around these worlds with, but the cameo characters and the world itself just feels so much more alive, there's a noticeable step up in this department from Playroom. That's before we even mention the levels themselves, there's so much variety on show here from one checkpoint to the next and from level to level that, and I hate to bring up any comparisons especially so early on into my time with the game, but of the platformers I've played, Super Mario Galaxy is literally it; I know this was already on the radar of some people here who don't have a PS5 and/or drift more towards the Nintendo side of things, but if you enjoy 3D platforming, this is up there with the best. Maybe I sound like I'm getting carried away, I mean did I mention I'm only 2 hours or so in? And I think that's the greatness of Playroom, not just the pleasure of that whole packed-in experience at launch, but the confidence it inspires in me just 2 hours in that, yeah, this game is either going to stay at this top, top level through, or maybe even take it up another notch or two. As if that wasn't high enough praise, the secrets littered throughout levels (and the galaxy map, and that's all I'll say about that!) are just something else, and I love how they're handled here. Levels are only 5-10 minutes long, and occasionally you'll find a secret exit which adds another level in this separate 'Lost Galaxy' map – I've been knocking these out as they come along. Oh, but that means you don't finish the original level, right? Right, and it's a bit awkward at first to adjust to I feel - just with that completionist mentality of wanting to do everything all at once - but because levels are so compact and saturated with content, it never really feels like you're more than a minute away from where you want to be, and so hopping back into a level is a pleasure and not a bore; similarly, working your way to the top or end of a level in some other games can become a pain when you realise you've missed something, but here, the compactness of the level again kicks in and so heading back out to explore rather than finishing the level proper is such an easy route to take here. Sometimes it feels like there are levels within levels. Some of the dedicated challenge levels where you're only saving one Bot are a bit on the brief side? But also, it's early days and these have numbers at the end of them, so I'm half expecting them to explode in creativity and scale as the game goes on. What I really like is that if you do miss any of the Bots or Puzzle Pieces, when replaying a level you can pay 200 coins to free a collectible-hunting bird who will aid you through the level and hone in on collectibles when they're nearby. It's a very natural and easy way to not have players look things up or lean on Game Help if they're not sure where to go, and at 200 coins a pop, it's not that much of a dent to really be felt – but it is equivalent to what you'd pay for two cranks of the Gatcha Lab, so it's not like you want to go around using it all the time on every occasion you replay a level trying to hunt down whatever you missed. Oh my goodness, and we haven't even talked about the hub world, or the Crash Site. Absolute joy to have these collected cameo and standard Bots all chilling out and on-hand to help you reach new spots, or save another trapped or stranded Bot. Every single one has been a joy to find and interact with, I do think the decision for some to have their interaction locked behind unlocking their item/companion/object of choice from the Gatcha Lab an interesting one, but every single one I've unlocked has been a level above the ones who come with their interaction, and so it feels a fair enough trade-off. I do want to speak to my favourites so far, as well as my favourite level so far, and so it's time for a spoiler tag. Those damn monkeys... Speaking of cameo characters though, I think a big deal was perhaps made out of the game kind of being an advertisment-celebration hybrid for PlayStation...and it just works as that. This has singlehandedly done a better job than PlayStation's marketing and social media teams of making me want to check out some of the games in the PS+ Classics Catalog, a service I already pay for! Tying into this, I've also got to shout-out the genius of not outright naming these cameo characters, because it shows a certain level of reverence for them and their place in PlayStation history, but also I imagine saved them a good bit of time when needing to ask for permissions. I'll give an example of a character featured heavily in the game's advertising: PaRappa from the PS1 game PaRappa the Rapper. He's not just "PaRappa", he's "Lovestruck Lyricist – A cool pooch with the power of self-belief" despite very clearly being PaRappa, so what does this add? It just adds to the "if you know, you know!" nature of it all, and if you don't, similar to when the MCU was starting up and many weren't familiar with the new characters and faces popping up, it makes you want to dig out your phone and look these guys up that you don't recognise. I think it's freaking genius and again further embeds this idea that these characters and these games are out there – and feels like the biggest push from PlayStation in any form this gen to go check out older titles, and perhaps pokes some holes in the current slate of available Classics and makes you question why certain games aren't already on there. I can see them being to little kids now what the Smash Bros. Brawl trophies were for me growing up, this window into different eras and characters in gaming I'd never seen before. The boss fight and a half (I guess?) that I've experienced so far have been excellent, and I also really want to highlight this game's soundtrack as it is just a freaking delight like Playroom's was. I don't think I've ever seen or heard him be named before, and that needs to change, so a special shout-out to composer Kenneth C. M. Young, who, per his Wikipedia page, has worked on Rescue Mission, Playroom and now Astro Bot, but also has been at Playstation for 20 years now and has worked on a bunch of different projects in a number of different roles, including games like Tearaway, LittleBigPlanet, and a bunch of older London Studio titles like Gangs of London and the EyeToy games. My first posts about games when it comes to impressions are typically the longest, so to round this one off, I'll say this: this is the most straight up, unencumbered, joyous and momentous mountain of fun I've had on my PS5 since Astro's Playroom, and I've had a smile on my face the entire time I've played it so far. It has been worthy of all the praise heaped on it leading into its launch and it has completely justified my impatience to wait another day to play it. Seems like my personal GOTY experience for 2024 has a worthy challenger on its hands, but for now, I just can't wait to get stuck back in

Sounds like it's time for me to put on the mask and adopt my role of Resident N-E Youngster. As someone who started high school in 2010 and so would be pretty much the perfect age to assess this in terms of it being a "thing" – I think it was probably on the verge of becoming a thing, but wasn't actually yet a thing, you know? At least over here in the UK it hadn't really cemented itself I feel, I imagine unless you were really brushed up on social media (and tech?) at the time it seems unlikely you'd have come across it in 2011 from what I remember. People might have already been calling them selfies elsewhere in the world, but I wouldn't say it was a commonly used word to my ear until around halfway through my time in high school, which would make sense looking up the UK release dates for both Instagram (2010 on iOS and 2012 on Android) and Snapchat (2012 on Android and 2013 on iOS) and also considering that the first "selfie" cameras in smartphones apparently came along and was popularised with the iPhone 4 and HTC Evo G4 (damn, been a minute since I've thought about HTC), early 2010s was the right breeding ground for the word to embed itself culturally I feel, but I wouldn't say it was firmly established as a term until 2012/2013, obviously anecdotally, but I think backed up by it being added to the Oxford Dictionary as the word of the year for 2013. (to...myself? More of an asterisk for clarification I guess?) That being said! Where's Ace Attorney actually suppose to be based? In my head the US makes perfect sense because of the character looks and the way they speak (and how gosh darn Hollywood the drama comes off as being), and I feel like it's possible the term became popularised in the US and Japan a bit before it did over here? Can't help but also just wonder if the localisation team are around the age where they'd be questioning the same thing, but also yeah now I'm just curious about where the series is meant to be located... Also, thought it would be a fun fact to share, but in my nosing around I came across this (from Wikipedia, where else?): Not sure if they referred to it as being a "selfie" at the time (doubt it) but there's just something about the idea of 90s Japanese salarymen trying to take selfies with, say, a life-sized Tifa or Neo cutout in the late 90s which makes me chuckle

yeah, never mind @martinist I'm adding you to my ignore list

Feels like there's an Astro GIF or pic for just about everything these days, gave me a good chuckle reminds me of Yoshi picking Loves Me Nots in the Mario DS mini-games Bah, it is what it is, I'm loving reading the impressions in here at least and hearing that it's lived up to the hype

Working from home today and my closest anything is 30 minutes away without traffic, so this time of night it'll probably be too tight Just thinking about what I can do, I could also just get it digitally and return the physical copy just to buy it again when it's on sale I guess, might also try to call in a favour. Either way, just watch it arrive as soon as I find a way to get my hands on it Ah well, Royal Mail did me right with Outlaws arriving an entire Bank Holiday weekend early and got last minute gifts for a mate to me in time over the last few weeks, these things tend to balance out so if it is what it is, then it is what it is Worst case I'll just wait until tomorrow morning/afternoon for when Royal Mail deliver my copy, that's totally fine...

My internal monologue reading this

Still waiting for my copy to turn up On the upside, the Royal Mail haven't done the rounds by me today yet, so there's still a chance? But I'm also practically on the doorstep of my local depot so uh yeah seems like a real small chance

The first 90 minutes of gameplay has been released by Japanese YouTube channel 2BRO: No idea how the game is going to turn out but goodness gracious that fog looks crazy

So, my Astro Bot DualSense turned up, and I think it's really nice. I was a bit worried about the glossy grips when we first heard about them, but gosh darn do they feel so good Obligatory pic with a banana and an apple for scale: Still left waiting for my physical copy to arrive though... ALSO! The game's live-action trailer just dropped: Guess I'll just need to watch this on repeat until the game turns up

My retort in your own words:

Have fun

They had some unique sections just for speedrunning in Astro's Playroom, and it came with a timer and rankings and was so good I had to hard quit for my own sanity after spending an hour getting good at a particular speedrun this is the music they had for Playroom: Regardless of the slander that @drahkon is spreading the speedrun levels were a great time and I have absolutely no reason to protect my sanity this time around

Trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Junji Ito's Uzumaki, which releases 28th September: Looks gross, which is to say that it looks perfect. I'll take five more, please and thank you.

Per VGC and some content they had come out of a trip to Asobi's studio in Tokyo last month, a presentation shared with them during the trip seemed to suggest that 5 speedrun levels and 10 challenge levels are planned for the game's post-launch free DLC, though obviously it's not clear if plans have stayed the same. I'm praying that speedrun levels are coming to this thing. Spawning out of that same trip is the below excellent video from VGC in which Nicolas Doucet shares some of the philosophies, design and team strategies, and whimsy behind Astro Bot – having watched the video, fair warning, it spoils a couple of Bots we've yet to see and so might be one best saved until after you've played through the game. But again: I really implore that you watch this. We don't get enough of a look at how games are made these days, period, and for PlayStation it generally seems to be saved for massive AAA offerings with fully produced documentary-style videos, like the ones we've seen for The Last of Us and God of War before now. I mean they still go through the effort of drawing up ideas with pen and paper, and there are some great insights to glean from that! Yeah, I definitely think it's worthy of a discussion at least, even if I do feel like it also blends into a conversation a number of us have had on here before a number of times of there being a pretty skinny - but generally still very strong in terms of quality - list of first-party offerings on PS5 this gen, even just when compared to PS4. I think the problem came about with the myriad of studio closures and the focus then being pooled into GAAS, something I think everyone was against – sure, it makes business sense...but about as much business sense as using your quarterly earnings to buy lottery tickets. The success of Helldivers 2 has been enormous and yet is the only serious justification so far for PlayStation's GAAS initiative which has seemingly floundered if it hasn't altogether been quashed – again, just go buy lottery tickets before you sleep on the piles of cash made from being the gacha machine the PS5 is with games like Genshin, not to mention the upturn it's going to see next year when GTA VI releases and Shark Cards make their dreaded return. I don't know if Astro Bot puts any dent in their plans, but I guess with Nintendo, even when IP gets left behind, those teams go onto flourish in creating a number of other games, and it very rarely seems like Nintendo has much of a misstep in terms of project management. Naughty Dog comes up a lot here, and with good reason – this is PlayStation's premiere studio and they haven't announced anything new which has seen the light of day - i.e. not a remaster or a remake, and not the now-cancelled multiplayer Factions game - since PSX in December 2016, when Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was revealed to be a standalone title having evolved out of being mere DLC for Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us Part II was revealed for the first time. They literally haven't announced and released a new project since before the Switch launched, isn't that absolutely nuts? I said it when this game first got announced, but the layer of irony cannot be overstated of PlayStation salvaging Team Asobi from Japan Studio, and yet having their game be THE tentpole, stinger reveal for that State of Play we had earlier this year. But, yeah, I do think it's a worthy conversation...just maybe for another time, and I don't think that leaning on IP and "politics" (?) alone is a fair assessment of why this game has been recognised the way it has by reviewers around the world, as has been suggested earlier in the thread. For now though: the hype train is rolling and it is absolutely not allowed to stop I'd definitely be curious to hear/your thoughts if/when it comes to PC, which I agree with you really needs to be the case. Curious as well how they adjust their approach to some controls and the use of the controller considering just how heavily tied into the hardware of the PS5 the thing is – having not yet played this yet but having played Playroom with the DualSense, it pains me to think about experiencing the game without all of those features in tow.