"It fully delivers on the promise of Astro's Playroom, building on the rock solid core of tight controls and inventive gameplay and turning everything up to 11," we wrote. "With tons to see and do, almost endless fresh ideas, innovative use of the DualSense's features, and truly charming presentation, it's a confident and cohesive experience that players of all ages will love. To top it all off, it's a perfect game to celebrate PlayStation's 30th anniversary, reflecting on the myriad series that made the platform what it is today."
This is technically the fourth game in the Astro Bot series, although it's taken some time for the mascot to reach mainstream status. We championed the single level Robot Rescue tech demo in The Playroom VR, which ultimately led to the release of PSVR exclusive Astro Bot Rescue Mission, which we described as "insanely good". We then waxed lyrical about PS5 pack-in Astro's Playroom, which launched alongside Sony's new-gen console.
The rest of the gaming calendar will plot the release of Metaphor: ReFantazio and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, so Astro Bot won't have it all its own way. It'll also have to lock horns with fellow console exclusive Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the end of year accolades. But as the highest rated release of 2024 so far, Team ASOBI will undoubtedly find itself in Game of the Year contention around Christmas time – an utterly astonishing achievement from the Japanese team.
