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Astro Bot is a beautiful 3D platformer with an lovely protagonist, dozens of planets to discover and a variety of ultra-satisfying mechanics to excellent. It requires persistence, consciousness and a excessive diploma of platforming talent, although resets are beneficiant and failure would not price something apart from your time. The principle character, Astro, is endlessly charming as he flies amongst galaxies on a mission to rescue 300 of his buddies, lots of whom embody characters from Sony’s library and the broader gaming world — bots from Capcom, Konami and Sega franchises abound.

Lots of the planets that Astro lands on introduce new mechanics, akin to spring-loaded boxing gloves that seem like frog faces, an octopus that blows Astro up like a balloon, a mouse backpack that shrinks him at will, a penguin-propelled swimming booster, and a stopwatch that briefly freezes time. Phases are designed round these distinctive mechanics and the variety on show is spectacular.

Past pure cuteness, Astro Bot is gorgeous. Its landscapes are sharp and alive with interactive particulars, and it looks like each pixel has been polished to perfection. But it surely’s the sport’s physics that energize all the pieces — when Astro lands on prime of an enormous inflatable daisy, the fabric buckles underneath his little ft, indenting with every step and sway, and making your entire scene look completely squeezable. When rain hits Astro’s umbrella hat, the sound is mirrored completely on the DualSense, together with the sensation of raindrops on the grips. Astro Bot’s sound results, haptics, graphics and physics harmonize flawlessly, remodeling each floor right into a playground. It’s magical.

Astro Bot feels purpose-built for online game followers. It’s a skill-driven celebration of all the pieces that makes the format so memorable and joyful, and on the identical time, it’s a wonderful introduction to the language of video games. With exact and responsive controls, lovable characters, and an thrilling number of mechanics and environments, Astro Bot is definitely among the finest video games that Sony has ever produced. — Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter