This is a game that celebrates the entire history of video games and one of the few 3D platform games I’ve played that truly goes toe to toe with the best Nintendo has to offer. 789win of the biggest announcements during last week’s PlayStation State of Play livestream was Astro Bot, the full-fledged sequel to the excellent Astro’s Playroom that comes preinstalled on PS5. Just like Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot is a 3D puzzle-platformer that pays homage to PlayStation history and makes heavy use of the PS5 DualSense controller’s many unique features like haptic feedback and dynamic triggers.

As of now, the direction Team Asobi has in mind for this franchise is not entirely clear. This game served as a celebration of the brand and was built around repairing a PlayStation 5. While the studio could just do that again, it would risk coming off as repetitive.

Gyro can be disabled as an accessibility feature if players prefer. Matthew Adler has written for IGN since 2019 covering all things gaming, tech, tabletop games, and more. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch. If you’re looking for even more savings this season, check out the entire PlayStation’s 2025 Black Friday sale for deals on games, consoles, and more. To unlock the levels in “Lost Galaxy” you must find the 10 Secret Level Exits (‘Lost Galaxies’) in the other Nebulas.

Is Astro Bot Free, Like Astro’s Playroom?

We need to give a shout-out to the DualSense support here, because as you might expect, it’s best in class. Team Asobi asserted dominance in this area with Playroom, but the range of effects delivered here through haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers outshines it. These conditions do drain the battery, but the implementation is too good to really worry about that. There are even gameplay mechanics that utilise the haptics in ways we haven’t seen before, like feeling particular walls for a rough texture to reveal a secret. It really shows what the DualSense can do like no other game before it. Many themes are unique to a single stage; Sky Garden’s flamingo paradise is never revisited, nor is Construction Derby’s building site.

What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Toan – Fairytale Hero

Finding each of these characters is a constant highlight of Astro Bot. Some are placed right in front of you, but most require the aforementioned curiosity to pull you off the beaten path in search of the game’s bountiful secrets. One of the best mechanics–which I very much hope becomes standard in the genre moving forward–is a robot bird companion who can join you in any level you decide to replay. The bird pings for collectibles and leads you right to the remaining bots, secret Void levels, and puzzle pieces you’ve not yet found. This makes playing the game to 100% completion a joy and never a grind. I’ve never cared about PlayStation Trophies before, but I expect to unlock them all in Astro Bot, if only incidentally because I want to see and do everything this game offers.

Each one comes with a brand-new Special Bot to rescue and, once that’s done, can be replayed in Time Attack mode with online rankings. To access these new levels, you will need to have completed the main game. As Astro, the player embarks on a quest to save lost robots, retrieve parts for the PlayStation 5 mothership, and defeat the alien Space Bully Nebulax. Much like the previous title Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot uses DualSense controller features including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.

Team Asobi’s success with creating a game to showcase new PlayStation technology led to its next game, The Playroom VR. Similar to its predecessor, The Playroom VR was a free launch game for the PlayStation VR that functioned as a showcase for Sony’s venture into the world of virtual reality. While the team’s focus was on creating a collection of short multiplayer experiences, there was one exception.

Astro Bot is a platformer adventure game released on September 6, 2024, for the PS5, serving as a sequel to Team Asobi’s Astro’s Playroom from 2020 and the third game in the series. Players take on the role of the lovable Astro Bot, embarking on a space-faring adventure through diverse environments, including waves of sandy beaches, lush jungles, and fiery volcanoes. Along the way, Astro gains new powers and transformations to aid in the journey. Released in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, the game pays homage to the brand’s legacy by allowing players to find and reunite with over 150 iconic PlayStation characters.

For certain puzzles, including the Az-Tech Trail doors, the DualSense is crucial to figuring out how to proceed, so pay close attention on what your controller is telling you at all times. At The Game Awards 2024 (TGA 2024), ASTRO BOT made history by claiming the prestigious Game of the Year award. Competing against highly anticipated titles like Silksong and other GOTY nominees, Team ASOBI’s creation stood out for its innovative gameplay and PlayStation 5 excellence. ASTRO BOT is exclusively available for PS5, taking full advantage of the console’s advanced features including the DualSense controller, 3D Audio, and enhanced graphics capabilities.

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Going back to the hub, where all your collected bots congregate, it slowly opens up to reveal new areas to explore and more features to enjoy. Puzzle Pieces are another collectible to gather, and they unlock new rooms, with one of them being the returning Gatcha Lab. The prizes you get here, earned by spending the coins you’ve collected, more often than not, are attributed to one of the bots you’ve found, like a specific weapon or object that gives them a fun interaction in the hub. Other prizes include cosmetics for Astro himself and his Dual Speeder, letting you customise his look with some iconic outfits. You can also unlock the Safari Park, a special zone to hang out in, but it also gives you access to a simple Photo Mode, then usable throughout the game.

Where it gets more interesting is when you start looking at the way in which technology is leveraged throughout the game to create something even more playful and fun. On top of the rendering, the team has instead prioritised interactivity such as physics and fluid simulation, even finding ways to directly implement them into the gameplay loop. Jump into the first pools of water and marvel as the leaves realistically move across the surface of the water which, in turn, ripples with every movement. Things like leaves are a minor detail but as you play, you’ll find them sprinkled across the game world, heightening that sense of interactivity as individually shadowed leaves gently tumble through the air.