Astro Bot' Is a Nintendo Quality Platformer That's Also a VR Stunner - Waypoint

[Brodo Baggins]

Can you provide an example of a shovelware that looks like Astro Bot.

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Oh I dunno how about the filler game in PSVR worlds ;).

In all seriousness shovelware is probably too harsh a term, but I just find the bots very generic looking. It looks like a tv commercial mascot for PSVR. They're cute and serviceable but missing a little something imo.

That being said the game itself is fantastic.

 

[Kalentan]

Looks like I need to go back and play Firewall?

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I'd say so! The primere MP PSVR title atm. AIM highly suggested.

 

[RagdollRhino]

Since this game launched I had a group of three gamer friends ask me about the game who haven't tried VR yet. I've been telling to come over and try it for months, you can't really describe it. They finally did because of Astro hype, and brought a few people totaling seven. 2 of their friends had tried mobile VR though.

The reactions are just so consistently "WOW" across the board.

It was amazing to see the power of VR combined with such a quality title. I loved every second of it considering about half of them are pretty jaded lol.

When they left I said. "Glad you liked the gimmick!"
Their minds were blown so it was kinda funny and a couple of them mentioned VR being a gimmick back when I first got it.

 

[I Don't Like]

Looks amazing. Why does it have to be for PSV4 only?? Need this on VIVE.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

Incredible praise all around.

 

[halfjoey]

I think I'll have to pick up a PSVR bundle this year if I see a good deal. I've been holding off but now there are at least 5+ games I want to play. I'm thinking I'll get the Creed bundle and just buy what I want from there. I hope I can find the bundle for around $300 this holiday season.

 

[Deleted member 27315]

Looks amazing. Why does it have to be for PSV4 only?? Need this on VIVE.

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Sony First party, Uncharted etc.

 

[MrCarter]

Nintendo definitely taking notes from Sony on this game if they want to focus on VR in the future.

 

[I Don't Like]

Sony First party, Uncharted etc.

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Yeah I know, sucks. I will get a PSVR eventually though.

 

[RagdollRhino]

Incredible praise all around.

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That's one that doesn't really surprise me, but is nice to see. In threads with a good or ever great game you'll see a certain percentage of posts where people just outright hate it, the people who "hate" Astro Bot still say its a good game and its an extremely small percentage on the half-dozen forums I surf. It's the most overwhelmingly positive impressions I've ever seen for a title in years.

Most the "negative" stuff is people saying things like "Oh it's good, but not as great as everyone else says though."

Haha massive compliment in itself.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

That's one that doesn't really surprise me, but is nice to see. In threads with a good or ever great game you'll see a certain percentage of posts where people just outright hate it, the people who "hate" Astro Bot still say its a good game and its an extremely small percentage on the half-dozen forums I surf. It's the most overwhelmingly positive impressions I've ever seen for a title in years.

Most the "negative" stuff is people saying things like "Oh it's good, but not as great as everyone else says though."

Haha massive compliment in itself.

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Hey hardcore Nintendo fan here. But is it fair to believe that if this was a Nintendo made game, the Metacritic score would be higher ?

 

[Deleted member 27315]

Hey hardcore Nintendo fan here. But is it fair to believe that if this was a Nintendo made game, the Metacritic score would be higher ?

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I believe so.
But not because it would be Nintendo.
I suppose that especially the first reviewers were somehow reluctant to give a big score. VR is a new medium and it confuses a bit regarding the evaluation of a game. It's not a familiar path.

A remember that some reviewers back then didn't ''see''either games like Mario 64 for the same reason.

 

[Deleted member 27315]

Yeah I know, sucks. I will get a PSVR eventually though.

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Hm, it depends.
first party games are very well optimised but they aren't multiplatform. Good and bad at the same time :D

 

[Deleted member 8752]

Nintendo definitely taking notes from Sony on this game if they want to focus on VR in the future.

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Nah. This game is defintely amazing.

But Nintendo I doubt Nintendo would do it the same way. They go for shock value and originality. I'm sure they'd have their own formula.

 

[Alienous]

I tried the demo, and it does have a quality that reminds me of Nintendo games. That effervescent charm and commitment to polish showed in the two and a half levels the demo allows you to play. There's personality even where there really doesn't need to be any.

I can see what the hype is about.

 

[RagdollRhino]

Hey hardcore Nintendo fan here. But is it fair to believe that if this was a Nintendo made game, the Metacritic score would be higher ?

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I would say a few points higher. I don't think it would be a 98 Metacritic or anything, but a 93-95 maybe is about where they would put it. Some of it is wow factor I think, but it also a very good platformer on top of that, one of the best I've played.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

after the insane hype i had to play it as a huge mario fan but i must say it doesn't come close to the highest points of a 3D Mario. good title but insane hyperbole.

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Yea. It's a great game, and I genuinely like it. And the level design is charming.

But it's not on par with Nintendo's output. Just my personal opinion. The controls and feeling of freedom and movement don't even come close to an A-Tier Nintendo platformer. It's too linear in its controls., and Astro Bot lacks a good moveset and feeling of momentum.

It needs some more fluidity:

 

[afrodubs]

Tbh anyone expecting Nintendo level is setting themselves up for disappointment. This is a small team developing one of their first few games on new and niche hardware. This is the test case and it passed with flying colours.

Place those expectations on the inevitable sequel if you really want to do that. At least then you'd be okay expecting that Nintendo level of development time, investment, polish, complexity, etc...

I read the comparisons as "Nintendo like", personally I haven't read anything more into them than that, for the exact reasons I just mentioned.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

I believe so.
But not because it would be Nintendo.
I suppose that especially the first reviewers were somehow reluctant to give a big score. VR is a new medium and it confuses a bit regarding the evaluation of a game. It's not a familiar path.

A remember that some reviewers back then didn't ''see''either games like Mario 64 for the same reason.

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Actually I think Mario 64 was underrated. It should have been 99 Metacritic game. Nothing was EVEN remotely close : it was ahead of ANYTHING in terms scope, gameplay, graphics, level design or UI when it was released. Can the same be said of Astro Bot in VR ? I don't know.

But I think Astro Bot is underrated because it's not made by a household studio as Nintendo.

 

[iamandy]

Yea. It's a great game, and I genuinely like it. And the level design is charming.

But it's not on par with Nintendo's output. Just my personal opinion. The controls and feeling of freedom and movement don't even come close to an A-Tier Nintendo platformer. It's too linear in its controls., and Astro Bot lacks a good moveset and feeling of momentum.

It needs some more fluidity:

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I agree, but the gameplay works just fine for the stages and game design.

Mario controls like a dream in Odyssey but the game is just so easy you never really need to use the advanced moveset.

 

[Raijinto]

Hey hardcore Nintendo fan here. But is it fair to believe that if this was a Nintendo made game, the Metacritic score would be higher ?

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No.

 

[VanDoughnut]

Yea. It's a great game, and I genuinely like it. And the level design is charming.

But it's not on par with Nintendo's output. Just my personal opinion. The controls and feeling of freedom and movement don't even come close to an A-Tier Nintendo platformer. It's too linear in its controls., and Astro Bot lacks a good moveset and feeling of momentum.

It needs some more fluidity:

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I'll take Astro Bot's level design and use of presence over Mario Odyssey. Also has better boss fights.

Mario Odyssey levels can feel bland and inconsistent at times. Despite the awesome
moveset.

 

[eso76]

Indeed I was constantly thinking "Nintendo" through the old demo.

It does have a Nintendo quality of freshness to a lot of its ideas and had me smiling throughout. Surely in part because of the VR novelty itself, but that's not the whole story.

 

[DNice]

I don't think any of the Mario comparisons really fit either. I think Astro tried to do something different and it works for them. It's a platformer of course and some of the designs are similar. I will say I'm having more fun with Astro than I've had with Mario games in a long while.

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I dont think the comparison is good either because there is no VR Mario game at the moment. It's the VR component that creates the level of immersion just not possible outside of it. Maybe like Mario in that it is a very cheerful game that makes you giddy like a kid when playing it.

 

[VDZEMedia]

This game is a VR system seller for sure. Watching videos of it on YouTube it just looks like a bog standard platformer but once that headset goes on it is an entirely different ball game. It is one of my favourite games this year, which in 2018 is saying something!

 

[carlosrox]

Nintendo definitely taking notes from Sony on this game if they want to focus on VR in the future.

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Honestly, I would welcome it. Moss and Astrobot could translate perfectly into Mario and Metroid titles for example.

3D World style Mario and Metroid games would be amazing with VR where your head is the camera. Imagine finding hidden areas, items, etc just by looking a certain direction. I can't tell you how cool it is in Moss when you start the screen with your head to left, have some action in the middle, and end the screen by looking to the right. Add looking up and down and leaning left and right and you have a recipe for something amazing.

I even imagined something like a 3D Contra in the vein of the classic games where you have some action down on the ground and proceed to look up as your characters travel up a tower or whatever.
It would be freaking amazing. Think what Contra 4 did with the DS screens, only your head has to look up and down to follow all the action.

God I want that so bad now.

My worry now is that Nintendo won't wanna pursue VR now that Sony's already done it, and used it well. What Nintendo could do is really knock it out of the park and deliver full budget games, but again, with Sony already doing it first I fear Nintendo may look it and say why would we wanna do what someone else has already done?

 

[Planet]

Looks like I need to go back and play Firewall?

Click to shrink...

 

[Toriko]

Yea. It's a great game, and I genuinely like it. And the level design is charming.

But it's not on par with Nintendo's output. Just my personal opinion. The controls and feeling of freedom and movement don't even come close to an A-Tier Nintendo platformer. It's too linear in its controls., and Astro Bot lacks a good moveset and feeling of momentum.

It needs some more fluidity:

Click to shrink...

Platforming is not just movement. It needs to be wrapped around in creative level design. As much as I love Odyssey, Astro Bot has much better level design, pacing and imo a much funner game. Also the boss battles blows away anything in Odyssey imo.

 

[Planet]

Mario style inertia movement in Astro Bot's super tight platforming would be the death of this game. I'm not a fan of these constant comparisons either, but it doesn't mean Astro is lacking anything.

 

[Deleted member 27315]

Mario style inertia movement in Astro Bot's super tight platforming would be the death of this game. I'm not a fan of these constant comparisons either, but it doesn't mean Astro is lacking anything.

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Yeap
Its amazing for what it is. Not every good platformer needs to play exactly like Mario.
We really underestimate the capabilities of human creativity if we think that such games start and finish in Mario mechanics :/

 

[everyer]

Tbh anyone expecting Nintendo level is setting themselves up for disappointment. This is a small team developing one of their first few games on new and niche hardware. This is the test case and it passed with flying colours.

Place those expectations on the inevitable sequel if you really want to do that. At least then you'd be okay expecting that Nintendo level of development time, investment, polish, complexity, etc...

I read the comparisons as "Nintendo like", personally I haven't read anything more into them than that, for the exact reasons I just mentioned.

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After playing both games, no doubt Astro has better level design, art dimensions and better boss fight.

 

[gogojira]

I said as much in the OT, but I feel world 1 is fine and reasonably charming.

2-2 though... My jaw dropped. It's a fantastic twist on a platformer trope.

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Super late on getting back to this, but Tetris Effect had me getting out my PSVR and I finally got back to Astrobot. It clicked for me tonight. I should be pushing further in RDR2 but I had to pry the fucking goggles off my face because I was having a ton of fun. 2-2 was indeed awesome, and I'm not really sure what's coming but I see a giant ass whale or something coming soon (I think 3-3) and I'm anxious to see what's in store. The game just has a lot of charm and they add in some random VR fun to make it even better (lol at the seaweed hair at the end of 2-2). I hope Sony keeps investing in VR because they've got some quality content.