Astro Bot - PSVR - best game of all time?

[Kayin Amoh]

45 minutes ago, Vemsie said:

Played through the level with the glowy mushrooms a couple of times now and I just can't find the 7th bot. 

 

Could it be... (spoilered in case you still want to find it yourself)

 

 

There's a wall you break down near the end of the level, with another directly to the left just before it that you can headbutt. It's easy to miss the 'break' icon as it's kinda dark.

[KriessG]

I started playing this today and got to 1-4. 

 

Wow. You were all right, this does feel like a monumental moment like when you played Mario 64 for the first time. 

 

From the sounds of it I’ve got a fair bit more to enjoy. I’ve already missed a few bots, I think I’ll mop them up before moving on.

[metallicfrodo]

It has become a bit cliched to say it now, but if you've only done the first few levels you haven't seen anything yet. 2-1 will blow your mind!

 

[Cyhwuhx]

This is my new Kirby. Holy mackerel. This is goooooooooooood. 

[Darwock]

I'm sure I will be negged to oblivion for this, but speaking as someone who only ever had a GameCube and never clicked with any form of Mario, this business with the constant Nintendo references is quite puzzling.

 

First it it was in the thread title, but that caused outrage and had to be changed. Now it's every other post making Nintendo comparisons as if to validate this game's existence.

 

Is it not possible to discuss the merits of a game on its own terms? Video games can and do exist even in a world(view) without Nintendo.

[Paul3704]

I think it's because Mario 64 nailed it when it came to introducing a new dimension to a game that people loved - and it worked right out of the box.

 

I think people (including myself) see this the same way, and it's that which makes us all grin like buffoons as it's a call back to a great game and great memories.

 

Mario 64 made me smile, Mario sunshine, galaxy, galaxy 2 and Odyssey didn't - as it was more of the same.

 

This is something different and new.

 

That Mad Men episode when Don Draper pitches the carousel and sells nostalgia - it's that with a mad helmet, and it's potent.

[joemul]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PlayStation-Starter-Astro-Rescue-Mission/dp/B07J2Q7C4K/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540710409&sr=8-1-spell&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ps+r+starter+pack+%2B+astro+bot

 

does anyone know if this will be the v2 headset? Seems a great deal. 

[Calashnikov]

8 hours ago, Darwock said:

Video games can and do exist even in a world(view) without Nintendo.

 

That’s a world I wouldn’t want to live in. What a frightening prospect.

 

 

8 hours ago, Paul3704 said:

Mario 64 made me smile, Mario sunshine, galaxy, galaxy 2 and Odyssey didn't - as it was more of the same.

 

Dead in-fucking-side. Every half step you make in each of those games is crammed with creative invention.

 

I think the Mario-beating chat is going overboard with Astro Bot. It’s a cool as fuck, nifty wee on-the-rails platformer and I like it a lot, but it just doesn’t have the depth or substance of any of the above Mario games. You can tell those were built of the back of years and years worth of crazy amounts of post-it notes written by the some of the most creative minds in games. Astro Bot emulates some of the nicer ideas pretty well, and it’s enjoyable because of that. But nothing more, really.

 

 

[Mawdlin]

I love Mario games but every single boss in Astro Bot wipes the floor with anything in Mario Odyssey, just as one example.

 

(And I really enjoyed Odyssey).

[Calashnikov]

Controlling Mario’s very motion wipes the floor with any of anything but.

[Kayin Amoh]

11 minutes ago, joemul said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PlayStation-Starter-Astro-Rescue-Mission/dp/B07J2Q7C4K/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540710409&sr=8-1-spell&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ps+r+starter+pack+%2B+astro+bot

 

does anyone know if this will be the v2 headset? Seems a great deal. 

 

According to hotukdeals and postabargain, I think there's been some good deals on PSVR recently. Only thing is I've no idea if they're the new set or not, the actual pack in bundle part seems to be from an older offer that probably packs in the V1. 

 

Not sure, to be honest, but I'd confirm before pulling the trigger if you really want the newest model. I'd weight the chances towards 'not the new model', though again, unsure.

[DC Lemon]

It’s the V2 starter pack in the images on the page. So unless Amazon are being incredibly dishonest, it’s V2.

[joemul]

Cheers both. 

[KriessG]

Wasn’t the V1 discontinued last year? I doubt you’d see any new packs knocking about still.

 

As for the Mario comparison, it’s because that was a standout moment for many that had never been equaled as a truly ‘wow’ moment. This did that for me (and others it seems).

[Mawdlin]

Totally agree with you KriessG. As much as I enjoyed parts of Odyssey I didn't have any wow moments. Astro Bot succeeds in his respect. Maybe Sony poached some ex-Nintendo creatives ;-)

[Shimmyhill]

Odyssey doesn’t have any ‘wow’ moments but is a all time banger of a game, pushing into my top 10 with ease and if it were not for BOTW launching the same year it would have been my GOTY!

 

Mario 64 was the most recent wow game for me until Astro Bot - it truly has the same impact Mario 64 had for being 3D and analogue controls - Astro Bot is actual 3D and that is a wow moment and incredible!

 

I haven’t found the game to play like a top tier Mario platform game but then nothing does, this has come as close as anything I can think of tho and it has that wow factor that elevated it for sure.

 

Astro Bot is my GOTY at the moment, apparently I’m not allowed to count Rez tho!

[Vemsie]

4 hours ago, Mawdlin said:

I love Mario games but every single boss in Astro Bot wipes the floor with anything in Mario Odyssey, just as one example.

 

(And I really enjoyed Odyssey).

 

Definitely. Some of the best bosses this gen.

 

Odyssey controls wel, but man, it's a bloated game with many of its moons far to similar and really not all that fun. I actually prefer the snappier, more inventive 3D World.

[dumpster]

18 hours ago, Darwock said:

 

First it it was in the thread title, but that caused outrage and had to be changed

One person took offence and I changed it to a sarcastic "Game of the Year, No Question!" but then I played further and realised AstroBot really is Game of the Year, no question , so I left it there.

 

The Mario comparisons are fair.  Mario represents the best innovation in the platform game genre and every Mario game, even the weaker ones, stands up as one of the best of them all.  A poor Mario game is still way better than everyone else is doing, and Mario is the benchmark by which all other games of this type are measured. 

 

With that in mind, Mario 64 is the standard bearer for 3D platformers.  No-one had done a 3D platformer especially well before, and what Mario 64 did was to actively demonstrate how 3D doesn't ruin a platform game but makes it better.  Then subsequent Mario games innovated and improved things.  I still think Mario Galaxy is the best one, and the most recent ones seem to be much the same as each other (Oddysey is great but is it really that different to Mario World 3D etc?).  

 

Mario 64 is, in my opinion, the game that proved that the next generation was better than what had come before, and Astrobot is doing that for the next generation.  Will PS5, XbTwo etc be any better than what we have at the moment, if you don't own a 4KTV?  Astrobot takes the 3D Platformer and rewrites the rules by putting it in VR and creating the best game I have played in years. Astrobot proves VR just as Mario proved N64 and analogue controllers.  

[LaveDisco]

I referenced Nintendo, because it's about as far from Red Dead Redemption. as you can get. It's densely packed with ideas, it cuts filler to the bone. It's wholesome and it explores a classic nintendo genre (3D platformer), but the PSVR makes it so fresh and different.

 

I referenced Nintendo for the simple reason it made me smile like Nintendo.

[Cyhwuhx]

It’s essential if you have a PSVR and it not, it’s a bloody good reason to get a PSVR. The sheer joy in its little touches is something I haven’t experienced in a long while. 

 

Who cares if it is or isn’t compared to Nintendo. It doesn’t need the comparison anyway as it can rub shoulders with the best of ‘em. 

 

This should be bundled with the headset. Stat. 

[joemul]

Cracked and bought a psvr pack from GAME. £199 for:-

 

V2 headset & starter pack

Astro bot

resi 7

 

seemed like a decent enough deal. I already have the ps camera so I’ll give that to my brother for my niece to play with. 

 

How essential are the Move controllers? They ain’t bloody cheap any more! I’m seeing prices of £70-£80...

[Shimmyhill]

Have you bought it yet?

 

I bought the same bundle last week, well same games but with two move controllers for £249 - from game!

[Steven]

3 minutes ago, joemul said:

Cracked and bought a psvr pack from GAME. £199 for:-

 

V2 headset & starter pack

Astro bot

resi 7

 

seemed like a decent enough deal. I already have the ps camera so I’ll give that to my brother for my niece to play with. 

 

How essential are the Move controllers? They ain’t bloody cheap any more! I’m seeing prices of £70-£80...

 

Amazing deal. Those two games don't need moves but I'd say they're essential for others, such as Skyrim, Batman, Ultrawings etc.

[Mawdlin]

Yeah, GAME threw in my Moves for £50 with a bundle last year. I took my receipt back and they honoured the deal. Worth a try.

[joemul]

1 hour ago, Shimmyhill said:

Have you bought it yet?

 

I bought the same bundle last week, well same games but with two move controllers for £249 - from game!

 

Balls. Yep bought it earlier. I’ll just have to keep an eye out for cheap move controllers. 

[Shimmyhill]

I played some more of this tonight and bloody hell its just got something magical about it, it makes you feel happy playing it and I can’t think of many games ever that do that - just the music and the looking around the environment to amaze myself at the pure witchcraft of it all.

 

Pure joy!

[LaveDisco]

On 28/10/2018 at 21:36, Cyhwuhx said:

It’s essential if you have a PSVR and it not, it’s a bloody good reason to get a PSVR. The sheer joy in its little touches is something I haven’t experienced in a long while. 

 

Who cares if it is or isn’t compared to Nintendo. It doesn’t need the comparison anyway as it can rub shoulders with the best of ‘em. 

 

This should be bundled with the headset. Stat. 

 

As someone who compared it with Nintendo I agree so much with this. I was using it as a short hand, but boy can it stand alone. This game is a spectacular success. Genuine GOTY. 

[shirubagan]

I'm bloody tempted by this.

[Kayin Amoh]

17 minutes ago, shirubagan said:

I'm bloody tempted by this.

 

Stop dreaming the life and start living the dream.

 

'If Astro Bot isn’t my favorite game this year I’ll not only eat my hat, I’ll roam the lands eating every hat I come into contact with — it’s that damn good, and the definitive argument for Virtual Reality.'

 

 

[Mawdlin]

1 hour ago, Kayin Amoh said:

 

Stop dreaming the life and start living the dream.

 

'If Astro Bot isn’t my favorite game this year I’ll not only eat my hat, I’ll roam the lands eating every hat I come into contact with — it’s that damn good, and the definitive argument for Virtual Reality.'

 

 

Just make sure you don't drop your hat as if you play a certain big release you may never get it back.