Astro Bot PS5 PlayStation

Almost certainly the cure for whatever ails you, Team Asobi's plucky Astro Bot has captured the hearts and minds of the PlayStation faithful, from new PS5 owners to the most jaded old veterans. This is partly due to the non-stop onslaught of cameos and references to Sony's rich history (in addition to timeless gameplay), and director Nicolas Doucet was shocked at the positive response to the pitch from other PlayStation studio heads and game creators.

In an interview on the PlayStation Blog, Doucet was asked about the advantages of being part of Sony's first-party family. He described the openness and availability of IP from which to pull: "Since this title packs in much of PlayStation history, we worked closely with all the PlayStation Studios. When we shared our concept with the studio directors and game creators, their responses were overwhelmingly positive."

Doucet says that initially, Team Asobi had far more limited ambitions but quickly realised they had seemingly been given the keys to the kingdom: "I thought we could only feature around 50 characters out of the 150 characters we wanted to feature. But to our greatest surprise, the studios unanimously agreed to the cameo of all 150 characters. Apart from our PlayStation Studios, we were lucky to collaborate with third-party publishers."

While some obscure PlayStation stuff made it into the game, fans were quick to note the complete absence of Square Enix, which is strange, given how intertwined the fortunes of the major publisher and Sony's platform have been historically.

Have you been playing Astro Bot? What's the coolest inclusion you've seen so far? Let us know in the comments section below.

[source blog.playstation.com]