Astro Bot's Grand Return: A Galactic Adventure Across 80 Planets

Astro Bot, the beloved platforming mascot, almost made a foray into open-world gameplay but ultimately settled for an adventure spread across 80 planets. This decision was made to ensure the developers at Team Asobi had the most control over the game’s variety. Initially introduced in the PS5 pack-in game Astro's Playroom, the character needed a grand reintroduction in a larger, more ambitious project.

In an interview with Edge Magazine's 400th Issue, which showcases ten unique covers featuring different Astro Bots, creative director Nicholas Doucet revealed that the team had initially considered making the game open-world. However, they chose a level-based approach to retain better control over the game's diversity. The final version of Astro Bot thus resembles a Super Mario Odyssey-style experience.

The plot kicks off with Astro Bot experiencing a disastrous crash, requiring him to venture across 80 planets to repair his ship. Along the way, he has to rescue around 150 "VIP bots"—characters cosplaying as icons from various PlayStation games like Sly Cooper, Bloodborne's hatted figure, and the endearing Trico from The Last Guardian.

During a significant portion of the development phase, the structure of the game was undecided. Doucet explained that Team Asobi's process involves extensive prototyping of gameplay mechanics without a specific game in mind. The team experimented with new ways to utilize the DualSense controller and explored how these mechanics could translate into power-ups for the game.

Astro's previous adventures had players tilting their controllers to climb mountains in a monkey suit or jumping horizontally as a spring. The announcement trailer for the new Astro Bot game introduced novel power-ups such as a doggy-jetpack, boxing gloves that double as a grappling hook, and a device that pauses time. Doucet emphasized the challenge of balancing fun gameplay, good controls, and precision with accessibility. Judging by the positive reception of the Astro Bot preview, it appears the development team has achieved this balance well.

Astro Bot managed to become the most-wishlisted game from Summer Game Fest, surpassing even major titles like Doom: The Dark Ages and Gears of War: E-Day.