Astro’s Playroom Review 

Who made Astro’s Playroom?

Team Asobi, a first party PlayStation studio operating as a division of Japan Studio, who are behind, the cult favourite Astro Bot Rescue Mission.

What genre is Astro’s Playroom?

Astro’s Playroom might fit into its own genre. Categorically, it’s a standard platformer but it’s also a tech demo, showing off the power and innovation behind the Dualsense.

Is Astro’s Playroom fun? 

If you were forced to sum up this game with just one word, the only acceptable choice would be fun. There are so many parts of this game that put a smile on your face.

Does Astro’s Playroom do anything new? 

Overall the game doesn’t do anything new that we haven’t seen before in other platforms, but everything that it makes you do using the new Dualsense controller is charting new ground.

Does Astro’s Playroom look good? 

As a launch title it looks great, Astro looks great, although he is a little robot not photo realistic human from something like Naughty Dog and the lighting effects look fantastic whether you are rotating your artifacts or exiting a hidden cave.

Does Astro’s Playroom sound good? 

The game sounds great! From the wind blowing from cooling springs beach, the rain hitting your umbrella in memory meadow or the fantastic and addictive music from SSD speedway.

Does Astro’s Playroom control well? 

This isn’t Team Asobi’s first foray into 3D platforming as they got their feet wet with Astro Bot Rescue Mission with this genre, but this will be the first one most people experience. The controls of this game are surprisingly excellent, which surprised me for a few reasons, I wasn’t expecting a tech demo to control as well as it did but also most studios don’t get platforming right this early.

Does Astro’s Playroom have technical issues? 

Normally this question is reserved for negative technical issues but the game looks and runs fantastic. On a technical level, what the game is showing you with adaptive triggers, touchpad and haptic feedback is impressive and feels like a generational shift you would hope for.

Does Astro’s Playroom have single player? 

Astro’s Playroom is only single player as you are looking through different parts of the PS5 looking for historical artifacts recollecting the years of PlayStation. When I think of tech demo, I don’t envision something with the quality level or the length that this game has.

Is Astro’s Playroom family friendly? 

Astro’s Playroom would be the perfect game to share with your little one as you go back in time together exploring the years of PlayStation and sharing stories as you uncover each artifact or all the little Easter eggs hidden throughout.

Is Astro’s Playroom couples friendly? 

This game is great for couples as there is no game over state or no lives and it can be as simple as you want to play it or tricky, if you are looking for all the puzzle pieces and artifacts.

How long is Astro’s Playroom? 

Astro’s Playroom could be finished in a couple of hours if you just rushed towards the finish line, however, if you wanted to platinum this game (and you should) then you are looking closer to the 4-5 hour length with each minute being worthy.

Can you binge Astro’s Playroom? 

This would be a great game to binge as a completion run would be about five hours or so, meaning that you could do that during one winter quarantine weekend. The best part is that you won’t feel like you need a break because of the amount of variety between the different sections of the PS5.

Is Astro’s Playroom full price? 

Astro's Playroom is 100% free and even better than that, if you are or were lucky enough to find a PlayStation 5, then its already installed on your system.

What is surprising about Astro’s Playroom? 

It’s very surprising just how good this game is because as a free pack in with the PlayStation 5, expectations were low. Instead, Astro’s Playroom works as one of the best launch titles for the PS5, not making you feel forced to purchase a game on day one because Team Asobi made something worthy of next gen.

What could Astro’s Playroom do without? 

The motion control parts were fun but they did go on for just a smidge too long. This is nitpicking because loading after dying is basically instant and you are right back playing again.

What is the best part about Astro’s Playroom? 

Astro’s Playroom has the ability to keep constantly delighting you with each artifact you discover, making you nostalgic at almost every turn.

What is the worst part about Astro’s Playroom?

It’s a small gripe but there are sections throughout that require blowing into the mic and as someone who plays with a gaming headset, this was a nuisance because it wont automatically do it because it thinks the mic is on and the headset mic doesn’t work with these features, which makes you have to mute your controller

Will there be a sequel to Astro’s Playroom?

Team Asobi and Sony seem to have stumbled upon something special with Astro Bot. As a character who began as simple robot in The Playroom, Asobi now has a character on their hands who seems to be slowly becoming one of the faces of PlayStation and it would be a true shame if the team didn’t take what they learned developing this game and make a full game for the PS5.

Are the trophies good in Astro’s Playroom?

Sometimes getting the platinum trophy can be a slog, but getting full completion on this game seems like you don’t have a choice. It could be because the game is shorter, it could be because the trophies aren’t absurd or it could be because how delightful each trophy is.

Do you recommend Astro’s Playroom?

If you have a PS5 then you already own the game and you should absolutely play this game if you were around for any of the previous generations of PlayStation. If you have been around since the first PlayStation then this game is a requirement. It will leave you with a smile on your face and a warm fuzzy feeling the entire time as you remember some of the best moments of gaming from the past 26 years. If this game cost money, I would still recommend it just as much.

Final Score

20/21