STACK #239 September 2024

GAMING FEATURE

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GO FOR A WANDER! We had to ask Nicolas whether he has a favourite VIP bot… “It has to be Wander from Shadow of the Colossus . I have super fond memories of this game, it’s an all time masterpiece.”

Fog Gloves, each trigger sends a spring punch out and that can be used

to pummel enemies, but also as a grappling hook. There are 15 new abilities, and these change pretty much with every level. Japanese developers have a fine tradition of creating amazing platformers.With games now often very adult-oriented and unending, was it important to you to make one that’s suitable for all ages to play? Thank you for noticing this! Yes, it was and still is a lifelong goal. Team ASOBI was built with a history of turning tech into magic for everyone. These moments of simple magic can resonate with a veteran gamer just as strongly as with a five-year-old player. We care enormously about this, and hope we’ve achieved this with Astro Bot .

If you have a PlayStation 5 then you should be well acquainted with robo-buddy Astro. Now he – and his many friends – are back in a bigger adventure than ever in Astro Bot .We caught up with Nicolas Doucet, the studio director atTokyo-based developerTeam ASOBI, to find out more. Words Amy Flower

• Astro Bot is out Sep 6

Astro’s Playroom coming free with the PS5 was a wonderful bonus, and it was a joy to play and delve into the history of PlayStation. Beyond the welcome return of VIP bots, how connected to PlayStation history is Astro Bot ’s gameplay? It was important for us to make Astro a hero who could stand on his own feet. We spent time developing gameplay and levels that were totally new and fit the Astro Bot universe. However, we also felt that players would rightfully expect the game to celebrate PlayStation history and, while it wasn’t a necessity, it was a welcome addition. So, we’ve doubled down on the cameos, upped their quality, and made half of Astro’s crew (150 Bots or so) characters from the PlayStation legacy. It’s so fun to see those bots re enacting scenes from famous games in cute, humorous ways. We love that Astro’s spaceship for travelling between worlds is shaped like a DualSense controller. What sort of new and exciting worlds can we expect to visit? There are over 50 planets in the game, and we tried to make each one feel unique. Of course, we feature

How did you find the right balance so that Astro Bot will appeal equally to young and old, new gamers and veterans? We separated the main levels that make up the story from the challenges that are optional. That allowed us to calibrate two difficulties in a way that’s easy to understand for the player, and easy to manage for us. On top of that, Astro Bot is a game in which a single hit kills you, so the checkpoint placements are very important to ensure we reach a good “die and retry” tempo. We also try to give players options on how to approach each challenge, so we leave a bit of room for creative play as well. What do you most wish for players to gain from their time experiencing Astro Bot ? Joy, happiness, laughter. We hope for that feel-good feeling with controller in hand, laughter at the funny jokes and, for young players, I wish for them to have stars in their eyes. I wish for them to feel that exact thing I felt playing my first classic video games. The ones that end up inhabiting you and sucking you entirely into a magical world. I feel we owe this to this new generation. If we could achieve this, it’d be amazing! jbhifi.com.au

classic platforming/space opera worlds such as lush jungles, sunny beaches, dark caves, sky, and hot lava levels, but we also got inspired from classic pop culture to ground these in. For example, one level features a giant genie lamp. What would happen if you rubbed that one is for you to find out!

UP, DOWN, TURN AROUND… If you’re an Astro fan, don’t miss out on this wild, limited edition DualSense wireless controller.

Would you please tell us more about some of Astro’s new abilities? Astro has lots of new abilities, which mostly come as animal buddies. These are activated using the adaptive trigger and have been selected because they’re a great marriage of innovative powerup fit for a platformer, as well as being unique showcases of the DualSense controller. With Barkster, the bulldog, Astro can dash forward to cross pits, smash through walls and enemies. With

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