Gaming hosts Josh and Ryan are back... well... not really. In honor of it winning Game of the Year, we're re-releasing our AstroBot episode during our end of year break. Feast your ears on this iconic episode as we gush over AstroBot, break down everything that makes it specials, and discuss if it has a chance to win Game of the Year (hint, it did!) We'll be back in 2025 with a brand new Most Anticipated Games Episode, but we hope you enjoy this blast from the past! Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Discord: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Astro Bot winning Game of the Year?
I'm not going to sing anymore to save y'all's ears. Sorry about that. We are re-releasing our Astro Bot episode to celebrate it winning game of the year. Ryan and myself also picked Astro Bot for best game of the year. Sorry, Paul Blackmuth Wukong didn't quite make it, even though we know that was your favorite game of the year.
But we are re-releasing this episode so you can live the hype, live the amazingness that is Astro Bot all over again. And we will be back at the new year to go over our most anticipated games of 2025. We hope you enjoy this episode. Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. The day has arrived.
One of our most anticipated titles of the entire year that we didn't even know about until the end of May has arrived. Astro Bot has released. We've both beaten it, and we're here today to break it down with one of our classic gaming deep dives. Stick with us as we break down graphics, gameplay, fun factor, and more
Chapter 2: What are the main features of Astro Bot?
And I've even heard rumor that some people are whispering game of the year contender. What? Game of the year? We'll get to the bottom of all of that in this awesome episode. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh. And joining me, he's the buster bulldog to my rocket, the iron girdle to my loins, the super giant sponge robot thing to my puddle of water.
It's Ryan. Dude, I will be your iron girdle any day of the week. You better believe it. And I'm so proud of you that the world knows who you are now. Because last episode, apparently, they didn't. In the middle of summer, Ryan.
You're still going to be my iron girdle?
That's the only time. Absolutely.
Oh, boy. That's real friendship right there, buddy. oh man all right so listen we are deep diving astrobot we just brought this up in our latest twig episode that we were playing this game it is time you and i have both beaten it like i mentioned um I literally finished it this morning. I was up at like 5 a.m., dude. And I was like, well, I'm up. I might as well finish up Astro Bot.
And then sure enough, it took me about two hours and I beat it right before I headed off to work. So we are going to get into all things Astro Bot. This is the disclaimer that says, listen, we're going to cover a lot of aspects of this game. We are going to cover some of the abilities in the game. A few of the little secret things that you might come across.
This game doesn't have any huge spoilers. It's not like there's some huge twist or something like that. But if you want to go into this game completely blind, then you might want to come back to this episode later on. If you're the kind of person that's like, look, I just want to know what you guys think, and I'm going to pick it up and have fun with it.
Hearing about an ability that you get in the game may not bother you, but, you know, we always like to respect people's, you know, thoughts on that kind of stuff. So, yes, we will talk about aspects of the game, but we're going to try not to, like, spoil or anything too crazy. But I don't really think there are any, like, major spoilers.
No, I mean, yeah. I mean, the basis of it is pretty simple. Rescue bots. That's about it.
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Chapter 3: What were the initial impressions of Astro Bot?
I wanted this cheerful, kind of happy, very fun action-based platformer type game to dive into before going straight into Space Marine 2. And I think as gamers, we all kind of feel that. There's a lot of times where people are like, I'm just tired of all the games I play. And it's like, well, have you tried anything different?
You know, play a different genre, play a different style of game that you wouldn't normally play, that kind of thing. So I think for me, it was very much just I wanted that kind of different experience compared to a lot of the other games that I have been playing and that we have covered on the show. It just seemed to hit the right spot in the right time for me.
So I think that's where my hype level and this kind of sudden pivot going to Astro Bot over Space Marine 2 kind of came into play. Yeah, timing's everything, brother. It does. And to be fair, I am super excited. Right after this recording, I am actually opening up Space Marine 2 for the first time. So I know we're diving into that. I'm pretty pumped for that one as well. I know.
So we will be covering Space Marine 2 for people that are curious. That episode will come out in a couple weeks. But yeah, we're getting into that one for sure. All right, Ryan. So I remember you... kind of rubbing it in that you were playing Astro Bot. Me? No. Yeah, I know. I know. And then I remember you being like, dude, this game is sick.
And then just sending me a couple screenshots and I could tell instantly that you were having fun with this game. But I always like to think about those first impressions of a game, right? Sometimes first impressions can be everything. I know that there are games where we have jumped into them and the first impression sucks. And then it takes a while to get going.
And then there's other games that start off really good and it's like the developers just fell asleep and then the rest of the game is bad. So without spoiling anything about your overall thoughts of the game, give me your first impressions kind of just an hour or two in.
So, I guess like we said, the story itself is kind of minimal. There's not a lot to it. You're traveling along in the galaxy. Some alien comes, smacks you around, scatters some bots all over the place. You've got to go and you've got to rescue all these bots. That's how you start. So now you're going through and you start to go through these different kind of worlds.
And it was just... It was a continuation of the playroom, but with more depth and more detail. And as it started to progress, you just kind of... Yep, it just kept checking the boxes. Yep, there's another one. Oh, that's cool. There's that. And I just know initially... I played with a smile on my face a bunch of the times I kind of tried to recall just how I felt.
I'm just like, yeah, I was just smiling. I'm cheesing the whole time I'm playing this dang game. So it was one of those where you just felt good. I know you were saying something. You wanted something different, something. We've been playing heavy games. This was that initial impression where you're happy. It's a happy, fun game right off the bat.
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Chapter 4: How does Astro Bot compare to other platformers?
Listen, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this game right after this break. All right, we are back breaking down Astro Bot. Ryan, let's get into the actual game itself. I mean, we've talked about our hype level. We've talked about our initial impressions. I think we've kind of teased this game enough for people.
We always like to get into some of just the heart of a game so that people can kind of say, hey, you know what? This sounds like it's for me. Or if you're like me and you don't own a PS5, but you want to know more about Astro Bot, we're going to kind of break it all down for you.
So you can kind of have a good idea of what this game is about, how it plays, what makes it special and that kind of stuff. So I want to start with something that Paul, our former host Paul, used to tease me about. And you used to tease me about a little bit too, Ryan.
And that's because I made a comment one time on a game for the first Hellblade where I said, this game has the best audio I've ever heard in my life for a video game. And I remember Paul laughing and then he told you about it and you laughed. But other than you saying how great this game was initially, you told me, you said, Josh, you're going to lose your mind over the audio in this game.
It's the best audio I've ever heard. And so I want to talk about that with people because I think I agree with you that this game has some of the best audio I have ever heard in a video game. And what the heck does that mean, right? Dude.
Like when somebody says good audio, like, huh?
What does that mean? It means like, because I got goosebumps right now thinking about it. That's how good the audio is. Just thinking. It really is. You genuinely, I was so excited for Josh to play this game just so he could hear it. And I can't stress to you guys how much I actually kept saying, dude, just wait. Wait for the audio. Wait for the pills. I kept telling him, Josh, the pills.
Wait for the pills. Wait for the pills. Wait for the metal. Like, it's something that this is a game to where when you hear stuff, you not only hear it, but you feel it. You feel that sound. And that's something we'll dive into deep with this. But like... The combination of the audio and the audio through the controller and the feedback you get within the controller, it's par none.
There's nothing I've ever experienced that's like this game, which is so wild on a standard 3D platformer that's system-based to just exclusive PlayStation. And to have something of that quality, you can tell... Why isn't every game this way? You know, why doesn't every game make me feel this way from an audio aspect?
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Chapter 5: What makes the audio in Astro Bot exceptional?
It's so instant. And this is what I found with, I mean, all of this game and then even the playroom is that everything just, it's so crisp. It just clicks. Everything that you do happens. It's responsive. It's instant. There's not any delay or drag or weirdness that kind of takes you out of the zone. You are in this world, and that's part of what the audio does to you.
You are so immersed into what you're doing. That's what you're focused on. Okay, I'm a small mouse now. I'm going through this room and I'm going to this other place. There's another part that I thought was so cool. It's not as impactful as that, but you hop on to a fake controller in-game and you shoot throwing stars. And you look in front of you and there's like five bamboo stalks.
And you've got a character up to the side that's a bot. And you're like, oh, I'm going to rescue that guy. And then you shoot your throwing star and it slices the bamboo shoot down. And you're like, oh, okay. You cut yourself a path to climb up to get him. And you rescue him. You're like, whoa, that was really, really cool.
And then a little later in the map, you get it again and then you use it to make like a platform to climb up on these like spinning kind of wheels and use them as steps. So there's so many aspects of the game that do things like that, that just keep the immersion. It's just, it's unreal, man. It's so hard to describe.
It is one of those things. We'll move on here in just a second, too. But I really want to kind of drive this point home that we are so accustomed to games and perspectives and camera angles and stuff like that.
But when we say at the press of a button, your character shrinks down to the size of a tiny mouse, and then at the press of a button, he grows back into his normal size and the world instantly changes perspective. Yeah. To do that on the fly while you're running and jumping and to have it respond the way that it does is not something that we witness in gaming very often.
And that goes back to show you the level of development and the level of polish that this game has is honestly second to none. It's a very hard thing to describe to somebody, but... But we are lifelong gamers.
And I mean, this one little aspect of this mouse level where I got this mouse suit and I could shrink and grow was mind blowing to me because it's like, dude, nobody has done it like they have done it. I mean, yes, there's games where you grow and shrink, but it's like you kind of have to stop. And then it like does this animation where it's like, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. And now you're big.
You know, it's not this instantaneous thing. Another one that I'll touch on very, very briefly is the time stop. ability that you get oh yes dude that was so cool to me you basically freeze the level almost like time is still going but it's in like super slow motion and the uses of that ability in the spooky town
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Chapter 6: How do the graphics enhance the gaming experience in Astro Bot?
sense everything and you know everything and and you're flying through so i'm super stoked to try that out i'll have to take a another break from space marine i guess for astrobot for a little bit but i'm gonna make you play these levels because i want you to feel the pain that i felt but i also really want to hear your thoughts on them as well so oh man that was easy
what yeah right dude it's weird because some of them i i actually would kind of almost blitz through after an attempt or two and then like i said there were other ones where it was 30 40 attempts dude before i freaking beat these stupid levels they're just for the challenge you get one guy at the end like a little robot friend is like a you know consolation prize i guess it's more just the saying i beat these levels yeah that is the reward there so
All right, Ryan, we've been gushing over Astro Bot for almost 50 minutes now. Is there anything in this game that you think doesn't work or is a you wished it had been better? Maybe it's a negative anything, you know, to kind of balance out all the the excitement and gushing that we've been doing on Astro Bot.
Well, so I will say, and I know you said as far as timeline on this game, six to nine hours or something like that. It's not a long game. There is a lot more you can do with it. Probably full playthrough time to where you're going to really rescue all the bots. I think there's over 300. To beat the game, you probably need like 210 or something like that. My biggest complaint with this game...
is that there's not more. I want more, dude. I honestly don't know what I could say other than not having time trial stuff where I could just do speed race levels and time trial levels type things. I genuinely think that this is one of the crisp and most designed audibly, gameplay-wise, visually. All of these things check every single box. And I just wish there was more of it.
That's my biggest complaint is that I want more. More!
That's a good thing when the downfall or the negative part of a game is just that it's over. Yeah, I know, right? At that point. I will say for me, I mean, I definitely would love to play this game more. There's a lot more for me to do on it. If I had to put a negative on this game, and this is personal, just gaming trends for me, I am not a game completionist.
I don't care about platinum trophies. I don't want to go back to this level to find the one little robot that I missed along my playthrough on that. So I would say for me, the replayability portion is probably not very high in my opinion. I could see that. I did have to actually go back to a couple worlds because I had missed most of the little robot buddies in there.
And I didn't have enough of like you have to have 200 robots rescued to fight the main boss for the entire game. And I was at like 190. And so then I was kind of like, oh, man, I got to go back to these levels and hunt around and try to find 10 more guys. And like for somebody like me, I don't like backtracking. I want new stuff. I want I want more levels that I've never seen before.
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Chapter 7: What are the gameplay mechanics of Astro Bot?
A nine seven on your leaderboard. Ryan puts it at the third highest game on your leaderboard. Second only to red dead redemption two and God of war 2018 at 9.8. Yep. Yep. I don't, I don't blame you. Yeah.
I don't blame you one bit.
Um, okay. So for me, I think this game is absolutely phenomenal, dude. I loved this game from the second I got to play it till the minute I put it down. Even the credit sequence in this game is well done. Like, I mean, why doesn't every game do that? You play the credits like it's goofy. The credits are a level, you know, and it's like, oh, OK, that's really cool. I said it before.
I'll say it again. This game is pure joy to play. That's the best way I can describe it, man. I mean, I don't know another way to say, you know, this game is good. It's fun to play. It's it's you know, oh, yeah, it's pretty. It sounds good. I mean, it's a joy. If you want a game that is going to make you smile and is going to make you feel like a kid again. This game is it.
I cannot think of another game in recent memory that has brought that feeling of discovery and joy and just happiness. You know, I mean, it's got this vibe to it that is just so refreshing and so good. I am going to put this in a category of games where I only have two other games in this category, and that is Rocket League. which for me is one of my all-time favorite games.
It's probably my most played game and a game that I think was one of the most fun games that we have played this year, which is Helldivers 2. I am putting this at a 9.5. The only reason I will say this, the only reason that I do not have this game ranked higher is a lack of a story. Now, listen, I'm one of the first people that go, but this game isn't supposed to have a story. And I get it.
And that is not a failing because they nailed what they're trying to do. The only reason this game is not higher for me is because it does not have that memorable story that I will go to bed thinking about, that I will be wondering, well, why did this character do this? Or what happened if I did that kind of thing? And I think that that is the only piece that is missing.
It is not a fault of the game because this game isn't intended to be that way. So for me, 9.5, I mean, people that know me know Rocket League is one of my favorite games ever. And it's sitting in the exact same rating as Rocket League and Helldivers 2 to me. 9.5 is the highest game that we have rated in a very long time. Yeah, dude. That tells you everything you need to know about Astro Bot.
If you have a PlayStation... and you have not picked this game up, we cannot encourage you enough to spend the money to play this game. Do it. It's a short game. I don't care. Honestly, it's worth every penny. It's got some replayability value. If you are a completionist and a platinum trophy hunter, this game will absolutely be up your alley.
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