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Astro Bot (PS5) Review

Francis Parco 2 Comments

Just when it seems like companies outside of Nintendo (and maybe Sega as an extension) are too knee-deep in making the usual AAA story-driven games, one new-ish IP shows that the industry still has room for Nintendo-esc first party platformers. While I still enjoy the usual AAA story-driven games like Uncharted and Spider-Man, modern gaming should welcome more variety in the industry, and Team Asobi’s newest title helps in providing just that.

Astro Bot follows the modern revival era of platformers from the likes of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and obscure platformers like Kao The Kangaroo. Even Yooka-Laylee is also part of this era for platformers in bringing interest to the style of gaming based more on fun as opposed to just cinematic stories and multiplayer live services.

As this review gets underway, I’d like to point out that this is my first official game review, and with a relatively packed platformer like Astro Bot, there’s been a whole lot to think about as I played the entire game through (besides trophies). I’ll still be covering this game to the best of my abilities.

The Astro crew about to encounter trouble

Introducing An Intergalactic Collectathon

While I did order (but not pre-order) Astro Bot on Friday, September 6 release, I only waited until the following Monday to finally get my physical copy. Oh boy was I greatly delighted to discover Team Asobi packed physical copies of Astro Bot with a foldable comic book doubling as an entire poster on the opposite side! To my knowledge, gamers hardly ever see this nowadays outside of Special/Limited and Collectors Edition copies.

As already mentioned, Astro Bot is a new-ish IP released nearly four years after the PS5 and pre-installed tech demo game Astro’s Playroom and about 11 years after The Playroom for PS4. As far as the story goes, it’s a rather simple one. The titular bot and his expansive crew are cruising through space onboard their PS5 mothership (yes, the PS5 itself is an entire spaceship) when they are suddenly attacked by an alien bully named Nebulax. The alien abducts the “CPU kid” from inside the PS5, causing Astro, his crew, and the ship’s parts to scatter across the galaxy. After crashing on a mysterious desert planet, it’s up to Astro to journey across the universe, rescue his crew, and recover the parts of the PS5 ship, including the CPU kid.

Just as predecessor Astro’s Playroom involved a lot of collecting, Astro Bot does the same, sans the relics based on Sony’s consoles/accessories. Aside from retrieving puzzle pieces, you’ll be rescuing 304 bots and the PS5 ship’s parts scattered across six galaxies that includes a hidden lost galaxy. More of these areas open up as more bots and collectibles are recovered, which will additionally help with retrieving more collectibles and unlocking extra facilities on the desert planet crash site.

Ain’t this chassis a chassis worth saving

A Universe Of Powerups And VIP Bot Nostalgia

Astro Bot carries over the collectathon gameplay from it’s predecessor and expands on it by introducing various new powerups ranging from size shrinking, time manipulation, and speed boosting, to name a few. Despite some powerups being repeated more than others, they’re all welcomed game mechanics that help provide more gameplay variety absent from Astro’s Playroom.

At times, specific powerups are needed in order to get past tricky obstacles and rescue/unlock the lost bots and puzzle pieces. With or without the powerups, a crucial tip to share is to take extra time looking around each area for collectibles (especially for getting all collectibles/bots in one go). Miss some collectibles and need to replay any levels, you’ll still have the chance to spend 200 coins to unlock a radar bird to help locate the missing items/bots. Speaking of said bots, some look regular while others are Special/VIP bots resembling various video game characters.

Now these VIP bots are an exciting and defining feature of the game. As planet after planet are cleared, each galaxy has one level dedicated to a boss returning from earlier games in the franchise. Defeat each and you’ll rescue a VIP bot from a specific era of PlayStation history and transition to a themed level dedicated to that VIP Bot’s game. Two of my favorites recreated Uncharted and God of War 2018/Ragnarok, and the experience Astro handed their weapons and dawn their outfits is a wave of nostalgic joy.

Each VIP bot level mimics a world and overall gameplay of each PlayStation IP, as demonstrated by shooting enemy bots through the jungles of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and freezing enemies with Kratos’s Leviathan Axe in a recreation level featuring GOW’s dead frost giant Thamur. Growing up with some of these PS games recreated in Astro Bot contributed to the nostalgia wave and is so satisfying to spot certain gameplay mechanics from these titles. Naturally, there are regular bots and VIP bots of characters from these franchises, but hearing how composer Kenneth C M Young (or Kenny Young) remixed these game themes just tops the nostalgia factor (more on music later).

Astro at a space casino

Environmental Variety And Haptic Immersion

Considering that there are 80 levels spread across six galaxies, you bet that the environments are diverse and further complimented by the game’s crisp, sharp graphics. Players are treated to lush jungles and beaches, seemingly vast deserts, volcanoes, and seasonal settings for holidays like Halloween. Specific levels known as the Retro Rampage stages may remind players of 3D games like Minecraft due to their blocky voxel graphics.

Not only can you see so far way into the background in many of these locations (with little to no details lost) but also that Team Asobi adds detail in the ways Astro reacts to these environments. He cowers in spooky surroundings, fans himself from the heat, and so on. On a related topic, there have been players that reported mostly minor bugs in terms of game performance, including game crashes often resulting in deleted saves. Luckily, I’ve personally encountered little to none of these small imperfections. In my personal gaming sessions, the game’s framerate stays at a smooth 60 FPS even in areas with hundreds of shattered glass and other objects that may normally cause the framerate to drop.

The PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller haptics are constantly in use, not just limited to the controller’s vibrations and adaptive triggers for hovering and flying across the maps. As you rescue more bots and save your progress to load up in each session, the start menu randomly loads a few rescued bots to fly on the DualSense controller speeder with Astro, which can be manipulated on screen via motion controls. Rescuing bots to store in the speeder gives players a bonus fun time to zoom in on the bots and toss them in the air.

There are occasions where Astro will use the DualSense motion controls in cases such as shooting water and other projectiles to reach more areas and find collectibles. In fact, when it comes to the ultimate fight against the alien bully Nebulax after all PS5 parts are restored, moving the controller while flying through space and blasting the enemies made me imagine how this could be easily translated to an arcade game machine. Imagine “Astro Bot: The Arcade Game” where you point your controller blaster at the screen while shooting Nebulax and other enemies in your way. In other words, something like arcade Time Crisis but with Astro Bot.

Another moment for the music to bring goosebumps

Soundtrack Goes Above and Beyond

Easily one of my personal favorite aspects of playing Astro Bot is enjoying the accompanying music. Indeed, there are a number of returning tracks from previous Astro games, but there are also many remixes of these existing songs as well as plenty of newcomers. A couple standout examples include the song “Astro”, with a bit of a jazzy vibe that’s perfect to invoke the feeling of welcoming back a character not seen in nearly four years. And while fan-favorite “I’m Your GPU” is absent, “Papa Tree” may be this game’s equivalent, considering the funky tone (fitting for a level called Trunk of Funk) and unexpectedly amusing vocals describing the level’s goals as you progress. And how about the Western vibe of the Crash Site music?

Composer Kenny Young manages to not make major boss themes repetitive and stale despite being variations of the CRT-Rex theme from Astro’s Playroom. Each respective boss theme take on different instrumentals, such as Lady Venomara’s theme featuring string instruments. Compare this to the boss theme of Mecha Leon that features faster-paced rock instrumentals that shreds even harder than the aforementioned CRT-Rex theme. In a game featuring an adorable tiny robot and a robo chameleon, this boss track has no right to sound as intense as it does.

There’s too many standout tracks in the game to highlight… but the cherry-on-top in my opinion is the music of the VIP bot levels. Like I mentioned, the way that Kenny Young remixes each VIP bot’s game theme is nostalgia-driven perfection. The level “Bot of War” recreating the GOW theme not only makes playing the level more fun, but went above and beyond by incorporating the popular “BOY” meme from GOW 2018 right before the base drop. Talk about fan service that’s more than satisfying… and that’s not all!

For years I’ve considered Uncharted as my favorite game series of all time. Just like Bot of War, hearing the Uncharted main melody remixed as Nate is rescued and Astro goes for the assist brought frequent chills and goosebumps. No joke! It reminded me how much I miss the Dude Raider and wished Naughty Dog continued the franchise after The Lost Legacy. At least we have Team Asobi’s take on the thief’s Indiana Jones-esc adventures.

The Great Master Challenge – the most difficult level of all

Not Too Difficult, But Not Completely Easy

Overall, Astro Bot isn’t a particularly difficult game. As far as fighting regular enemy bots and bosses are concerned, it’s fairly quick to learn how to fight them and spot their patterns. However, after the first galaxy the difficulty level does gradually increase as more enemies/obstacles are introduced.

Among the more challenging and frustrating levels are hidden lost voids based on each shape of the PlayStation controller buttons (Square, Circle, Cross, and Triangle). For challenge levels like these, precise timing is extremely important, as one early/late jump will return you to the very start of the level. The Great Master Challenge in particular is the most difficult level in the entire game, taking me dozens upon dozens of attempts to finally clear the stage and discover a secret surprise. The lost shapes void levels felt like playing a completely different game, making it easy to forget how relatively easy most of Astro Bot really is… and not to forget mentioning, a truly heart-pounding experience.

In both easier and harder levels, pay attention to the type of platforms you run and jump to. They could be made of glass or ice that will only give a quick moment to jump off from. Such destructible platforms are heavily featured in but not limited to, levels like The Great Master Challenge. You’re forced to think on your toes, lest you fall through at the last moment and have to restart at the last checkpoint. Although, a possible saving grace over this obstacle is if you try to tiptoe across the glass/ice surfaces… but if you’re like me, you may encounter the tremendous need to keep moving and not be able to take a breather.

Astro in the Crash Site desert

Minor Drawbacks and Comparisons to Mario

Beyond heart-pumping levels like The Great Master Challenge, some minor imperfections still show up that Team Asobi could improve upon for future installments. As overwhelming as it may be on the surface to have nearly 100 levels, Astro Bot is still a relatively short game that may take anywhere from 10 to 20+hours to complete. It depends on if you’re a completionist or not. Some gamers may argue that the relatively short length may not be worth spending $60. If you’re on this boat, maybe the game’s upcoming content update for speedrunning levels and 10 more bots to rescue will add more justification to the game’s asking price (oh, and the upcoming DLC is free by the way).

Even when trying to get all bots/collectibles per level in fewer attempts possible, still expect plenty of backtracking. It was a bit annoying to discover hidden portals unlocking levels in the Lost Galaxy won’t allow you to return to where you found these portals. It’s particularly annoying if this happens before uncovering other bots/puzzle pieces, and thus having to replay the level to recover the remaining collectibles. I’d like to see in future Astro titles that something like this give the option of returning back to that area where the portal was uncovered, but not having to restart that level.

The game since its launch a few weeks ago has drawn comparisons to more popular platformer games like Super Mario Galaxy. Just take to YouTube and social media for these discussions. I can’t personally make the comparison between Astro Bot and Super Mario Galaxy in particular since I don’t own any Nintendo consoles… but from what I’ve generally seen of SMG, I can see such comparisons. It is possible that Team Asobi took heavy inspiration from such popular platformers and combined them with what worked in past Astro games.

Gameplay and presentation may look very similar to what you’d find in a Nintendo game. But in my opinion, using PlayStation character cameos and the DualSense’s haptics is what keeps Astro from being a mere Mario clone or yet another Sony game like PS All-Stars failing to replicate Super Smash Bros’s gameplay and achieve equal or greater acclaim. Even if the VIP bots were entirely absent, Astro Bot still boasts engaging gameplay that if anything, is enhanced by the Sony nostalgia, not overly reliant on it.

Final Thoughts

All things considered, I’m proud to say that Astro Bot is a 3D platformer every gamer should play, not just for PlayStation fans. This lovable, adorable white and blue bot offers a mixture of fun and engaging platforming gameplay with the PS5 spin and PlayStation nostalgia to please both new and longtime fans in multiple ways. Astro Bot may not have the extensive history nor brand recognition comparable to platformers like Mario… yet. Make no mistake, Astro Bot is still no Super Smash Bros-type knockoff. Rather, Sony may finally have their own Mario-caliber mascot, and could perhaps be the spark for more variety in modern gaming outside of Nintendo.

Publisher:
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer:
Team Asobi
Genre:
Action Platformer
Release Date:
September 6, 2024
Final Rating:
9.0


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Second Look: Subnautica

Jennifer Buzby 0 Comments

Subnautica, the hit underwater survival game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment, has brought fear and joy to the many players who have braved its ocean depths since it launched into early access in 2014. The developers captured lightning in a bottle, providing a uniquely terrifying experience, so much so, that it has been affectionately nicknamed by some fans as “one of the best horror games ever made.” Throughout its four years in early access, players discovered the concept of Thalassophobia, the fear of the ocean, while the developers took feedback from the community to help shape the game for its 1.0 full release.

Upon leaving early access in January 2018, most people would have assumed that Subnautica would not get any major updates, bug fixes, and a rumored arctic expansion notwithstanding. To the surprise of many, including myself, the developers at Unknown Worlds introduced the 2.0 “Living Large Update” in December 2022. From including more base pieces, to adding quality of life features to the game, the developers poured their hearts into trying to improve the game for both new and returning players, four years after its full release.

For those who have yet to dive into the world of Subnautica, or those looking to return to it, allow me to explain what this update brought to the game, what the state of the game is now, and whether you should play this game too, in this second look at this underwater adventure.

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Scenic views from the idyllic Safe Shallows.

What’s New

In our current gaming landscape, many single player games receive a few updates to fix bugs and improve performance, before being abandoned as the devs move on to their next project. For the developers at Unknown Worlds, bug fixes and optimizations were not enough for Subnautica. On December 13, 2022, the game released its 2.0 “Living Large Update.” As part of the 2.0 update, the title now runs on the same updated version of Unity as its sequel, Subnautica: Below Zero, allowing the devs to bring over a plethora of bug fixes and features to the original. Some of the largest brought over were several base building pieces, which include the Large Room and its associated pieces, a glass dome for the Multipurpose Room, and updating the appearance of entrance hatches when used above water.

Enjoying the sights through the newly added Multipurpose Room Glass Dome.

Base building was not the only part of the game to get some love from the developers in their 2.0 update. Several quality of life features available in the sequel were brought over to the original Subnautica, as well. One such feature was the addition of a resource bar on applicable items. If you have just crafted a battery, for example, you will now see a green bar on the right hand side of the item’s icon. This bar will go down and start turning red as the battery is drained in whatever tool it is in, allowing you to better keep track of what needs to be recharged.

An easy to understand resource bar, showing how much charge the batteries in my tools have.
After a long day of swimming with the Seaglide, the battery is mostly drained, indicated by the red bar next to it.

Perishable foods also contain a bar, this one showing how long they have until they become rotten. There is even a bar for how much use of a fire extinguisher you have left, too! Another feature brought over from Below Zero allows you to choose whether you want to have the game pause whenever you enter your PDA, the tool that allows you to manage your inventory or look up crafting recipes, rather than having things keep going on around you, which does include oxygen depletion if you are underwater. For those sensitive to flashing lights, an option to disable such lights has been added as well.

One final quality of life feature in the update I will mention is the ability to pin up to six crafting recipes on your HUD at a time. This is such a welcome feature, not only because it shows you how many of each item you have versus how many you need to craft an item, but it can also help you remember what you were planning on making next, if you take an extended break from the game.

In the top right of the HUD, three pinned recipes show the ingredients I have and what I need to craft a flashlight.

At the time of writing this, Subnautica’s most recent — important — update, released on March 7, 2023, bringing the game to Valve’s Steam Deck, earning it the ‘Verified’ status, meaning it should perform without any major flaws or issues while being played on the handheld computer. I cannot provide feedback on how the game plays on a Steam Deck, since I currently do not own one, but I can speak about how the game performs on PC.

State of the Game

I am currently in the middle of yet another playthrough of Subnautica, having sunk eight hours into this one, and I’ve been enjoying my time beneath the waves again. The game still looks fantastic all these years later, thanks to its wonderful art direction, and the quality of life features are a welcome addition to this classic of a game. The additional base components are a nice touch as well, particularly the glass dome for the Multipurpose Room, which allows you to take in even more of the beauty of the game, from the safety of your home away from home. The upgrade and progression system is still rewarding, and provides a nice feedback loop of unlocking and upgrading equipment and vehicles, allowing you to explore further, leading to harvesting resources used to expand your exploration capabilities even more. The addition of recipe pinning has been very helpful as well, as it has helped me to better plan out what I want to focus on making next, without having to constantly open up the PDA to check the recipes.

As for overall performance, the game runs smoothly on my PC, and I have not encountered any stuttering. I have experienced mild pop in on some larger objects, but nothing too egregious to me. I did experience a piece of titanium clipping through the floor on my first limestone chunk I harvested, but I have not encountered that issue since. On extended play sessions, you may encounter some memory leak, which may lower your fps. One complaint I do have is that out of all the bugs fixed in the 2.0 update, a bug that causes music from different biomes to overlap each other has still not been fixed.

I don’t know how long this issue has been present, but it is unfortunate to have my enjoyment of the amazing soundtrack be hampered at times by this persistent bug. A mod that aims to fix the issue does exist, but it should not be necessary to mod a game in order to fix these sorts of things, (I’m looking at you, Bethesda). It hasn’t ruined the game for me, but it could be a deal breaker for some, particularly those on consoles who are unable to mod the problem away.

Second Look

Subnautica is approaching its 10th birthday this year, (if you count its early access release date as its birthday) and since then, thousands of players have experienced the sights and frights of Planet 4546B. Unlike many developers, Unknown Worlds Entertainment took the time, money, and effort needed to help shape Subnautica into the underwater survival game people love to fear to this day. They could have easily taken the money and ran without ever finishing the game like other developers have done in the past. Instead, they not only finished the game and released it out of early access to widespread success and praise, they released a sequel and then updated the original to improve the quality of life for players of a soon to be decade-old game.

The developers also understood that some people would not want to update the game, which would break any mods they had installed, so they informed players on Steam that if they did not wish to update the game, for whatever reason, they could go to the Betas tab in Steam and download a legacy version of the game. None of this was necessary by Unknown Worlds, but it just goes to show how much both this game and the experience of the players mean to them.

This is not a perfect game, but if you have yet to test the waters of Planet 4546B, there aren’t many other games that nail the survival genre quite like it. Whether it’s the unique setting, amazing soundtrack, or engaging gameplay loop, Subnautica is a wonderfully terrifying experience more people should play.

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Aquarist (PS4) Review

Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger 0 Comments

My guilty gaming pleasures tend to fall into three categories — cozy simulators that you can just turn your brain off and play, absurdly complex sims that test your will to live, and schlop thrown together to make a game that tricks people into thinking it’s a halfway decent game worth a couple bucks. To me, this is what the console version of Aquarist is. 

Aquarist, in its simplest form, is a simulator all about caring for sea creatures in an aquarium. You have to keep up with their hunger, the temperature of the container they’re in, the PH balance, etc. All the things that fish owners need to be aware of before going off to buy their first scaly friend. It’s a concept that I didn’t realize piqued my interest until this game popped up. 

The concept intrigued me and here I am reviewing the first game in a fair while for PSX Extreme. This game caught me off-guard, I knew the developer was known for — I’ll be polite — subpar games that seethe just shy of total asset flip cash-grabs. But, they wouldn’t send codes to an outlet with a game that is borderline unplayable, right? Surely not…

Of Course It’s Made In Unity

Texture-wise, nothing feels right, the character models look like beta builds and often clash with each other, the “child” character seen in the second level in the Campaign looks like a sized-down, poorly dressed “Hey there fellow kids” parent, and the overall layout of the game makes it hard to tell what you can and cannot step over.

Glub Glub

The gameplay combines the royalty feel cozy game soundtrack and feeling alongside the more hardcore simulator complexity, but it’s packaged so poorly that I couldn’t really catch myself sitting back and enjoying the sight of the fish swimming about the fish tank. The monotony, which I sometimes enjoy in these games, failed because of bad controller layout and sensitive default controls. 

Even when I changed things up, it still felt way too sensitive. It doesn’t help that it’s clear the developer didn’t take any time to modify the game to be more console friendly — you purchase stuff with a sluggish cursor that takes forever to move around as it has no snap to buttons, has to be very precise, and just brushing the touchpad throws the cursor to the corner of the screen, forcing you to move the cursor all over again. It also just stays on-screen sometimes even when you’re not on a buying menu. It’s weird.

It pains me to know this game is as subpar as it is because it has the ideas of a great game — it’s simple and it can be endless.

This Game Is About Fish Not Bugs

Bugs were all over my playthrough of what I could take of this game, these glitches ranged from small graphical imperfections to stuff that actually stopped from completing the game. 

Chief among the bugs was one that flat-out halted me from progressing at the start of the fourth level in the campaign. I picked a required item and it just disappeared. I went to where I had to thinking it was still in my inventory, but the required prompt just didn’t appear. I tried reloading the game at least five times and even tried a new playthrough, but nothing worked. 

The real moment I realized just how bad this game actually is on consoles was as early as level one. When cleaning your father’s fish tank, it gives a ton of tasks to complete, with some of them overlapping the menus to turn on the thermometer, filters, and all that. I had to basically complete tasks like dropping the fish in before even turning on the thermometer because the task menu overlapped that much.. I’m sure it’s better on PC in the most general sense, at least on that platform, its cursor might feel more at home. On PlayStation, though, it just doesn’t.

To top that off, in its second mode — Designer — the Main Menu button just flat out did not work nine times out of 10 This is the first game I’ve played that forced me to go onto the PlayStation dashboard and manually close the game. This isn’t a matter of a small issue, this was something that felt like they just didn’t test the game whatsoever.

Additionally, when I tried to turn on the filter in the tank, as I was trying to start things off with happy little fishes, Decoration mode just wouldn’t let that happen, no matter how hard I pressed the right button, it just kept doing nothing.

Bad Fish, Good Fish

The true beacon of hope for this game is Decoration mode, while it’s just as janky as the Campaign, it’s at least off-set by the “do this, do that” monotony of the story. I did have some fun designing the fish tank (especially after turning off the “Realistic” option). I went with a saltwater-based tank with an octopus, some jellyfish, and random fish that I thought looked cool.

It was nice to just sit back and drop some seaweed onto the bottom of the tank, resize rocks, and look over the roster of oceanic creatures at my disposal to drop in a fish tank to watch for my amusement.

Fishy Conclusion

If this were an early access game, I’d probably give it some leeway, but Aquarist isn’t in early access — it’s a full release on PlayStation that overcharges for the buggy mess that it is. It has the potential of being a fun guilty pleasure game, but it’s bogged down by the crazy bad bugs and game halting glitches. Even if it manages to fix the big stuff, it still leaves the unoptimized control scheme, sluggish cursor, and clashing graphics. This is the definition of sleeping with the fishes, something no one wants to do.

Publisher:
Ultimate Games
Developer:
FreeMind Games
Genre:
Simulator
Release Date:
April 25, 2024
Final Rating:
2.8


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Lenovo Legion Go Review

Ty Harvey 0 Comments
Manufacturer:
Lenovo
Model:
Legion Go 8APU1
APU:
AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
RAM:
16GB LPDDR5X 7500Mhz
Storage:
1TB
Display:
8.8″ QHD (2560 x 1600)
Battery Life:
1.5 hours in Balanced mode
Release Date:
November 1st, 2023
Price:
$749.99 1TB (reviewed)


The Goods
Amazing screen, reasonably powerful APU, FPS mode, lightweight, sturdy design, 120hz response rate.

The Bads

Not powerful enough to render many modern games at native resolution, buggy custom UI (Legion Space), multiple OS-level quirks and issues, driver issues, controllers are moderately uncomfortable to hold.

The Finals
The Lenovo Legion Go (LeGo) is a solid device, offering up more than enough power to handle the latest games, albeit at lower graphical settings than a comparatively priced PC. The fact that it runs a full copy of Windows 11 is both its greatest feature, as well as its greatest downfall.

Score:
8.8



note: rating is based on what we have today, and may not reflect Legion Go’s  future changes and enhancements. 

The Legion Go is the newest kid on the block of handheld gaming computers, but simply being newer, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is also better.

Let’s Talk About Power

With great power, comes great gaming experiences. Just ask anyone that owns a PS5, or a high end gaming PC. Whether it’s about pushing out more frames, or engaging in ultra immersive graphical experiences. Power helps. Power matters. And the Legion Go? It’s got power.

At least, as far as handhelds go, it’s a very powerful device. It’s roughly twice as strong as the Valve Steam Deck, and comparing it with the Nintendo Switch would be like trying to compare a Ferrari with a tiny Hot Wheels toy. It’s just not fair.

Great Power Also Means Less Battery

While on the surface, its got enough juice to keep you going for hours. Unfortunately, that’s just a surface level thing. In actual use, the amount of power that the Legion Go has, will basically drain your battery in a matter of hours. In my testing, I went from 100% down to 8% in less than an hour when running in Performance mode, and in about 1.5 hours when using the Balanced mode.

Understandably, this is not a good experience, at least not if your main intention is to use the Legion Go while you’re away from a power outlet. It’s best to treat this thing like a typical gaming laptop, albeit one that doesn’t lose its performance simply by unplugging it from the wall.

It’s A Computer

This may be obvious to some of you, but perhaps not as obvious to others. The Legion Go isn’t a typical handheld gaming console, like the Switch or Vita. While there is technically a custom user interface, Legion Space, the entire custom UI of the LeGo is pretty much just a standard application. It’s truly nothing special, nor is it complete. There are quite a few missing features and functions here and there, as well as a number of bugs and glitches, at least as of this writing.

Unfortunately, the fact that the Legion Go is a fully fledged computer, is both its strongest feature, and its biggest downside. On the one hand, it’s a full Windows 11 computer, through and through. You can hook up a keyboard and mouse, plug in an external monitor, and be on your way. This thing could legitimately replace a lower-end laptop (say, $400-600 range), and is far more versatile than a laptop, too. It’s powerful enough to handle pretty much every single task you can throw at it, whether it’s something a little more basic like watching 4K YouTube videos, or something a bit more complex like playing Cyberpunk 2077 at medium settings. This thing is remarkably capable, and that is primarily due to the fact that it is a full PC.

But, being a full PC also has its downsides. For starters, OS navigation is very inconvenient. Doing something as basic as opening up a web browser and typing in your favourite website (like PSXExtreme.com for example) is not as seamless as it should be. This is thanks primarily to the Legion Go’s use of a touch screen, and a very basic, and highly inaccurate touchpad. Now, I don’t entirely blame Lenovo for this, as touch navigations is mostly a Windows issue, and thus, it falls on Microsoft to improve or enhance its touch support within Windows 11. However, the Legion Go uses Windows, so while its poor navigation may not be Lenovo’s fault, it is still something that directly affects and hinders the Legion Go’s overall usability.

Display

The display on the Legion Go is perhaps one of the best I have ever seen on a handheld device, and despite not utilizing an OLED display, I actually prefer the vibrance of the LeGo screen to that of my Nintendo Switch.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Do I wish that this thing had an OLED display? Yeah, absolutely. But the fact that it doesn’t actually isn’t as big of a downside as you may initially believe. Sure, stuff like perfect blacks will never be a thing on the Legion Go, and I definitely wish it had support for HDR. That said, everything sort of just pops on this thing.  It’s vibrant, crystal clear, and more than large enough to do pretty much anything and everything on. Not to mention the fact that you’re getting a 1200p display, not simply an 800p, or 1080p like you’d find on the Valve Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally. (or 720p on the Switch)

The screen of the Legion Go is arguably one of its biggest selling points.

Speakers & Microphone

The speakers on the Legion Go aren’t the best I’ve ever heard, nor are they the worst. While they most certainly get quite loud, and I’ve definitely heard laptops with significantly worse speakers, I was honestly expecting more from these things. They lack depth, and precision. There’s also a significant lack of bass, especially at the higher volumes. Then again, if all you want to do is be able to hear your game, and if you don’t really care about having a high fidelity audio experience? Yeah, these are totally fine. Really, there’s nothing overly wrong with them. They’re just… fine.

The microphone, on the other hand? Well, it’s actually far better than I expected, but far better still does not mean that it’s great. It’s certainly passable, and more than usable for a typical Discord call, or intense gaming session. It also does a decent job of removing fan noise, as well as game / speaker sounds and background noise.

Comfort & Portability

Now, this is where things begin to falter a bit. Sure, the Legion Go is uber powerful, to a point where it could legitimately replace a lower end laptop. You can game on it, you can work on it, and you can watch movies on it. And yet, its main and really only purpose is to function as a portable gaming console, akin to something like the Steam Deck, or Nintendo Switch. So then, why is it so uncomfortable to hold?

Don’t get me wrong, the Legion Go isn’t unusable. You can still play games on this thing portably, potentially even for hours on end. And no, my hands don’t cramp up, and I don’t experience any kind of major pain while using it. But that doesn’t mean that it’s actually comfortable to hold, especially not in comparison with the Steam Deck.

To make matters worse, the controllers themselves, when detached, feel bulky in your hands. There’s not really much in the way of ergonomics, and while my hands do not personally cramp up, I can easily see how people with smaller hands may struggle to use the Legion Go with its controllers detached.

Now, as a quick little aside, the Legion Go comes with a really stellar carrying case. I know this may sound weird, but the case for the Legion Go has by far the nicest zippers of any officially branded carrying case I have ever used, to a point where it is actually a joy to zip or unzip. Perhaps that’s just me, but I legitimately like that.

Controllers & Inputs

The Legion Go has three primary methods of input, with those being the controller itself, the touch screen, and the trackpad. Now, the controllers also support things such as gyro / motion, but to get this to actually function, as of this review, is an absolute pain, and required third party software to actually use. This is again one of the LeGo’s biggest limitations, in that the hardware itself is pretty great, but the software and driver experience is severely lacking. I’d even argue that the software is holding the LeGo back quite a bit.

The controller is functional, especially after one of the more recent driver updates, which all but eliminated the deadzone issues. In fact, the deadzone was, back at launch, so unbelievably bad, it made the Legion Go pretty much unusable for the vast majority of games on the market.  I’m thankful that these issues are gone, but do question why they existed in the first place.

The touch screen is easily the main method of OS navigation, and is the most convenient to use, despite Windows 11 not being all that well optimized for it. It works well enough, and the accuracy of the touchscreen is pretty much what you’d expect.

The touchpad on the right controller, on the other hand? It’s verging on being absolutely useless. It is too small to be of any real use, and is also very inaccurate, to the point where I find myself avoiding it whenever possible, opting to use the touchscreen itself 90% of the time instead. Unfortunately, for some games that aren’t compatible with controllers, the touchpad is your only real option here. Civilization 6, for example, is pretty much unplayable on the Legion Go. It’s just not an ideal experience, despite the game running quite well on the Steam Deck.

And then there’s the FPS Mode, which basically converts the right controller, when detached from the console, into a dedicated mouse. As in, it is literally a mouse, with the left controller functioning as WASD instead of a traditional analogue stick. This feature actually works far better than I had originally expected, and makes games like Civilization 6 a bit more playable. However, don’t confuse playability for convenience, or ease of use. When you’re in FPS Mode, you’re basically being forced to sit at a table of some kind, tethered down to using a mouse and keyboard. It more or less converts the Legion Go into a tiny all-in-one workstation, with the screen acting as your typical computer monitor.

Is it ideal? No. The mouse isn’t the most accurate thing in the world, nor is it the least accurate. It’s fine. Just fine. You wouldn’t want to compete with this thing in something like Counter-Strike 2, but you could still technically play CS2 with it.

It’s a nice feature to have, but I just question why it has to exist at all. Are people actually using their Legion Go’s in FPS Mode as a primary method of control? I know I’m not.

 

The Final Rundown

By the end of the day, the Legion Go by Lenovo is a powerful handheld gaming computer, capable of running the latest and greatest games, without being bogged down by a Linux operating system. It’s got enough versatility to not only become your next great gaming handheld, but also to function as a full fledged Windows 11 computer, with all of the features and functions a modern computer has to offer. While it’s not perfect, it is easily the best handheld hybrid we’ve got right now, both in terms of OS navigation, and sheer gaming power. You really can’t go wrong here, but do yourself a favour and spend a bit more for the 1TB model. The extra space really does come in handy.

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Astral Ascent (PS5) Review

Matt Hill 0 Comments

Everyone has that one roguelite. The one game that got you to sit up and take notice of the genre. For some, that may be the classic The Binding of Isaac, or perhaps, like me it was one of the more recent hits like Dead Cells or Hades that converted you. With a genre littered with so many great games, does Astral Ascent do enough to be considered in the top-level pantheon of genre greats, or is it one of the titles that struggle to make its mark in a genre known for so many masterpieces?

Let Me Fight Your Horoscope

The basic premise of Astral Ascent is that you’re trapped in a naturalistic prison and have to defeat the 12 Zodiacs to escape. Somehow I think this is actually the first game to use the zodiac signs as bosses, which seems like an obvious choice typing it now, but Astral Ascent puts them front and center and makes them not only a formidable force but also uniquely their own.

Like many roguelites, you’ll find yourself in the HUB world before starting each run that will be inhabited by new and evolving characters that develop as you progress run by run, and interacting with each of them as one of the four playable characters will give you more lore and help unravel the world around you.

It’s Got Style… AND Substance

As you’ve probably picked up from the screenshots, Astral Ascent has a truly gorgeous pixelized anime art style that makes every environment and character pop. Each of the four realms you’ll explore over your many, many runs feel distinct from one another, making tackling runs a joy as no realm feels underwhelming when compared to the rest.

The same detail is provided to each of the HUB characters you’ll be interacting with between runs, whether that’s the excited gardener Zim-Zim, who you’ll be constantly visiting to upgrade your characters, or dozy Papa Yalee, who dispenses wisdom you’ll uncover about characters and the world you find yourself in. Each character has their own personality, and the art style captures it beautifully.

They’ve Gone Rogue

As good as the game is to look at, you’ll be coming back to this side-scrolling roguelite for its addictively simple and frantic combat. The aim of the game is to move and move fast while dealing as much damage to enemies as you can. Most damage is dealt by pressing the square button to deal you’re default attack and standard combo, which you’ll use to earn Mana and cast one of your four collected spells on enemies. You’ll begin with four copies of your character’s default spell, but after that, you’ll collect new spells on your adventure that can also be buffed up with pickups that can add even more damage, such as granting two missiles on cast or a change to electrocute. With the amount of spells on offer, and the options to buff each of them differently each run, helps keep each fight fresh and different from the last.

On top of that, each of the four characters has their unique signature spell that’ll see you either parry and damage with the likes of Kira, or summon a drone to aid in battle with Octave, amongst others. Each character does have enough to justify switching rather than a simple reskin of the same combat. I leaned more towards Kira and their parry fight style over the beginning character Ayla and her teleport backstab signature. That may not be the case for you, but that’s what makes the game great, granting you diversity in your combat approach and options when deciding how to tackle your next run.

Tuned In

The audio is an area where Astral Ascent truly shines. When I booted the game up, I wasn’t sure what sort of adventure I was in for, but I was pleasantly surprised. Each character isn’t the standard 2D text, but they’re given voices and are impeccably voice-acted giving a real sense of personality and individuality to each character. Coupled with the stylish design, I felt like I was just as excited to hear the characters converse in a boss battle as I was to fight them, as I wasn’t sure what sort of interaction I’d be in for.

The same can be said about Astral Ascent’s music, which mixes both a calming retro-inspired score to your journey as you meander across the HUB world and take in each new thing everyone has to offer before you’re pumped up by the score along your journeys through each run. It’s a score I could happily listen to outside of the game.

One More Try

Despite the near-home run Astral Ascent is, I feel like the lack of standard combos does weaken its gameplay as some gamers may want more options outside of the spell variety to mix up the combos. That being said, I thought I’d be one of them, but with how fast each battle is moving and how quick you have to be to maneuver, I barely had a chance to think about how integrating combos would fit into the playstyle.

Astral Ascent

“A Damn Fine Example Of Roguelites At Their Near Best”

Overall, Astral Ascent is a damn fine example of roguelites at their near best. It’s an unfolding mystery set in a beautiful world, and the addictive gameplay loop just keeps you coming back for more. The amount of times I was ready to head to bed before hearing my mind calling for “just one more” happened times than I’d care to admit. It may not topple the giants, but it certainly gives enough to stand amongst them.

Publisher:
Hibernian Workshop
Developer:
Hibernian Workshop
Genre:
Roguelite
Release Date:
November 14, 2023
Final Rating:
9.0


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Disney Speedstorm (PS5) Review

Matt Hill 0 Comments

It’s been just under six months since Disney Speedstorm released in early access which could be accessed by buying one of a few founders packs, however, that access period is over, as September 28 marked the full release of the game and it’s now free-to-play for all.

Kart racing games are usually a difficult beast to tame, outside of Mario Kart and the Crash Team Racing remaster, hardly any other entry in this genre breaks it into being a mainstay or enough of a detraction to pull you away from the cream of the crop. Enter Gameloft and Disney hoping that their vast array of beloved characters and experience on the Asphalt series can break onto the track and push for the kart racing podium.

On The Right Track

Kart racing has been a surprisingly packed genre, with a whole host of different franchises and well-known characters taking their own stab at it, whether that be Formula 1 drivers, Hello Kitty, Mario, or even PlayStation’s very own Modnation Racers.

So it seems odd that it’s taken so long for Disney to unleash their backlog of beloved characters onto the race track. As of writing, the game has 37 playable drivers from 10 different franchises with more to be released each new Season. There are the beloved favorites like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, to classic princesses like Belle and Jasmine, as well as some more off-kilter choices like Figment, the mascot of the Imagination! pavilion at Epcot theme park. The game features 12 tracks with several alternate courses that all feel diverse and unique from each other thanks to Disney’s colorful worlds.

Whilst the Disney franchise is the bait to draw you in, it’s the on-track racing where thankfully the game truly shines. Speedstorm is more than just a competent racer on the track, Gameloft has applied their expert arcade racing know-how from the Asphalt series, resulting in an enjoyable arcade racer on the track. All of the karts handle well, and the feeling of zipping around corners is delightful. It feels accessible to pick up, and there’s just enough depth to get good at mastering race classes and tracks to grow.

Charge Up And Let Loose

Aiming to add their flair to the traditional kart racing formula, Speedstorm has implemented a charge mechanic to their skills — Weapon pickups — opening up more combat options on the track. The way it works is each skill will have a traditional use, or they can be charged to unleash a different attack. For example, if you have picked up a shield, you can simply activate it to grant a protective ring around yourself, alternatively, you can charge the skill to surround yourself in a charged red ring that will stun any opponent you bump into, turning a traditional defense skill into an offensive option. It’s a system that works well and opens up plenty of on-the-fly thinking, deciding how you want to implement your skills to get yourself ahead.

On top of the charged skill system, each racer will have a unique skill that unlocks once they are Rank 2, this is a skill that’s exclusive to them and can be extremely useful when used correctly. The best example is Hercules’ Meg whose skill on traditional use grants a boost bar and is extended for every racer she passes in that time frame, whereas she can charge it and leave a trail of purple behind her that will grant her a speed boost for any racer behind her crossing it. It’s a powerful skill that can be discharged in a variety of situations to catch up to the pack or keep yourself ahead.

Aside from the skill mechanics, Speedstorm also divides its drivers into one of four categories — Speedster, Trickster, Brawler, and Defender. Each character has a particular stat boosted, such as Speedsters have bonus speed stat, whereas Defenders have increased combat and acceleration stats. On top of their stats, they also have a unique class skill that is assigned to them, helping them make the most of their specialized area. The game itself doesn’t explain the differences very much at all, but you’ll likely be testing each character out yourself to see what style works best for you.

Convoluted Currency

As you may expect, much like any free-to-play game content is limited and there are purchasable items, loot boxes and Season Passes to explore. Characters and bonuses can be unlocked through gameplay, but they won’t be the fastest method. It’s by no means a super grindy affair, thankfully. The biggest problem Speedstorm has is just how convoluted their in-game economy is.

  • Tokens – The default currency for unlocking items, booster packs and boxes.
  • Multiplayers coins – used to unlock multiplayer content loot boxes, shop items.
  • Box Credits – Used to unlock loot boxes instantly.
  • Season Coins – Used to unlock seasonal loot boxes, items in the store

There really is no need for it to be such a muddle of currencies, and the store’s layout can also feel overwhelming, making it feel more like a bombardment of items and options rather than a streamlined storefront to interact with — it’s all just a confusing mess.

On top of the currency, there’s character specific items you need to unlock. Earlier, I mentioned that you need to be Rank 2 to have access to your driver’s unique skill… well each racer can be ranked up by collecting character shards. From Level 1 all the way to Level 5, each level increases some stats and slots available for crew members (a token of a character that boosts stats). On top of that, you can level up your character outside of Ranks which will permanently improve the driver’s stats. I can say it’s rewarding to level up your favorite character, but the levelling is really how the difficulty is decided as there’s no difficulty setting — you have a recommended Rank for races and that’s it to gauge how hard this upcoming race will be.

Multiplayer Mayhem

Multiplayer is split into three core modes, with your offline multiplayer which can be played couch co-op on PlayStation 5 with up to four racers sharing the screen. Ranked multiplayer sees you use your own drivers and their current level and crew member boosts against other racers out there. Finally, there is Regulated multiplayer, which sets everyone to an even Level 30 without crew members for the most even racing experience. I’ve played a fair few races online, and despite most races running smoothly, there have been occasions where races started for some and not others or sometimes I would cross the line first, but the podium would say otherwise. It has been fairly quick to get in games, and I’ve never waited longer than 50 seconds to find a race, which is good, but online racing is certainly the best way to experience the best of Speedstorm’s frantic action, even if it can be temperamental.

Overall, Disney Speedstorm is a good kart racer. The overly complex in-game economy and lack of Grand Prix or other modes outside of single races may push some gamers away, and I wouldn’t blame them. At its core, this solid kart racer does just enough to make it worth checking out, but it won’t be challenging the title of Mario or Crash any time soon.

You can download Disney Speedstorm on PSN here.

Publisher:
Gameloft
Developer:
Gameloft Barcelona
Genre:
Racing
Release Date:
September, 28, 2023
Final Rating:
7.0


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