Astro Bot PS5 Is Not a Graveyard, It's a Joyful Demonstration of Sony's Unique Ability to Reinvent Itself | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

PlayStation, more than any other platform holder, has endured the test of time through its unique ability to reinvent itself. Where its rivals have historically relied on tried-and-trusted intellectual property, like Mario and Halo, Sony has rarely ever stood still, overhauling its image with each respective generation. It’s one of the reasons the brand doesn’t have a defined mascot: Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet & Clank, Nathan Drake, Sackboy, and Kratos are just some of the stars to have shared the responsibility over the years.

Ace-tro Bot

Opens with an insane 94 on Metacritic

An article published by TheGamer earlier today described Astro Bot as a graveyard as opposed to a celebration, pointing to the corpses of the many dormant franchises the platformer is championing. While an undeniably cynical take, it’s important to underline that the author is not criticising the Team ASOBI game, and stresses several times that they’re excited for the PS5 exclusive. But their overarching point, that Sony has lost its magic by moving on from the masterpieces in its past, has irritated me to an irrational degree. I simply had to write a response.

PlayStation has always been at its best when it’s given developers the freedom to shape their own futures. One of the series that the article puts a bright spotlight on is Jak & Daxter, the classic Naughty Dog trilogy on the PS2. It’s important to remember that this series was created as a replacement for Crash Bandicoot, after licensing complications meant that Universal Interactive – and, latterly, Vivendi – actually owned the rights to the brand. It now inexplicably finds itself in the hands of Xbox, but that’s a different discussion for a different day.

Jak & Daxter actually changed a lot over the course of its tenure in the PS2 limelight. The original game was a sandbox Super Mario 64-style collectathon, while it eventually evolved into more of a GTA-esque open world action platformer. Despite critical and commercial success, when