Published , by Nick Tan
Published , by Nick Tan
Sackboy: A Big Adventure continues PlayStation’s planned push to bring its extensive first-party games to the PC platform. And while it isn’t as captivating or as popular as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, this platformer has enough charm to stand on its own two cotton-stuffed legs. Shacknews reviewed the game’s original release on PS5 back in November 2020 with a fair 7 out of 10, and the same can be said for this outing on PC via Steam or Epic Games.
That said, if you’re reading this, you’re probably less concerned about us scoring the game a second time and more interested in seeing if this port is able to live up to the graphical improvements that it promises. For the most part, it does a solid job giving players the option to push the game up to 120 FPS in 4K resolution given the right specs. Even though this relatively simple platformer isn’t a technical powerhouse like the PC ports for the God of War reboot or Horizon Zero Dawn, its bright, smooth style is wonderfully rendered.
In terms of graphical fidelity, my experience was very clean and smooth running at Very High settings with a rig that has an Intel i7-11700F, RX 6700 XT, and 16 GB DDR RAM. Out of curiosity, I tested the Ultra "Ray-Tracing" setting as well and experienced several hitches, but that was expected given that it requires an Intel i9-9900k and an AMD RX 6800 XT. There was even a prompt in the graphics settings warning me of frame rate drops on Ultra, so I knew what I was getting into. As a note, a quick look at the game's Steam user reviews and discussions brings to attention some potential issues with stuttering, but I luckily didn't have any of those problems.
However, two problems stem from how co-op is implemented on Steam. There’s currently no option for Steam Remote Play, so you may need to figure out how to use Parsec instead if remote access is a feature you want. Then there’s an unusual requirement for online co-op, with some users getting a prompt that says they need to link an Epic account to join a game. While I was able to play online with strangers without needing to link a PSN or Epic account at all, it seems that trying to connect to a friend who has linked the game to an Epic account requires that you do the same. It’s uncertain why this would be necessary, but it likely has to do with crossplay between Epic Games and Steam. That said, if you don’t want to install the Epic Games launcher for whatever reason, this might be a deal-breaker for you.
Some other technical limitations that might impact you are that the game doesn’t support widescreen past 21:9 and it locks online co-op to 60 FPS. The latter restriction is there to ensure a smooth experience for teams of up to four players, but it’s understandable if you would rather be given the option to risk an unlocked framerate instead.
Otherwise, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is still a delightful romp through an imaginative world that fits somewhere between Yoshi’s Epic Yarn and Astro’s Playroom. While this isn’t the LittleBigPlanet sequel that some fans want, the game is a simple, well-executed escapade and is just about as casually entertaining as a Lego superhero game. As a family-friendly platformer, dispatching foes with jumps and attacks is easy and none of the objectives in a stage are all that complex. As it’s been two years since the initial release, the game also comes bundled with a nearly ridiculous amount of free costumes.
If you’re a completionist, you can attempt to earn every badge on a stage by collecting all of the Dreamer Orbs and costume pieces, and by completing it without dying. Playing with strangers can make this goal almost impossible since most players want to forge ahead without waiting to explore, but going into a stage with a friend either online or in local co-op can do the trick. In fact, it’s the best way to experience the game really.
Despite a few specific hiccups, Sackboy: A Big Adventure pleasantly rounds out PlayStation’s offerings on PC. Developer Sumo Digital likely knows about the graphical hitches and will hopefully issue hotfixes and patches to remedy them in due time. Even so, when everything works, the game is an adorable diversion that is fantastic with friends and should easily bring a smile to your inner child.
These impressions are based on Steam key supplied by the publisher. Sackboy: A Big Adventure relased on PC on October 27, 2022.