Shacknews Best PS5 Game of 2024 - Astro Bot

If PlayStation was still looking for a new mascot to carry its brand into the future, then Team Asobi officially dropped the biggest “say less” of the year on that topic. Its latest entry in the Astro Bot series, simply titled Astro Bot, was an absolute flex of the charm of the cute, little robot. It was also a grand display of Team Asobi’s impeccable skills when it comes to platforming gameplay, enjoyable level design, great music, and a near-unmatched understanding of how to get the most out of a PlayStation 5.

The fact is that even if Astro Bot wasn’t on PS5, it would still be an amazing platformer. On your journey to rescue Astro’s friends and repair their space ship (a PS5-shaped ship no less), you go through literal galaxies full of beautiful levels and gimmicks that make them an absolute joy to play. From shrinking down to mouse size to run through a miniature world to climbing a singing tree to punching your way through a pirate cove with boxing gloves, the gameplay in Astro Bot is a delight that borrows from a treasure chest of platforming design's greatest hits.

What puts Astro Bot over the top as a PS5 game is that Asobi is highly proficient in mixing the PS5’s unique features into the gameplay. Throughout levels, you’ll use the DualSense’s motion controls, adaptive triggers, touch pad, and mic to solve a variety of challenges. Nobody really does that with PlayStation’s hardware and tools like Asobi. That said, even if you don’t like the DualSense, they included ways to play with other gamepads, which is just a wonderful consideration for those of us who aren’t a fan of the PS5’s signature gamepad (and also paves the way for a PC port, hint hint).

There was no lack of games that flourished on the PS5 in 2024. Many of them deserve their flowers and are getting them elsewhere. But when it comes to designing a game just for Sony - just for the PS5 - few developers do it like Asobi can. Congrats, PlayStation. You have an appealing mascot that deserves to be a centerpiece of your catalog for the foreseeable future. Hopefully Sony make good use of him, but we’ll take what we got this year. Astro Bot is amazing.

Be sure to read over the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Games: 2024 feature.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.