This game was everything it needed to be, and more than I expected it to be. A short but sweet 3D puzzle platformer, with no combat and relatively tight controls, it was an enjoyable experience that did not outstay its welcome. The world was a joy to wander through, and the design of each of the 'levels' was done with an intelligence of game design that provides the opportunity for players of varying levels and experience to engage with. It doesn't take an intricate knowledge of how games work to see that sloped collapsed pillar will eventually lead into the orb collectible, but it was just enough to give me pause as I look for the next step in my journey.

The world itself felt vibrant and alive, as if an ecosystem was already doing its own thing before my character wandered past a peaceful habitat. The encyclopedia entries that we get for each new creature gave a small reward for exploring and trying to find out more at every turn. Omno did some of my favourite things I love to see in games, especially towards the latter end as a puzzle required you taking the time to stop, take a moment to breathe, and observe some flying creatures make slow, lazy loops around what would soon turn out to be the answer to the puzzle. There were no quest markers, no answers handed out, the answer itself was taking the time to relax, breathe in, and observe the gorgeous world as it has been laid out in front of us.

An enjoyable experience that was exactly what it needed to be - which in itself is part of the difficulty in rating this game. No matter what however, this has lead me to wanting to keep an eye out for the next game from Studio Inkyfox.

After working my ass off, getting lucky and buying that unloved and unwanted Horizon Forbidden West bundle even though I already owned the game digital - the coveted Playstation 5 is finally mine. Nearly 600 dollars tax and shipping included, but it was mine. I bought a few games to go with it like Ratchet & Clank or Demons Souls, but the game I was actually the most excited for was Astros Playroom. I had heard many great things about the dualsense and its capabilities and that this game was a surprisingly baller tech demo. Well, thats pretty true.

The PS5 as a console kinda sucks, If im being honest. The silence compared to the PS4 is worth praying over, but it just seems to be missing a lot of features already on PS4 and I've already had my fair share of annoyances with it. But of course I bought it for the games and those have been great so far. The one thing that has not been disappointing in anyway tho is the new controller. The dualsense is dope. The haptic feedback vibrations are not game changing but they are a nice addition but the adaptive triggers are cool as shit and I love them. Astros Playroom was made specifically to show off what the controller is capable of and it does that in strides. It may very well be the greatest tech demo of all time for probably the greatest new console gimmick of all time.

The game is more than just that though. Sure its short, but in that few hour runtime there is so much creativity and joy put into it and I felt it at every moment. It is a love letter to Playstation as a whole. By far my favorite part of the game was finding all the easter eggs and references to past exclusives and IPs. All the artifact collectibles are old consoles and accessories that you can interact with. Even the trophy list is filled with references, and Its probably one of the most fun platinums i've ever got. The game also shows off how great the trophy hint feature can be and made getting all the collectibles really enjoyable. Plus there are a large number of miscellaneous trophies and I loved just doing something thinking "I wonder if Id get a trophy for this" and it actually being the case.

I don't really have a reason for not giving this a full five stars. I want it to be longer but not because its not long enough, just because I enjoyed it so much. There is even a bonus time trials thing thats thankfully mini challenge levels instead of just repeating the main missions on a timer. You can compete on the leaderboards so thats pretty fun, and of course you can just interact with all the things youve collected on the way in the hub and vibe with the game. I think I'm just worried that this is game will take the haptics as far as they go. First party developers are gonna be implementing this a lot which is great, but I just hope plenty of third party developers are able to push the dualsense to its full potential too.

I don't think I'll uninstall this game, its just too joyful.

Trophy Completion - 100% (Platinum #220)
Time Played: 7 hours 23 minutes
Nancymeter - 93/100
Game Completion #121 of 2022
September Completion #11

Lego Builder's Journey is a puzzle game where you build things with legos. Yeah. That's the best premise for a puzzle game, and surprising it took this long for something like it to come out. Obviously there have been many lego games but those are more just platformers with a lego theme. When i was kid I was all over legos, they were a big part of my childhood. So as you can imagine i was pretty excited for something like this.

And, its good. Its not a great game. But its good. For something as creative as legos this game feels surpisingly restrictive. Lots of levels only give you a select few pieces and while you can technically complete them in any way you want, there isnt really that many options. Not to say some levels arent pretty clever. And there were quite a few I liked a lot but seemingly just as many with weird mechanics that expect you to think outside of the box despite the majority of the game being very straightforward.

The story is... there I guess. Theres definitely something but its all about the visuals and music. Its a little abstract and I didnt particularly care for it, but Im also terrible at picking up on things so maybe its actually pretty good. Thankfully what the story is made up of, those aformentioned music and visuals are really good. The music is very peaceful and fits the game well. Obviously everything is lego but the little diorama-esque levels are all very pretty looking with some fantastic lighting.

The game happens to be quite short which may make it seem a little expensive for the price tag but its just a little puzzle game, I dont think these types of games need to be long and I prefer wanting more than overstaying its welcome. Quality is over quantity and this game has the quality. There is also a creative mode where you can build sandcastles as your leisure which is neat but also feels as restrictive as the main game. Still holding out for a game thats just minecraft creative mode but with legos.

Trophy Completion - 100% (no platinum)
Time Played - 3 hours 2 minutes (some idle)
Nancymeter - 72/100
Game Completion #90 of 2022
August completion #10