Many is the time when I’ve scrolled past Astro’s Playroom in my PS5 Library and thought, “I’ve clocked that, but I’d take any excuse to replay it again.” Such was the unexpected quality of PlayStation’s pack-in freebie, a game that finally in recent months has the spotlight back on it, thanks to the announcement of a fully-fledged (and priced) Astro Bot title.
The good news for today is that you and I don’t have to wait until September 6th to get our Astro fix…
A few days ago, some eagle-eyed fans noted that a patch dropped, which also included some new PlayStation 5 artefacts to unlock and gawk at, plus some mini-puzzles tied to some new trophies. The former artefacts can be acquired simply enough (via the gacha machine in the Labo room), however, the trophies will require a sharp eye to not only locate some new Special Bots but also some lateral thinking to find the means to “free” them.
If you’re looking for a minor hint on where to get started, the first Bloodborne-centric Bot resides somewhere in the GPU Jungle level. Happy…er, Hunter hunting.
[Update: Since penning this, it seems a wild Returnal Bot has appeared in a second patch.] If you want a head start here, the word is she’s in the SSD Speedway level. I wish you good luck and many happy returnals.
I suppose the next question to ask with all this is…why? How come Team Asobi has remained dormant on the update front up until now? The cynic in me says that this is merely a marketing stunt—a low-cost way to remind people of why Astro Bot was and is worth caring about.
However, the hopeful romantic in me wonders if this forthcoming Astro Bot will do a bit of “back-compat save file checking” when it boots up. Perhaps special unlocks await those of us who took the time to reconnect with the little game that helped launch one of PlayStation’s most popular consoles yet.
Only time will tell. Until then, best of luck on your hunt for the new bots that await you. To help with a bit of process of elimination, here’s a video that one of PowerUp!’s writers whipped up on launch day. Specific bot appearances are detailed in the comments section / YT playbar.
Speaking of which, same said writer was quite taken by Astro’s Playroom when he first got hands-on with it, pre PS5 launch. If you’re keen on a trip down that memory lane, click here. Otherwise, do be sure to circle back to catch our future review of Astro Bot when it launches on September 6th.
