Astro Bot, Team Asobi’s delightful PlayStation tribute platformer and Kotaku 2024 Game of the Year, is still getting free updates. Today, the team put out a handful of new levels and Special Bots, or little robot guys dressed up as different characters from PlayStation’s history. These updates have given Astro Bot more chances to represent characters who were snubbed in the original game, including filling out the game’s lackluster PS5 lineup with newcomer Atsu from Ghost of Yōtei. But that’s not all. This time, Astro Bot has made good on one of the game’s biggest oversights. If you want to discover who’s been added for yourself, go boot up the game and beat the new levels. For everyone else, read on.
In an interview with Game File last September, Team Asobi studio head Nicolas Doucet was a little cagey on why some major PlayStation mainstays like Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII didn’t end up in the game, saying that the studio wanted to “respect the choice of each publisher.” The implication is that some characters might not have been featured because a company didn’t agree to having their likeness slapped onto a cute little robot. Final Fantasy’s absence was still odd, however, given both its prevalence in PlayStation history and the fact that Cloud’s iconic Buster Sword appeared in the PS4 platformer Astro’s Playroom. If Square Enix was hesitant about putting its spikey-haired hero in Astro Bot at one point, it seems like it got over it, because Cloud and his rival Sephiroth are now both featured Special Bots in the new update.
It’s a long time coming, but better to arrive late than not at all. There are still plenty of characters Astro Bot is missing, though. Maybe we’ll see Sora from Kingdom Hearts in a future update now that Square Enix seems to be okay with its characters being added to the game. Although that might also get caught up in some Disney licensing as well. So maybe not.