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Astro's Playroom set the bar too high for DualSense features

RCU005

Member
I just got my PlayStation 5 Digital Edition today and I am officially in the next gen hype train. I was trying out Astro's Playroom first (as I think it should be) and I am very impressed.

The game is charming and really delivers on the PlayStation legacy. This could be a paid game and I would've totally buy it. It's very worth it, much more as a free game.

Of course the priority of this game is to showcase the new DualSense features, and it does it incredibly. So good in fact, that it just makes it impossible for any game to come close. I just can't see other games utilize the DualSense features as good and as consistent as this game. Maybe not even first parties. I can see Ratchet and Clank doing a very good job using these features, but other than that, it's very hard to imagine.

Third parties though, I just can't see it, and that's a shame. Sony should find a way to entice developers. They should find a way to either make it mandatory, or make developers actually want to use those features.

In conclusion, the DualSense it's really amazing. It's very confortable and it feels actually new. Don't mean to dismiss Nintendo, but the DualSense is actually much more than Nintendo advertised the Joy-Cons would be. It's like Sony took Nintendo's idea and perfected it.

In an unrelated note: PS5 UI while cool and has great ideas and design, it's very obvious it's so unfinished. It's very barebones and it's missing a lot of things. Also, some things don't make sense. Hope Sony will act fast and begin updating to add more features and redesign some stuff like the store, etc. One thing is certain: Sooner or later, but it's seems that the UI will change so much more in the future than what PS4 changed overtime. It's just that unfinished.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Its a showcase that lets you become accustomed to the DS. I think they should've dropped the sixaxis by now though. Its still not good and those were the scenes I had to retry the most.

I love the UI but its baffling that folders are gone yet again. Other than that no complaints, store integration is good too, very fast.
 
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Akuji

Member
Its a showcase that lets you become accustomed to the DS. I think they should've dropped the sixaxis by now though. Its still not good and those were the scenes I had to retry the most.

I love the UI but its baffling that folders are gone yet again. Other than that no complaints, store integration is good too, very fast.

worked flawlessly for me last night. Super precise with zero jitter.
 

RCU005

Member
Its a showcase that lets you become accustomed to the DS. I think they should've dropped the sixaxis by now though. Its still not good and those were the scenes I had to retry the most.

I love the UI but its baffling that folders are gone yet again. Other than that no complaints, store integration is good too, very fast.

Yes, the store integration to the UI is great, but it's lacking options to see content. Also, I filtered to show only PS5 games, selected Sackboy and it showed me the PS4 version.

The PS4 stuff is getting in the way a lot. They need to fix it so that it stays separate from PS5, and it's clear that it's separate.

Like I said, there are a lot of great ideas, but some are badly implemented. There is huge room to improve, no doubt, but the question is if Sony will do it fast or will take forever. They did a great job with PS4, unlike with PS3 which they seemed like they just ignored everyone. Hopefully they do things like they did with PS4.
 

LMJ

Member
It is a demo (albeit a terrific one) FOR the Dualsense, it would be hard to live up to a game that's only purpose is to show how awesome the controller is lol
 

Vick

Gold Member
In an unrelated note: PS5 UI while cool and has great ideas and design, it's very obvious it's so unfinished. It's very barebones and it's missing a lot of things. Also, some things don't make sense. Hope Sony will act fast and begin updating to add more features and redesign some stuff like the store, etc. One thing is certain: Sooner or later, but it's seems that the UI will change so much more in the future than what PS4 changed overtime. It's just that unfinished.
Totally agree. I also hope they will add back the in-game Zoom option since it was very useful for analyzing IQ and draw distances properly on the Pro.
 

Boss Mog

Member
Can we please stop calling Astro's Playroom a demo because it's not a fucking demo okay. It takes like 6-8 hours to Platinum. It's a full game, maybe it's not as long as Rescue Mission but it's still a full game by any traditional standards. Also the game stands on its own without being a showcase for the dual sense, the game would still be good without it, it's just enhanced by the dual sense features. Team Asobi is EAD level.
 

turtlepowa

Banned
It's a demo for the controller so of course it works perfectly with it. Don't expect any cross-platform game to get even close, i don't think that even many eclusive games will get close.
 

Nezzeroth

Member
I'm going to be honest, I was a bit disappointed when I started Demon's Souls after playing Astro's Playroom. The later uses the DualSense in such amazing ways that playing Demon's Souls felt "old gen" in a way by comparison, despite how ridiculously good it looks.

Sony should throw money at Team Asobi and market the shit out of their new game, they are incredibly talented.
 

bender

What time is it?
When it started raining and you could feel the pitter patter of the droplets hitting your controller, I was sold. Survivor horror has so much potential.
 

Onironauta

Member
Can we please stop calling Astro's Playroom a demo because it's not a fucking demo okay. It takes like 6-8 hours to Platinum. It's a full game, maybe it's not as long as Rescue Mission but it's still a full game by any traditional standards. Also the game stands on its own without being a showcase for the dual sense, the game would still be good without it, it's just enhanced by the dual sense features. Team Asobi is EAD level.
It is a demo and a full game at the same time. Not a demo of a game, but of Dualsense's capabilities.
 

Caio

Member
I really hope more and more games will take full advantage of the Dualsense. For 1st Party games will be a standard, hopefully more multiplat will follow the trend.
 

TonyK

Member
I played the game (I found all secret pieces), and the controller haptics are a gimmick for me. Yes, they are better than regular vibration but at the end they don't add anything to me that improves the game. You can remove the vibration and the game will be as good as with it.
I think in a year we will see that haptics (as used in Astrobot) becomes a new gimmick barely used, as the touch screen or the movement in previous controllers.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
The whole point of the game is to show off the range of options of the DualSense.

It if didn't set a high bar it wouldn't be a good game.
 
Kill me but I played 30 minutes of Astro and I forgot about it. Simple platform (the vr was better)

Maybe I was too hype with; you can feel the metal, the wind.... etc

nah is just shaking.

Demon souls at 4K HDR is incredible, as well Miles Morales.
 

turtlepowa

Banned
Nobody is gonna intensively use this thing in 1 year from now except maybe some sony studios.
I think some shooters will use it for pull-off resistance and maybe surfaces, but there won't be many games built around it. I mean it's fun for some time, but nothing ground-breaking and in pvp games it's rather obstructive. A small fun gimmick, but nothing that could change gaming or the industry.
 

sublimit

Banned
Since the game is free it shows to everyone what the controller is trully capable of in the hands of a developer who's willing to take advantage of its capabilities.

But if the developers are going to be lazy and ignore its potential at least we'll know what we will be missing.
 

On Demand

Banned
Think of it this way;APR set the benchmark for what the DualSense is capable of and now everyone knows what and how it can be fully and properly used. Remember before the DS came out it was doubted as a game changer and would do anything new? Now because of APR people know what the reference point is for the controller. So much so that if a game is not “using it properly” or using it subtly, it’s immediately noticeable.

Astros Playroom does it’s job in giving people a baseline for the DualSense that can be used to judge other implementations. Though I will say that not every game needs to use the controller at full levels all the time.
 

Boss Mog

Member
It is a demo and a full game at the same time. Not a demo of a game, but of Dualsense's capabilities.
No it's a game that showcases the dual sense, there's a big difference. A demo of the dual sense would just be holding the controller and pressing the triggers to various effects without purpose, that would be a demo.
 

Mokus

Member
It's okay, it would be a lot worse if they overused it. Games are more important than the weird things going on in your palms.
 

On Demand

Banned
As for UI, yeah it will improve. Since it’s brand new from the ground up not everything from PS4 would be there day one or a lot of social features. First priority is to get a working OS for launch then update over time.

Of the missing things from PS4

Live from PlayStation
Communities
Chat section
Events section
Tournaments
Folders


A few other things.

I’m sure these will be added back and more. They need to be redesigned for PS5 since the design language is new.
 

Matt_Fox

Member
Throughout gaming history new peripherals often generate a lot of hype and praise at launch - the thrill of the new.

A word of caution to those praising Dualsense haptic rumblings as a system seller. Once the honeymoon period is over, what was initially hyped as 'revolutionary' often ends up denigrated as a 'gimmick'*

*personally I quite like gimmicks, and gaming history is littered with them - just see the trophy room in Astros Playroom to see plenty!
 

GymWolf

Member
I think some shooters will use it for pull-off resistance and maybe surfaces, but there won't be many games built around it. I mean it's fun for some time, but nothing ground-breaking and in pvp games it's rather obstructive. A small fun gimmick, but nothing that could change gaming or the industry.
Tell that to all the people who overblown a gimmick in a controller like the second coming of sliced jesus...
 

Unknown?

Member
Throughout gaming history new peripherals often generate a lot of hype and praise at launch - the thrill of the new.

A word of caution to those praising Dualsense haptic rumblings as a system seller. Once the honeymoon period is over, what was initially hyped as 'revolutionary' often ends up denigrated as a 'gimmick'*

*personally I quite like gimmicks, and gaming history is littered with them - just see the trophy room in Astros Playroom to see plenty!
I don't remember anyone saying rumble was a gimmick. Developers utilized it with the dualshock on PS1 so why wouldn't they here?
 

ethomaz

Banned
It is a showcase.

Said that others games uses it better in context of the game.
I'm appreciating way more the way SackBoy Adventure implemented the DS ingame... at first play I was thinking it was inferior to Astrobot implementation but now I understand it is actually better.
 
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