That's certainly a way to see it lol.

I don't think Astro has a problem of personality at all, obviously everyone has their favorite Bot based in the character and the franchise they represent but everyone knows who the main character is because the main character appears in all the marketing of the game, the main character gives name to the series and it already has 3 games. Wanting to play with another bot isn't a decrement to Astro, that's like saying people who like to play as any other character than Mario in a game that has Mario in the name is bad for the character lol.

I agree that the world of Astro needs to expand introducing new characters but the worst thing they can do is making a Little Big Planet 3 where they introduced a bunch of characters out of nowhere that no one cared about. It has to be done in a more meaningful way. Personally I think the best they can do to start expanding Astro's world is annexing the Ape Escape franchise and Toro Inue in the Astro's franchise, they fit perfectly, they are put together in the japanese marketing, it would be the best way to reintroduce those characters to the markets outside Japan and Team Asobi has proved they are very good in what they do. For now the chances of Team Asobi next game being an Astro game are basically 100%, Astro was in the presentation about PlayStation in the section of emerging IPs (with the Ghost franchise and Helldivers) and Asobi was in the section of single player games studios. The commitment from Sony is real.

Astro Bot is the greatest thing to have happened to Sony in over a decade. The franchise radiates so much potential! I don’t think Team Asobi has anything to worry about with their next entry, they are clearly a studio of highly competent devs. I’d be very interested to see what a new Astro game would look like with or without borrowing from different franchises.

I don't think Astro himself needs personality beyond being cute and fun to play but I agree, they need to start some sort of world building, memorable enemies, characters and carve an identity beyond paying homage to other games.

I'm slowly getting sold more and more on the FlexStrike. Probably gonna be a few hundred bucks lol, but been playing a lot of Tekken and Fatal Fury lately along with some beat em ups like Absolum, with some more on the way soon such as Marvel Cosmic Invasion and Scott Pilgrim EX, so I think it may be time to upgrade from my Mayflash. Would be awesome if it launched alongside Marvel Tokon, which seems to currently be the case.

The only things I'm kinda concerned about and wanna see how they work out is the digital stick and the mechanical button switches.

The digital stick primarily because........stick drift lol and for buttons, I've always used sanwa buttons on my arcade sticks, so I'm curious as to what kind of switches Sony is using here.

I already use the Pulse Elite headset, so it'll be nice to sync both devices to one dongle.

I have generally had mediocre experiences with VR up till now but I was gifted a PSVR2.

Throwing a gun in the air and catching it with the other hand and dual wielding a handgun and the TMP in RE4 has unlocked something in me that I hadn't felt since Red Steel 2.

Astro is great but is not even top 3 in the best things to happen to Sony/Playstation in over a decade, lol.

The Last of Us is by far the best thing to happen to Playstation in this last 12 years, no contest.

God of War new saga surely takes second place, and even it already owes itselt to The Last of Us as well.

Horizon IP creation takes third place.

Then you can argue many other things and if it can prove itself Astro can be one of the best ot them in the future.

Everything that Sony games represent now and in the last decade is thanks to TLoU, tho.

Astro easily tops GoW and Horizon IMO. TLoU and the launch of PS4 are def things from outside the “past decade” that outclass Astro.

You did post about "in over a decade", which TLoU is, lol.

And no, Astro is not remotely close to those two, they have two games selling 20M and 15M per franchise each.

God of War norse saga was responsible for being the biggest reason to get a PS4 after it released and until the end of its cycle, it definitely cemented the idea of excellency for Sony games that TLoU massive reignited in the last year of the PS3.

Horizon Zero Dawn was the first big game from Sony to hit PC and try to expand this idea of brand excellency to people outside Playstation. It also worked with Lego to go to a Nintendo platform try to do it as well. Also it was the biggest new IP release ever after TLoU, beating the likes of Gran Turismo.

Astro bot is still minuscule compared to those both in immediate reach/success and potential. It does carry a lot of future potential, like those 3 also did, but it has to prove itself A LOT to come close to their impact.

Yes, PS4 and TLoU are from 12 years ago; hence, “in over a decade” could refer to “in the past twelve years” as that would be over a decade.

Also, I agree... but I’m talking a matter of opinion. Obv Astro hasn’t been a commercial “smash hit” for Sony, it likely hasn’t even crossed the 3mil line. I’m just saying that since 2013, this is the best thing Sony has invested in as far as my interests would be concerned. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear in my intentions of the original comment.

I can totally see your worry. I think it's going to be another entry in the long list of "this proprietary Sony technology is awesome but you can get -just fine- for half the price and is easier to repair or replace if broken"

But if you decide to get one please get 3 so it is a success and they make a leverless next LOL. 

It's still a curious move that they went stick over leverless, maybe the leverless market is just too saturated for them.