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Last year, instead of their usual onslaught of AAA blockbuster action games featuring superheroes and other famous characters, Sony’s PS5 lineup was anchored instead by two more modestly-budgeted family releases.
The first, Astro Bot, went on to immense critical acclaim and general popularity, and even won the top prize at the annual Game Awards show. I have a pretty deep PlayStation friends roster (thanks to years of participating in the Penny Arcade, NeoGAF, and ResetEra gaming forums in various past online lives), and over thirty people on my list played the game. It has all the markings of a true mainstream hit and will probably get a sequel.
Lego Horizon Adventures wasn’t nearly as successful. It launched to middling reviews and tepid fan reception. The Steam version hasn’t cracked 300 user scores yet, with the recent reviews way down in the dreaded “Mostly Negative” territory that serves as a death knell for PC games as it crushes future pushes from the store algorithm. On my PS5 friends list, only five people have played it. I’d consider myself a large fan of both Horizon and the Lego game franchise, and even I didn’t pick the game up at launch.
