Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a new PlayStation exclusive that features the long-awaited return to Sony’s LittleBigPlanet franchise. The PlayStation has experimented with different characters that could function as mascots, but LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy continues to be a popular figure that audiences want to see in more games.
The recent release of the PlayStation 5 has marked the return of many older properties from Sony’s library, and it’s exciting to see Sackboy: A Big Adventure delivering a slightly different take on the typical LittleBigPlanet adventure. The spin-off game has won the hearts of many fans, but it’s also a title that’s not without its flaws.
10 We Love: PlayStation 5 Upgrades
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a title that’s released during an important period of transition in the video game industry, which means that it benefits from a release on both the PlayStation 4 and the new PlayStation 5. The PS5 upgrades PS4 games in impressive ways and it’s nice to see these aesthetic improvements apply here. LittleBigPlanet games have always looked good, but it’s exciting to finally glimpse Sackboy with PS5 hardware. Additionally, the use of the DualSense controller is sublime when moving through Sackboy’s world and makes a big difference in the game.
9 We Don’t Love: There’s Repetitive Level Design
Sackboy: A Big Adventure features creative environments and levels that are very entertaining, but it’s surprising to see just how much repetition there is in a title that’s not that long in the first place. There are a few distinct types of levels that do something different, but for the most part, there’s a predictable pattern that the levels fall into. They may change the visuals, but some stages will gloss past the player since they’re so similar to previous levels. There are some great ideas present in this game, but it doesn’t feel like Sackboy takes most of them far enough.
8 We Love: Its Use Of Co-Op
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a tight platformer, but it’s a part of a series that’s typically been reserved for solo campaigns. One of the biggest perks of this LittleBigPlanet spin-off is that there isn’t just local couch co-op available, but also the ability to do four-person multiplayer and really go nuts in the game.
It’s a new experience for LittleBigPlanet fans, but it works especially well here. It’s an easy way to get more depth out of the title, but also helps turn the solo adventure into a party event.
7 We Don’t Love: A Weak Story And Characters
To be fair, most people are jumping into Sackboy: A Big Adventure for heightened and addicting platformer gameplay, and there isn’t any real expectation of a deep story or robust character development. These are supposed to be cute characters, but even the Super Mario games have found ways to expand upon its fairly static cast. The villain in Sackboy is Vex, but there’s not much going on here beyond a basic good versus evil narrative that’s used to throw Sackboy into action. This spin-off game could have set a new precedent instead of taking this direction.
6 We Love: A Heavy Level Of Customization
It’s no secret that video games have embraced the idea of customization in increasingly intense ways over the years. Developers understand that audiences often want to put as much of themselves as possible into the characters. Sackboy has a simple design, but Sackboy: A Big Adventure offers a ton of cosmetics that can be added to the character to give him a more personal and unusual touch. It’s incredible just how much is offered here, and there’s a lot to explore in this facet of the title.
5 We Don’t Love: Its Short Length
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a spin-off of the LittleBigPlanet series and so it’s expected that it might not be as long of an experience as the previous games. However, despite the level of enjoyment to be had in the title’s slick gameplay, it’s still a very short game that shouldn’t take players much longer than a dozen hours.
There are extra areas like the Knitted Knight Trials and hidden collectibles that add more to the game, but it’s still very brief for a title that costs full price.
4 We Love: The Music Levels
The biggest innovation to the platformer genre that’s present in Sackboy: A Big Adventure is the handful of music levels in the game. Sackboy isn’t the first platformer to experiment with such a concept, and the Rayman series has done some fantastic things with the idea. That being said, it’s still wildly entertaining to see the design of levels move in tandem with not just catchy pieces of music, but mainstream hits like selections from the libraries of David Bowie or Bruno Mars. They’re easily the most enjoyable levels in the game.
3 We Don’t Love: It Doesn’t Do Enough With The Shift To 3D
All of the previous LittleBigPlanet games have worked as innovative 2.5D platformers. Traditional sidescrollers have become more of a relic in the modern age, although there’s definitely still an audience for them. Sackboy: A Big Adventure distinguishes itself from its predecessors with how it fully shifts to 3D platforming. It’s a nice change of pace that gets more out of the series, but it doesn’t feel revolutionary in the same way that the other titles did to 2.5D gameplay. Taking more cues from something like Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, even if it’s a VR game, would be a strong approach.
2 We Love: The Collectibles
Video game audiences often appreciate when there’s an extra level of difficulty that’s included in a title through optional challenges. Sackboy: A Big Adventure doesn’t have a very steep difficulty curve in its attempt to appeal to a broad audience. Seasoned players of the platformer genre will easily breeze through the game, but there are tons of fun collectibles that are hidden throughout levels. These collectibles are actually challenging and there’s a lot of love that goes into these objects that reflect the PlayStation’s larger history. They’re the perfect bonus.
1 We Don’t Love: Its Graphics Don’t Push The Limits
Previous entries in the LittleBigPlanet series have been serious showcases for what the technology of previous Sony consoles, like the PlayStation 3, could achieve. The aesthetic in Sackboy: A Big Adventure leans more towards a cute fantasy, but that doesn’t mean that it still can’t be brought to life with extreme fidelity. So much can be done with the textures and fabrics in this world, and even though the game still looks great, it could have gone further for a title that comes at the end of the PlayStation 4’s life and the beginning of the next generation.