Somewhat jarringly, sometimes players will come across a level that uses licensed music as a motif. There’s a jungle world, a mountain/snow world, a space world, a water world, all mainstays of platformers since the genre was invented. The themes for each world are very by-the-numbers. This generic feel extends to Craftworld itself. Sackboy does get a (somewhat) creepy toddler-like voice to grunt and yell in, but the lack of characterization prevents him from having the impact that Mario or even Astro Bot does. However, the craft aesthetic and the gameplay itself comes off as a bit generic. It’s not an unattractive game, and both textures and effects look great on PS5. Stylistically, Sackboy: A Big Adventure does little to distinguish itself. The relatively low difficulty and bright, colorful subject matter make Sackboy: A Big Adventure the most child-friendly of the PS5’s launch titles, and local co-op multiplayer allows up to 4 parents or siblings to play together. However, the game never reaches a crescendo of difficulty, and even later worlds aren’t terribly challenging. Sackboy’s repertoire of actions is more expansive than we get with most 3D platformers, and players will pull, punch, jump, slam, and roll their way through Vex’s allies. The controls are tight, and levels are varied. However, since the number of each Dreamer Orbs is given to the player before each level starts, those who keep an eye out will rarely need to grind more orbs. So, it’s very possible for a player to jet through levels and lack the amount of Dreamer Orbs to progress when they reach the end of a world. Dreamer Orbs can be thought of like Mario’s Stars (or Moons), and various amounts are hidden in each level. To complete a world, Sackboy must progress to the end of the world and unlock the boss fight using a certain number of Dreamer Orbs. To defeat Vex, Sackboy must venture across five themed worlds, which are all split into levels.
Vex pops up from time to time to serve as a boss, and each world has some interesting characters, but Sackboy: A Big Adventure is very much a gameplay-focused experience. There are no big ethical quandaries to examine here. Like many platformers, the story in Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a minor part of the game. Fortunately, Sackboy is able to make it to his rocketship and blast off before Vex can capture him. Vex plans to use the sack people as slave labor to build his Topsy Turver machine, which will suck up all the imagination in Craftworld. Instead, players are introduced to Craftworld and the citizens of Loom Village, who are promptly kidnapped by the antagonist, Vex.
Sackboy a big adventure series#
Unlike the series Sackboy originated in, Little Big Planet, there’s no user-created content for Sackboy: A Big Adventure.