by Key Takeaways
- Astro Bot has quickly accelerated into Game of the Year discourse due to its incredible platforming and countless cameos.
- That said, Final Fantasy, and specifically Final Fantasy 7, is noticeably absent from Astro Bot, despite being referenced in Astro’s Playroom.
- In a new interview, it was revealed that Team Asobi had been eyeing a Cloud cameo, but Square Enix ultimately didn’t approve it.
- It’s unclear exactly why that’s the case, but we at least know that an attempt was made to bring Cloud into the game.
Astro Bot is finally here and Team Asobi’s full-fledged mascot platformer has taken over players’ minds and quickly entered the Game of the Year discourse. It’s an excellent platformer that’s as much a celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary as it is of the franchises that made gaming what it is today.
That said, while Astro Bot is touting 300 collectible bots, with more on the way via upcoming DLC collaborations with Stellar Blade and Helldivers, Final Fantasy was noticeably absent.
Of course, not every game has made it like SOCOM, but Final Fantasy, and especially Final Fantasy 7, has a special history on PlayStation. For now, the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy is exclusive, just like Final Fantasy 16. It was a pretty notable absence, and there may be a reason for that.
Team Asobi head hints at what could have been
In an interview with Game File and as transcribed by GamesRadar+, Team Asobi head Nicolas Doucet hinted that a Cloud cameo was in the works, although it ultimately never materialized due to Square Enix not approving it.
“It’s hard to comment on that,” Doucet said. “We truly respect each publisher’s choice.”
For what it’s worth, the Buster Sword was in Astro’s Playroom, the extensive tech demo that comes with every brand new PlayStation 5 console. More than that, Cloud is a character from Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. In other words, it’s not like Square Enix hasn’t allowed its characters or properties to appear in non-Square video games, including Cloud itself.
It’s impossible to speculate why exactly Square would succeed, especially given the link between Final Fantasy 7 and PlayStation. In fact, it is highly unlikely that we will ever know why this is so. But at least we know Team Asobi tried, and that’s pretty much all you can ask for.
