Been playing Astro Bot lately, first 1P game I've really played since Dark Souls 3 back in May. My mom visited last week for a short hangout (maybe a movie at the most), and I decided to show her the game since it's such a joy. Was very early in the game but I could at least show her a bit. No joke, eight hours went by while we smoked weed and talked about all the awesome things happening in the game. Every level had some new awesome thing happening that was entertaining us and impressive in its creativity.
To put that in perspective, the last time we hung out and played a video game was Elden Ring in 2022, and before that, Bloodborne in 2015, and before that...probably like, Metroid Prime in 2002. Not just hung out, but also hung out for a while and got blitzed and just had a good time. I think I got about a third of the way through the game and before we knew it we were sleepy and it was time for me to drive her home. Check the time, 4 AM.
Basically, Astro Bot is awesome and a big surprise out of nowhere and it got my mom and I really hanging out for the first time in a while. It feels like a fusion of Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Mario Galaxy, only with better visuals than any Nintendo system has ever had, and better controller feedback than maybe any GAME has ever had.