I never thought Astro Bot would dethrone Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth as my GOTY, but then I found out it has the JRPG's legendary main protagonist turned cute

Astro Bot's stellar reviews have me counting down the minutes to 5:00pm tonight, when I can log off here and go give it a try. I know it's good; so good that many people are comparing it to the best Super Mario Bros. games and positioning it as an early GOTY frontrunner. And even though I loved Astro's Playroom, it was hard to imagine the sequel dethroning the likes of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth... until I learned Kazuma freakin' Kiryu is in it.

Yes, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth also has Kiryu in it, but he's the same ol' Kiryu we've known and revered for years and years. This is cute Kiryu, with an oversized head and a li'l Astro Bot mask on. And instead of fighting back when you punch him, as we've been trained to believe he would do for almost two decades, he just produces a bunch of familiar items from the Yakuza series like traffic cones, stop signs, and dart boards. Check it out:

Joking aside, cute Kiryu won't be enough for Astro Bot to become my GOTY. I remain skeptical that the overall experience will be as memorable as the latest Like a Dragon and Final Fantasy games - even though it is getting better reviews than both - but he certainly makes me more open to the idea. I'm also highly encouraged by the Astro Bot director saying "12 to 15 hours of condensed fun" are better than 40 hours playing a game with parts "you feel like skipping," simply because I don't have time for another 100 hour JRPG.

Astro has more than 150 cameos from various franchises, mostly Sony-owned, but obviously with certain exceptions like Yakuza, which was still largely PlayStation-exclusive for its first 15 years or so.

Our Astro Bot review called the game "a near-perfect platformer".