[PS5] Journey to the Savage Planet Employee of the Month Edition Review

Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition from 505 Games and Racoon Logic brings us the definitive version on PS5. Check our Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition review!

Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition from 505 Games and Racoon Logic brings us the definitive version on PlayStation 5. The game was originally developed by Typhoon Studios, which was later acquired by Google to become part of Stadia Games and Entertainment. This led to Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition being a Stadia exclusive release until, well, you know, Stadia was no more. It’s now 2023, and the game has been updated on PlayStation to become Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition.

Typhoon Studios is no more – again, because Stadia – and Racoon Logic is the Montreal-based studio that rose from its ashes. The new studio hit the ground running since it’s been hard at work on making some improvements to the game. Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition is the definitive version since it takes the game to the PlayStation 5, and with the hardware jump comes some extra bells and whistles. We’re now getting a 4K presentation and 60 frames per second, with the option of selecting between two modes for performance or graphics. DLC is also included, so we’re getting the Hot Garbage content and Old Gam Minus. Oh, and there are even some new cinematics!

Once you’re ready to get going, you’ll control your character with the left analog stick as you use the right one to look around and aim. You can jump with the X button and can use the Square button for a melee attack. This button is also used for interacting. To crouch, press the Circle button. Once you’ve managed to gather enough resources to get yourself a gun, you’ll be able to fire it with the R2 button. Pressing and holding down the L2 button will allow you to aim down the sights. To reload, just press the Triangle button. After obtaining the grapple, you’ll get to swing from specific spots – some of which you can create on your own – by pressing the L1 button. You can switch between items in your inventory by pressing left or right on the D-Pad.

There’s a lot of exploration to take off during your time with Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition. You’ll have to use your scanner to make sure that you get the most bang for your buck and learn everything there is to learn about this world that you’re exploring. You can toggle the scanner by pressing up on the D-Pad. Once you’ve done this, you can zoom in and out as needed with the L2 and R2 buttons as you scan away with the R1 button. Be sure to scan everything you find!

As you play through the planet and… take care of the local flora and fauna, you’ll get to collect resources. Every time that you return to your spaceship – known as the Javelin – you’ll deposit all of the resources you’ve obtained. These can be put to good use by interacting with the ship’s 3D printer so that you can turn resources into some very important upgrades. These include weapon upgrades, item upgrades, gear upgrades, backpack upgrades, and visor upgrades. All of these will be very useful for your adventure! I mean, wouldn’t you like to have a double jump to make it easier to explore the planet?

Trophy-wise, Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. There’s plenty to do in the game, so there will be trophies for progressing through the game and defeating bosses as you collect fuel pods, and playing the game in co-op is also going to be part of your run, so there’s certainly some online sessions for you to work on. One trophy asks that you complete the game in less than 4 hours, which sounds daunting, but is certainly doable if you know what you’re doing and focus only on the bare minimum needed to leave. This will also net you the bad ending. Once that’s taken care of, you can go back and do some cleanup to get most of the other trophies needed for your Platinum trophy. Old Game Minus adds a pair of trophies, and Hot Garbage has another six trophies for you to work on. If you want some extra help, you can check out this Journey to the Savage Planet Trophy Guide.

Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition gives us the definitive version of the game along with an upgrade and boost for its next-gen debut. You’ll get the main game, all DLC, and some quality-of-life improvements, as well as a 4K presentation and 60 frames per second. Journey To The Savage Planet: Employee Of The Month is available as a Cross-Buy title, so your $29.99 purchase will give you access to both the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions of the game at no extra cost. You can also play the game if you currently have a PlayStation Plus Extra subscription, so if you’ve been thinking about subscribing to PS Plus Extra – or upgrading your current PlayStation Plus subscription – this one is good motivation.

Disclaimer
This Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by 505 Games.