The next-generation of gaming is here and I obviously chose to go with Playstation’s latest offering. The Playstation 5 is a big jump from the PS4 in terms of performance and size (this console is so big) and it truly feels like a substantial upgrade. I didn’t know whether to expect something game changing like this or something that felt like a more incremental upgrade, but after playing for a couple days now I really don’t think I could go back.
The PS5 is lightning fast, like almost no load times fast. Going from a completely powered off system to swinging through Brooklyn takes less than a minute at most and it looks amazing. The PS5 can run this game in two ways after you load it up, performance and fidelity. Performance allows you to run the game at 60 fps with slightly downgraded visuals and no ray tracing, whereas fidelity mode runs in 30 fps but offers full 4k with ray tracing. Either of these modes feel amazing in their own right and make the system feel futuristic, but I personally prefer the feel of performance mode. I can’t go back to 30 frames after feeling the smoothness of 60.
The graphics and speed are nice, but the thing that sets the PS5 apart from the Xbox Series X in my mind is the new DualSense controller. The controller is built with new haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, which means that the vibration can be specifically calibrated to mirror what is happening in the game. The triggers can react differently based on the game too, changing the tension if you are, say, using a bow and arrow vs shooting a gun. The best example of what the controller can do is in the pack in game: Astro’s Playroom. This is a game that is more or less a tech demo for the controller, but the way it shows off what it can do is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. I already got the platinum in the game and it only took about 4 hours total, but I loved feeling the raindrops hit the controller in certain levels or the way the trigger felt like a spring when controlling Astro in the frog suit.
The UI has also gotten an overhaul in this new generation and I haven’t really decided how I feel about it yet. On one hand everything is fast and responsive and I really like the look of everything. On the other hand things seem to be buried deeper in menus and hidden away. It’s hard to say if it’s just the muscle memory of the PS4 menus that’s throwing me off or if I just need more time to get used to things on PS5, but it’s something to mention. Based on first impressions though I really like it and I can see myself getting used to it very quickly.
Now no console launches without it’s fair share of problems, and while I haven’t experienced anything going wrong as of yet (knock on wood) I have seen some people reporting problems on Twitter and Reddit. The ones I have seen the most seem to stem from using external storage and transfers from PS4. IGN also reported on some download issues that led to them having to do a complete factory reset in order to alleviate them. There have also been posts about consoles having trouble coming out of rest mode, but all of these things seem to be either very limited scenarios or at least a bit overblown, but we won’t know for sure until these consoles are out in the wild for a longer period of time. I haven’t seen anything from Sony directly saying anything about these problems yet either, for what it’s worth.
Just coming off the first couple days with this console, I couldn’t be happier. It does everything better than the PS4 and it shows so much promise to grow and become better as the console generation goes on. I can’t wait to see where video games go in the coming years, and I’m excited to ride with Playstation through it all!
As always, thank you so much for reading! Let me know if you were able to get your hands on a console and what you have thought of it so far! I’ll have plenty more thought on Playstation 5 and the games I’ve been playing coming soon so be sure to be on the lookout for those posts. Check back (at least) every Saturday for new posts and be sure to sign-up via email to make sure you never miss a thing! Be safe and have a great day!
Books and Pixels 