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Discussion: Six Months Later...

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aeneax

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October 20, 2020
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Some of us have now had a PS5 for about half a year. Any thoughts? Anything related to hardware, performance, UI, peripherals, anything else? If you have the disc-version, would you change, or if digital, would you change?
 
I'll start: I like it but the d@mn thing doesn't work as well as a PS4.

My games don't load half the time. They just get hung on the loading screen. Only restarting works, and then it's a coin toss again. Being online weights that toss in my favor but I hate keeping my consoles online.

I'm too used to navigating the PS4 home screen. The PS5 menu seems awkward and clumsy. Nothing is in the right place. When I yell at it to tell it this, it just gives me a hurt look and says "haptic feedback?" I get it. You have haptic feedback. Shuddup!

3D sound is cool but comes at a cost compared to my old setup. My old RF headphones are more immersive and provide the same general effect compared to the Pulse headphones. I can get much better 3D audio by using some good BT headphones, and this is slightly better than the RF setup, but to do this I have to plug the BT headphones into my controller. The wire keeps getting in the way of my hand, usually at the wrong time. Flamelurker knows this and the other day killed me while I was swatting the cord away from my hand.

So far it seems to cool much, much better than launch day PS4s did. Or maybe I'm not stressing it much yet. Either way, it is quiet, versus the jet engine that was my launch day PS4.

The improved graphics are noticeably better. I have a decent gaming PC and use the same TV for gaming, so wasn't expecting to be that impressed, but I am.

The homescreen needs to stop selling me stuff. Even when offline, it is trying to dip its hand in my wallet. I would prefer a more robust settings menu for many reasons, one of them being the ability to turn off or at least reduce the cash-grabiness of my PS5. Even just the ability to implement a theme would help tremendously.

Not having USB save transfer is pretty terrible. I've made a couple of mistakes that I can usually easily rectify just because I keep backups on my PC throughout each playthrough. And when PSN is down, I can't access my saves, which happened for a couple of hours just as I was about to do some save scumming in Demon's Souls (I'm a lot worse than I used to be).

All in all, I like it, but it's far from ideal.
 
It is only now that I ventured anywhere else than the saves subforum lol ;) but let me put my 2 cents because I've got a mixed reception too.

First and foremost, this may be an unpopular opinion, but for the love of God, since I bought the console in February, I cannot get used to the shape of the DualSense. I like the fact that it feels more robust, akin to an X360 controller, but it has this uncomfortable burliness about it that doesn't seem to work with my small hands.

I appreciate the haptic feedback, but I'm afraid that it'll end up the same as the touchpad on DS4 - only Sony devs will put a real effort into solid implementation. Adaptive triggers are really cool, but I think that the plastic gears will wear out, shortening the lifespan of the gamepad. Is it cool overall - sure, is it some sort of mindblowing experience that will change how we play games - nope.

When my friends and work colleagues ask me if it's worth buying a ps5 now - my response is: it depends. Personally I don't have a gaming PC, and this was a deciding factor for me to replace my ps4. I know that this is kinda textbook fomo, but I didnt like that fact that next gen is happening and I was stuck with my jet engine ps4. But if someone has a dacent gaming PC they can experience 'next gen' right away, don't have to wait for the next big Sony title.

Pros (my personal opinions)
- Computing horsepower, including loading times
- The handful of available TRULY next gen games (Returnal is so far my game of the year, just amazing)
- Minimal noise
- Snappy UI in 4k and HDR
- 3D audio
- 4k blu-ray player
- The design - I hated it after the inital reveal, but it grew on me a lot

Cons:
- UI layout is just bad, horizontal trophy list, no access to media gallery except when you make a screen shot, I don't use the bottom menu bar AT ALL
- Coil whine - while I don't really get any fan noise, the power unit tends to buzz from time to time
- NO USB FILE TRANSFER - like, what??? And I don't mean just for cheats, but having to pay to back up your saves that will be available only online? Absolutely ridiculous.
- Lack of MUST PLAY mainstream blockbuster titles - by this I mean that for me - next gen isn't just prettier graphics and better framerate like what we have now with Demon's Souls or Returnal (although much appreciated), the kind of computing power that Sony boasts should allow for a revolutionary, transformative game experiences and design (like Ratched & Clank portal jumping for example), but I guess those games will come as we get further into the current gen
- Sony's questionable business decisions - on cross-play, PS now still unavailable in many regions, "we believe in generations" only in corporate speeches etc.
 
I forgot about the most important thing, which sucks with the PS5 - game prices!

Cashing $70 bucks for a game taking 16h to plat (looking at you Ratchet & Clank) is absolutely ridiculous.

Not to mention and according to Sony matematicians $70 = €70 = £70!!! And what's more ridiculous, the prices of countries that are inside EU but don't use EURO as currency. So someone in Germany earns €3000 and pays €70 it sounds ok, but in other countries people earn in the local currencies, so a fraction of EUR but they still pay the equivalent of €70 for games. It's i n s a n e.
 
Your post reminded me: Yes indeed about the DualSense. Wow do my hands get sore after a gaming session. The DualShock 4 fits perfectly in my hands, but the DualSense presses on all the wrong nerves especially between my thumb and index finger. I use a DS4 with my gaming PC, too, and right now I feel like if/when the DualSense is adapted to be compatible with PC games, I'll still be firing up DS4 Windows, customizing the light bar, and dealing with the rumble suddenly having only two settings when it's wireless. At least I won't need to see a masseuse at the end of each day.

I hear you on the increase in game prices -- and I fully agree on localities and would further add that many currencies fluctuate in value more than the three currencies you've named which has affected some gamers' abilities to buy from their local PSN stores -- but for the basic fact of increased prices consider this: Games were between $50 and $80 in the late 80s and part of the 90s, before settling around $60. From SNES to Sega Genesis to PC games, that's been the price for a long time (NES games were cheaper for a while). Everything else I can think of, from gas to food to real estate and tuition, has all gone up quite a bit. Games have been about the same. And yet take a look at the list of credits for a game like, say, Legend of Zelda ($50 back in 1986), and compare it to the list of credits for, say, Days Gone. I've actually been very surprised at the stability of game prices over the years. I hope this trend of increases doesn't catch.

With some time since my last post, I will say that the improved loading time has been a major benefit at times. Try Remnant: From the Ashes on PS4, then try it on PS5. Especially doing the Survival Mode, which involves a lot of zoning, it's a night and day experience.

What the PS5 needs is a full-on PS4 emulator so we can get a workable UI.
 
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