AV
We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Or, "Nice Blog OP!"
Alright, so it's actually been 11 days, but I'm back at work after finishing on Thursday 19th for a week with the new system. After all, what else are you gonna use holiday days for this year..? Just wanted to get my thoughts down somewhere and see if other owners have had similar experiences.
The Console: The Good
- The Dualsense really does feel like a generational upgrade. The adaptive triggers I can give or take depending on their usage, and I've turned them off at a few points, but the haptic feedback makes ordinary rumble feel pretty outdated. When used properly in conjunction with the controller speaker, like in Astro, it really does amplify the connection between you and the game. It's a much more comfortable fit for bigger hands, too.
- SSDs are nothing new to me, I've had them in my PCs for a long time, but finally having them on consoles is a godsend. Zipping between worlds to farm and spends souls and having practically zero perceptible load time in Mile Morales was just awesome and it'll be a real struggle going back to systems where I have to wait for huge chunks of time. At first I felt myself instinctively reaching for my phone as soon as I expected a level to load, only to put it back down before I unlocked it.
- I won't give the system too many points for being quiet as a mouse, but god damn, compared to the PS4 Pro it's a whisper in the wind.
- Fast resume from rest mode is really nice. Not much more to say about it, just a nice time saver.
- I'm still not sold on the design and it was a miracle it even fit into my TV stand horizontally. I almost needed to tear a fixed shelf out just to get it in there, or rip a side plate off. Not ideal.
- Missing basic functionality like game folders at launch is a little rough, and the store right now is worse than ever, even if it's pretty snappy.
- Launch bugs. I'd forgive some, but I ran into constant issues for a good four days, between games not installing, games not patching, games not loading, games freezing, etc. It was pretty bad for a while and I had to reinstall Demon's Souls and Astro Bot twice. Still, these were all resolved with patches, so it was only a brief frustration. I haven't had any hardware issues though I know others have.
The opening night game and, frankly, what should be the first thing anyone boots up while waiting for other games to download/install. An excellent demo of the Dualsense and chock full of great little nods Playstation history, bundled into a great little platformer and fun one-sitting Platinum trophy.
Demon's Souls
The main reason to even own a PS5 at this point in time, honestly. Phenomenal. I've already beaten the PS3 version but Bluepoint's treatment is transformative. The first full game I dove into and I didn't move on until it was over. Beaten it once as a sword 'n' board build, now treating myself to a broken mage playthrough and will probably even do a third for the platinum, it's just that good. The PS5 version is maybe the best entry point to Souls for newcomers that there's ever been.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
It's great, though the reports of its shortness are absolutely true. Platinum trophy in about 16 hours, and that includes a somewhat leisurely normal playthrough, 100% map cleanup followed by a second race through the story on easy mode, which took something like 3 hours skipping cutscenes and knowing everything beforehand. I'm not sure I would have been happy if I'd bought it digitally and had no option to sell on, it was a great little experience, but maybe not for full RRP given that it does feel like an expansion pack with no real game changers.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Really happy with how this one turned out. I wanted a cute 3D World clone and that's what I got, with all the LBP charm you imagine it would have. They really knocked some of the musical segments out of the park and it's a really enjoyable playthrough with what I consider perfect "family difficulty" - kids can just turn on infinite lives and brute force their way through to the end, but there's plenty of extra challenges for the adults if they want them. The bonus gauntlet is a real pain in the ass and I still haven't beaten it.
Bugsnax
Gaming surprise of the year. Does it look like something cobbled together in Unity in an afternoon? Yes. Did I spend an entire day marathoning for the platinum trophy? Absolutely I did. It's a blend of Pokémon snap, a really bizarre feeding fetish concept, very human interactions/thoughts/feelings and an underlying festering feeling of isolation and horror. Honestly, if you have PS+, just play an hour or so and feel it out, forget what it looks like.
Shadow of the Colossus
I never got round to playing the remake, but after seeing what Bluepoint did to Demon's Souls I immediately bought it in the sale wondering if there would be any PS5 improvements. Turns out no, I just got the PS4 Pro performance mode, but I quickly forgot about the technical side of things and stayed up until 6am replaying it in full. Haven't done that since GTA V. Awesome. But ultimately unrelated to the system.
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So, that's me. My final takeaway from launch week is that it's a fantastic system which had a few teething issues, but that you really can wait. Aside from Astro, there's nothing you couldn't go play on other systems right now, regardless of how much better they look/perform on PS5. Once you get that new controller in your hands and an SSD under your TV, you won't want to go back - but if that isn't until some time next year, it really isn't the end of the world. People paying what they're paying on eBay now seems even more ridiculous to me.
How about you?
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and I had 4 more minutes left. I am sure those who are married or say married with newborn at home and can't spend too much time, rather make the most of little time available, PS5 allows you to do it. The console has been designed to make you spend most of your time playing rather than waiting.
