Every generation had its downsides. The PS2 era was very good but it was pretty much offline only while this was very possible on PC for a good few years already. So many genres didn't work on PS2 by default. There was some online support ofcourse, but even on Xbox it was still rather uncommon and not the widely adopted norm.
The PS360 generation fixed this, and enabled a wide array of multiplayer out of the gate, interactivity and updates to games. No longer you were playing a fighting or racing game solely against the CPU. You could challenge and interact with others. In turn, the PS360 generation suffered from very bad performance and many small time studios that could cope with PS2 sized projects, couldn't keep up. On top of that, Japan spiraled into an identity crisis very quickly. The early batch of games were still true to their roots, but as those games bombed they started to ape western tropes with very questionable success. Even their succesful formulas this generation, like Dead Rising and DMC4, they abandoned and outsourced to westernize. Ofcourse this gen also introduced paying for MTX.
PS4 fixed a lot of issues the PS360 generation faced. Much better perf and IQ accross the board, no gimped player counts in online games, Japan back on track etc. But at the same time a lot of genres disappeared, and variety and experimentation took a hit. Content was locked behind a paywall even further. Could you unlock a bunch of SFIV fighters for free on PS360, bet on it that for its sequels you have to pay up.
Which leads to the PS5 gen, that fixed those terribly long load times many games faced. But it plays even more safe and tries to bank on GaaS and MTX even further.
So finally its about rose tinted glasses too. I hated my PS3 around 2012. I found it slow, cumbersome, bad performance and IQ etc. I was completely sick of that gen. But whenever I fire up my PS3 now I like it a ton. Because I browse through my games and I see the likes of Ridge Racer, Motorstorm, Killzone 2, Resistance 3, Virtua Tennis 3, Infamous 2, NBA Street, MG: Rising, DMC4, Driver SF and I think.. it was pretty good and diverse! Ofcourse, for any of them is also a RE5 and 6, Front Mission Evolved etc. These IP are in a better place right now.