Next Gen, well technically current gen now (but for ease and clarity I will be referring to them as "next-gen" for purposes of this article).
Do the latest entries match up to the hype? Or has scarcity and media hype turned the understated and innocuous into elusive icons of the modern day, elevated to mythical status with tales of their abilities and accomplishments?
Rewind a few months, back to the summer showcases. Being genuinely thrilled for the forthcoming next gen console launches at the end of the year.
I formed a plan of attack, saving and carefully orchestrating a process of pre-order, purchase and upgrades to allow myself access to all next gen platforms as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Then the clusterfuck began. Neither Sony nor Microsoft wanted to give a price alongside speculation on digital and standard versions. A weird game of information chicken played out over the following weeks.
By launch day my diligently laid out plans were completely scuppered.
Both releases were plagued by stock far outweighed by demand.
While this can in part be attributed to the impact of covid-19 on production, I do have to wonder if either Sony or Microsoft would have been able to meet demand on launch day even under normal circumstances.
The result, as we all saw from a few weeks ago, was chaos.
Pre-orders being canceled, orders being lost in transit, groups selling subscriptions to bot services to circumvent queues and of course the predatory scalpers.
Being based in China there were no official channels in which to order either next-gen console. Instead, here we have to resort to Taobao, (the Chinese equivalent of eBay and Amazon all rolled into one).
While normally an efficient and often slightly cheaper alternative to purchase from, the launch week saw prices so over inflated I was initially quoted three times the retail for the consoles I had already paid a pre-order deposit on.
Due to this chain of circumstances, my plan changed drastically and I found myself upgrading my PC first, something that I had originally planned to do last, sometime in 2021.
Fast forward back to today; I have just taken delivery of a Japanese PS5 . Along with my PC I'm going to be giving my initial opinions.
My first experience of the so-called next-gen games came via my new PC.
I had opted for the best machine I could buy at the time, in order to future-proof myself for as long as possible (i9-10900k, RTX3080, 32gb, NVMe 1TB).
With these specs I should be more than capable of running any of the forthcoming games that would be simultaneously released on next-gen consoles and PC.
In fact the RTX3080 clocks in around 29 teraflops, More than double that of the Xbox series X and three times that of the PS5.
The first games I played, cranked up to full settings, were: Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Godfall and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting or anticipating too much in terms of a graphical leap between the two generations. However I was pleasantly shocked at what a great difference there was.
I probably spent as much time exploring and marveling at the gorgeous backgrounds and settings as I did playing the games themselves. The level of detail, draw distance, fidelity and overall environmental aesthetic and interaction was simply jaw-dropping.
But, with great power, comes great responsibility.... Or in the case of a PC, ballache.
With so many possible configurations, finding the sweet spot for setting optimization in games is all down to the user. As is managing updates from one of the 5+ launchers we all probably have installed. then we have the gremlins and bugbears that often raise their mischievous heads as we try to actually launch the games.
"Game launches to title, then goes to black screen", " I can't get the game to display in 4K", " It forces my whole PC system refresh rate down to 30hz ". These and many others of a similar ilk are frequently read titles on forums.
These are issues not generally encountered by gamers using beautifully homogenized consoles.
Convenience, optimization, user friendly interfaces and all your tiles consolidated in one place; these are features synonymous with PS and Xbox.
The ultimate plug-in and play gaming and media experience for today's busy consumer, who doesn't have time to open up a PC to wiggle SATA cables or reseat RAM just to play "Among Us" for his/her daily dose of stranger abuse.
So this leads me neatly on to the PS5. There is an old adage "never meet your heroes" which I think is quite fitting for my experience with the PS5 so far.
Like most of us I have spent the last few months reading articles, discussions, leaks and reviews of the new Xbox and PlayStation. I have genuinely never had any bias or preference over either console, I've enjoyed having both in the past and intend to own both the future.
However the console wars is still a thing, only this time not between manufacturers but amongst consumers. The majority of console owners are staunch advocates of one or the other, incapable of entertaining the concept that they could purchase both machines. Forums and Twitter feeds become the battlefield and are testament to the idiocy, post after post arguing "my console is better than yours".
This brand loyalty and advocacy unfortunately extends into the majority of the media. With many outlets firmly planting their feet in one camp or another It's very difficult to get an unbiased and impartial opinion or comparison.
Due to this, most of the material I have read with regard to the PS5 has been gushing over it. It's modern aesthetic, it's lightning fast access times, it's stunning ray tracing capabilities, it's screen refresh rate, It's haptic feedback It's online game help features etc. gush. etc.
What follows is my honest and honestly impartial first impression of my PS5 over its first few days of use.
(I completely reserved the right change my opinion in the future as I spend more time with the machine discover more capabilities or as new features are added. I'll also be genuinely interested to come back to this article next year to see how i feel then in comparison)
The PS5 is fine. I don't mean fine as in fine dining, or a fine wine. I mean fine or something perfectly adequate, okay, suitable for the task at hand, average.
Firstly, it's not that big. Stories of its enormity have been exaggerated (insert dick joke) and latched on to by the press, to the extent that it's now almost a meme.
It's a bit bigger than a PS4, but not as big as an '80s VHS recorder. It's also incredibly ugly, I can't imagine the décor of the room in which the PS5 looks at home. (It would be something from a 1950's film set of the year 2000)
As you turn it on the first thing you notice is that it's quiet, incredibly quiet. Far more quiet It's predecessor or your average PC.
You are greeted by the welcome page, which leads you through the setup process. Sony's user experience is, as always, impeccable.
It's at this point that the setup integrates with the mobile PSN app.
After years of using their clunky and ineffectual mobile app I realize it's been completely updated and overhauled and is a truly night and day experience to what it once was, glorious!
The first thing the majority of us are going to do once the PS5 is set up, is to boot up Astrobot. Sony's flagship, franchise, freebie game that always demonstrates the latest features and functions of their hardware.
This iteration is no exception it uses it all: haptic feedback, built in microphone and speaker, hints, progress, trophy information all while the game is running.
Unfortunately I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a showcase for a majority of features that would probably be long forgotten in a year or so.
While I'm sure the majority of first party exclusives will continue to make use of these features, you have to consider how convenient and cost effective it is for other developers to cater for these features that are just available on a single platform .
The new haptic feedback via the new dualsense controller is another feature where I feel it's impact has been rather over-inflated.
Without a doubt it's a welcome feature and adds to the immersion in games. But not to the extent that's being reported, "I can feel each individual drop of water in my hand", bullshit.
.....Or maybe my hands are just too old and calloused and I'm not sensitive enough?
In my opinion it's just a very slight upgrade to the Nintendo Switch HD Rumble system.
In fact, with regard to the new controller, The only part that lived up to the hype for me were the adaptive triggers, which are genuinely impressive. But again I worry about how much these will be implemented in the future and how force against resistance will hold up over continued use. (Although the controller does feel weighty and extremely well made).
One of the other big features that is being mentioned in reviews is the ability to get live info on your progress as well as tips while playing a game. (although only if you are a PS+ subscriber and using the account with the PS+ subscription).
This looks to be a really innovative feature, although not greatly implemented at launch. The tips videos for Demon's Souls for example seem to have just been phoned in "Press R1 for a light attack, try combining light and heavy attacks. ......Watch this".
The system also includes spoiler warnings which is a thoughtful addition. This particular feature is very heavily dependent on content and I really hope this "game guide" will be open to third parties to create content for, to fully realize its potential.
A couple of other noteworthy "Quality of Life" additions to the PS5 are Trophies and default game settings.
Trophies now give you the details and estimated time to completion which is very welcome. The old PS Trophy system was notoriously vague, just giving you the trophy title and not even telling you what you did to achieve it. The new system is more like it's Xbox counterpart.
The default game settings allow you set parameters for each game launched: performance mode or resolution, difficulty level, inverted Y (or X for those weird creatures). Shaving valuable seconds from setting up each individual game.
In fact this whole generation seems to be centered on immediacy and utilising that tech in other new and inventive ways. While probably not too noticeable in todays lockdown culture, as soon as things start to return to normal I'm sure we'll have a new found appreciation.
All in all next gen is great, of course its a step up and its noticeable progress.
The degree to which you fully appreciate the developments depends on the divide you have spanned to get here.
For all intents and purposes, going from PC to PS5 was a slight downgrade for me in many ways, but for someone coming from an original PS4 with an old TV to a PS5 and a new 4k TV the experience is going to be nothing short of phenomenal.
Ultimately though, press reports and reviews have been over exaggerated and set expectations too high. For that reason and that reason alone, my initial impression of the PS5 was slightly disappointing.
I still have a lot to discover, as do developers, to fully utilize what really is a remarkable piece of hardware. We all want what we can't have and the rarity has only added to the PS5's mystique.
In this case, it's perfectly OK to meet your heroes, just temper your expectations.
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