Our Thoughts on the PS5 One Month After Launch

The PS5 has been out for a month now, and gamers around the world have stepped into the next generation of console gaming. Here at LoadingXP, both myself and Kyle Flory got the console at launch and have been playing it everyday since. With it now being one month since the console launched, we’ve spent plenty of time with it and have a lot of thoughts on it. So we thought it would be a good idea to share our thoughts on the console so far. We’ll be focusing on four specific aspects of the console for our impressions: the UI/UX, the games, the DualSense, and what could be improved.

User Interface/User Experience

Tyler: When I first started up my PS5, I was blown away by just how good the UI looks. Seeing it in a video is one thing, but having it up on my 4K HDR TV is a whole different beast. It looks very pristine and high class, and contributes to the console feeling like a premium device. It’s definitely one of my favorite aspects of the console. While the UI itself is different from what came before, it’s not too different. I see it as a natural evolution of the PS4 UI, one that I thought was pretty darn great already. It’s snappy, smooth, and very responsive, all areas that the PS4 struggled in. Games are displayed in a cool way, with each one having their own splash screen and music when you hover over them. Console themes may not be on the PS5 now, but each page of the home screen is basically it’s own theme, so I’m cool with it.

The new Control Center is the most radical change for the UI and UX. Being able to have access to most of the console’s features at the press of a button is something that I didn’t know I needed until now, but I like it. Honestly though, I’m still getting used to it. My favorite feature of the UI/UX are the new Activity Cards. Theses allow you to see your progress in any given activity in a game and jump right into it, from both outside and inside the game. It’s a feature that I didn’t think I would use much at first, but I’ve slowly started seeing the ways in which it could be helpful and convenient. Going from the console’s home screen directly to a side mission in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales in about seven seconds is such a game changer in regards to how much time I spend waiting around to get into my games. I could do the same thing while in the game too, making it easier and less monotonous to clear out side activities. This is a feature I’m really hoping that more developers take full advantage of as the generation moves on.

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Kyle: Unlike Microsoft and its Xbox Series hardware, Sony decided to build a completely new interface for the PS5. I was pretty happy with what we had at the end of the PS4 generation so I wouldn’t have minded if it stayed mostly the same, but I really like with what Sony delivered. The interface is easy to navigate and the console’s SSD makes every menu fast and responsive. The PlayStation Store has been integrated directly into the UI as opposed to operating as a separate app like it did on PS4, and it makes a world of difference. Simply type what you’re looking for in the search bar and it pops up almost instantly.

Two of the biggest new UI features, Activity Cards and Game Help, are extremely impressive. Activity Cards leverage the PS5’s lighting-fast load times to get users into curated experiences in each game. For example, with Fortnite, there are cards you can use to launch directly into Solos, Duos, or Squads from the PS5 dashboard. With Game Help, if players are stuck in a game, they can watch video clips that are included by the developer for tips. When I was having trouble finding a collectible in Astro’s Playroom, the game was able to see which ones I already had in the level and served me a video to help me find the one I was missing. It remains to be seen if developers continue to utilize these unique features, but in the meantime, they are some of the most enjoyable aspects of the UI.

Games

Tyler: I’ve played a couple games on my PS5, and I’ve had a great experience with each of them. I started things off with Astro’s Playroom, a game which comes pre-installed on every console. It’s designed to show off the features of the DualSense (which I can’t praise enough), but it’s far more than just a tech demo. I had a genuinely great time with it and felt like it was the perfect introduction as to what new things the PlayStation 5 will be bringing to the table this generation. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was next on the docket, and as I said in my review, that game is amazing. It’s a major step up from Insomniac’s last adventure in the Marvel universe, and I can’t wait to see where things go next. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been another game that I’ve spent a good amount of time with since launch, and I like it, but not as much as I hoped I would. The campaign does try new things, which I fully commend the team over at Raven Software for, but it didn’t really connect with me. And while I’m enjoying the multiplayer a bit more than I did during the Alpha, it’s not reaching the same levels that last year’s Modern Warfare did for me (even though that game frustrates me a lot as well).

The final next-gen game I’ve played is Demon’s Souls. I should note that I’ve only played an hour of it, but so far I think it’s pretty good. I’m not really one to play games in the Souls-genre, but I think I’ll stick with this one. All of these games run very well and look great. I played through all of Miles Morales in Fidelity mode so that I could enjoy all the extra visual benefits that it offers, and I couldn’t help but be impressed at how great it looked and ran. On the other hand, I’ve played Demon’s Souls in Performance Mode and it’s as smooth as you would want a game like that to be. As for backwards compatible games, I’ve played a bit of Kingdom Hearts III using an external hard drive, and the game runs at a solid 60 fps. On PS4 Pro, the game’s default mode had a variable frame rate, but it never actually touched 60 fps, so playing on the PS5 is a much smoother and satisfying experience. Overall, gaming on the PS5 has been a joy and if this is how good the launch is, I can only imagine the kinds of games we’ll be getting a few years from now.

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Kyle: Most of my PS5 play time thus far has been spent with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls. At a base level, both games do a great job of showcasing what we can expect from PS5 games going forward: they feature insanely fast load times, and their included 60 frames-per-second performance modes highlight an option that should be included in every game on the system.

Miles Morales was an absolute joy to play through. The title character is extremely likable and has his own personality and style, both of which are completely distinct from Peter Parker. The combat felt improved over Insomniac’s first entry in the franchise, and the new Venom abilities give the player more options to dispatch the game’s various enemies. We’re probably going to go back to playing a Venom-less Peter Parker in the true sequel to the 2018 game, but if I had to guess, I’m sure we’ll be playing as Miles again at some point. This is a must-play for any PS5 owner who likes Spider-Man, and if you’re waiting to pick up Sony’s new console, it’s also available on PS4 (with a free PS5 upgrade).

The Demon’s Souls remake illustrates why the fine folks at Bluepoint Games are the masters of modernizing older video games. The gameplay in this PS5 version is extremely faithful to the PS3 original, which had frustrating technical shortcomings. The remake runs like a dream, though, and the performance mode’s smooth framerate makes it easy to dodge and parry enemy attacks. It also looks gorgeous, and the levels and character models have an amazing amount of detail. The game is an easy recommendation for fans of the “SoulsBorne” genre, and for those looking to give it a try, it’s a great place to start. The rock-solid performance made it easier to grasp the gameplay mechanics, and it felt a bit easier than Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and other recent FromSoftware games.

The DualSense Controller

Tyler: I don’t think I would be exaggerating by saying that the DualSense is Sony’s best controller ever. For me personally, it’s my favorite gaming controller ever. Its form factor is more akin to that of an Xbox controller, and it has more weight to it than the DualShock 4, but it doesn’t feel like it. Holding it in my hands, the DualSense just feels right. The DualSense doesn’t just feel right to hold though; it also feels right to play with. Playing games with this controller is honestly transformative and so much more immersive than playing games without it. The haptic feedback in the controller provides vibrations that aren’t just your standard rumble, instead giving you a feeling that’s more accurate to what’s happening on screen. Feeling the rain hit Astro’s umbrella results in rapid, soft vibrations in the controller, whereas drops of hail are harder. Or feeling the haptics build up in the controller as a fire bomb is about to be thrown in Demon’s Souls. These things sound minor, but they’re really not!

Then there’s the adaptive triggers that provide different types of resistance depending on the game you’re playing and what you’re doing in it. The example of pulling back on the string for a bow and arrow has been used a lot, so instead I’ll provide an example from Black Ops Cold War. Aiming down sights with L2 requires you to really push down on the trigger to pull up your weapon, and firing it needs the same amount of force from you on R2. It makes you actually feel like you’re holding a heavy weapon in your hands. Things go to the next level once you start firing and feel the right trigger bounce up and down under your finger like an actual weapon would. It’s disorienting and takes some getting used to for sure. At first I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but over time I got used to it and found myself actually liking it. This controller is truly next-gen and I want developers to continue making good use of its many features.

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Kyle: The DualSense is getting a lot of attention, and with good reason: it’s easily the best controller that Sony has ever created for a PlayStation console. It may seem like a small refinement of previous designs at first glance, but that changes once you actually hold it. The controller’s shape is a little closer to what we’ve seen on Xbox since the Xbox One’s release, with wider and more substantial grips, so it’s more comfortable to hold if you have larger hands. It also has more heft than the DualShock 4, so it feels like a more premium piece of hardware.

And then we have the new haptic and adaptive trigger features. The upgraded rumble motors allow for more differentiation between sensations in games, so when you’re playing Astro’s Playroom, the controller’s rumble feedback feels different when Astro is walking across various surfaces. The adaptive triggers, meanwhile, add a new layer of immersion to the gaming experience. When Astro fires a gatling gun in one of the pre-installed game’s levels, the trigger is harder to pull, and “kicks” back with each shot that is fired. In next year’s Deathloop, guns will occasionally jam, and the right trigger will be locked until the gun is fixed. It’s really neat stuff, and like the new UI features, I hope developers implement this tech into games for the console’s entire lifespan.

Improvements

Tyler: Now for as much as I like the console, there are some things that I think Sony could improve. One of those things is actually the Control Center. I know I said I like it, but it can be a bit counterintuitive because Sony made many of the system’s functions only accessible ONLY in Control Center. Want to turn off the system? You have to open Control Center. Interested in checking your downloads? You have to open Control Center. Sure it’s easy to get to, but I don’t understand why these options aren’t also accessible on the home screen like on the PS4. I also would like for Sony to add an option to change up how you open Control Center. Currently, holding down the PS button takes you to the home screen, while just pressing the button brings up Control Center. On the PS4, holding the PS button brought up a Quick Menu, whereas pressing it took you to the home screen. It would be nice to have the option to switch control schemes on the PS5 because one month later I still find myself going home when I actually wanted to pull up Control Center, and vice versa.

Checking your trophies is also a bit cumbersome since you have to dig a bit to even find them. And once you do, they’re now arranged horizontally instead of vertically, so you can’t see as many as before. This may be a minor qualm for some, and it is in the grand scheme of things, but it’s something that I would like to see Sony at least adjust in future updates. Lastly, Sony needs to allow players to move PS5 games to external hard drives. I don’t understand why we can’t at the moment, but it’s an issue for sure. I would imagine they plan to add that ability in the future, but right now it’s a major omission.

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Kyle: Some of the more frequent actions I take in the UI are less intuitive than they were on PS4. For example, if you want to turn off the console or put it into suspend, you have to press the PS button on the DualSense, navigate to the right of the Control Center, and select Power Options. On PS4, we just had to hold down the PS button on the DualShock 4 to present the same options. The PS button has more actions tied to it this time than it did on the PS4, so it may be tricky for Sony to come up with a new solution, but hopefully they can figure something out. Trophies also require you to dig into your profile a bit, whereas the PS4 simply had a menu option at the top of the UI. That should be easier for Sony to fix, as a trophy menu option in the Control Center would alleviate this minor inconvenience.

I also felt that it was hard to differentiate between PS4 and PS5 versions of games in the UI on launch day, but Sony has already made improvements in this area. PS5 games appear by default in your game library, and if you want to download or play the PS4 version, you have to press the “three dots” button next to the play or download button. From there, you have the option to select the PS5 or PS4 version of the game. I would have preferred that Sony use an option similar to Microsoft’s Smart Delivery, where different console versions of software don’t really exist, but this will be less of an issue as developers move away from making PS4 versions of games.

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That’s what we think of the PS5 right now, though I’m sure our thoughts will continue to evolve over the coming months and years as we get more used to it and the console generation fully kicks off. What your thoughts on the PS5? Do you agree with what we had to say, or do you feel differently? Let us know in the comment section below!