| (Image property of Sony) I, however, was not one of those people. Even before the scalpers got their grubby little mitts on the whole stock and Sony were failing to keep up, I was already turned off the console. The idea that shiny graphics should sell me on a console that, fundamentally, wasn't doing anything new compared to the PS4 didn't appeal to me. Yet, about two weeks ago, I finally caved and decided to splash out on a PS5 which raises the question of "why now?". Today, I want to discuss this point and give a personal account of what changed that made me want to go in on Sony's latest space station looking hardware. New dog, old tricks To start off, it's worth laying out what exactly discouraged me from draining my bank accounts to get a PS5 in 2020. As stated it boiled down to the fact that I felt like the PS5 wasn't doing anything new over the PS4. You only have to look at the PS5's launch titles to see the problem here. Almost every single game boasted by the PS5 at launch also saw a PS4 release. The notable exception to this rule was the Demon's Souls Remake which, while technically new, was still, at its core, a game from 2009 that was quickly overshadowed by Elden Ring a year and a half later. The same Elden Ring, that is, that also released on PS4.  | | (Image property of Bluepoint Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment) As such, once you see past the thick fog of marketing that insists that looking new is somehow the same as actually being new, the PS5 didn't really offer anything for me at launch. For the record, even now, this problem hasn't improved much. Casting your eyes over the top selling PS5 games, you would be forgiven for thinking that very little has changed from the PS4. Spider-Man 2, Call of Duty, Street Fighter, Jedi: Survivor, these are all franchise titles that were more than happy on the PS4. By contrast, indie games, which do actually offer new and original ideas, have shunned PS5 exclusivity in favour of releasing on as many platforms as possible to boost their profiles.  | | (Image property of Marvel, Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment) So, in principle, I refused to buy a PS5 at launch because I didn't feel that it offered anything new but that doesn't seem to have changed much. Most franchises either still release their games to PS4 or make PS5 exclusives that are simply extensions of those existing gameplay models. Thus, we arrive back at the question; why did I buy a PS5 now? Well, to answer that, we need to dig beneath the surface and beyond simple franchise names and titles. It's what's under the hood that counts. Based upon my previous comments about the PS5 simply regurgitating old franchise names to make up the majority of its lineup, you might be surprised to hear that the game that swayed me into buying a PS5 was Marvel's Spider-Man 2. What might confuse you even more is that, despite buying a PS5 because of it, I haven't actually decided to play it yet. There is method in my madness however.  | | (Image property of Marvel, Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment) You see, I like Spider-Man as much as any other nonathletic nerd with money troubles but having played both Spider-Man PS4 and Spider-Man Miles Morales to the point of receiving the Platinum trophy in both, it's safe to say that I've had my Spider-Man fix in recent years. However, Spider-Man 2, was enough to persuade me to buy a PS5 because of one very simple change that it made to the previous games; its speed. The core experience that everyone takes away from a good Spider-Man game is the web-swinging and, while it was a highlight of the PS4 titles, holding them alongside Spider-Man 2 is night and day. Spider-Man 2 is so much faster due to the PS5's ability to load the map that you're swinging through, building on the previous games' satisfyingly cathartic swinging nicely.  | | (Image property of Marvel, Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment) This simple gameplay tweak from one generation to the next is what made me take notice of the PS5 hardware. Since its launch in 2020, the PS5's main selling point has been in how good its games look thanks to dynamic lighting and particle effects. This was nothing new. New console generations always like to demonstrate their visual firepower as an easy marketing tool upon release. However, while graphics are great as a first impression, a game can look excellent while still playing like a depleted uranium Etch A Sketch. By contrast, Spider-Man 2 signals the turning point that comes in all consoles' life-spans where games stop focusing on how good they look and start thinking about how well they play. Once developers and publishers stop caring about making their games look pretty, they can start using the hardware to create some truly impressive gameplay mechanics, like Spider-Man 2's improved traversal. It was this sign that the wind is changing for this console generation that gave me hope for new and exciting experiences on the horizon.  | | (Image property of Marvel, Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment) It is also worth mentioning the appeal of the fact that my entire PS4 library works on PS5 for encouraging me to make the switch. Furthermore, the sight of developers like Capcom with Street Fighter 6 using the hardware to make their games more accessible than ever also gives me hope for the rest of this generation and some of the turning points it could represent for gaming. Between these factors and the potential shift in thinking that Spider-Man 2 now seems like as good a time as any to get on board with the PS5 and, so far, I have no regrets. The Switch has shown with games like Tears of the Kingdom how technically impressive developers can be once they have had time to practice with the new hardware. I hope that, in the coming years, we will see more and more examples of this being the case. Fingers-crossed for no buyer's remorse! All images and property names belong to their respective rights holders and are utilised here for the purpose of criticism and review.
Popular posts from this blog
Once again, emerging forth from my Hobbit-hole of inactivity, I feel compelled to talk about what experiences in video games have sparked my dormant soul to life recently. Well, this year, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt turns 10 years old and seeing as CD Projekt's other open world action RPG, Cyberpunk 2077, managed to grab me so firmly by the balls last year, it felt like an appropriate time for me to go back and play it. (Image property of CD Projekt) I should state, I had played The Witcher 3 before. I made it as far as the Skellige Isles before deciding to take a break and never coming back. My head-canon for that original Geralt is that he just never survived the shipwreck that landed him on Skellige and all hope for the future of the Northern Realms was just dumped on a beach with some driftwood. However, my infidelity with my digital hobbies wasn't what I came to talk about. Rather, I wanted to talk about the way that The Witcher 3 handles money an...
I've recently been making my way through Bioshock: The Collection in a similar manner to how a slug moves through a wedding cake. However, my slow progress isn’t down to lack of enjoyment. If anything, it’s the opposite. My feelings on Bioshock so far have been that the game contains such strong writing and so many interconnected themes in each area that I’m reluctant to rush through it all at once. Effectively, the wedding cake has so many layers that I want to stop and sample each at my own pace. (Image property of 2K and Irrational Games) This, however, has caused me to ask myself why more games don’t feel like this. After all, Bioshock released in 2007, you’d think more games would have been able to mimic its success if it was simply on a technical level. However, for me, what sets Bioshock apart isn’t technical. Instead, it is about the quality of writing and the way that the game presents themes and ideas in such an intellige...
There are few elements of modern media more pervasive and pecuniary than the much-maligned product placement. In return for some cash to help get your game finished and distributed, companies insert their references to their products so that audiences needn’t feel any respite from corporate advertising culture. (Images property of Atlus, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Kojima Productions, Naughty Dog and Nintendo) However, not all product placements are as sinister as I make them sound. In fact, over the years, video games have included a wide variety of product placements that range from confusing to downright bizarre. Here, I have curated a list of some of the product placements in games that are so baffling that I’m not even sure they’re advertising anymore. Death Stranding - Monster Energy The grim, post-apocalyptic USA of Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding is in equal parts dangerous and clearly based more on Iceland than America. Deadly, ghostlike spirits roam the land, forcing much of...
|
|
|
|
|
|
