As we near the one-year anniversary of the PlayStation 5’s release, it feels like a good time to address a lot of the questions from those who are still feverishly searching for one. It’s clear that, whether because of the ongoing pandemic or the shortage of certain materials, trying to secure a PS5 in the past year has grown increasingly frustrating. If you aren’t utilizing Twitter users who post deals to help you track down PS5s, chances are you’ll have to get extremely lucky in refreshing a store’s website. Many people are having to ask whether sitting at their computer or watching their phone just in hopes to see a restock alert is actually worth it.

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Image via Sony

When deciding whether it’s worth the hassle of trying to find that PS5 even if you might have a working PS4, it’s best to look at the major advantages you’ll be getting when switching over. The biggest advantage is no doubt the PS5-exclusive games. As of this time, there are not that many, but what is available is definitely impressive. Games like Returnal, Demon’s Souls, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart all do a fantastic job of utilizing the system. While graphics are usually the showcase for a new generation’s games, this past jump has seen the solid-state drive (SSD) and DualSense controller as the features to take the spotlight.

It’s easy to undersell how revolutionary the SSD feels. PC users have known for years how big a quality of life improvement SSDs can be, so it’s great that console gamers are now getting a taste. You won’t have to spend time browsing your phone as games load, as you’ll now only have to wait a couple of seconds to go from the menu to in-game. Quickly booting up games is incredibly welcoming; it’s not the same leap that was seen from the PS3 to the PS4, but it’s still greatly noticeable.

One of the big surprises when first getting hands-on PS5 experience was the revolutionary DualSense. Controllers themselves haven’t advanced much since the early days of rumble on the N64, so to see such a large leap was refreshing. From the moment you get to experience it in games like ASTRO’s Playroom, you’ll understand why it’s been praised to the degree that it has. Returnal, for example, incorporates haptic feedback and adaptive triggers in a number of ways. You’ll be able to feel simulated raindrops as they “drop” on the controller, and the triggers will vary in resistance based on whether or not you’re using alt-fire on your weapon. Whether that’s worth upgrading an entire system for is up to the buyer, but it’s definitely a solid incentive.

Image via Housemarque, Sony

Slowly but surely, many features promised when the PS5 was first revealed are also beginning to manifest. The SSD expansion slot is now finally being made available to use, which will allow players to have more usable space to install games. Of course, this also means you’ll have to go out and purchase the hard drive itself, which at this time will cost a pretty penny. However, over time they will continue to decrease in price. Unlike the Xbox Series consoles, which also feature a slot for SSD expansion, Sony did not opt to use a proprietary SSD, meaning you can buy any SSD as long as it fits within their recommended specifications. This was a problem Sony dealt with when the PS Vita was released, and perhaps they learned from that mistake which cost their handheld dearly.

Sony, as well as other publishers, have also made it easier than ever for those waiting to make the next generation jump. Almost every week you’ll hear about a game on PS4 receiving a PS5 upgrade, and oftentimes it’ll be free of charge. These include titles like Resident Evil Village, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and even the upcoming remaster for Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water.

For those holding onto their older console because they’re still just playing PS4 games, the PS5 has a couple of really solid features. One of the most impressive aspects about the PS5, as well as one of the most surprising, was seeing how it handled backwards compatibility for the majority of PS4 games. If you still have a lot of PS4 titles in your backlog, there’s a good chance that if you play them on PS5, they’ll run even better. Many titles that aim for 60fps on PS4, but instead run at fluctuating frame rates, will routinely see that ironed out completely. Games like Blue Reflection or The Last Guardian (if you use an unpatched disc version) will smooth out the game’s framerate. There are also extreme cases like Disaster Report 4, which ran horribly on PS4, but now runs great on PS5.

A still from Disaster Report 4
Image via NIS America

However, from a UI standpoint, the PS5 could actually be seen as a bit of a step back from the PS4. All those themes that you might have purchased and enjoyed looking at on the PS4 are useless on PS5. There’s no longer an activity feed to see what your friends have been up to. Trying to navigate through menus to easily access trophies can be tiresome. Thankfully some annoyances are being addressed, but a lot of these problems seem here to stay.

Last year, it became clear that Sony and Jim Ryan, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, had a goal in mind as to how they were going to handle the transition from PS4 to PS5. In speaking with gamesindustry.biz, Ryan’s statement about believing in generations is still somewhat puzzling. It leaves one left to wonder whether PS5 games being released on the PS4 will somehow be “held back” because they now have to work on the older console. When Spider-Man: Miles Morales was revealed as both a PS4 and PS5 title, many hand-waved it because it was a launch title. However, that tone changed when Horizon Forbidden West and the forthcoming God of War sequel ended up being announced as cross-generation titles.

Many consumers are now wondering whether upcoming PS5 games are also coming to PS4 as well, highlighting the question of whether the hassle of searching endlessly for a PS5 is worth it for what the system currently offers. At this point, with new games and the PS5’s backwards compatibility, the system has more than enough positives that make it worthy of a purchase. However, for more casual gamers, it might be worth waiting if you don’t want to spend your time scouring websites for the latest restocks.

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