I was lucky enough to pre-order an Xbox Series X so I was sure to get that console on release day, but I missed out on pre-ordering the PS5. After trying Walmart a couple of times, their site was awful, I was finally able to order the PS5 Disc version from the Sony Direct website on launch day and it arrived on Sunday. I've spent a couple of hours playing both so here are some quick impressions.
Form Factor
- Xbox
- Looks like a small boxy PC.
- Has many vent holes on top so if you have little kids or pets that could be an issue
- Very quiet
- Just one HDMI output port and no kinect or Digital audio support.
- PS5
- Huge, largest item in my entertainment center
- Flimsy stand to hold it horizontally.
- Very quiet, although I do hear it accessing the disk drive to check if I have the game disc loaded when I start a game.
- No Digital output support.
Controller
- Xbox
- Similar to the older controllers but with a slightly different D-Pad
- Has a share button so you can take screenshots or capture video
- All the older controllers work so I mainly use my older Elite Controller, I love the back paddle buttons.
- PS5
- Insanely better than the PS4 Dualshock.
- More heft and fits in my hands better.
- No more bright light in the front to reflect in my TV
- Better Battery life.
- Haptic feedback and analog triggers are revolutionary. The rumble can be subtle now instead of just a strong vibration. The triggers can have various amounts of tension depending on the game.
- Only worry is that a few games will use the added features of the controller. The touchpad on the older controller was basically just another button for most games.
UI
- Xbox
- Same layout as the last generation Xbox.
- Quicker Response moving through all the tabs, feels good now instead of being sluggish.
- Quick Resume is an awesome feature if you play multiple games as it keeps a number of them in memory so switching between games takes seconds.
- Loads new games quickly, not as fast as PS5
- Adds HDR to older games. Some games look good, others not so much.
- Download speeds are still a bit slow.
- PS5
- Still have a row of your recently played games on the top that you can scroll through to select a game to play.
- More information displayed about each game and each game has activity cards so you can keep up with trophies and progression by pressing the PS button.
- When pressing the PS button in game you stay in the game and an overlay comes up so you stay in the game instead of loading out into a menu
- Holding the PS5 button does nothing now so turning off the PS5 is a couple of more button presses
- Loads games extremely fast and the loads inside of games are almost instantaneous
- Download speeds are fantastic, almost using full bandwidth.
Value
- Xbox
- No first party games at launch so has to rely on 3rd party and backwards compatible games
- Gamepass is definitely worth the money and is a great value especially since some next gen games are going to be trying a $70 price point.
- If you have a gaming PC then it's probably not worth it since all first party games will be coming to the PC.
- I mainly bought it for Rock band 4 since I play that a ton and for some backwards compatible games that are on PC but don't have controller support.
- PS5
- First party exclusive games are the main reason for my purchase. Astrobot is awesome for a pack in a game.
- The quick loading is also a huge breakthrough. For some games I would wait for the release of the PC version because it had better load times, but now the PS5 loads games quicker than my PC.
- It is backwards compatible with almost all PS4 games and it also increases the performance of the games that don't have a specific PS5 version patch
- If you are a PS Plus subscriber you can get some good PS4 games for free. I already bought most of them, but it's nice to have some of them digitally.
Astrobot
- An amazing game that shows the potential of the controller.
- Each step your Astrobot makes produces a different rumble based on the texture of the surface you are walking on.
- In one mini-game you are crushing items to get collectibles using the triggers and each item you crush feels different. Sometimes you can barely press and the item crushes or other times you really have to put some effort in.
- Both of these are subtle effects and really add to the excitement feature you want out of a new console launch.
- It's a must play even though it's a pack in game. Do not miss this awesome game.
Demon Souls
- Best looking game ever.
- The lighting is amazing and it adds so much atmosphere to each location. It's the gritty combat game I've always wanted. I wish the Diablo 4 developers would take a queue from this game.
- It is a remake of the PS3 game so I feel like I'm visiting an old memory. The gameplay hasn't changed much so there is still a bit of jank here and there but still a great tough game that I kinda wish had an easier mode.
- Loading times are insane, about 3 seconds to reload if you die.
Yakuza Judgement
- PS4 game that is amazing on the PS5 because of the load times
- On the PS4 when you would get into a fight there would be a staging of the fight that would put up a graphic of who you were going to fight which hid the load of about 3-5 seconds
- On the PS5 there is no staging or graphic, a guy says I want to fight and you begin fighting.
