We are just a few months away from the release of the PS5 and its competitor, the Xbox Series X. The start of a new generation would, for me, normally be a moment of fanfare and exhilarating anticipation. The piggy bank would be broken, launch wish lists would be drawn up, and the calendar would be ticked off and the days would be counted down. But as the sun sets on the current generation of gaming, I'm not quite as agitated. I'm in no rush to update. Because? The PlayStation 4 is still going strong, and its latest series of games like Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us 2 are even better.
Masterpieces of the 11 hour
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(Image credit: Sucker Punch Productions/Sony) It's not uncommon for games released later to be an excellent generation. Developers have had years to hone their craft on familiar hardware, pushing console specs to their limits. We saw it with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5, for example, released in late 2013, a game so amazing that it survived in its revamped form throughout the lifecycle of the PS4 and Xbox One. And we see it again now with Ghost. of Tsushima from Sucker Punch and The Last of Us Part 2, two games whose length and visual details are so striking that it makes me wonder what exactly the PlayStation 5 brings to the table. it can tempt me to part with my money. As I said in my review, Ghost of Tsushima is one of the most impressive titles of this generation, a sweeping epic through the fields, mountains, and battlefields of feudal Japan. It's a huge game, with dozens and dozens of hours of gameplay to enjoy. It sticks too tight to open world gaming conventions, but it's assembled with such a beautiful eye that it's easy to miss. In the last of us. I haven't had a chance to touch the Naughty Dog sequel yet - this is my next title - but I just read my boyfriend's 5-star review of The Last of Us: Part 2 to see that it's something special. She goes so far as to call it "the game of the generation," a sentiment echoed by many who have played it.
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(Image credit: Naughty Dog) Then I look at the lineup of PS5 launch games, and frankly, I'm still a little disappointed. There are a few titles I like: Little Devil Inside and Deathloop come to mind (and the game Spider-Man: Miles Morales would have been too if it wasn't essentially a remake plus extended DLC pack). But it's all. And, having not experienced hardware upgrades like DualSense haptic feedback control pads and SSD charging improvements, I haven't seen anything so far (Horizon: Forbidden West may be there 'exception) that couldn't exist on the PS4. . In fact, some of the big third titles, like Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Hitman 3, and EA Sports' annual titles are expected to be cross-gen (which causes its own set of headaches).
Mid-cycle discomfort
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(Image credit: Sony) Is it a flop from the pre-launch buzz of the PS5 or the success of the end-of-life greatness of the PlayStation 4? Maybe it's a bit of both: release queues are rarely full of must-play games as developers learn new tools and specs. But, perhaps just as important as high-end gaming, console makers' decisions have been to introduce mid-generation machines. My favorite console is a PS4 Pro. With its extra power, 4K visuals, and HDR display options, it ticks a lot of boxes for which many specifically upgrade to a PS5. So the jump may be bigger for those still using the first wave of PS4 hardware. But if we can assume that it was Sony's most ardent fans who doubled down for a PS4 Pro (or joined the generation with its release), they might be less inclined to be early adopters of the PS5. We've already had a mid-gen hardware retrain, but it was mostly a cosmetic redesign, thinning or refining of the exteriors, rather than offering a palpable performance upgrade like the PS4 Pro does. Add to that the perhaps unwanted side effect. of the generosity of PS Plus over the years. I now have a catalog of games numbering in the hundreds in my PS4 library, many of which have remained intact, despite the fact that they are very attractive to me. In the admittedly unlikely event that I stick to just the games I already have access to on the PS4, I could easily have several years of free time spent on the games that Sony has seemingly given away for free with its subscription offer. And so, for the first time in a long time, I'm thinking of getting past the launch window for the release of this generation of consoles. Maybe my mind will change between now and Christmas, when critics' first hands-on impressions of Xbox Series X on the PS5 start to pour in. But for now, I'm still waiting for a reason to keep my PS4 Pro cool.