While I was impressed by the UE5 demo, the actual games shown so far have diminishing returns hitting hard for me. Just like the jump from PS3/360 to PS4/Xbone, I'm left left feeling like "that's it? After 7 years?"

That "wow, now this is next gen" feeling is so far sorely lacking.

My laptop is the diminishing return factor. Viewing static shots in 600x400 or whatever vgchartz scales them down to, I guess it looks better? Too lazy to watch 4K streams on my tv (don't even know how). Too lazy even to right click view image and zoom in :/

That gif with the instant transitions looks mighty impressive (other thread) but static shots on a 1080p SDR display, Death stranding on my 4K HDR tv looks much better. Marketing has reached an end point here. It already had no chance to properly show/market VR, now it can't market 9th gen improvements either.

I just don't really see anything notable. I'd be perfectly content with this gen graphics, but faster loading times? Okay now you've got my attention.

Obviously Nintendo is the one that will benefit the most from upgrading graphics, because these pics make this gen look great still, rather than outdated, for Xbox and PlayStation. Nintendo will be exciting to see with their next device considering that it will probably be a big leap forward. They tend to have two generations around the same level before a giant leap forward.

NES/SNES
GameCube/Wii
Wii U/Switch

Each of these more or less looks the same as the first one. N64 was a big exception because they did two leap forwards in a row with that and GameCube. Switch graphics are really no different than Wii U so I suspect Switch 2 will catch up to PS4, which again looks no different than Ps5 graphics to me. Finally Nintendo will catch up to the other two in noticable graphics to the majority of consumers (not fps/resolution/HDR fanboys that make up the vocal minority), but really I'm excited about loading times for them. Astral Chains and Xenoblade X had TERRIBLE loading times and I'd like to see those days gone!

Yeah no, SNES looks way, way better than NES, and Wii U and Switch are noticeably different.

Show me an NES game even in the same league as this:

Yes right from the beginning Ninja Theory had an aim for storytelling through character looks and  expressions to be just as important as other narrative forms and that's why they brought people like Andy Serkis onboard, there is an interesting making of trailer for Heavenly Sword  and I remember those facial features were highlighted at the time by critics.

Ratchet & Clank remember me high-budget animation movies (like Universal)

A some steps behind Disney/Pixar level of course, but still gorgeous

Demon's Souls Remake and Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart were the games that looked like they simply couldn't be done on current gen systems to me, at least with my layman eyes.

I hate to be that person by Nintendo will be nowhere near to catch Sony/MS unless they drastically change direction of how their consoles are designed. Switch is a bit better than PS3 that's fine but PS3 is a 2006 console. I'm not even sure next Nintendo console will catch up current PS4 Pro, let alone PS5

So far the only things that have impressed me visually speaking are the UE5 demo, Hellblade 2 and Kena. Well, if Scorn really ends up looking like the trailer as the dev recently said it would, then I guess that will impress me too.

I think you both talk about different things. Sure, there is no question about it, that if you use more processing power in your rendering, it will be impossible on machines lacking said processing power. Duh!

But the question is: how much of these differences impact the user. And I think the leap isn't as obvious as it was generations ago. Sure, if you compare screenshots scrutinizing over it, you'll find differences. I remember discussion about differences in the number of shown vegetation in GTAV ages ago. But at the end of the day, the gamers playing GTAV on different consoles had pretty much the same fun. And I think that is what Shiken is talking about.

If you play a game for 100 hours, you don't care as much about clothing details and hair physics. That said, there are improvements through the better graphics power that affect users still: frame rate drops, aliasing, reduce stuff like that is still important, as it brings some frustration while playing. Not always enough to make the game unenjoyable, but probably lessens the enjoyment.

As people interested not only in gaming but the whole industry and especially for people involved in game development it can be an easy trap to lose oneself in the many visual details that can be manipulated and how to improve it, while the player in the end might draw more enjoyment from an Android Match 3 game. So while it is surely always a good thing to improve the technical side, it should never be forgotten that it all has to serve one thing: how much does the player enjoy the game.

If we look at the PS5-presentation, the thing most gamers will notice without screenshot analysis and such stuff are the rapid switches in environment in Ratchet&Clank. That is actually impressive. I assume that is possible with a lot of RAM, so that the assets for multiple scenes can be loaded, so that the transition can be done pretty fluid. That I would say is a next gen effect.