It's finally happened, I got a PS5 slim bundle last week! I had a ~$380 gift card from returning an HP Printer to Best Buy and I figured instead of buying another printer that was likely to break like each of the three printers before it, I was going to invest it in something much better...a PS5! 

Below are my initial thoughts. Keep in mind, everything below is simply my opinion of the PS5 based on my experience from having a gaming PC (3080Ti) and a Series X.

What I LOVED:

- The games...of course! Being a primarily PC/Xbox Gamer, I fully acknowledge that nobody does incredible Single Player experiences like Sony. I can't wait to play:

- GOW Ragnarök (already played the first reboot on the PS4 I had a few years back).
- Demon's Soul Remake.
- Horizon Zero Dawn 1 and 2. (I started the first one years ago but never got far before selling my PS4).
- Spiderman 1 & 2 and Miles Morale.
- FF XVI.
- FF VII Rebirth (Played the first one on the PC...what a mistake that was, buying PlayStation Games on the PC is almost always a terrible experience, so I gave up on that).
- The Last of Us Part I and Part II.
- Erika looks pretty cool.
- A bunch of others in my backlog (Beyond Two Souls, Last Guardian, a few others I can't remember the name of).

- The interface. It's a lot better than it used to be from when I had a PS4 (PS4 wasn't terrible by any means, just wasn't impressed with it). I like the sparkly bits when you log in (very premium feeling), the music that plays when you go to a game you have in your library, the overall intuitive and beautiful layout of everything. 

- The Controller. They finally did it and made a quality feeling and comfortable controller! It's finally almost as good as Xbox Controllers (all they need to do is fix the thumb stick layout!) and even has some features that are really nice that I wish the Xbox Controllers had. Love the Refined Touch Pad, the iPhone feeling-like haptic feedback, the RGB, the adaptive triggers (at first, I thought something was wrong with the controller LOL). Love that it is easily rechargeable from the get-go and that the battery life lasts longer than an ants arse compared to the PS4 controller. Just overall a really great controller.

- Graphics. The games just simply look better in most cases compared to the Series X. I was starting to play Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4 version since there isn't a PS5 version) and couldn't believe how good it looked. A PS4 game still looks as good and sometimes better than many of the Series X games I've played. I don't know how Sony does it, but I applaud them for such a great experience!

What I HATED:

- The scam that is PS+. It is truly an awful service when compared to GamePass. You can only buy a year-long subscription from the PS5 so I did that for the top tier thinking I would be able to play most of the games in the first part of my post. I couldn't have been more wrong; it only had a handful of them, and I ended up having to buy multiple games in order to play. What a complete waste of money that was. It is, of course, my fault for not researching that better before buying but still, made me pretty unhappy! I acknowledge if you don't have access to getting GamePass, it is probably a worthwhile subscription to get though.

Other Observations / Annoyances:

- Download speeds are pitiful. Every PlayStation I've ever owned has slow downloading of games and the PS5 is no exception. My Xbox and PC download games incredibly quick in comparison.

- Quick Resume...or Lack of it. For some reason, I thought the PS5 had a quick resume feature like the Series X where you can switch between games at a whim and just pick it right back up with no loading screens (a great thing when both you and your wife play on the same account). Maybe I'm doing something wrong but as far as I can tell, there is only quick resume for the single game you are currently playing. Not the biggest deal in the world, but definitely noticeable after playing on the Series X.

- Those annoying beeps/sounds that every PlayStation I've ever owned has when you turn on, off, and navigating menus. Again, not a big deal, but it is kind of annoying (I'm sure there is a way to turn them off, just haven't looked yet).

- I'm glad I got a PS5 Slim...because even that is not very small, I can't imagine how big the original one would have been! It looks pretty good, but I don't like that I can't lay it down...has to be upright which didn't work with my setup very well. 

Overall, I am really happy with this purchase!

Nice, hope you enjoy it in the long term - I'm loving mine which I bought earlier this year.

And ya, I dont have PS+ either, doesnt seem worth it for me.

PS Plus does indeed probably seem really bad compared to Game Pass. I don't have Game Pass (I don't have an Xbox and I don't have it on my PC), but it has Day One Microsoft titles and I know even a game like Persona 6 Tactica was Day One on it recently.
Sony really needs Day One Sony games on the service, they don't put out that many anyway.
Do you still have a Gaming PC? Most games you mentioned looking forward to playing are available on PC.

I do still have a gaming PC but quite honestly was sick of waiting 1 - 2 years for the PlayStation game to come to the PC and end up performing bad on it. Figured it was probably worth it since I had that gift card to just play it directly at the source and have less performance issues. I'm also impatient and don't like waiting so long lol.

Wifi download speeds are terrible. Ethernet works much better.

Nice! Really glad you're enjoying it. I had a PS5 for a few months early last year, but being a husband and father to a toddler, I quickly realized it was not sustainable to have my gaming PC, Switch, and PS5. Especially considering I mainly got it for the Spider-Man games, only for them to be announced for PC practically right after I got it so given how much time I actually have to game, I don't mind waiting for the games to get ported to PC.

It may be worth getting PS+ for a month or two just to save you some money on some of the games you're planning on playing like Demon's Souls Remake and both Spider-Man games. Pretty sure a few others that you named are on the service too.

You can disable the beep sound when turning the console on.

Congrats on the new console!

I hear the slim isn't really that much smaller than the OG, and if it lacks the horizontal position, it's actually more limited when it comes to space and setup. I'm a vertical guy myself, but just an observation.
Game Pass is a pretty unique thing, so if that's your jam, Playstation isn't it. They have been following Microsoft there to an extent, but I don't think they will ever go all the way. They just don't believe in it as a business model, at least not yet. For me, I'm never expecting to get brand new games for "free", but I've enjoyed many discounts on the PS+ and even free older games occasionally. I was late for the FF7 Remake train, so I got that for free, which was a nice surprise.
In any case, good for you and enjoy!

I recommend goofing around in Astros Playroom. It is a great introduction to the controller and an ok little 3d platformer.