Shares the same issue as the Series X in my eyes.

I am using it just as a Blu-Ray/DVD Player.

There's a few bangers coming out in the next few months

First party output has been very poor, way below what i expect from sony. 3rd party games started off poor, but have been much better since 2023. Overall 5/10, this has been the worst gen of gaming I've lived through.

It's probably bad marketing... ...but there isn't the anticipation or excitement. The hardware is great.

But... for example the GTA6 trailer was Dec 2023... it's hard to keep excitement going for that long.

No wonder all the kids these days just play Minecraft and Roblox...

I gave it a 7. The gen feels like an upgraded PS4. Faster system UI + elimination of load times is amazing and I could never go back to PS4 or PS3 era. However, games overall feel less exciting / innovative outside of a few titles (BG3, Expedition 33, etc.). I miss Sony first party games so much.

Still not as good as the PS4, but then, GOW, Spider-Man, TLOU2, GoT, etc., all released fairly late.

Edit - in terms of gameplay, though, the 60 fps modes are a huge feature.

From a hardware, functionalities and QoL perspective, it’s a 10. My favourite PS console on that front. There’s still some things I wish it could do, mostly on the customization side of things, but it’s snappy, loads quickly, and the push to make 60fps an actual standard is a godsend (and long overdue!).

But from a quality/defining software output perspective, it’s the poorest PS console gen by far.

I don't see it as a successor, not in the same way the ps4 was over the ps3 or the ps3 over the ps2. I see it as a PS4 PRO 1.5 or a PS4 2.0. As a continuation of the PS4 I find it a great console, a better console.i have issues with it of course over the PS4, the heavy integration of PS+ and online features make the offline experience feel very poor but I'm all digital now so it matters little. I find the Slim looks okay, the original looks bad and the PS4 always looked great, every redesign. The UI is beginning to get a little bit more customisable. They have also recently fixed the vlock which was doubling or tripling game times on the home screen and you needed to go into your profile to get a an accurate reading but now on the games home screen page read fairly accurately which is great. Now it just needs to stop clock if you pause the game or if you are idle in game or making no imputs for like 5 minutes and I'd be happy. 

What I take issue most with is 79,99 euro games. I can't do it, it crosses a line, even 69,99 was pushing it but they have rubber banded me into a rarely day one buyer and now a savy buyer playing a few months back and weighing what a games worth is myself. I still do buy some 69,99 games or 59,99 at full price but it's rare. I don't think I will ever pay 79,99 unless DS2 and GTA6 are in the mid 90's or higher and have full community praise to boot. I am now most often a half price gamer, so I'm looking at games with sales at 30-40 euro and maybe 50 if I'm overly interested in the game.

There are things I hated which I have now come to love, like the limited 10 games and 5 pinned games on the home screen, this changes how I approach games and I rarely get overwhelmed. It's genius. I really wish devs would use the haptics and touch pad more, some of the best feelings of advancement came from Astros Playroom and it's basically a tech demo scaled up to a game.

I never lack for games to play, with the everything prior to the ps4 and the ps4 itself there was always time inbetween releases, always times where there would be nothing to play or everything worth it would be in the backlog. During the ps4 this issue rectified itself and more so it came from what the Switch and previously Steam achieved but it bled into mid cycle PS4 but has really blossomed with the ps5. I bought in at the 3 year mark so idk if that was always the case but the algorithm seems genius, I just click into the store and on my screen I'll find a game that will be in some manner of interest to me. Like this game Keepers Toll that I'm playing now, for 2.49 on PS+ discount it was a gamble but it's like the algorithm knew what I wanted right then and there.

There's also something to be said about being a PSVR 2 user, I'd imagine much like the PS4 you aren't getting the full experience without it and as to why the PS4 was the greatest machine of all time and the PS5 by extention. 

It honestly feels like this generation hasn't really happened. It's more an extension of the 8th gen. I'd say the same about Xbox overall. Voted 4/10 as nothing has really stood out to me and there seems to be so little variety even compared to the last gen. Sony used to have so much in terms of interesting franchises, god knows what happened. Also so many re-releases instead of new titles!

I swear a stand out game like Astro Bot or Indiana Jones or Stray used to be a good dozen titles a year, now we are lucky it's one that really stands out a year! I blame live service and free to play games, they sucked the creativity out of the gaming industry.

7/10

Mostly because of PSVR 2 actually. The experience is the most seamless of the VR experiences imo. 

Just wish there were more exclusives. Third Party games I either play on PC (for graphics/performance) or now Switch 2 (for portability.) 

Timed exclusives don't matter to me because I usually play games long after they release. 

Having said that I literally have two PS5's (a regular disk version, and a Pro.)