Our lows for the PlayStation 5 reveal practically mirrored each other, so we’ve mashed together our opinions:
The Lows:
Grand Theft Auto V:
Kyle: Is this the first game to span 3 generations of consoles besides Resident Evil 4? But what a fucking bait and switch by Rockstar, I can’t imagine what people waiting for GTA 6 were thinking when the splash logo was the first thing on their screen, and then receiving PlayStation 4 footage of GTA V and a promise that the same game will be out not even at launch, but in a tentative 2021 date. Rockstar has laid their golden dick on the table and they want you to know they don’t fucking care. Y’all keep buying that online cash, and they won’t need to advance this series one iota for the rest of time.
Demetri: Boooooooooo Rockstar. BOOOOOOOOOOO. This isn’t just weaksauce, it’s a single packet of Taco Bell mild diluted with a gallon of water.
Godfall:
Demetri: Generic, yet dissonant stuff from Gearbox. The trailer’s combat looked like it was hitching, though I couldn’t tell if it was due to MMO-style locked animations or straight up jank. If this is intended to be the launch multiplayer game I have trouble imagining many folks will be excited.
Kyle: On top of a real left field choice of music, this game does not look smooth at all, even with the nice new hardware given to the developers. This looks like Gearbox’s version of For Honor with a splash of Dark Souls that combines about as well as Jack Daniel’s and grape juice.
The Confusion Surrounding Spider-Man – Miles Morales:
Demetri: You know, this was originally on my highs list. A full-on sequel to Spider-Man starring the best character to ever put on the mask? Sign me up! Unfortunately due to conflicting reports from Sony and Insomniac staff we have no idea what this actually is. Some are saying it’s an expansion for a PS5 remaster of the original game, others are saying it’s a smaller standalone. It’s completely unclear and the fact that people who have the info can’t communicate it does not raise my confidence. I can’t give them the benefit of the doubt here despite wanting a Miles game; we need to KNOW.
Kyle: How do you go into this reveal and there’s a question as to what type of game you’re making? Hello? This game is sure to do numbers and be a ton of fun, but having this much confusion is never a good look.
The Lack of Info:
Kyle: For all the new titles that have been shown, a majority were short, fancy launch trailers that honestly didn’t show anything as to what the PS5 is capable of doing and more so how nice the cinematics look which…sure? The lack of gameplay would make sense on a current console where you’ve had plenty of time to know what it is capable of, but I figured Sony would’ve blasted out the gate and shown people what they’re working with, and not much really showed off the amazing power that PS5 has advertised. Also, no price range and two different consoles is a BIG question mark. I know the XBOX Series X is still not priced, but this would’ve been the perfect time to fire the first shot.
Demetri: By the end of this I was absolutely dying for any real information at all. Specs, trailers with more gameplay, pricing, ANY-thing. But no. And on top of that what we learned was arguably bad news! Two separate consoles, one of which doesn’t have a disc drive at all, indicates the shift towards digital-only consoles is coming much sooner than we’d thought or hoped. There’s legitimate cause to be concerned that this’ll mark the transitional period away from physical media and we should be prepared for consoles to become considerably less consumer-friendly going forward, especially if the digital edition has a lower price point to lure unsuspecting buyers in.
The PS5’s Look:
Kyle: While looking radically different from the rumored PS5 styles, this style is…okay. Going to a pearl white is an interesting choice to deviate away from the slate black that the past 3 generations have tailored to, as well as it also being a direct opposite to the XBOX Series X’s color palette. Twitter has already taken to meme’ing it to oblivion, and I don’t really blame them. There’s no way the PS5 will look anywhere near decent next to anything in my house.
Demetri: The shitposts for this thing’s design are already legendary. It strongly resembles an inside-out Oreo in a futuristic taco shell. The disc-capable version in particular looks like it has a malignant growth that’s threatening to burst any second, which is unsurprising if they intended it to be primarily a digital device to begin with and decided to go with a second option later in development and/or production. We roasted the XBOX fridge since it was revealed but this is somehow worse. Oof.
Kyle’s Overall Grade: C+
I enjoyed Sony’s current lineup of games that were shown, as it lays down a nice foundation for the 2021 year, but what concerned me was the lack of gameplay shown during this showcase and the PS5’s current launch date. Currently at a release point of Holiday 2020, an overwhelming majority of Sony’s AAA titles won’t grace the console until 2021, which makes me think one of two things: either there’s something about the PS5 that has not been announced (the rumored backwards compatibility was sadly absent) that will pique interests closer to the holidays, or they are banking on the sheer want of the system to carry it until Spring 2021 with a smattering of games to potentially tide people over. I’m sure there will be plenty more info announced this Summer, but what was shown leaves Sony in a bit of a questionable position.
Demetri’s Overall Grade: D+
Despite coming in with tempered expectations I was still majorly let down. Where are the games, Sony? I saw a lot of short films and proofs of concept, some of which looked pretty good, but not much for actual playable video games with release dates. Sony hasn’t had a particularly strong list of launch titles since the PS2 but this is almost embarrassing. What are people who buy this thing on release going to play besides games they already have and whatever the hell that Gearbox mess was? I’m sure this’ll be worth buying (for however much they decide to charge because we don’t even know) in the future, but I won’t be picking up a Space-X-Popped-Collar-Box any time soon.
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