I originally reviewed the PS5 on my old blog, but after three years of weekly use my perspective has definitely changed. Now that I’ve moved to this blog, it’s time for a proper update. Here’s what the PS5 gets right — and what it doesn’t.

1. The Hardware: Still a Beast or Starting to Age?

• Design & Build Quality
  • I’m still impressed with the futuristic design and I think it still holds up in 2025!
• Performance
  • Load times (thanks to the SSD) is still very impressive. When I first got the console I was really chuffed at the Sims 4 loading time and I still am!
  • The graphics have a more realistic feel to them (when designed to be realistic). I don’t always notice the jump but when I do- it is good.
• Storage
  • If you have a mixture of PS5 and 4 games I would suggest an external hard drive for the console. I’ve found that PS5 games take up a lot more space compared to PS4 games! If you like to have a lot of games downloaded this is a good investment.
  • M.2 SSD upgrade —I would say its worth it! The load and download speeds seem to be faster on PS5.

2. The DualSense Controller: Innovation That Lasted?

• When the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are used I love them! They can make a game much more worth the play when used right.
• Longevity: I have not come across any stick drift in the past few years. Considering I drop my controllers a lot this is a surprise. They are built to last if you treat them right.
• How well games still take advantage of DualSense features: Apart from AstroBot and Astro’s Playroom I don’t feel like any games really took advantage of the controller features. Occasionally there are games that use them but there’s very few of them.

3. The Game Library: Three Years of PlayStation Exclusives

• Standout exclusives: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Spider-Man 2, Astro Bot
• To be honest- there isn’t many first party exclusives. For me this is sad as the games mention above are really well made. If there would be more of them I would love it!
• Backward compatibility is the greatest perk of the console. Even though the library is old they do seem to run better on PS5.

4. The Software Experience

• PS5 UI: To me it is still quite sleek and I really like it! It is much better then PS4 in my opinion.
• Quality-of-life features: Game help and activity cards are cool features. I like how it can help with the new PS5 titles and you can see what you have done.
• The PS App is really cool. I know it isn’t on the console but I have used it more in the past 3 years. It comes in handy to check what games I have bought and to also buy games! This app is a really handy companion to the console.

5. PlayStation Plus and Online Ecosystem

• I’ve upgraded to PS Premium and I much prefer this option. The cloud streaming and access to older titles has been really fun to access. As I was an Xbox 360 kid I enjoy playing the old titles I missed out on.
• Online stability and download speeds seem to be better. I’m not sure why this is but the bonus is good.
• Cloud streaming performance is good. I don’t use this feature regularly but when I do it is an enjoyable experience.

6. The Downsides and Frustrations

• Storage limits the amount of games you can download if you don’t buy an external device. To me this is annoying for me as I like to float from game to game!
• Lack of true first party games is frustrating. With games like Horizon and The Last of Us having PS4 versions it seems like it isn’t worth the upgrade for the games alone.

7. Final Verdict: Was the PS5 Worth It After Three Years?

• Personal reflection: I think the PS5 was a worth while upgrade! It loads games faster and has a great library- despite it being on PS4 too for the most part.
• I would still recommend the console to this day. It is the best option for anyone wanting to dip their toes into PlayStation or just to upgrade their console.
• Closing thought: The PS5 as a mature platform is great despite the true first party games not being exclusive to just this console.