PS5 Outside of raw visuals: what could a PS5 game do to really push the hardware and be an impressive showpiece again?

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

I’ve wondered for a while, but what do you guys think a game could do to push the PS5? If it took an art direction that looked good without needing to be very detailed, what do you think could be achieved with the hardware that would make us all go “woah! This game is crazy!”

For me, I would have this crazy ass double massive world setup where at the push of a button, with no lag, you could hop between two giant maps that are filled with things to do. So, you could get into fights with enemies and literally dodge attacks by warping to another world. Oh snap, now you’ve ran into bad guys in the other world. Now you’re fighting two battles at once, swapping back and forth between each world in a seamless combo, beating up both sets of enemies.

 

[MasterEn]

that's a good idea, but modern game companies don't like good ideas or having to put in work and effort. they will just coast on pretty visuals until no one is buying their mediocre slop.
i think you will just have to straight up make that game yourself if you want to try and take advantage of the hardware capabilities of the ps5. sony certainly has no intentions of trying at this point.

 

[bjork]

I think visuals are kind of tied to it all, so it's hard to remove them from the equation. But this even goes back to something like New Vegas, iirc the Strip and Freeside were all going to be one area but the hardware couldn't handle it at the time (and iirc again, I think it was specifically the 360 that coudn't and so all versions were changed to be similar?). So you're kind of kneecapped by what the system could reasonably do as far as map size and loads within those maps.

 

[contrail_]

I think we've gone past the paradigm where hardware merely being able to run software would warrant anyone's surprise. With enough optimization I bet any ps5 game would run on the ps4, for instance.
To answer the question of "what kind of game would push the ps5", I'd say "something that's come out recently enough... preferably during winter holiday season."

 

[dropsmegamega]

Make a game with NPCs that have actually good AI

 

[MasterEn]

I think visuals are kind of tied to it all, so it's hard to remove them from the equation. But this even goes back to something like New Vegas, iirc the Strip and Freeside were all going to be one area but the hardware couldn't handle it at the time (and iirc again, I think it was specifically the 360 that coudn't and so all versions were changed to be similar?). So you're kind of kneecapped by what the system could reasonably do as far as map size and loads within those maps.

matt mcmuscles talked about that in his mighty number 9 video. you have to plan around your game working on the weakest system that it's going to release on. if the 360 couldn't handle that stuff, it would be easier to work on that version first, and then copy everything that could be over to the other systems and make individual tweaks and adjustments for each platform.
mighty number 9's weakest system was the wii u. so it should have been either the primary version or had been kept in mind when porting to make those adjustments for it to run and work properly.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

My thought process basically goes “throw modern Sony out of the picture. Throw the modern industry out of the picture. Think about what do you think this hardware would be good at that others would not be.”

PS5 is an interesting case because I think we all tend to forget how many things are tied to it. PCs can CLEARLY match the SSD, but there’s also stuff like the haptics and stuff for the controller. There’s 3D audio.

Here’s another idea: a stealth game from a first person or over the shoulder view. When enemies are around, you can literally feel them in your controller and hear their place in the world through the 3D audio. You could even go a step further and have a mode where the game reacts to whatever sounds it picks up in the controller mic. A game whose mechanics are literally including your own internal survival instincts could be absolutely crazy and I think the PS5 is the best fit for it.

Post automatically merged: Feb 22, 2025

It might also pay dividends to try and tie some of the things learned from VR development into a console game. At this point, clearly, people are not incentivized to buy VR because the price is so prohibitively high in comparison to what you get out of it. The tech isn’t there yet, at least not cheap enough, so take some of the immersion things learned from that environment and implement it into a console whose whole thing in development was sensory experiences.

 

[Leifang]

I rarely play modern games and things from last 10 years that impressed me (played on PC) were:

1: Assassin's Creed Origins. World design. How their recreation of Ptolemaic Egypt looks and how the world works. They even made traveling desert fun because of mirages, finding secrets felt magical. Exploring tombs felt real first time since Tomb Raider 4. Sadly, magic was gone in Odyssey (random event every 40 second) and Valhalla (too empty) for me.

2: Baldur's Gate 3 as overall experience: it looked fine, but what was really cool how they took design of classic RPGs and made it modern, with added dice rolls for skill use in dialogue to things it copied from classic games (actual D&D combat like in ToEE, skill use on objects to solve quests like in Fallout, overall dialogue, quest romance system form Bioware games).

3: Hair in Dragon Age Veilguard, it's the first time a videogame actually nailed hair physics and looks right even with wavy and curly hair (Survivor trilogy Tomb Raider had great hair physics but it was limited to Lara only in 2013, and only did straight hair.) I bet games can still impress me if they have good visual effects for things games are bad at, like hair, reflections, and deforming cloth.

Most games are STILL a long way to go with empty worlds, tons of effects for hair, clothing, drinks, or even holding items that is hard to do, and rarely nailing that immersion and roleplay feeling when you don't want to leave the world.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

I think corporations should focus less in making the system more powerful next time, and start focusing in making it more convenient to use for multiple things, if i make any sense.
They should try to follow a bit of the "Nintendo" way of trying different things with their consoles, like making them more portable or making them more interactive in a fun way.
I think they should try to focus on the fun and the entertainment of the console as itself, as the main product, not try to just make it a tool that is a means to an end that is to play video-games. There should be more reasons to buy a console than just "it enables me to play these exclusives i couldn't otherwise"

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

Make a game with NPCs that have actually good AI

Possibly see what you could do with a modern Shenmue-like. Every character has a variety of daily routines they can take, with branching variance dependent on calculated RNG values and the changes the player has made to the world (burn a building down, they can’t go there anymore, so they congregate with other people who similarly loved that place at a new place to continue hanging out, etc.)

You essentially make a game all about learning people’s likes and dislikes, then manipulating the world each in-game day to try and push people in certain directions for their lives?

I know that sounds a lot like Majora’s Mask, but I’m more thinking about a game where you can’t talk to anybody directly (maybe you’re a ghost?) and you have to manipulate the world instead.

 

[Leifang]

For me, I would have this crazy ass double massive world setup where at the push of a button, with no lag, you could hop between two giant maps that are filled with things to do. So, you could get into fights with enemies and literally dodge attacks by warping to another world. Oh snap, now you’ve ran into bad guys in the other world. Now you’re fighting two battles at once, swapping back and forth between each world in a seamless combo, beating up both sets of enemies.

This is the general idea with Soul Reaver and if they make a new one, they could make you switch anywhere instead of at designated spots. Note that they did it on PS1 so no idea if PS5 is powerful enough for 1998 visual effects. Control is a modern game that did it somewhat, right?

 

[miguk]

Some brainstorming:

• Fully interactive NPCs. You want to skip on getting the burly warrior on your team and instead hire the cute girl working at the armor shop? Go ahead and find out how much more interesting her story is than that of Pron̈d the Barbwirian.
• Fully destructable/reconstructable areas. Raze the towns to the ground and rebuild them in your image.
• Fully customizable crafting. Build that 3-prong sword that shoots frozen fireballs or whatever you want from combining weapons.
• Enemies who are truly smart. No patterns; make them learn how to fight back.
• Fully interactive NPCs. Baldur's Gate needs competition that takes advantage of today's hardware.

 

[MasterEn]

I think corporations should focus less in making the system more powerful next time, and start focusing in making it more convenient to use for multiple things, if i make any sense.
They should try to follow a bit of the "Nintendo" way of trying different things with their consoles, like making them more portable or making them more interactive in a fun way.
I think they should try to focus on the fun and the entertainment of the console as itself, as the main product, not try to just make it a tool that is a means to an end that is to play video-games. There should be more reasons to buy a console than just "it enables me to play these exclusives i couldn't otherwise"

they tried that. the playstation move and the kenict. they didn't catch on like either company had hoped for. the ps move might prove helpful with VR, but i don't know if they are using it or have any plans for it at the moment.
i don't think microsoft will bother with the kinect again.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

they tried that. the playstation move and the kenict. they didn't catch on like either company had hoped for. the ps move might prove helpful with VR, but i don't know if they are using it or have any plans for it at the moment.
i don't think microsoft will bother with the kinect again.

My opinion are that these were good decisions but bad executions. Switch has a large portion of people that enjoy the irl movement games(there is even speedruns for it).
I remember using Kinect once with another person xbox and it was awful, didn't register most of my moves and there was no reason for anyone to play that really

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

This is the general idea with Soul Reaver and if they make a new one, they could make you switch anywhere instead of at designated spots. Note that they did it on PS1 so no idea if PS5 is powerful enough for 1998 visual effects. Control is a modern game that did it somewhat, right?

Dang, that’s a good point. It’s hard to come up with new gameplay paradigms that can really push an excel a single piece of hardware, especially when looking at that hardware and designing something specifically for it, assuming it can never run on anything but that system.

Post automatically merged: Feb 22, 2025

My opinion are that these were good decisions but bad executions. Switch has a large portion of people that enjoy the irl movement games(there is even speedruns for it).
I remember using Kinect once with another person xbox and it was awful, didn't register most of my moves and there was no reason for anyone to play that really

Yeah, Kinect was far too early. It was all based on a gimmick conceived by somebody like me: an ideas guy who’s not working in the hardware. Anybody can say “Wii without the controller!” but the actual implementation of the idea was nearly impossible, especially when accounting for 3D space and how people interact with it.

 

[MasterEn]

My opinion are that these were good decisions but bad executions. Switch has a large portion of people that enjoy the irl movement games(there is even speedruns for it).
I remember using Kinect once with another person xbox and it was awful, didn't register most of my moves and there was no reason for anyone to play that really

oh, absolutely. the kinect could just barely keep track of one person barely moving around. caddicarus and darklordjadow have several videos showing off how badly the kinect is at working under the best optimal conditions. they needed more time to work on them. the move seems to have a better track record, but i haven't investigated it very thoroughly though.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

Some brainstorming:

• Fully interactive NPCs. You want to skip on getting the burly warrior on your team and instead hire the cute girl working at the armor shop? Go ahead and find out how much more interesting her story is than that of Pron̈d the Barbwirian.
• Fully destructable/reconstructable areas. Raze the towns to the ground and rebuild them in your image.
• Fully customizable crafting. Build that 3-prong sword that shoots frozen fireballs or whatever you want from combining weapons.
• Enemies who are truly smart. No patterns; make them learn how to fight back.
• Fully interactive NPCs. Baldur's Gate needs competition that takes advantage of today's hardware.

What sucks about this list is that each of these individual ideas exist in some form, but are all tied down. For example, the intelligent NPCs exists in Shadow of Mordor. THEY COPYRIGHTED THE TECHNIQUE.

I think no small part of innovation is held back by companies doing that exact same thing.

 

[Strategist's iconStrategist]

There are so many things they could improve with better processing power. They could vastly improve on AI, voice/sound quality, physics, cinematics, improving dynamically generated content. The creative vision for AAA is extremely narrow due to short term profit seeking.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

There are so many things they could improve with better processing power. They could vastly improve on AI, voice acting quality, physics, cinematics, improving dynamically generated content. The creative vision for AAA is extremely narrow due to short term profit seeking.

You know, that got me thinking: we need to modern take on what Half Life 2 was sold as years ago. We need a game whose whole thing is a physics engine that uses modern tech in a way that other engines simply can’t. Half-Life Alex is KINDA that? Problem is, it’s on prohibitively expensive hardware, so not many people played it in comparison to how many people watched it. We need a game that does this, but it’s made for hardware people already have in their homes.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

I’ve wondered for a while, but what do you guys think a game could do to push the PS5? If it took an art direction that looked good without needing to be very detailed, what do you think could be achieved with the hardware that would make us all go “woah! This game is crazy!”

For me, I would have this crazy ass double massive world setup where at the push of a button, with no lag, you could hop between two giant maps that are filled with things to do. So, you could get into fights with enemies and literally dodge attacks by warping to another world. Oh snap, now you’ve ran into bad guys in the other world. Now you’re fighting two battles at once, swapping back and forth between each world in a seamless combo, beating up both sets of enemies.

Could have some GAMES idk, or features.
They haven't given people a real reason to own a PS5. The PS1 had a CD player that swapped the music in game, which worked for games like Vib Ribbon and allowed people to play Saturn music in Ridge Racer or smth
PS2 had a DVD player
PSP was a miniature PS2 sold for cheaper
PS Vita had a lot of new features and potential
PS3 had Blu-ray support, region free games, printer compatibility, the ability to play PS1, a media server, and proto-Zoom
PS4 has uhhh
PS5.

I'm mixed on exclusivity but come on what does this thing HAVE?
The real problem is that they aren't experimenting. They're mostly falling back on the same IPs or remaking them. The problem went way further than the exclusives getting ported to PC, they're going the way of Xbox

They also lack a real mascot just like Xbox. God of War releases are too sporadic, The Last of Us is still only a duology, Crash Bandicoot 5 was canned, Astro Bot maybe could be one in the future, and other IPs are long dead in the dirt. So who's left? Horizon? The fuck is a Horizon? The only way that would change is if Sony actually buys FromSoftware and makes Dark Souls a mascot franchise

 

[bjork]

We need a game that does this, but it’s made for hardware people already have in their homes.

At the risk of being a wet blanket, I feel like no business exec thinks this way. Maybe for the next hardware, sure. But after they got your $600 or whatever? Go play spongebob, it has raytracing or whatever, it's only $70. I would love to see a miracle exec with your vision here, though.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

At the risk of being a wet blanket, I feel like no business exec thinks this way. Maybe for the next hardware, sure. But after they got your $600 or whatever? Go play spongebob, it has raytracing or whatever, it's only $70. I would love to see a miracle exec with your vision here, though.

The points everyone have made are so accurate, but this one hits very close. I look at my PS5, and I’m a rare individual who is actually passionate about this machine and has loved it. I think it’s more interesting of a system than the PS4 was, I find it to actually be cool, and I’m connecting with what I play. That said, what games are leaving that impression on me? The Insomniac games I’ve played are awesome, so are the games by Team Asobi, but what’s really defined this console for me are the indies. Roller Drome. Viewfinder. And the game I associate most with the console aside from Astro: Stray. That game ended up on other platforms, but it was clearly made for the PS5 thanks to the work on the haptics, the emphasis on Ray tracing, and the general control scheme. It was and still is a wonderful game, which I’m glad has a home elsewhere, but I’ll always associate it with where it came from first.

The AAA workspace for games is boring, annoying, dangerous, and run by suits. You look at where a lot of classic PlayStation alumni who were with the company up until PS4 are now, and many of them went to work with indies. It’s the indies that are keeping the industry from killing itself, which is sad, because they’re still seen as lesser games in a sense by people. It’s a darn shame. They’re the people who are actually making cool new ideas and making them work.

 

[PaleFolklore]

I just wish more games would focus on animation and the quality of control input—like the Demon’s Souls remake did—rather than just pushing graphics or gimmicks in order to achieve that “next-gen” feel. Too many games still feel like you’re controlling a robot, where the character just performs basic actions based on your inputs, but without any real fluidity or connection between you and the game world. It’s like the game is moving in a stiff, mechanical way rather than flowing naturally.

If I had to point to a great example, I’d honestly pick Nier: Automata. It’s a game that really demonstrates how fluidity in animation and responsiveness in controls can make the “next-gen” feeling resonate with players.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

I just wish more games would focus on animation and the quality of control input—like the Demon’s Souls remake did—rather than just pushing graphics or gimmicks in order to achieve that “next-gen” feel. Too many games still feel like you’re controlling a robot, where the character just performs basic actions based on your inputs, but without any real fluidity or connection between you and the game world. It’s like the game is moving in a stiff, mechanical way rather than flowing naturally.

Well, I can say for one that Virtua Fighter 6 is apparently being built with that kind of mindset, so look forward to that!