PlayStation 5 took an early lead in sales versus Xbox Series S|X, outselling it almost 2-to-1 on their respective launch days. Some of this lead is due to their launch line-up, innovative new controller and their momentum after dominating last generation. But PS5 has more to it than that and here are just five of its underrated features that help round the whole experience off.
Activity Cards to Bypass Menus (and Mildly Break One Game)
Showing player trophy progress and suggesting new ones to snag is a godsend for trophy hunters. Quick access to recent captures is handy for those who like to share their snaps or clips to social media. But the best feature of Activity Cards is the ability to hop to different parts of a given game.
Games with different modes, in particular, have a layer of red tape removed so players can hop straight to their latest single-player game save or the multiplayer section of a given title. For instance, players can go straight to FIFA Ultimate Team if they fancy getting fleeced by EA without having to hop through menus to get there.
There is one game where the implementation offers an exploit. Demon’s Souls allows you to teleport via the cards. The card usually offers to drop players to a different Archstone. There they can then teleport to the Nexus and then to wherever they like.
Demon’s Souls, like all Souls games, doesn’t really let players leave an area whenever you want. You are supposed to battle your way to a bonfire/archstone or contend with the catch of each of it teleportation choices.
The reusable Nexial Binding forces you to leave your precious souls behind. The reusable Evacuate miracle costs 20,000 souls and is a slow method of egress, leaving you vulnerable as it takes effect. Shards of Archstone are an uncommon, one-use item.
Game Switcher
The Game Switcher menu is a game changer. Just literally, although it is a nice feature.
Your current game and your last two played titles hang around your quick access Control Centre ready for you to hop in and out of your current playlist.
Pressing Menu on your controller brings up a simple list. Play Game, Game Hub and Close Game (if applicable) all at your disposal. This menu, the swift-loading SSD storage and the aforementioned ability to hop to a specific mode are a decent to alternative Xbox’s Quick Resume feature.
Integrated Spoiler Warnings
PlayStation 5 allows players to avoid spoilers being fed to their Activity Feeds and hide media in their friends’ posts. By default your system is set to a mildly spoiler-free experience with spoilers decided by the developers themselves.
If you are really worried you can hide media and posts from after your place in game. Of course, you can choose to ignore the warnings and view the potential spoilers. This underrated feature offers full control in this respect.
HDMI-CEC (or Simplink)
One of our underrated features can actually be a nuisance to those who don’t realise that it’s enabled but hear us out.
With HDMI Device Link enabled, when you switch your compatible smart TV on or off, it will also switch your PlayStation 5 on or off and vice-versa. Similarly, when using a different app or watching live TV, you can switch to the PS5’s input by switching the console on or, if it’s on already, tapping the PS button. Both of these functions are available on Xbox Series S|X but there is one more than is not.
Users can navigate their PlayStation 5 UI with their television remote. Whether you are loading a game as you hunt for a controller or hoping to use a media app, you will use it more than you’d think.
Go on, try it.
Trophy Videos
While trophies don’t matter to everyone, any improvement in this respect was welcome. PlayStation 5 comes with a host of changes to its awards system. In-trophy progress and their integration into Activity Cards are excellent additions. The new banners on the captured screenshots are also a neat upgrade. However, one of the consoles more underrated features is the trophy video capture.
The preceding 12 or so seconds of a trophy and 3 or so seconds after are captured in the same quality as your manual capture. You can also set this 15 second clip to capture your voice and with the DualSense controller sporting an in-built microphone, you can be sure it will capture your joy or shock every time. Unless you don’t want it to.
That was our list of five of PS5’s underrated features – things that future or even current owners might be overlooking. Are there any other features or systems that Sony’s latest can boast but haven’t got the credit you feel they deserve?
