On September 10, Sony announced the PS5 Pro, and while the $700 price tag wasn’t wholly unexpected, no one was happy about it. But I couldn't stop thinking about those upgraded graphics on my beloved Sony exclusives. You can see where this is going... I bought the PS5 Pro.
I bought it primarily for convenience, as I am donating my current PS5 to my wife. But to be honest with myself, I would have bought it anyway. I’m invested in PlayStation exclusives and console gaming in general. Microsoft isn’t releasing a Pro model of the Xbox Series X, so the only option is the PS5 Pro.
But how far is Sony taking its PS5 Pro Enhanced games? It was tough to tell when watching a crunchy video live stream. I won't know buyer’s remorse until I get my hands on those games and try them for myself. However, considering the games ahead and what developers have said about the PS5 Pro, I’m excited.
This is why I placed a $700 bet on the PS5 Pro as my main gaming experience.
PS5 Pro Enhanced gameplay
The PS5 Pro delivers a stronger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI-driven upscaling, but what does that look like for the average consumer? Well, developers jumped on the PlayStation Blog to paint a better picture. All of them claim better visuals, but I want to discuss the measurable facts.
Capcom weighed in about Resident Evil Village, one of the series' best titles, which will now offer a setting for 120 frames per second. It's currently locked at 60fps, so that's an impressive leap. This is a great example of what the PS5 Pro can offer. Is the GPU 2x stronger? No. But because of the way video games are implemented (fps caps) and how the PlayStation Spectral Super Solution operates, you may find your games running at double the frame rate.
With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare Studio Technical Director Maciej Kurowski stated that the PS5 Pro will feature Raytraced Ambient Occlusion (RTAO) in the 60-fps Performance mode. RTAO measures and replicates the amount of indirect light that reaches a surface. That feature was available only in 30-fps Fidelity mode on the base PS5 model.
For Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment Communications Director Thomas Puha confirmed that the 60-fps Performance mode now supports a 4K resolution. Previously, you could reach 4K only in 30-fps Fidelity mode. I usually opt for Performance mode, but I played Alan Wake 2 on Fidelity because the character models looked so sharp. It’s wild that we can get that same Fidelity along with high performance.
All of these games have launched or are launching before the PS5 Pro even releases. But what comes after? That’s where I’m most excited.
The future of the PS5 Pro
We got our first taste of what the future of the PS5 Pro looks like with the Ghost of Yōtei trailer. This is the first of many games to benefit from the PS5 Pro on day one. Let’s not forget that huge titles like Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Grand Theft Auto VI, and Doom: The Dark Ages.
We know very little about the technical aspects of the aforementioned titles. However, we do know that they’ll launch during the PS5 Pro era, and it’s all but guaranteed they’ll come Enhanced. We don’t know what kind of special treatment these games will get compared with the base PS5. However, enabling Ray Tracing or a 4K resolution on the 60-fps Performance mode would align with some of Sony's other claims.
With that said, I'm worried about Grand Theft Auto VI. Digital Foundry Technology Editor Richard Leadbetter suggests that there’s no way that GTA 6 will run at 60 fps on the PS5 Pro. That begs the question, what can the PS5 Pro do? And worse, what can’t the base PS5 do? I hope we don’t run into a classic Cyberpunk 2077 situation (Sony pulled it off the PS Store because it ran poorly).
We’ll likely get three to four good years out of the PS5 Pro. But it might be tough as we come up to the end of the console cycle, especially if studios like Sony Santa Monica and Naughty Dog are pumping out heavy hitters. The last thing that any gamer spending $700 on the PS5 Pro wants is to get stuck playing games at 30 fps. Even bumping up to 45 fps would be a significant improvement.
Outlook
If you want the most out of your PlayStation gaming experience, then the PS5 Pro is the best way to go. Yes, the PlayStation exclusives are going to look the best, and you’ll get them first. But all AAA games will get massive upgrades. Plus, $700 is still much more affordable than buying even one of the best cheap gaming laptops.
However, only time will tell if those $700 were worth it. I have a good feeling about this one (a betting man’s last words), but don't worry, if you aren't ready to make this bet with me, I'll be back to tell you whether I won or lost.
