Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation. It's one of the most famous slogans in video game history, deployed for Sony's entry into the console race. If Sony has done one thing well over the years it's the marketing. While the PlayStation 5 doesn't have such an iconic advertising campaign behind it, the popularity of the console is not under question. Sales of the great white machine has risen dramatically this year, even as the feeling that this generation hasn't quite begun is still hard to shake off.
Don't believe me? Just listen to what the owners are saying. It's coming up to three years since the PS5 launched and players might expect some games that really harness the power and performance of this current-gen console. But in a discussion of the best looking games on the PS5, a couple of names come up again and again. And it's very telling.
Over on the popular PS5 subreddit, one recent thread asked: 'What in your opinion is the best looking game on PS5?' The discussion drew hundreds of comments and a couple names come up repeatedly. The most frequent is Guerrilla's Horizon Forbidden West. The action adventure, starring Aloy, is a firm favourite, and with the excellent Decima engine powering it all the game is clearly a stand-out in terms of graphical presentation.
But another name also comes up too. That'll be The Last of Us Part 2. "HFW and R&C Rift Apart as a close second", a user writes, in one of the most upvoted comments. "Special mention to TLOU Part II, it still amazes me how a PS4 game can look that good", they continue.
"LOU2 [The Last Of Us Part 2] as a whole is still mind boggling", another agrees. "The combination of graphics, incredible sound design, the best animations I've ever seen, plus stellar gameplay puts it up there with me among the best games I've ever played".
So there we have it. Two cross-platform games, since both Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 2 can be played on the nearly ten-year-old PS4, have been put forward as the best looking games on the PlayStation 5. What does it mean? Well, first of all it's testament to the skilled developers and artists at Guerrilla and Naughty Dog. Regardless of what platform they're on they remain visually stunning. Likewise, Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 is regularly cited as one of the most graphically impressive titles to this day.
Meanwhile, there is another difference of course. The PS5 can render The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West in native 4K, although again the PS4 Pro can also do this, but there are some extra graphical goodies the PS5 can do that the PS4 Pro can't even if viewers will have to train their eyes to see the differences.
But the PS5 is not just about pure graphical grunt of course, the power of the console allied with its SSD allows for certain gameplay mechanics that its less powerful predecessor simply cannot match. The likes of Returnal, with its shifting levels and restarting gameplay, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, with its dimensional rift mechanic, would probably have to be scaled down quite a bit in order to get them onto the decade-old PS4.
It's important to remember that graphics alone don't make a game. But still, it would be nice to see a truly jaw-dropping graphical wonder this gen, although with console power not being revolutionary anymore, with each passing generation, perhaps it's best to shift perspective and prioritise other things.