The thing I loved about the PS5, above all else, is that basically every game has a “performance mode” aka 60fps. I appreciate there are lots of people out there who don’t care about 30fps, but the ps5 generation gave us the choice.
Furthermore, almost all the games I played on PS5 were PS4 games that now ran butter smooth.
I'm all for user choice, but at the same time, the reason I opt for a console is to not think about that kind of thing. I expect the developers made the game with the hardware in mind and optimized it to run well with the graphics provided.
The idea of a graphics vs performance mode feels like they needed to push the PS5 too hard to make the graphics good enough to justify a new console, but realistically, the hardware can't handle it.
The sales pitch of the PS5 Pro is that the choice no longer has to be made, which is how it should always be with a console, imo. If people want to tweak and tune to make their personal tradeoffs between graphics and speed, that always seemed like what the PC was for.
I was looking at getting a PS5 slim, but heart the Pro rumors, so I waited. After seeing the graphics vs performance toggle, I don't want the slim, but looking at the comparisons, I don't see enough of a difference in graphics where I want to pay more for the Pro... so I think I'm likely going to skip it all together, at least for now. Things might change when GTA6 comes out. That could make the choice more clear.
If games only shipped with one mode, it would be graphics mode. The performance modes are there to cater to users who prefer a different tradeoff (i.e. to get PS4-level graphics in exchange for a higher framerate), not because the graphics modes aren't good enough.
Personally I was disappointed to find this generation of consoles still asking us to choose between performance and visuals. It felt like a necessary compromise last generation because those consoles were seriously underpowered; I'd hoped this time around we'd be back to just plug-and-play. It's easy to forget that prior to the PS3 and 360 generation, 60fps was very common.
I know I'm in the minority and a lot of people prefer the choice, but when a game is offering three or four different fidelity/performance modes (not uncommon now raytracing is a factor), I get decision paralysis and worry about whether I'm getting the optimal experience. I'd like a "developer recommended" option that they feel best matches their creative vision.
The fidelity vs. performance decision is precisely what Sony markets the PS5 Pro as eliminating. I’d also just prefer developers make 60fps the baseline, then use any additional horsepower for more frames or more real resolution.
Furthermore, almost all the games I played on PS5 were PS4 games that now ran butter smooth.