The PS5 Retrospective: Was It Worth the Wait for the June 2021 Batch?

When the PlayStation 5 first dropped, trying to buy one felt like chasing a myth. Like thousands of others, I completely missed out on the chaotic launch-day drop. Fast forward through months of stock tracking and website crashes, and I finally snagged my console in the June 2021 batch.

By the time it arrived on my desk, the initial launch hype had settled into reality. Is it actually the revolutionary leap forward Sony promised, or just a giant, futuristic-looking router taking up space?

Here is my straight-to-the-point review of the hardware, performance, and the day-one games that started it all—reviewed from the perspective of someone who had to wait for the second wave.

Pros & Cons

• The Pros:
  • The SSD speed: Near-instant loading completely changes how you play. Going back to old load times is impossible.
  • DualSense controller: The haptic feedback and adaptive triggers genuinely feel next-gen.
  • 60 FPS standard: Silky smooth performance makes 30 FPS look like a slideshow.
  • Astro’s Playroom: A free, pre-installed masterpiece that showcases the hardware perfectly.
• The Cons:
  • Utterly massive: It is awkwardly large and hard to fit into a standard entertainment center.
  • Storage fills up fast: The usable 667GB space disappears after downloading just a few major games.
  • The stock headache: Having to wait until June 2021 just to pay retail price was an exhausting experience.

What’s in the Box?

Unboxing this monster was an event in itself. Sony didn’t skimp on the essentials, but they didn’t include any unnecessary extras either. Here is exactly what came in the massive cardboard packaging:

• The PS5 Console: Huge, heavy, and unapologetically white.
• DualSense Wireless Controller: The real star of the show.
• The Base/Stand: A slightly annoying but necessary plastic disc to keep the console stable horizontally or vertically.
• HDMI 2.1 Cable: Crucial for hitting high frame rates and 4K output.
• AC Power Cord & USB-C Cable: Standard fare for power and charging the pad.

The Specs That Mattered

Sony talked a big game about hardware before launch. On paper, it was a massive leap forward from the jet-engine-sounding PS4 Pro.

Speed: The Death of the Loading Screen

If you ask me what the single biggest generation leap was, it wasn’t the graphics. It was speed.

The custom NVMe SSD completely altered my tolerance for slow games. Booting up the console took seconds. Fast-traveling in games went from a 30-second phone-checking break to a 2-second blink-and-you’ll-miss-it transition. Even joining a game late in the launch window, this speed instantly made my PS4 feel prehistoric.

FPS & Performance: Smooth as Silk

At launch, the big promise was 60 FPS as the new standard, with capabilities reaching up to 120 FPS on supported displays.

• The 60 FPS Revolution: Playing launch titles at a locked 60 frames per second made movement and combat feel instantly more responsive.
• Performance vs. Fidelity Mode: Sony forced us to choose. Fidelity mode gave us native 4K and ray-tracing at 30 FPS. Performance mode dropped the resolution slightly but locked in a buttery-smooth 60 FPS. I chose performance every single time.

The Launch Games: What We Played First

A console is nothing without games. Even though I started playing months after release, diving straight into the original launch lineup gave us a spectacular mix of showcases for the new hardware.

Astro’s Playroom

Don’t dismiss this as a tech demo. It was a brilliant platformer that perfectly demonstrated the DualSense haptic feedback. Feeling individual raindrops or the tension of a spring through the triggers was mind-blowing and made the wait for the console worth it.

Demon’s Souls (Remake)

The ultimate visual showcase at launch. It was punishingly hard, breathtakingly beautiful, and loaded so fast that dying didn’t even give you time to get angry.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Swinging through a snowy Manhattan at 60 FPS with ray-tracing reflections bouncing off skyscrapers was the exact moment I felt like next-gen had truly arrived.

The Bottom Line

Even though I had to wait until the June 2021 batch to finally get my hands on one, the PS5 delivered exactly what it promised: instant loading, incredible frame rates, and a controller that actually felt futuristic. It is massive and awkward to place, but the sheer performance upgrade over the previous generation made it an instant win. If you’ve been on the fence or waiting for stock to clear, it is worth every penny.

What about you?

Did you manage to snag a PS5 at launch, or were you stuck in the stock-tracking trenches with me until 2021? What was the first game that gave you that genuine “next-gen” feeling? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

Get yours today: