One of the advantages of owning a PS5 is the ability to play quite a few older titles through backward compatibility. Most of the games are PS4 games, but there are some older console titles as well.
However, it is not easy to find out which games are compatible with the PS5 or how those games will run on the new hardware. Fortunately, someone has painstakingly compiled a list of everything you need to know.
Backwards Compatible has a list of older games that can run on the shiny new PS5. 577 titles are listed, most of them PS4 games, but some older PS2 games will also work. Be prepared in case you want to play "Twisted Metal Black," "Manhunt," or other compatible retro titles.
Unfortunately, the list does not seem to be completely exhaustive, as games like Insomniac's "Spider-Man" are missing.
In any case, this is more than a basic list that must be looked over manually. The search function allows you to look up games instantly, and the comprehensive tagging system allows you to see exactly how an individual game will perform on the PS5.
In other words, you can instantly see basic information such as whether a game is a VR game or a Sony exclusive, as well as other important technical information. This includes whether it runs at native 4K, whether HDR is supported, whether patches can be uninstalled, etc.
Perhaps most importantly, one of these tags has a flag indicating whether or not there are any graphical issues; while there don't seem to be many games that will suffer on PS5, it is surprising to see so many popular (and recent) titles listed: Dark Souls. Remastered, Fallout 4, and Black Ops 3.
The search function also allows you to filter by these tags and a huge list of available resolutions and frame rates. So if you are looking for something that runs at 120 fps at 4K, you can do that. You just have to make sure you pick the right option on each list, which is easier said than done.
As for the games themselves, when you open each page, everything is displayed at once, including their performance on older PlayStation consoles. Ghosts of Tsushima, for example, runs at 1080p/60fps on the PS5. This doesn't sound like a very impressive number, but it is clearly superior to the 1080p/30fps footage you can get on the PS4 and PS4 Pro.
So before you get rid of your old PS4, be sure to browse Backwards Compatible and double-check that you can play all your old games on the new console. After all, there's nothing worse than getting rid of your PS4 only to find out that you can't play your favorite old games unless you buy the remastered versions.
If you don't have a PS5 yet, the contrast between the three PlayStation consoles may help you consider where to buy one.
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