I recently got a PS5 slim, a console I’ve been looking forward to since the original PS5 was announced. It’s as fast, if not faster, than I expected and is a fun experience especially with PS4 games that are optimised for the new hardware. One thing I was really interested in was any load time improvements for Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. A game that after several updates bloated all loading times to 45-60 seconds.
This was something I knew would be better but I wanted to see how noticeably better given I never even had a PS4 Pro (I’m essentially a “slim” only PS console owner). The PS4 vs PS5 versions of FFXIV are nearly identical in terms of load times, though the PS5 version handles the fast transitions more smoothly since it anticipates not needing longer transition screens. Lo and behold the PS5 did indeed load CTR:NF tracks faster, down to around 30 seconds. That’s huge, but man that’s still painfully long since it loading into a track and out of a track. For the curious, I’ve been told by speed runners the reason for these load times is that the game has to load every asset each transition. Since updates kept adding new assets galore, the times kept increasing.
That said, 30 seconds is still worth waiting for. More so than a minute ever was, but in testing I found a new issue: the DualSense. This controller is amazing for PS5 games like Astro’s Playroom and Spider-Man 2. It feels good and is optimally used in every sense. For a PS4 game where my muscle memory is strongest in the even older DualShock 2? It’s utterly horrible. The DualSense feels wrong and the L1/R1 triggers are incredibly finicky and sticky. It was an unfortunate realisation for one of my most anticipated games to play on the new hardware.
Since the last time I tested this I did learn you can connect a DualShock to PS5’s (but ONLY for use in PS4 games) but I’ve not bothered to deal with it yet. Hopefully once I do and get back into the feel of things after months of MK8DX gameplay, I can finally enjoy CTR:NF in a more enjoyable fashion.