{"id":85031,"date":"2023-11-13T14:46:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T14:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/pc\/playstation-portal-the-kotaku-review\/"},"modified":"2023-11-13T14:46:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T14:46:41","slug":"playstation-portal-the-kotaku-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=85031","title":{"rendered":"PlayStation Portal: The Kotaku Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Admittedly, my expectations for the PlayStation Portal weren\u2019t exactly sky-high. <\/p>\n
I wanted to be able to play Yakuza<\/em> and Spider-Man 2<\/em> in bed without spending $500+ on a Steam Deck, and my chonky phone doesn\u2019t fit the Backbone<\/span> or other snap-on game controller accessories. I already have a Switch and a Switch Lite, so I\u2019m not looking for a dedicated portable\u2014or a whole new platform to build a library for. Sony\u2019s odd-looking handheld closely replicates the PS5 experience and left my hands feeling limber, even after longer play sessions. So it ticks a lot of those boxes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth reiterating that Portal<\/span> is a wireless PS5 accessory, not a portable PS5. That limits its appeal, though that\u2019s offset somewhat by the (relatively) low cost of entry at $199. You can\u2019t use it to stream games from the cloud (like the Logitech G-Cloud), and you can\u2019t download games to it like a Nintendo Switch<\/span> or a Steam Deck<\/span>. You already need to have a PS5 console to use it. Using Portal also won\u2019t \u201cfree up\u201d the console so one person can play on TV while the other plays on handheld. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve already expounded at some length about the look and feel of the Portal\u2014looks weird, feels nice<\/span>. Once you take this chonky boy out of the box, setup is easy enough\u2014in theory. You connect it to your home wi-fi network, turn on your PS5 and toggle some settings, and you\u2019re good to go. In practice, you\u2019ll probably have to download a software update for the handheld right out of the box, log into your PS account, and\u2014if you\u2019re like me\u2014update your PS5 too. Unless you\u2019re a daily PS5 user, plan for a good 30 minutes of loading-bar hijinks once you pull this thing out of the box.<\/p>\n\n
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Portal boasts vibrant colors and impressive detail.<\/figcaption>Photo: Kotaku<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Over several days of testing, I only experienced a single connection hitch, while playing Like A Dragon: Ishin<\/em>. Without warning, I was roaming around Kyoto looking for a fight, when I got a message that my connection to my PS5 was lost. I hit the X button to reconnect as prompted, and after a momentary delay I was able to resume without having to exit the game or reload my save.<\/p>\n
Switching between games works just as it does on the PS5. Visually demanding games like Spider-Man 2<\/em>, The Last of Us Part I, <\/em>and Final Fantasy XVI<\/em> take a moment to launch, but once they do, they run lickety-split with no discernable lag. (That said, I have gigabit internet and live in a one-bedroom apartment\u2014your mileage may vary.) It\u2019s not a top-spec OLED, but the 8-inch, 1080p LED screen is crisp and vibrant\u2014a noticeable step up from my slightly crusty mid-range TV from several Black Fridays ago. The blacks are velvety and fine textures pop.<\/p>\n
That said, the screen has a distinct gloss to it that picks up fingerprints pretty easily, and you\u2019ll notice quite a bit of glare in brighter lighting conditions. And some PS5 games lend themselves better to a handheld experience than others. Spider-Man 2<\/em> has clear enough text and menus, but FFXVI<\/em> is all but impossible to read at times. If you think this text was small on a 50\u201d TV, it\u2019s inscrutable on an 8-inch screen.<\/p>\n\n
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Photo: Kotaku<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Portal\u2019s handles are slightly shorter than those of the standard DualSense, which takes a little bit of getting used to. I did need to adjust my grip now and then, especially when I was playing while lying down\u2014or doing pretty much anything involving the touchscreen, which is Portal\u2019s equivalent for the DualSense\u2019s trapezoidal touchpad. Touch the screen near one of the joysticks and a transparent rectangle will appear on either side. <\/p>\n
I spent far too long trying to figure out how to access the main menu in Spider-Man 2<\/em>\u2014a quick double tap\u2014and even after having done so, it\u2019s still exasperatingly easy to end up in photo mode accidentally. At present, Portal\u2019s touchpad functionality is clumsy and poorly explained, but it\u2019s not a total dealbreaker. There\u2019s not a dedicated menu for Portal under the PS5\u2019s accessory settings yet, but hopefully that\u2019s not too far off.<\/p>\n\n
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Portal\u2019s touchpad functionality is fiddly, but can hopefully be improved in future settings updates.<\/figcaption>Photo: Kotaku<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Another hitch: Portal can\u2019t access your PS5 unless you\u2019re logged in. If you use your PS5 often, it probably won\u2019t be a problem. But if you\u2019re not using your main console every day, there\u2019s a non-zero chance you\u2019ll have to briefly turn on your PS5 and interrupt whatever your family or roommates are doing. It makes sense why Portal works this way, but it\u2019s a potential pain point nonetheless. Ideally, that\u2019s just a settings tweak or a software update away, too.<\/p>\n
While there are tweaks I\u2019d like to see in the weeks and months ahead, I\u2019ve been quite impressed with the time I\u2019ve spent with Portal so far. I\u2019ve played for about six hours on a single charge and still have a bar of battery life left to go. It\u2019s a solid sub-$200 gift option for the gamer in your life who\u2019s always hogging the TV when you\u2019re trying to watch Vanderpump Rules<\/em> or Monday Night Football<\/em>.<\/p>\n
PlayStation Portal launches November 15. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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