Free PS5 Upgrade. Unless you have bandwidth caps from your internet provider, and/or have limited hard drive space; cheaper to get PS4 version for $10 less at launch (MSRP) and do the free digital upgrade.Open world game. Although the core gameplay loop is the same; it’s a massive step up from the original Horizon Zero Dawn in terms of what you can do with quality of life changesStep up similar to Street Fighter 1 to 2, Mass Effect 1 to 2, Uncharted 1 to 2, Mario Galaxy 1 to 2, GTA 4 to 5, or Persona 4 to 5Area is much larger in this game and has focus on underwater exploration. Game gives you way more options in weapons and upgrades. Can be overwhelming at times; best to experiment a bit and see what fits your gameplay style.--Story:Takes place right after Horizon Zero Dawn DLC Frozen Wilds.Going more West: traversing California, Nevada and Utah (previous game we went to Colorado, Wyoming and Utah).There’s a plague, Aloy goes to the Forbidden West to investigate. More advanced civilization for main antagonistMain story, side quests, and character interactions are written well. They give a realistic tone on social politics and how things are in the world without giving lengthy exposition--Graphics:Extremely detailed for an open world game especially on the PS5 fidelity modeFacial animations are good. Most look like normal people and not all super modelsAble to adjust HUD display a great amountFor PS5 there’s Fidelity and Performance mode:Fidelity = 4k 30fpsPerformance = 1080 60fps--Gameplay:Gameplay is like Horizon Zero Dawn, but more expansive6 skills trees compared to 4 in the first game. Each also contain more branchesThere’s Valor abilities that act like ultimate/special moves that does a powerful attack, temporary buff, turn invisible, or help escape from battle. Need to charge up meter for combat, and only can equip one valor ability at a timeSide quests doesn’t feel like you’re doing errands or just reward quests. There are giving sparingly so it doesn’t feel like you’re overwhelmed. Each of their own mini story attached to it like they're dlc. More quality than quantity compared to other open world games. Unless you feel that you’re underleveled; best to save side quest for later when you get flying mount to save timeThere are way more enemy types where you must learn their weaknesses, behaviors, and attack patternCan rest to change time of day to encounter enemies for specific dropsMore combo potential for melee combat especially if you use the Warrior upgrade treeGrappling hook. Able to pull down door/vents, move box crates, and climb for traversal/ environmental puzzle solving. Works like grapple hook from Uncharted 4Able to ride on mounts and paraglide (with shield wing)Underwater exploration : more for traversal and puzzle solving instead of combatMore scalable terrain, and items to collect. Climbing is not free form, game does highlight what you can/cannot climb by using focus scan ability… or go into options and have them always highlightedYou must reach the top of Tall Neck or giraffe type mech to reveal large parts of the map (like reaching the tallest building in Assassin’s creed games). Some require multiple steps to reach instead of just climbingGear upgrades are more manageable. When you reach your carry capacity, extra inventory is transferred to your base stashFocus/scan ability has quality of life change. Able to scan entire enemy without having to circle around them at different angles. Also able to tag weak spots and keep them highlighted when focus ability is offWeapon and ammo types can be overwhelming at first when you compare stats, and figure out what’s super effective against enemies. A lot of micro managing early on. During the end game as you get more overpowered weapons and have gone through upgrades trees for more damage/perks is when you can focus less on your inventoryTraps can now attack air type enemiesCustom Difficulty: able to lower difficulty of specific gameplay elements like Exploration (game tells you exactly where to go), HUD display (show as much as you like), and Combat (enemies less HP)Duel Sense Haptic feedback on PS5 is very goodOverall, extremely good sequel. Has its flaws you have to work around, but very fun game once you get into it. Best open world game I played in a while.