Satisfactory (PS5) Review - Same Addiction, New Platform

Skip To...

Few games in the world make me feel like I’m time-traveling. I could fire one game up during a Saturday morning, and in the blink of an eye, it is already Sunday evening. I didn’t clean my house, and my family thinks something happened to me. One of those is Satisfactory. While I played a bit when it launched on PC, I tried to do some healthy game time management with it because it is one of the most addictive survival, building, and automation games out there. But now that it is on console and I’ve had the chance to play it, I can confidently say I once again lost a whole weekend trying to place conveyor belts all around a planet, and I have zero regrets about it.

A Builder’s Utopia

By now, everyone and their grandmother knows what Satisfactory is, and with good reason. No other game comes close to the amount of content and systems Coffee Stain has put together into one package. Yet, if for whatever reason you’ve been living under a rock, then let me go over the basics.

Satisfactory puts you in the shoes of an employee tasked with building huge factories on a planet to launch resources into space. To do so, you’ll start by placing a few miners, then a couple of assemblers, maybe some jump pads for you and your friends to travel with style, and all the way until that untouched world brimming with nature becomes a mechanic planet stacked with conveyor belts that never end. It is pure bliss, I kid you not.

The real allure of Satisfactory lies in its rewarding process. Often, games with building and survival mechanics tend to hit a wall when it comes to giving players new things to do. Yet, Satisfactory keeps giving players something new for them to enjoy or use. Every tier gives you several buildings that unlock new features. And when you think you’ve seen everything and don’t know what to do with your crowded conveyor belts overflowing with iron, guess what? Here comes a ticket shop that uses extra resources to reward you further. Few games manage to embrace the “gift that keeps on giving” part, and Satisfactory does it flawlessly.

Then again, many of you veterans might already know this, and even you console players who have been abandoned for a long time might know this, too. And that’s what takes me to the next part: the console version.

Uncharted Platforms

As someone who is always watching how other players change a planet’s landscape to make it look like a humongous factory with crazy builds and wild design choices, I was pretty nervous about a game of this size landing on consoles —and, well, the transition was mostly smooth, thankfully, with several favorable things.

I got to review Satisfactory on my launch-day PS5, and let me tell you, this version is quite remarkable, with only a few hiccups that happened only a handful of times.

If you didn’t know, Satisfactory on console features three graphical modes: one that targets 60 FPS with less visual fidelity, one that focuses on visuals but caps your frame rate at 30, and one in the middle that offers 40 FPS with some extra visual features. Of all these, I went with the first one, as I’ve gotten used to seeing all my games in 60 FPS.

In terms of frame drops, I never experienced any. Regardless of the planet I was on, everything ran smoothly, and even when my conveyor belts started making the inevitable maze, it still felt as if the game was hitting that 60 FPS mark. However, I’m not one of those expert builders who almost terraform a planet to create the most gigantic factory we’ve seen. Some bigger builds might cause a few dips here and there, but that wasn’t the case for me, so I see that as an absolute win.

Texture pop-in, however, was the most noticeable issue. I did two runs, one with no modifiers or additional settings, and usually walking from one place to another would have this noticeable texture pop-in in some plants or resources. It gets a bit worse if you enable flight mode, as some resources on your conveyor belts won’t appear until you get too close to them. Yet, it wasn’t a big deal for me, as the gameplay aspect is enough to keep you hooked and distracted from these minor issues.

On top of that, the UI and controls are straightforward, which always surprises me in a console game that relies on hotbars, quickslots, and other features that are usually easier to use on keyboard and mouse. Even building, which often feels weird in other games on a controller, was pretty easy, and frankly, I preferred it more.

Lastly, regarding overall performance, I experienced only two crashes. Ironically, they happened when I was building the HUB in the Rocky Desert biome. After placing it down, however, it ran smoothly with no crashes, even after I tried to push some of my building techniques in creative mode.

Overall, I’d say the console version of Satisfactory performs much better than I expected. Yes, there are a few other features I’d love to see, but the developers have already hosted a Q&A regarding why some of these things aren’t in the game, and it is perfectly understandable.

Welcome to FICSIT

After a long wait for our console FICSIT employees to join us, their moment is finally here, and the right will be much smoother than expected. Even with the few technical issues I experienced, Satisfactory still remains one of the greatest building games with automation mechanics I have ever experienced, and one I am glad that has finally launched for more players.

Still, if you own Satisfactory on PC, I still recommend that platform as the go-to in terms of playing this addictive experience. The tools PC players have are among the best to give you another hundred hours in the game. But if you only have PS5 consoles or an Xbox Series X or S, then this is a must-buy, as there isn’t another game on the market that reaches the heights and scope of Satisfactory.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Satisfactory (PS5 Reviewed)

9 Superb!

Satisfactory is still one of the greatest building and automation games out there, and it has now finally landed on console. This version flawlessly transitions all its systems to a console environment, and while it has a few visual issues, they don't ruin the addictive experience.