The PlayStation 4 has always been a relatively easy system to navigate, which is likely one of the things that led to it being such a success. An especially useful tool in this navigation is the quick menu, which can be opened by holding down the PS button, and allows quick access to many of the PS4's functions. Examples of these are messages, friends lists, parties, and party settings. Some of these functions have recently undergone changes thanks to the latest PS4 update, version 8.00. Here's a short guide on how parties and making a party works with this new PS4 update.
PS4's version 8.00 update didn't exactly bring simple changes to the system's party function. In fact, with the PS5 just around the corner, the update might have been an attempt to ease communications between the two consoles. This especially makes sense when one considers how most of the party changes on PS4 seem to have been made in an attempt to connect it to the messages function, as well as the groups that can be made within it. In fact, one of the easiest ways to organize parties on PS4 can now be found by using the messages function.
Setting up a party on the PS4 might be different now, but don't let its novelty be intimidating. Like many of the other functions on PS4, creating a party is actually still pretty simple. Just select party from the function area at the top of the home screen, then select start party, and then select create group to choose who should be invited. After selecting confirm, invites will be sent out and the party will created. This method isn't exactly efficient, but update 8.00 provides other tools for party creation, an example being the favorites option, which can be seen on the left of the screen immediately after selecting start party.
How PS4 Favorites & New Message Systems Work
The favorites option might seem like a confusing addition to the PS4 party menu at first, but the secret behind this option actually lies in messages, which can also be found in the function area of the home screen. In messages, one can easily see the groups they're already a part of, as well as make new ones. In order to add one of these groups to favorites, though, players need to actually open one up, or at least create a new one. Once inside of the group and it looks like the player should type a message, instead press the OPTIONS button, which is where the option to add a group to favorites is located. Once a group has been added to favorites, players can easily invite everyone in that group to a party simply by selecting it from favorites when creating a one. This is definitely a neat feature of the PlayStation 4, if an unnecessarily convoluted one.
Story-driven games are a staple for PlayStation, but despite this fact the PS4 actually boasts quite the wide variety of multiplayer games. The reason multiplayer games are important to talk about alongside the changes to PS4's party system is that now players can only create parties by inviting someone. This doesn't sound like a big deal, especially since the easy option to create a party by going through the friends list is still a thing, but what this amounts to is that the option to escape in-game chat by creating a party only for one person doesn't exist anymore. It's a small loss, and can even be circumvented by creating another account to invite, but PlayStation 4's latest update removing such a feature still seems like an odd choice, and hopefully it comes back in future updates.