The first year of the PlayStation 5's lifecycle has been greatly marked by all of its technical innovations. From the console's impressive load times brought on by its SSD to the breathtaking beauty of its graphical output, the PS5 is doing pretty well for itself so far. On top of its purely hardware-based success, the PS5 has also given players a brand new way to get immersed in their games with the DualSense controller. Many games have already put the controller's impressive new feedback capabilities to the test, and now Kena: Bridge of Spirits is poised to be the next big game to show off the potential of the DualSense.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is one in an expanding line of PlayStation exclusive titles that manage to be full-fledged adventures and pseudo-tech-demos all at once. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was one of the first major games in this group when it released earlier this summer, giving players a taste of just how fast the PS5's SSD can load in new areas without the need for load screens. Now, Kena: Bridge of Spirits looks to show players just how responsive and immersive the DualSense controller can be through its intuitive adaptive controls.
The World At Your Fingertips
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an action-adventure game along the same lines as other recent PlayStation exclusive titles. Combat-wise, it most closely resembles Horizon Zero Dawn with its inclusion of a bow and arrow at the center of combat. Where Kena: Bridge of Spirits differs, however, is it will actually let players feel like they are drawing back Kena's bowstring. Through the DualSense's adaptive triggers, players will be able to actually feel the tension of the bow. The harder they press, the tenser the trigger will feel, and the game will reflect this by making arrows more accurate and damaging.
Feeling The Feedback
In addition to the usage of adaptive triggers for Kena's bow, Kena: Bridge of Spirits will also be using the DualSense controller's haptic feedback for other combat scenarios. Similar to the aforementioned Ratchet and Clack: Rift Apart, Kena: Bridge of Spirits will have unique rumbles for each of Kena's abilities and attacks. Light attacks will provide different feedback from heavy attacks, and even her shield will have a unique sensation to really make players feel like they are in control. It may seem like a small feature after years of rumble in other controllers, but the DualSense has shown that it's much more nuanced than that.
Getting Control Of The Situation
For any players who are hesitant or unsure of just how much of a difference Kena: Bridge of Spirits' adaptive controls will have on gameplay, developer Ember Lab has already taken that into account. In order to get players acclimated with the feeling of using Kena's bow, the game will include a handful of minigames that show how it works with the adaptive triggers. That way, players who are new to the DualSense aren't thrown off by the new mechanics, and a sense of understanding can be built up for this new way to play.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits already looks like one of the PS5's prettiest games so far, and the ways it takes advantage of the DualSense controller just adds to its ambition. It will certainly serve as a nice precursor for similar games that will use the new feedback features moving forward, and hopefully, it will motivate future developers to continue to support this innovation in gaming.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits releases August 24 for PC, PS4, and PS5.
