The leap from the eighth to ninth console generations wasn’t marked by any huge technical leap, like the shift to 3D al graphics in the ‘90s with the fifth gen. Graphics have plateaued, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games from a decade ago still looking top-notch next to their PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X successors. Instead, current-gen hardware has been defined by incremental improvements, like real-time ray tracing and lightning-quick load times. Because of that, the biggest hardware leap can be found not inside the consoles, but in the palm of your hand.
The DualSense is easily Sony’s best controller yet, an obvious upgrade over the PS4’s DualShock 4, which always felt too small and clunky. The DualSense is sleek and lightweight, and ranks right up there with the Xbox 360’s controller in terms of comfort.
What really sets the DualSense apart are its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The first PS5 game I played was Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It came out the day my PS5 arrived in 2021 (after months of trying and failing to purchase one; man, this generation got off to a rough start). I immediately noticed the difference in using a DualSense versus any other controller. The adaptive triggers supply resistance when shooting, shuddering with each round fired.
That resistance pops up in indie games as well; in the recent Baby Steps, there’s a bit of pressure with every step using the triggers, and the controller vibrates on either side to correspond with Nate’s steps, with the patterns of various terrains differing in subtle ways.
First-party games take full advantage of the triggers, like Returnal. Squeezing L2 halfway will aim down sights like normal, while fulling squeezing it down will activate a gun’s alternative fire mode, making controls seamless.
While it’s a bit gimmicky, Sony’s studios have also played around with the DualSense’s touchpad. This fall’s Ghost of Yōtei is just the latest first-party blockbuster to include a touchpad minigame. At various points, Atsu will sit down to paint the environment around her, and you’ll guide her brush by swiping along the touchpad. It may not be quite like how Naughty Dog included a full guitar-playing minigame in 2020’s The Last of Us Part 2, but it’s a relaxing step away from revenge-filled violence nonetheless.
Ghost of Yōtei also utilizes the DualSense for its campfire scenes. You’ll swipe on the touchpad to strike flint to get a fire going, and can even enable a setting that allows you to blow into the microphone to blow on the flames in-game. Do I do this every time I start a fire? Perhaps not, but it’s cool to see devs experimenting with the controller and adding these unique elements to the experience.
The DualSense isn’t the only controller to provide haptic feedback, which is something of a catch-all term for the tactile feedback. The Xbox Series X controller vibrates, and the Nintendo Switch and its successor’s Joy-Cons have “HD Rumble.” But the tactile sensations of those controllers are nowhere near as advanced as the DualSense’s, often leading me to prefer the PS5 for third-party releases over other platforms, as I don’t want to miss out on the haptic feedback it provides.
Maybe it speaks to how shrug-worthy a new console generation is if its best advancement is a new controller. The DualSense may not be revolutionizing gaming, but it’s certainly refining a tactile experience that’s often overlooked, and to my mind it stands as the highlight of the current console gen.
