Hogwarts Legacy will offer up a swathe of DualSense controller features when it launches on the PS5 later this year. Developer Avalanche says it wants your DualSense to give you a “connection to the magic” of the wizarding world, and here’s how it’s going to do it.
Firstly, haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support will be there for Hogwarts Legacy PS5 players. The main aspect of the game that Avalanche has focused on with this in particular is in combat, where it wants to replicate the feel of a wand as it casts and deflects spells.
“You’ll feel the magical resistance at your fingertips through every spell, whether firing off a basic cast or summoning the strength for a more powerful charm,” says Chandler Wood, the game’s community manager, in a PlayStation blog post. “Spells will feel unique when you cast them, thanks to haptic feedback providing a direct connection between the DualSense controller and your wand.”
Interestingly, these effects will only happen on the right side of the controller and not all over, in order to imitate you holding your wand in a dominant hand. Sorry lefties, it doesn’t sound like you can switch sides either.
Various other actions outside of combat will also be enhanced through the use of haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers.
There’s also another cool feature involving one of the more underutilised aspects of the DualSense controller – the LED light panel.
“When not flashing along with spells being cast or damage being taken, the DualSense controller lights will pulse with the colours of your Hogwarts house: blue and bronze for Ravenclaw, scarlet and gold for Gryffindor, green and silver for Slytherin, and yellow and black for Hufflepuff,” Wood reveals.
As well as these more unique features, the usual assortment of current-gen optimisations will also be present for Hogwarts Legacy on the PS5. 4K, a choice of performance settings, 3D spatial audio, and super-fast load times are all listed.
It looks like those on the PS5 will get a couple of nice unique features in Hogwarts Legacy thanks to the DualSense. This latest nugget of information will tide over those who are awaiting the Hogwarts Legacy release date.
Hogwarts Legacy has drawn considerable criticism during its development, largely due to the fact that the creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years.
While Avalanche has confirmed that J.K. Rowling is not “directly involved” in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, it is working with “her team” and Portkey Games, a Warner Bros. label dedicated to launching new experiences inspired by J.K. Rowling’s original stories. It is currently unclear whether she will earn any royalties from the game’s sale, but it is likely given it is based on her original body of work.
If you would like to learn more about transgender rights or lend your support, we’d encourage you to check out the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US and Mermaids in the UK.