We’ve been dealing with controllers with feedback for over 20 years now and the Dualsense is the ultimate form of those controllers. While some game series ignore it almost entirely, there are a handful that utilize it to great effect.
For those who love to feel their games come to life while playing them, here are a bunch of games that feel great with the Dualsense controller.
10Rise of the Ronin
Feel the Steel
Rise of the Ronin
Rise of the Ronin is one of themost underrated games of 2024, and part of the reason is the incredible combat.
As a PS5 exclusive, that combat comes to life in a big way with the Dualsense controller.
you’re able to feel every parry, every sword strike, and for long-range weapons, your trigger will adapt depending on whether you’re using a rifle, pistol, or a bow.
Besides that, you’ll also feel your horse as you sprint around the map on it.
It’s not overwhelming, but believe it or not, most Souls-likes don’t feature haptics like this at all outside of Team Ninja games and the Demon’s Souls remake, so we’re giving them a ton of credit for their usage here.
9Hogwarts Legacy
Each Spell Feels Different
Hogwarts Legacy
The whole idea ofHogwarts Legacywas to finally make you feel like a wizard from the famous Wizarding World.
While part of that is done with the incredible atmosphere and fan service, it’s also done through the combat and usage of the Dualsense controller.
Each spell you cast will feel different in your hands, whichgivesgravitas to the actionhappening on screen.
Your deflected spells will feature different haptic feedback from your attack spells, and your finishing moves will feel much different than your basic Expelliarmus spell.
In addition, you also get awesome features like feedback during flight, hearing a cat’s purr come through your controller speakers when you pet it, and varying forms of adaptive triggers throughout combat as well.
It makes playing as your own Wizard as close to as perfect as you’d imagine, and due to the game being multi-platform, you can also use the Dualsense features on PC as well.
8Ghost of Tsushima
The Feeling of The Samurai
Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushimawas one of thebreakout hitsof 2020, and although it didn’t start out as a PS5 title, it certainly made sure to include Dualsense features once it popped up there.
Everything feels better with these features, from combat to exploration.
With the combat, you’ll feel a noticeable difference in the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback when attacking with light attacks, charging a strong stab, or using your bow of varying strengths.
It makes combat feel much more impactful and brutal when the controller jumps in your hands as you tear down the Mongol invasion.
It’s not just apparent in combat, though, as you’ll feel your horse sprint through the countryside, the wind ripples through your hands as it guides you in the right direction, and it even comes into play with your grappling hook.
This is one of the best examples of a developer not just porting their game to a new console but putting genuine effort into making it worth the upgrade price.
7Horizon: Forbidden West
The Bow’s Pull
Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon: Forbidden Westmay have been overshadowed a bit when it released due to the Elden Ring craze,but for PS5 owners, it was an exemplary gamethat used Dualsense features about as well as any game.
Such careful detail was put into how it would be implemented here.
You’ll feel the difference between walking on dirt and wading through the grass. If you take to the water, each motion in the water will ripple differently in your hands.
Combat is where the Dualsense comes alive the most here, giving you an incredible adaptive trigger on your bows, which varies between your long-range bows and your short-range ones.
No game has captured the feeling of pulling a bowstring like this one other than perhaps The Pathless, and it makes every shot feel incredibly powerful, and that goes double for the creatures you’ll be facing, who can make you feel the earth rumble around you as they stomp towards your presence.
Luckily, you’re able to also access these amazing features on PC these days, so more people can see why this controller is so special when used correctly.
6Cyberpunk 2077
An Explosive Experience
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077is one of the best RPGs of all timenow that it’s gone through its thorough makeover, and the definitive way to play it is, without a doubt, the Dualsense controller.
Much detail was put into how this will impact your gameplay, and it’s much appreciated.
All of a sudden, the mediocre vehicle travel feels weighty and fun as the controller rumbles in your hands differently as you soar around the city on motorcycles or cars of varying sizes.
Of course, most of your time will be spent on foot, and a lot of that time will be spent engaging in combat.
The controller shines in this instance, giving you different levels of adaptive triggers and haptic feedback for the various types of guns you’ll be using.
Melee weapons also feel different, as the Dualsense gives them real power to your cuts and massive swings. Using a sledgehammer will feel different from the Monowire, and your Gorilla Arms punches and slams will rumble much differently than an up-close shotgun blast.
It makes the already excellent combat feel even better and makes playing with the Dualsense a must for anyone who owns it.
5Scarlet Nexus
An Assistant in Your Hands
Scarlet Nexus
Scarlet Nexusis a solid, anime-inspired action game that doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel andlargely succeeds on its action-based premise.
However, playing with a Dualsense controller is an awesome experience that uses the controller’s capabilities a bit differently than most.
During combat, you’ll be able to feel the adaptive triggers and feedback in a big way when using the various psycho-kinetic abilities, but the best use of it is that the triggers themselves will let you know when your powers have recharged.
This means that if you’re holding in the triggers for a power you’ve used and are waiting to use it again, the triggers will actually change their pressure to let you know it’s usable again.
It’s the only game I’ve seen that uses the controller features in this way and should be an innovator for games looking to implement them going forward.
4Demon’s Souls
Heavy Hits
Demon’s Souls
Demon’s Soulsis anawesome remakethat improves upon the original in so many ways, but one of the best features is the usage of the Dualsense controller.
FromSoftware typically has little care for haptic feedback in its games, and it leads to a feeling of weightlessness with the combat.
That’s not the case at all here, with every sword strike and magic attack rumbling in different ways within your hands to make combat an even more intense affair.
Parrying and using bows also causes the adaptive triggers to come to life, giving you a real sense of being in the moment when facing off against immense challenges in a way that even amazing games like Elden Ring failed to deliver.
Your Controller is Your Ally
Returnalis an incredibly unique experience that managed to take the rogue-like genre and put it in triple-A shoes.
As it started off as a PS5 exclusive, there were plenty of expectations about how the game would use the Dualsense features.
Luckily, Returnal doesn’t disappoint. You will literally feel the rain fall on your back as you play, and the variety of weapons will give you a different kick when you use them.
Even more important, though, are the amazing audio cues you will get through the speaker itself, letting you in on approaching enemies or hazards to watch out for.
It was one of the first big titles on the PS5 to use Dualsense in this way, and it set the trend that games have followed since then.
2Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Incredible Feedback
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2is an awesome improvement over the first game in many ways, and one of those is its usage of the Dualsense controller.
As you soar through the city with your webs, you’ll feel the wind through the controller, letting you know how fast you’re moving, and the feeling is simply exhilarating.
There are also audio cues that come through the controller, hints given in puzzles due to the vibration of the controller, and, in combat, your variety of abilities will all give out unique vibrations through the controller as well.
It’s an awesome usage of the features that helped cement Spider-Man 2 as one of 2023’s biggest triumphs.
1Astro Bot
Feel Everything
Astro Botis an incredible nostalgia trip that has cemented Astro’s status as the certified PS5 mascot. Although the whole journey with Astro started as a PSVR game, followed by a glorified tech demo, the usage of the Dualsense was so endearing that Astro Bot became a full-fledged game.
That Dualsense usage got even greater in the full game, with so many unique aspects that it feels less like a controller in your hands and more like an evolving mechanism.
It’s amazing to feel the pitter-patter along the various types of surfaces in the game, but the various weapon types in the game all burst to life in your hands, offering varying degrees of adaptive trigger usage and pulsating vibrations.
It seems that the team behind Astro Bot fully understands how important the Dualsense features are, as the vibrations feel incredibly strong in this game compared to other PS5 exclusives, and it’s a shame more companies don’t take note.
While the game itself is very fun, Astro Bot is easily the best way to show off the incredible ways the Dualsense can be used to enhance an experience.
