A model of this text seems in Recreation Informer Journal problem 329.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits debuted throughout Sony’s PlayStation 5 occasion, so it was solely becoming that we bought to see it operating on the upcoming console. That’s not the one manner gamers can expertise the sport, which can also be popping out on PlayStation 4 and PC by way of the Epic Video games Retailer, however we had been excited to see what the next-gen {hardware} brings to the desk. Because it seems, the reply is pretty fascinating.
First up, there’s the matter of load instances. Sony has touted the pace of the PS5’s solid-state drive, and the way it just about eliminates lengthy hundreds. In apply, we watched as Kena was launched from the PlayStation 5 system menu. It took about two seconds. That’s not resuming a suspended sport, however launching the sport contemporary.
“They’ve a complete factor arrange the place you are able to do transition and it’s very good, however frankly it doesn’t have time to play the animation. It simply hundreds the sport so quick,” says Josh Grier, chief working officer at Ember Lab.
The sport wasn’t initially designed with the PS5’s {hardware} specs in thoughts, however the further horsepower has allowed Ember Lab to do extra inside the boundaries it initially established.
“It’s been very nice,” says chief inventive officer Mike Grier. “We’ve been on growth on PS4 for a lot of the undertaking, and squeezing it and getting the efficiency that we wished out of it was a nightmare. However having achieved all that, after we went to PS5 it was good, as a result of we had a very good baseline after which we may simply add to it and make the most of the additional juice.”
Among the adjustments appear pretty substantial. We didn’t see a side-by-side comparability on the sport operating on PS5 and PS4, however Mike says the forest is extra lush and dense within the PS5 model. He says that fight is among the sport’s foundational parts, and guaranteeing that it carried out properly on the older {hardware} took precedence over the quantity of foliage gamers would see within the environments.
One other factor that may most likely be obvious is the variety of Rot that gamers will see on this planet. There are 100 of the tiny creatures to find on this planet, and PlayStation 5 gamers can doubtlessly see all of them scampering round onscreen concurrently. On PlayStation 4, you may nonetheless discover all the Rot, however they gained’t all be represented visually. Mike says that even with the sport’s aggressive level-of-detail scaling on the creatures, the efficiency suffered an excessive amount of on PS4 with the entire crew onscreen, in order that they needed to make concessions. Their performance is identical on each variations, however the visible variations are there.
The PlayStation 5’s controller is one other important improve. “The triggers on the DualSense controller have resistance on them, so we’re using that for the heavy assaults, but in addition for the bow,” Mike says. “You draw it, and the best way it sounds and the resistance looks like a bow tightening up.”
“The triggers are part of it, however once you get the haptics within the fingers, it actually brings all of it collectively,” Josh provides. “Clearly, you’re feeling the stress in your set off finger, however once you’ve bought the bow drawn and also you add the Rot into it, we are able to dynamically say, ‘OK, this proper palm feels the Rot leaping into it.’ After which after we use the Rot cloud, because the cloud shifts from left to proper on the display, you may really feel it transitioning from left to proper in your hand, as properly.”
Designer Liz Fiacco says she was notably enthusiastic about that haptic suggestions, which supplies a better diploma of suggestions to gamers than the normal rumble. She says that when she labored at Naughty Canine, the workforce there used a device to create rumble on the fly utilizing DualShock inputs. On PlayStation 5, haptic suggestions is managed utilizing an audio wave, which provides creators way more freedom on the way it’s applied. “We’re a small workforce, and there’s solely a lot experimentation we are able to do with it, however we’ve gotten some cool stuff in already,” she says.
For the reason that workforce is constructing the sport for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, there’s a good bit of switching round between older and newer {hardware}. Unsurprisingly, there’s a reasonably clear winner, no less than in keeping with Josh. “When you go right here, it’s type of exhausting to return,” he says, pointing to the PS5 controller in his hand. “I just like the DualShock controller, don’t get me improper, however I need to play with this man.”
For those who’re nonetheless on the fence about making the next-gen transition, or aren’t capable of get one at launch, that doesn’t imply you shouldn’t try Kena on PS4. To sweeten the deal, Ember Lab has introduced that gamers who decide up the sport on PS4 can get a free PS5 improve once they resolve to improve to the following console era.
