DualSense

At a glance

The pad itself

The DualSense is the controller that shipped with the PlayStation 5. On a Windows PC it behaves as a standard gamepad over USB or Bluetooth, and Vesper recommends it simply because PS5 games were designed around it.

It is a recommendation rather than a requirement. Xbox and other gamepads Windows recognises work throughout the app, as do keyboard and mouse.

Haptic feedback

Ordinary rumble is a motor spinning harder or softer. Haptic feedback is more precise: the pad can produce distinct textures, so rain feels different from gravel and a small impact does not feel like a large one.

In practice it is atmosphere rather than function. Losing it costs you some of the feel of a game and none of its controls. Astro Bot is the title where the difference is most obvious.

Adaptive triggers

The L2 and R2 triggers can change resistance as you pull them, and can stop partway with a definite click. That lets a game treat a half-press as a separate input from a full press.

This one is occasionally a real control. Returnal puts alternate fire on a half-pressed trigger, so playing it on a pad without adaptive triggers means rebinding rather than simply missing an effect.

Getting it working

USB is the straightforward route and the lowest latency; Bluetooth is tidier. The setup page covers pairing, and the how-to covers the pad that connects but does nothing.