The Last of Us Part I is set to make gaming even more accessible and will use PS5 DualSense to do so.
The Last of Us 2 has been widely praised for its wide range of accessibility options, but the PS5 remake of its predecessor is expected to take them even further. Speaking on the official PlayStation Blog (opens in a new tab), game director Matthew Gallant said, "We hope this will be an accessible experience for players who are blind, deaf and have motor accessibility needs."
A particularly innovative feature is that it will be possible to reproduce a dialogue thanks to the haptic feedback of the DualSense wireless controller. Gallant explains that this feature, which started as a prototype but proved successful in playtesting, means that "a deaf player can feel the way a line is pronounced, can feel the accent, as well as the subtitles to give an idea Of how". this line is delivered."
Fun for all
Other accessibility features highlighted by Gallant include audio descriptions for scenes, which also appear in the trailer. "We partnered with Descriptive Video Works," Gallant writes, "a professional service whose expertise is TV, movie and game trailers, and integrated it into the scenes and all of our localized languages."
The short trailer provides an overview of the features we can expect in The Last of Us Part I, highlighting individual features such as the game's high contrast mode, story and subtitles, combat, crossover audio cues, Improved listening and sound engine accessibility. capabilities.
However, the attached blog post goes into much more detail and we encourage you to check it out to see the full range of features available. It includes information about the game's three accessibility presets. Naughty Dog explains that because many of the game's accessibility features "were designed to work together," these presets "configure all of the recommended settings for visual accessibility, auditory and motor" in various menus
(*two*)
(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)Of course, you can customize these presets later in the game and Naughty Dog notes that the DualSense controller is fully customizable as well, with the ability to remap "each command to a different controller input, including touchpad swipes and movement." controller".
The post also reveals six difficulty levels: Very Light, Light, Moderate, Hard, Survivor, and Grounded. Like many other features, these too are customizable, allowing you to "individually change difficulty settings related to damage taken, enemy and allied effectiveness, stealth, and resources."
There's always more work to be done around accessibility in games, but it's nice to see Naughty Dog using the latest generation of hardware to create a more inclusive game. Sony's own studios have made efforts to improve the accessibility of their games in recent years, with titles like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the upcoming God of War: Ragnarok being prominent examples. . Hopefully we'll only see things get better.
The Last of Us Part I is a complete remake for PS5 and PC. The PS5 version will be released this Friday, September 2. You can watch the launch trailer to get excited. The PC release date has yet to be confirmed.