Hey everyone, I’m David Fenn – producer at Acid Nerve and one of the designers on Death’s Door!
We’ve had a lot of requests for this one, so I’m delighted to finally announce that we are bringing Death’s Door to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on November 23! Reception to the game has been overwhelmingly positive and we are looking forward to more players getting to journey through our dark and offbeat world as a bird with a sword.
We have been working hard to make sure these versions of the game will be everything PlayStation fans want, with even more enhancements for PS5.
The 60fps frame rate is buttery-smooth, the Platinum trophy is fun and rewarding, and we have put extra care into creating haptic feedback for the DualSense wireless controller that brings an entire new dimension to the feel of the game.
As the sound designer, I was eager for the opportunity to create full haptic feedback support as soon as we started work on the PS5 version. This can be approached with as much detail as sound design – reflecting the weight, speed, complexity, and feel of each impact in the game.
When battling the Guardian of the Door, you can feel the overwhelming rush of energy from its laser attacks, while never losing the sensation of its weighty footsteps, the crack of each missile hitting the ground, and the impact of each of your attacks against it. These can all happen simultaneously without anything getting muddled up thanks to the fidelity of the DualSense controller.
I knew straight away that haptics could also be used to enhance the sensation of using the various ranged magic abilities you obtain throughout your journey. When designing the game, we realized we would get an extra sense of flow and mastery over the combat when we had a feel for the exact moment magic is charged and ready to be fired. Of course, we do this with sound and visuals already, but having it felt in your hands is both more immediate and immersive. You can feel the intake of power build up in your hands as your flame spell is charged, the pulse of energy when it’s ready to be fired, and the rush of energy leave your hands as you hurl it towards enemies! I’m really pleased with the effect.
This is all in service to a game we’ve been pouring our souls into for almost four years now, and we’re so excited for PlayStation fans to be able to step into this world we have loved creating. We really hope you enjoy it.