Destiny’s Remote Play on PS4 tweaks the controls for improved playability

By Adam Rosenberg September 5, 2014

Read our full Destiny review.

The PlayStation 4’s Remote Play feature is pretty fantastic most of the time. Thanks to the magic of technology, you can beam your game directly from your console to your PlayStation Vita, using the handheld as a combination controller and display device. It works really well with most of the games currently available for PS4, but sacrifices must be made whenever you stream a more complex game, like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, that makes use of every button on the PS4 controller.

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This is the dilemma Bungie’s Destiny faces. Crazy popular game, but not one anyone would expect to really sing in Remote Play. Well think again. Bungie is aware that PS4 users might want to use Remote Play with Destiny, so the team there put extra effort into designing a control scheme specific to off-console play that makes better use of the Vita’s unique control scheme. In the video above, Sony’s Sid Shuman runs through the specifics of controlling Destiny from a Vita.

Related: PS4 Remote Play grows with support incoming on Sony’s latest Xperia products

The most notable item here: No rear touchpad controls. The Vita’s back-mounted touch-sensitive surface has its place in games built for the platform, but it hasn’t found a lot of love as a substitute for the DualShock 4’s L2/R2 buttons in Remote Play. Some developers simply swap L2/R2 commandsover to L1/R1 on the Vita, but Bungie went a step further and just cut the touchpad out completely.

You’ll be able to try all of this out for yourself soon enough. Destiny comes to PlayStation and Xbox consoles on September 9, 2014. Check out the Vita controls in the diagram below.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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