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Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 June 2024Preface:
I never write reviews but I have a lot to say about this controller
I've had this for about a week now and used it for around 15 hours on Street Fighter 6. Having struggled to find a good controller that helps you to reliably input commands, this one has been a real turning point for me. I've been using a PS5 controller for as long as I've been playing on the PS5 (the d-pad is great!) but needed to get a controller for PC, and I didn't want to use an xbox controller which is what I usually use for most games. Since the d-pad has always terrible on an xbox controller (360 for it's satellite dish d-pad and the xbox one controller which for some reason is difficult for quarter circle motions as it tends to not register diagonal inputs very easily) I needed something more tailored to fighting games. I have to say that since getting this controller, it really hits the mark, and for the price, it's really good!
Here's what I like:
-The octagonal gate of the analogue is a genius bit of design which gives you tactile feedback of the motions of your thumb. You feel the stick click around the gate, giving you physical confirmation of the direction the stick is at. As someone who always plays with the d-pad and struggled using an analogue stick for precise inputs, I can't praise this design enough.
-The buttons! The face buttons are really responsive and feel great. No stiffness, and the microswitches make them really clicky. The 6 button arrangement feels comfortable, and regular fightpad users will feel at home. With R1 and R2 on the front of the controller respectively in the right of the of 6 button arrangement, L1 and L2 are mapped to the right shoulder buttons, so things like parry and drive impact are executed with the right hand, as well as the rest of your attack inputs. The stick buttons (L3 and R3) are mapped to the left shoulder buttons, however the L3 button in the analogue stick still exists. This arrangement might be an issue for players of other certain games that require the layout, though mapping buttons ingame shouldn't be an issue. The options/start, share/select, touch and PS buttons work as expected. Steam users can bring up the Steam overlay with the PS button just as you'd expect with the home button on an Xbox controller.
What I don't like so much:
-The d-pad! This might be personal preference but I wish this controller had a d-pad more akin to the PS5 and most other Playstation controllers; separate, tightly arranged buttons that you can differentiate on your thumb. The Hori has the satellite dish design which has a feel that I can't get to grips with. Quarter and half circle motions just don't feel right for me. I know there are some people who roll these d-pads around from the centre, especially those who play characters with 360 inputs, but it's nothing you couldn't do with the analogue stick. The only thing I use the d-pad for is dashing and drive rush, as tapping twice on the d-pad I find is much easier and faster than the analogue stick.
-The only other nitpicks I have are with the feel of the controller; It is VERY light, and is a little weird if you're used to Xbox or dualsense controllers. Not a big deal but worth pointing out. I also wish the controller was a TINY bit larger and the paddles of the controller faced outward a little more. Again; not a huge deal, but it would likely make the controller that little bit more comfortable.
Summary:
This is an excellent fightpad for the price with only a couple of drawbacks. If the analogue stick wasn't an absolutely stellar gamechanger, I do feel that the squashy satellite dish d-pad would be a real dealbreaker, but it honestly makes up for it so much! Especially coming from someone who is used to playing fighting games exclusively with a d-pad for years. Everything just feels nice with this controller, from the stick to the buttons, and I don't think I could see myself going back to the dualsense.
If it wasn't for the d-pad, this would get 5 stars.
