Name v.5.0
Iowa's Finest.
This was the first 3rd party controller I've bought for fighting games. I'm going to keep this short(ish) and sweet:
The pros:
This controller fits really well in your hands. It feels good, and is very light. It's sturdy and feels like it was made with ergonomics and longevity in mind.
The d-pad is actually REALLY good. I was unable to replicate the issue that PL had in his video where the character jumps forward rather than neutral after moving forward. I feel like this is one of the best d-pads I've ever toyed with. I love it. I put it above the DS4 and WAYYYYY above the XB1 controller. It's smooth and doing your down to forwards or down to backs is easy. I could even do the DBF motion for Bane's command grabs with ease. In fact it felt easier to perform.
It's super easy to move from button to button to combo. This is also a con and I'll get into that later. However, the feel of the buttons is fantastic and responsive, you feel like you're inputs are registering, and it takes less effort than a DS4. You also cant deny having 6 buttons on the front being awesome. Way easier to throw and use interactibles in IGAU.
The USB cable is also super long and perfect for sitting back at your couch or in a chair at a tournament setting.
Unfortunately for me, this is where the pros end.
The cons:
Over button registration. PL said in his review that you had to really plink the buttons to get them to register...I dont know if this was some early model or what, but my findings is that it's way too easy to activate the buttons. I have big hands, but not massive hands. More long and slender. While doing any button combo where I needed to double up buttons, such as Aquaman's ender string, F2,1+3, I found myself hitting 4 around 75% of the time. Even when concentrating on hitting just 1+3, I would knick the 4 and my damn water shield would come out. The size of the buttons is fine, it's almost as if it's the angle at which the buttons are layed out. On a DS4 I RARELY drop a combo, and never have this "mashing" issue. Execution is really not the problem. You just barely touch it, and it activates. SUPER ANNOYING.
Placement of the bumper buttons. I LOVE R2 for block in MK9 and Meterburn in IGAU. The placement of that button is perfect for me. It was R1 and L1 that gave me issue. I always felt as if I had to really move my hand in order to throw or activate an interactible. It was the main reason I ended up buying the PDP Fightpad. Much to my dismay, I found that the placement of R2, and L2 was completely done away with to create the 6 button format on the face of the pad. So I still find myself reaching to block or meterburn. It's not quite as bad as the DS4's R1 and L1, but close enough to annoy me even further.
We all know there's also no mic port which is mildly annoying but whatever. Go buy a bluetooth mic you cheap skates.
Here's the deal killer...The missing track pad on DS4. Now, I dont have MKX so I dont know how the function works, but the second I went into IGAU's practice mode I realized I could NOT quick reset the player placements. On PS3 MK9 you would push Select, on IGAU on PS4 you push the track pad down. Without it you seemingly CANNOT quick reset play positionment and meter or whatever your practice settings are...WTF am I supposed to do NRS, Sony, and PDP??? Did you not think of this? You can't just fucking leave that out! If there's some secret trick or I'm an idiot please correct me, but I dont think there is a way to do it. FUCK. THAT.
I want to give this pad 2 ratings. One ignoring the missing track pad, and one not ignoring
Ignoring: 8/10. It's pretty nice pad and most of my cons wont even come into play with tournament play. The button issues I had could probably be remedied with just more time and practice on the pad. Everything else is pretty damn nice...especially that d-pad
Not ignoring: 5/10. I cant use practice mode....Fuck this pad.
The pros:
This controller fits really well in your hands. It feels good, and is very light. It's sturdy and feels like it was made with ergonomics and longevity in mind.
The d-pad is actually REALLY good. I was unable to replicate the issue that PL had in his video where the character jumps forward rather than neutral after moving forward. I feel like this is one of the best d-pads I've ever toyed with. I love it. I put it above the DS4 and WAYYYYY above the XB1 controller. It's smooth and doing your down to forwards or down to backs is easy. I could even do the DBF motion for Bane's command grabs with ease. In fact it felt easier to perform.
It's super easy to move from button to button to combo. This is also a con and I'll get into that later. However, the feel of the buttons is fantastic and responsive, you feel like you're inputs are registering, and it takes less effort than a DS4. You also cant deny having 6 buttons on the front being awesome. Way easier to throw and use interactibles in IGAU.
The USB cable is also super long and perfect for sitting back at your couch or in a chair at a tournament setting.
Unfortunately for me, this is where the pros end.
The cons:
Over button registration. PL said in his review that you had to really plink the buttons to get them to register...I dont know if this was some early model or what, but my findings is that it's way too easy to activate the buttons. I have big hands, but not massive hands. More long and slender. While doing any button combo where I needed to double up buttons, such as Aquaman's ender string, F2,1+3, I found myself hitting 4 around 75% of the time. Even when concentrating on hitting just 1+3, I would knick the 4 and my damn water shield would come out. The size of the buttons is fine, it's almost as if it's the angle at which the buttons are layed out. On a DS4 I RARELY drop a combo, and never have this "mashing" issue. Execution is really not the problem. You just barely touch it, and it activates. SUPER ANNOYING.
Placement of the bumper buttons. I LOVE R2 for block in MK9 and Meterburn in IGAU. The placement of that button is perfect for me. It was R1 and L1 that gave me issue. I always felt as if I had to really move my hand in order to throw or activate an interactible. It was the main reason I ended up buying the PDP Fightpad. Much to my dismay, I found that the placement of R2, and L2 was completely done away with to create the 6 button format on the face of the pad. So I still find myself reaching to block or meterburn. It's not quite as bad as the DS4's R1 and L1, but close enough to annoy me even further.
We all know there's also no mic port which is mildly annoying but whatever. Go buy a bluetooth mic you cheap skates.
Here's the deal killer...The missing track pad on DS4. Now, I dont have MKX so I dont know how the function works, but the second I went into IGAU's practice mode I realized I could NOT quick reset the player placements. On PS3 MK9 you would push Select, on IGAU on PS4 you push the track pad down. Without it you seemingly CANNOT quick reset play positionment and meter or whatever your practice settings are...WTF am I supposed to do NRS, Sony, and PDP??? Did you not think of this? You can't just fucking leave that out! If there's some secret trick or I'm an idiot please correct me, but I dont think there is a way to do it. FUCK. THAT.
I want to give this pad 2 ratings. One ignoring the missing track pad, and one not ignoring
Ignoring: 8/10. It's pretty nice pad and most of my cons wont even come into play with tournament play. The button issues I had could probably be remedied with just more time and practice on the pad. Everything else is pretty damn nice...especially that d-pad
Not ignoring: 5/10. I cant use practice mode....Fuck this pad.
