First and foremost - the d-pad on this Hori boy is VERY nice. Controller feels nice and beefy in my hands, and I’ve had the chance to take it for a test drive with a little Tekken 7 so far. Plays very smooth. Almost reminds me of like a SEGA Saturn controller.
I dig the customizable button layout, which definitely came in handy due to the super odd decision to have L3 and R3 in place of Lb/LT and Lb/LT where Rb/RT would normally be (Rb/RT are on the face buttons due to it being a fighting pad primarily). Nonetheless, with the easy to program workaround that is only a minor hiccup.
Funny, the XB1 standard pad is pretty much perfect, but I keep collecting little niche third party pads to play with as well. This will definitely be nice to have when Series X drops also. I’m deeply invested at this point. Works on 360 too!
I’m a real big fan of this D-Pad. This will be awesome for platformers and the like. Very large and precise and not overly clicky. Same goes for the buttons.
Below is what I typically play fighting games with…
So that’s my modded Tatsunoko vs. Capcom stick. Modded with an octagonal gate and a Sanwa Bat-top, in addition to Sanwa buttons. I utilize an a Wii to USB adapter to play with it on my PC.
I won’t lie. The Fighting Commander will never replace my beloved fight stick, especially not with the Sanwa parts added, but for playing a fighting game with precision, smoothness and in a typical gamepad form - this thing is nice - like really nice. I’m gonna mess around with it some more. I love how easy I’m pulling off combos with this. Hell, I might even slowly use it more than my stick just for the form factor alone.
So yeah, not quite a fight stick - but also a HUGE step-up from playing Tekken with my XB1 pad or my Hyperkin Duke. The thing is built for fighters and it shows!
Just ordered a Hori fighting commander myself after trying to get back into Killer instinct with the standard controller and it just feeling… off.
I played so much SF alpha 2 on the Saturn back in the day, that it feels unnatural to have only four face buttons for fighting games.
Glad to hear the positive review. I’m looking forward to putting it though it’s paces with the Samurai Shodown collection.
