As strange as it may sound, my favorite controller so far has been my Google Stadia controller. It feels very sturdy and has a nice finish - and I can hold it for hours without my hands cramping up.
Also a big fan of the fact that it charges over USB-C, and that it works perfectly for me over both Bluetooth and wired.
However, I haven’t had too many controllers in the past (Nintendo’s controllers - GameCube, Wii, Switch Joycon/Pro, the Xbox 360/One, and the DualShock 3), so that could be part of it. I don’t know, I just haven’t had any complaints with it as of yet.
N64 is my favorite console of all time, but yeah, the controller is truly batshit insane. I even had a game that intended you to hold the left and right... prongs instead of center right. In a shocking twist, it was... still pretty awkward.
I do like PS5 controllers - mostly play N64 games on them, never even owned a PS. Used a PS4 controller before that.
Tough call between the Dualsense and the Dualshocks 1-3.
The Dualsense has great features, but is large enough and bulbous enough that I’m forced to use a full palm grip. That’s good some of the time, but sometimes I like a lighter finger grip that the earlier Dualshocks allowed for. I think of it similarly to claw vs palm grips on mice. A full palm grip on either can get too sweaty over time. The Dualshock 4 is a bulbous mess that fatigues my hands. On all of them, the plastic feels premium and sturdy and really fits well together. Plastic molding is an art, and they are good at it.
I have a few 8BitDo’s and they are all good too. The Pro-2, SN30 Pro, and Ultimate C (their naming conventions are flour of control). A bit cheaper feeling than the Sony offerings, but still pretty good.
The Xbox Series controller is… Fine. The plastic feels cheap, the face buttons feel cheap, it’s too big and requires a palm grip, the R1/L1 buttons feel cheap, the d-pad is one of the worst in history. The analog sticks almost feel great except they’re too tall.
Shout-out to the Steam Deck for feeling phenomenal. Also shout-out to the RetroBit Genesis controllers- they feel really good, but the lack of sticks and fewer buttons than most modern controllers makes it hard to use for modern games.
The JoyCons are awful. Most 3rd party options are better but I still haven’t found one that I really like.
The GameCube and N64 both feel kind of cheap. I think the plastic is a bit thin, and the sticks and buttons rattle around slightly.
left joystick is “up” at a natural spot (sorry PS enthusiasts, those low sticks suck)
buttons are “chicklet” style (Xbox round buttons feel awkward)
one set of trigger buttons are “throttle” style
sits on a flat surface without any buttons being pressed
Not sure if there’s one out there that meets all of those. But I have a certain fondness for the GameCube controller. Always felt comfortable, and I actually liked the asymmetric button layout.
For widely available layouts, I prefer XBox. However, I feel like the Wii U pro controller layout was on to something if it could add ABXY paddles but unfortunately it seems like patents have stifled a lot of innovation controllers could be seeing.
The Wii U Pro controller in general was great. Best battery life I have ever seen on a controller. Great dpad thats clicky but still uses membranes so it’s still a bit softer than the one in the DSi or New 3DS systems. The sticks were incredibly smooth too for some reason. I would use it more today if it wasn’t for the lack of gyro, which is a dealbreaker for many games for me.
I really like the ps5 controller. It’s comfortable, and the haptic feedback on the shoulder buttons is a really cool feature imo. The resistance is variable on the shoulder buttons so depending on what you’re doing in game, it can be harder or easier to depress the button. I thought that was cool.
My issue with it is that the trigger buttons quickly got a bit mushy and loose. Didn’t help to play a ton of Rocket League on it but still it’s not a very durable controller.
Also, the battery was completely fucked up by the fact that I was playing it wired on PC. It was all the time charging when I was playing and then apparently discharging when the computer was off. Support is also pretty poor on PC and you often get games that are not compatible.
I’m interested in replacing it eventually by a good hall effect third party controller. Probably the Gamesir T4 Kaleid or something similar.
I’m still not 100% sold on the shoulder force feedback. Sometimes it works well, but many games do this odd thing where you hold it down and it clicks repeatedly and uncomfortably like you’re breaking it and I’ve no idea what they’re really trying to convey.
I mean, I gotta mention Steel Battalion for the OG Xbox. The experience of playing with that controller is truly saddening when game developers these days won’t do anything similar. Yes, it was expensive back then, and would probably be expensive now. But you know what? It was totally worth that cost. Any person that has played the game will agree.
But for more normal controllers, I like the layout of the WiiU Pro controller, with both sticks at the top. I never owned a WiiU, but I did get a third party Xbox One USB controller that had this configuration. While it was obviously a very cheap controller, I really liked the ergonomics of it.
I have enjoyed my Xbox Elite V2 controller, it has served me well the last few years. The dish shaped Dpad is a nice feature, even though I don’t play games that use it too much I can see where it could be extra beneficial for fighting game players to make circular movements easier.
And a special mention for the Samba de Amigo controllers which I only got to use once because… I thought I would be able to pick a set up after seeing two in GAME (for maybe £99.99 inc. the game?), then ended up selling out and never coming back into stock.
xbox is my top controller design (360 onwards), however the touchpad on ps4/ps5 comes in handy for RTS games (or any mouse required game). it’s a missed opportunity for microsoft, considering they’re bringing Age of Empires to the console
I really liked the Steam Controller, but the lack of a right stick was sometimes an issue. Being able to switch between mouse-like and joystick-like input in certain games on the fly was important and not always easy to set up. No issues with the stick itself going bad, but the rubber cap on the stick for both the ones I bought was worn smooth pretty fast. In shooters, I generally had a harder time tracking targets with the touch pad, but an easier time snapping to targets. Quick headshots were easier than with a stick, but sustained full auto fire was oddly tricky. Touch pad makes it shockingly good for N64 emulation since you can put A and B on the ABXY buttons and then the C buttons on the pad without the weirdness of having ‘buttons’ on a stick that you have to resort to with other controllers. The touch pad is also useful for DS emulation. Dual stage triggers also came in handy way more than I expected them to. Really neat, and I’ll definitely try a v2 if they ever make one, but it’s a pretty divisive device and there’s a steep learning curve to using the pad to aim.
Tried a Razer Wolverine Pro Ultimate, and I loved the extra buttons, but stick drift was a serious problem. Four back buttons and two extra shoulder buttons meant my thumbs almost never left the sticks. The controller was basically unusable after a point, though, and I really didn’t feel like spending that much on another one. Steam also wouldn’t recognize the extra buttons, so I had to use Razer’s proprietary app to configure it, which wasn’t great.
Was gifted a Dualsense Edge and it’s so far been really nice. Haven’t had much use for the touchpad yet, but that’s mostly because of the games I’ve been playing. Sticks are pretty cheaply replaceable, but I haven’t had any issues with them after about a year of heavy use. Steam also recognizes all the extra buttons and lets me map them all I want, unlike the Wolverine. Battery life is much worse than a standard Dualsense, though. Apparently they cut into the battery area to make room for the removable stick units. That battery life issue is my only problem so far, however. Well, that, and I doubt I would have paid $200 for it. Again, it was a gift.
What I would really like to see is a controller with six face buttons, similar to how the original Xbox controllers or even the N64 controller have them. I wouldn’t always use the extra buttons, but there are times when they’d really come in handy.
The dual stage triggers made the Steam controller the dream controller for Rocket League IMO. Mapping boost to the second stage freed up my right thumb to control other things
Never liked XBox controllers. They feel fat and clunky, especially trying to use the bumpers, I feel like I have to strain my fingers. I also hate the way the sticks feel in general, theres something about the friction curves that’s just… off. Idk how to describe it. Also, no gyroscope. I will praise the triggers on the XBox one controllers though. I like the shape and the amount of travel they have, I think they rock for racing games.
My favourite controller is the Dualshock 4. Haven’t had a chance to try the Dualsense but even that looks a little bloated. The DS4 is lean, has all the features I want, and those thumbsticks are the best I’ve used on a stock controller. You can practically use them like a trackpoint on a laptop, they’re very precise and great for use with a linear response curve in shooters with zero deadzone.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a really good game, but it feels like an outdated work of the past that hasn’t been modernized enough to keep up with current developments in game design philosophy. The repetition of limited gameplay mechanics and weak artificial intelligence are quite evident in the game, and these factors combine to make the overall experience look mediocre.
The Switch Pro controller has been my favorite, however it has two issues. The trigger buttons are just a switch, so if you’re into arcade racing games, that’ll be rough. The other is that the rubber pads on the thumbsticks are questionable quality, and can also become quite slippery from the oils in your skin
I feel it’s more comfy, but YMMV. I DEFINITELY love the triggers and haptics. I wouldn’t play Returnal or Pacific Drive without one, and I’m so happy the computer versions support both!
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