I’ve owned this controller since launch and have spent roughly four months tinkering intermittently with a variety of games including fighters such as the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, metroidvania like Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and my main focus, the new platform brawler MultiVersus.

Once I changed the settings using the companion app on my PC (we’ll get to that in a bit) I found this controller quickly becoming an all time favorite. So much so that just today I purchased another for the Xbox console family, a very nearly identical pad with one extra button (again, we’ll get to that in a bit) and how found it plays brilliantly with current gems like Persona 5 Royal and Dead Cells.

The membrane D-Pad is an apparent dealbreaker for some who prefer the clicky clarity of a stick or Razer Raion or a fightstick.* Those are great options, of course. But when it comes to the PlayStation 5, those options have been greatly reduced and are now limited.

Your PS4 games will work with those previously mentioned accessories* but Sony has placed a frankly obtrusive gateway which has certainty effected accessibility for those who need it, and created an unnecessary annoyance for all involved. Will this be fixed in a future console update? One would hope. But considering it is a self imposed restriction, Don’t hold your breath.

Even with the above mentioned caveat, I find the Octa pad to be among my favorites. The Dpad in deep and small, reminding me of a less touchy Neo Geo Pocket. I do the moves, the moves happen, and I find it easier than a normal PS5 dpad. If that’s all you care about, there it is, it’s good! Binary shoulder triggers mean instant action, the buttons are hyper sensitive and large enough to be played with either thumbs or fingers , and the thumb pad and it’s eight way gate is just resistant enough to communicate direction.

But this combo of Dpad and stick returns to a form factor not seen since the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn. And as someone who has a plethora of pro pads with four back buttons, I’ve become keenly aware of modern games which don’t really use the right stick, such as the above mentioned Persona 5, which uses fixed camera and quick resets, and plays naturally on the Octa, like a PSP throwback. Or if you play BloodStained, turning the stick control to Right Stick (more on that later) makes the game 100% playable. Using the stick for the gimmick puzzles and the Dpad for movement has been a ton of fun.

Again, having used pro controllers for years, I have become keenly aware of what games dont really use the right stick. It feels like a waste of real estate and giant buttons are fun. And if you want to play fighters made for PS5, this wired pad is the way to go, IMHO. Heck, I’d probably still take it on the PS4 for fighters. Folks may feels weird about membrane but I’ve had no issues. None. The controller is light, it’s wide, it’s responsive, and it’s wired with no vibrate. I love it!

But…there’s one key flaw, and I dont think it’s Hori’s fault given it’s exist in it’s near identical Xbox version. You CAN NOT change your profile without a PC. Repeat, CAN NOT set profiles without a PC. Which means the left shoulders will be L3 and R3 (the buttons when you click the left or right stick in) the right shoulders will be L1 and L2, and the extra two face buttons will be R1 and R2. Weird? Yes, but it’s perfectly tuned settings for fighters. It’s a very logical default setting given the primary audience. Do you want a controller for Street Fighter? Here you go, out of the box gem.

But again, you can not change the default profile without a PC. Please be aware of this, it makes every bit of difference. If you’re buying this controller for PC, I still recommend the Xbox version because it’s an extra button to freely switch what the stick, shoulders, and extra buttons do. Sony has been weird about accessories this generation, I’m not blaming Hori for this. But given the reality of the situation, regardless of blame, it keeps it from 5 stars.

HOWEVER, there is a work around! Going into the PlayStation 5 settings, it is possible to use the Accessibility options to create a unique profile. With the flick of a setting, you can switch the left stick to a right stick, and change the location of every button. Everything I enjoy from the PC App, and then some, is possible through this solution. However, you wont be able to change the DPad sensitivity like you can in the app. That’s something I dont use because I cant tell the difference! Still, it’s a feature that should be available to all users, but unlike the Xbox version, there’s isn’t a console app. That’s pretty lame, and the solutions are inelegant to say the least. But at least there is a solution.

I hope this has helped you better understand if the Octa controller is right for you. Personally speaking, I love this thing. I have already explained the issues, but the durability and general feel is excellent. I’m very happy the Octa’s unique form factor exists and that a quality company like Hori has stuck with it enough to have made it multiplatform. I’d like to see other hardware manufactures try something similar or for an updated version in the future with mechanical dpads. But for right now, it’s a great pad.

As you can see from the picture i have used and abused this controller for about 5 months now. The dpad is still stiff and responsive all the buttons are still clicky and in good shape other than the paint rubbing off but like i said i have put some mileage on this thing. Unfortunately it loses a lot of points because it is a pretty fragile controller and im hoping to let people know to be careful with it. I was at a local tourney and while getting up my opponent yanked on the wire making the controller fall from my lap to the floor, so really not that big a fall but it dit kill the start, select and ps button. One fall is all it took to basically render it useless for local play. That being said the controls is so cheap that its a good trade off for what it offers in terms of performance so keep that in mind before purchasing Great controller but pretty fragile. (Edit never mind everything said about the start button stopping working turns out it is just a known issue with the conteoller with time where you need to plug and unplug and change the input type for the buttons to “unstick” this controller is awesome it yall should buy it asap only dpad that can stand up to ds4)

My old PS4 dpad started doing the wrong directional inputs, for example going left made me jump etc so I decided I needed a new controller.

I saw a bunch of reviews saying that it feels light, cheap and that the Dpad is stiff but thanfully I ignored all that and it’s everything I’d want from a fightpad.

The dpad needed some time to break in but it feels very responsive and it’s not mushy or getting stuck at all like most controllers, I can do my inputs without any issues, the first few hours diagonals were a bit hard but after some hours of playing they started being super consistent.

As for the buttons, it took some time getting used to but after practicing a bit having 6 buttons on the front made combos even more intuitive than I thought. I also use Ken so I managed to map the Run double press on the right shoulder button instead of pressing 2 kick buttons.

Also build quality is very sturdy and I don’t understand where the cheap build reviews come from, it also feels like the perfect weight for me.

Overall I feel like this controller is perfect at the moment of this review, dpad is responsive, micro switch buttons are super nice and the shoulder buttons having instant travel makes it so much better. I’d give it a try if you can 🙂

Ik vind deze fightpad beter dan de ps5 standaard pad voor Tekken 8. Het is gemakkelijker om electrics uit te voeren met deze. De 6-knoppen uitvoering is ook best handig en de knoppen drukken is gemakkelijk.

A diferencia del control para el PS4 este parece que esta mejor diseñado y al parecer sera mas duradero en términos de calidad.

Los botones se sienten bien al tacto, es liviano y funciona muy bien para los juegos de pelea.

I want to say thanks to the support team for helping with my continuously silly questions, you’re the best!

An awesome product with great flexibility. The customer support is superb. I recommend this without any doubt.

Wished I had found this sooner, it took me a lot of money and time until I found my dream product here!

I received a personalized and attentive treatment. Thanks to this deal, I was able to find a solution to my problem in a short time. 🙂