HORI Fighting Commander Octa Designed for Xbox Series X|S By - Officially Licensed by Microsoft - Xbox Series X

I played on the PS4 FC for the last 2 years and, to it's credit, it held up to the punishment (around 1500 hours of SFV and various other fighters on both PS4 and PC) but eventually, it's buttons just kinda stopped working. So I decided to jump to the Octo here with my fingers crossed since I play mostly on PC these days and was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't tell you if it will stand the test of time or not, but for the price, I'm not terribly worried. You simply cannot get a controller (of any kind) of this quality at this pricepoint. This one has excellent MECHANICAL buttons that are simply a joy to press. If you love those fight stick buttons, you're going to be a happy camper with this pad. Reception on the D-Pad is mixed, but I love it. My only complaints are that the D-Pad cross has hard edges which can hurt my thumb after hours of continuous play and that it does NOT have the mechanical actuation that the buttons have. I would have happily paid another 10-20 bucks if that was the case, as it feels a little odd to have clicky feedback on one side of the controller but not on the other. But I still give this controller 5-stars despite my hair-splitting complaints. It could be better, but it's still best-of-class. It's great. You should get one.

UPDATE: Original review below but I gotta knock this down to a 1-star. I've got a few dozen hours into this thing now and the dpad is definitely trash. Unlike most bad daps, instead of the corners being bad, it would seem that the cardinal directions are the problem. Which is weird. Even worse, the pad requires a significant hold to keep the input. If you let off even slightly, it'll release back to neutral (or start bouncing back-and-forth with the corner input, which is not good). So I'm killing my thumb just trying to maintain, say, a down input. It's sad because I do like everything else about the pad. This dpad just ain't cuttin it. Giving this a tentative 3-star. The biggest issue for the Hori FC is still the dpad; however, this current iteration is at least better than the redesign one they did with the FC4. My rating is tentative because I can already tell that I'll need to put in some significant time to break in the pad. Right now, it's incredibly stiff, so there are a lot of dropped inputs for certain complex sequences. This could definitely get better once it loosens up, or it could get worse. (Although it still confused the **** out of me that they ever moved away from the original FC4 dpad design. That was one of the best dpad's ever, and right out of the box, too.) I also don't know how the dpad will hold up over time, so it could be low quality and just wear out. We'll have to see. So again, this could go to 5, could go down to 1, just need more hours on it. Otherwise, it's a solid controller. A little light in weight, but still seems to be solid construction. Buttons are all nice and responsive. Really no other complaints than the dpad. I'll also note briefly that I'm a life-long pad player. I see a lot of reviews from stick players; my main controller has always been pad, so I've tried a ton of different brands and styles of pad, including Hori contemporaries like the PowerA Fusion and Razer Raion (which I've reviewed here on amazon). Hori is still way better than those, but Hori is just a ways from the insanely awesome pad that was the original FC4. Take from that what you will.

I am returning this product because it doesn't feel right for me. There's honestly nothing wrong with this, but even after a few days I just can't get used to this controller. Pro's: - Price point is a steal for a new pad, definitely better than Razer - Build quality is superb and has a very solid feel on hands - Attack and movement input buttons have a clicky feel to it - Four controller presets, also you could use side buttons for movement inputs (if you're into that) - I don't usually use left directional stick for fighting games, however testing it out I noticed that you have to put more pressure when applying an input in comparation to the official Series S/X controller and DualSense controller Cons: - My only con, and this is coming from personal preference, but the directional pad is abysmal. · It is similar to and reminds me of the Xbox 360 directional pad; I hated playing fighting games on that pad but if you can play on that pad without misinputs then more power to you and I would recommend that you should definitely get this controller because it is an absolute steal for the price. I'm just sad that Hori could not replicate the directional pad the Xbox Series S/X had. If they ever update the directional pad to have that feel or even better, or if they ever come out with a Sony version of this with a directional pad that feels just the same or better then I'm all in.

UPDATE again: I think my inputs dropping out was due to the controller being plugged in to a cruddy USB hub. Whoopsie. First off, I don't really understand everyone's issues with the d-pad. For me it feels just about the right size to get clean inputs without having to move my thumb tip very far. Maybe if you have larger hands it could be an issue, though. The analog stick has a great snappiness to it, and the octo gate is tactile yet doesn't get in the way of smooth rotation movements. The six mechanical switch face buttons are the best buttons I have ever felt on a gamepad controller. The shoulder buttons are sufficiently wide and have a very short travel, but I do wish they also used mechanical microswitches. On the ergonomic side of things, the controller feels just right for my smallish-medium sized hands, but I do wish the handles were angled slightly more towards the outside. If you hold the controller close to your body and fully grip the handles, your wrists are going to be bent about 45 degrees, which probably isn't good for long-term use. Still, this is overall one of my favorite controllers I've ever had. However the real issues begin at the software side of things, as many have said. If you get a first production run, you're gonna need to download a firmware update exe from Hori's website to insure the d-pad inputs work correctly. Secondly, there's the Hori Device Manager software. This lets you change the sensitivity of each d-pad direction, and reassign the buttons. At least, it does the second part *in theory.* Many of the menu sections in the device manager can only be controlled by the controller itself for some mysterious reason, while others can detect mouse clicks. The graph for the d-pad sensitivity is pretty confusing at first and lacking in information, but I'm pretty sure that moving the dots closer to the center means reduced sensitivity in that direction. The major problem is the button reassignment menu. You'd think it'd be as easy as just telling each button what to do, but no. Each time you change a button assignment, it changes not only that button, not just the other button that already had that assignment, but ANOTHER, third button also gets changed for no rhyme or reason. I have yet to decipher this arcane dance of musical chairs and actually gotten the buttons set up in a traditional layout for non-fighting games. This is the biggest issue holding this controller back and I can only hope Hori improves their software soon. Still, the controller itself feels so nice to use that I can't help but give it four stars rather than the lower ratings others have given it. But if the software would simply do what I want it to, I would have easily given this five stars.

Avoid if you need it for fighting games, the D-Pad on this is nigh-unusable. Usually you roll your thumb along the pad for movement and spacing, but it constantly jitters and returns itself to neutral - the video demonstrates what I mean, the first 3 seconds are performed with the analog stick and the remainder is the god awful Dpad you can see how much it jitters everywhere and this is with me CONSCIOUSLY TRYING to be precise. You'll end up getting random forward/back dashes or special inputs you didn't want, or hell sometimes while holding downback if it freaks out at the wrong moment it won't let you block when you want to. You might not even be able to adjust the sensitivity in software either, for me the Hori manager software doesn't even work and I've tried 3 different versions, manually updating the controller firmware, reinstalling the drivers, rebooting, nothing works. Besides that, the buttons are a bit close together, I have very small hands and I have issues with it occasionally. The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is because it's probably fine if you use the analog stick or don't intend to play fighting games where your inputs need to be precise.

I bought this controller to try out the octagon analog stick and it's mechanical switches to play Guilty Gear Strive when it released. I enjoyed my time with it until one of the triggers snapped from use. THE GOOD: The face buttons feel great. They feel quick and responsive with the satisfying mechanical click from micro switch buttons used. I have no complaints about the face buttons and Hori should continue using this going forward for their gamepads. The octagon analog stick feels very smooth and the notches give great tactile feedback when finding precision. Half circle forward motions feel great and easy to do on this. This alone was the reason why I bought the controller and it exceeded my expectations. THE BAD: The D-Pad does not feel good. The D-Pad on the Hori Commander felt much better. The shape and design of the Octa D-Pad doesn't feel comfortable and having to rely on the app to change sensitivity doesn't reduce how the D-Pad actually feels. These triggers feel extremely cheap when compared to the micro switch face buttons. Obviously they're cheap too if one broke after only two months of frequent use. In my case it was the R2 button as it's my dash macro in GGST but it probably would've broke just as soon if I had this during my peak play time in Dragonball FighterZ. Obviously you can forego these and use the face buttons for R2 but there's besides the point. The triggers just aren't of the same quality as the rest of controller and should not break these easily after only two months when my Hori Commander is still standing just fine after almost an entire year of consistent fighting game, 2D side scroller and platformer use. THE UNUSED: I never actually used more than one profile to change settings and I didn't feel a need to. So having to configure different profiles felt like an unnecessary feature for me personally. D-Pad sensitivity was never used either because I just didn't like the way the D-Pad felt. If it was more comfortable I might have messed around with this more. Mic and Headset was not used by me since I just hooked it up to my tower, but this is still a nice feature for those who used this on an Xbox or whenever Hori decides to put this on a Sony console as well. OVERALL THOUGHTS This is like two steps forward and two steps back from the Hori Commander for me. The triggers and D-Pad got worse but the face buttons and additional analog stick are great. If Hori can put out an upgraded model that fixes these two issues I will definitely buy one to try it out and see if it becomes my definitive fighting game controller.

You're going to hear a lot of negative talk about this product's D-Pad. I was used to a more traditional playstation or NES style cross pad, and this one did in fact initially hurt my thumb when I started using it. However, after a couple days of use, the pain went away, and the controller continued to outperform my arcade stick, nailing inputs and letting me bind Parry and Drive Impact to the right shoulders, and taunt to the Left shoulder. The D-Pad doesn't cause any pain for me personally anymore. The analog stick is a nice option for running around in World Tour. Camera controls are a little wonky in this mode without a right stick but it is what it is. This eight way stick gives the game pad more usability as a general use PC controller for different types of games. I have two of these... the first was unknowingly shipped from another country so it took awhile, I ordered one locally and they happened to arrive together. I ended up having an account on PC and an account on Xbox so I just kept them both and I love them. I do better than on a fight stick or a stock controller. Important note, however... you MUST update the controller's firmware or it will drop diagonal inputs on the D-Pad. You can do this by running an app called HORI Device Manager while the controller is plugged in. You can also remap some controls this way, although I believe duplicate bindings are not allowed. The only thing better than this is gonna be an old Xbox One Fighting Commander... and frankly while that had a better D-Pad technically, it wasn't better by a whole lot, and it goes for 250 dollars or more on auction sites and will come used of course, presumably without a long life span ahead of it. The Octa is your best, most affordable option if you don't play on PlayStation or Switch (those systems have other options). It's a much better option than people reviewing it poorly would lead you to believe, though. Good enough that it's my main fight pad for PC fighting games as well. The clicky micro switches in the face buttons are a very nice touch as well.

This HORI Commander Octa Xbox controller is Amazing. As of this review on 12/1/23 - it’s an official Xbox authorized 3rd party controller that is supported after they took access away support from other 3rd party controllers last month. It’s especially great to use with Sega Saturn / Genesis / CPS systems (Street Fighter Arcade cabs, 6 buttons fighters etc) - I bought this specifically to use on my Xbox Series X in dev mode to play Sega Saturn games proper on the Retroarch Emulator; and couldn’t be happier. This was the layout of the original Saturn controller too with a couple extra triggers for quality of life mappings. The D-pad is really nice and responsive. Same with the analog stick, it’s like perfect - I didn’t even have to install HORI’s custom software to make custom tweaks to the D-pad settings and folder presets. It all felt right straight out of the box. Buttons are quick and responsive, They barely need to be pressed to register an input. Took a little to get used to that. But, there’s basically no lag because it’s a wired controller with a 10 foot long cord. The wire also has a safety break away if it gets tugged too hard so that it won’t pull your hardware off the shelf with it. Only issue is there’s no rumble support. But the Sega Saturn never came with rumble controllers anyway. Also this controller is great for N64 mappings as they had 6 face buttons with one analog stick on their original trident shaped controller in the 90’s. If you like retro games and fighting games, then you’ll love his controller. 11 out of 10. Highly recommended.

La Marca hori siempre me a gustado hace muchos años compré el hori tac y funciona perfectamente y este mando es una pasada el tacto suave los botones tipo click súper preciso, buen mando buena marca

Ótimo controle, de qualidade e durável

This controller won't work properly until you go into Hori settings and adjust the dpad sensitivity. After that it's pretty good, and the additional buttons are great.

Street Fighter 6 için almıştım, yaklaşık 1.5 - 2 aydır da kullanıyorum. 3 dizilimli tuş sistemi olması SF için zaten olmazsa olmaz seviyede bir özellik. Stick kısmının mesafesi normal Xbox koluna göre kısa olduğu için move inputlar daha hızlı çıkıyor. Canavar gibi DP çektiriyor. Ayrıca Stick kısmı 8 köşesinden tırtıklı bir yapıya sahip, bu yüzden hangi yöne çevirdiğinizi anlamak daha rahat. Ancak bu tırtıklı yapı stick'i daha hızlı aşındırıyor, bakalım nereye kadar gidecek. :) Tuşlar inanılmaz yumuşak, basma hissiyatı çok güzel. İkili basmalar (Ex atarken veya kapma, DI gibi şeyler yaparken) Xbox koluna göre daha rahat. RSB ve LSB tuşlarını sol omuz kısmına koymuşlar. Bu yüzden oyun içinde onlara da bir takım şeyler atayarak daha hızlı hareketler yapabiliyorsunuz. Mesela ben RSB'ye drive parry aradım, elimi hali hazırda vurma tuşlarından çekmeden parry veya rush yapabiliyorum. Dpad tarafında net Xbox daha iyi. Bazen dpad'in çıkıntılarına tırnağım takılıyor, belki sadece bana özgüdür ama olabiliyor. Kontrolcü aşırı hafif, kablosu kontrolcüden daha ağır. Kablosuz bağlama seçeneği yok ama kablo yeterince uzun. Sanırım 3m kadar var. Kolda eksik hiçbir şey yok. Bence Tekken için de gayet kullanılabilir bir kol ama ben daha çok Street Fighter için aldım. Mortal Kombat'a sanki normal gamepad daha iyi gidermiş gibi duruyor ancak bilmiyorum, ondan çok emin değilim. Street fighter 6'yı da modern layout ile oynuyorsanız, yine normal Xbox veya DS kolu ile devam etmeniz daha iyi olabilir. Bu kolu daha çok classic layout ile SF oyuncuları ve Tekken oyuncuları için önerebilirim ama SF için gerçekten süper oldu.

Great controller. The d-pad allows for super clean inputs (For example, I can easily slide my thumb across it to get a clean back -> forward motion without accidentally hitting the up or down buttons, unlike standard controllers) and the extra buttons means you don't have to do finger gymnastics on 6-button fighters. The controller plastic does feel pretty light and cheap, but it's not really that big of a deal as long as it's functional. It's a lot easier to land combos without messing up inputs with this controller compared to other pads.