Seriously, after having the Steam Deck for a while I’m really upset I missed out on the Steam Controller.
I think it’s kinda meh tbh. The missing second joystick really makes it hard to use. Maybe I’ve got it configured wrong or something, but I always end up just using a ps4 controller.
If you can only have one joystick it makes more sense to use it for joystick movement… it’s pretty much the one thing joysticks are really good at. The touchpad works much worse as an analog movement control than as a way to control the camera angle.
In fact, the touchpad is superior to the joystick at controlling the camera when games are designed for it and allow simultaneous mouse and gamepad input. The issue is that most games don’t, which means you either have to remap everything to keyboard and mouse (which is less user friendly and requires mental training) or you have to use some emulated joystick configuration that makes the touchpad feel janky, since joysticks have such a bad sensitivity when compared to a mouse/touchpad.
However, even with that issue that many games cause, it still feels more janky to use the touchpad for movement.
From using the steam deck all other controllers on the market are a pretty significant step down in functionality. I never used the original steam controller but with some games especially where I have a good custom layout that uses the trackpads and rear buttons it feels like playing with one hand tied behind my back with the PS5 controller.
I’d love a controller that’s exactly the same input layout as the steam deck so I can dock it and keep my control layout identical.
I found that it depends on the game and how it’s set up. I’ve used the steam controller on a lot of games and it worked well.
As you’ve considered it really comes down to how it’s configured. And you have to reconfigure it for pretty much every game you play. And steam itself doesn’t provide you with good configurations most of the time.
I love the controller but wouldn’t recommend it because of the amount of time it takes to make it work well in each game.
A PS4 controller is just plug and play, and is what I would actually recommend to most people.
Yes I agree, the Steam Deck controls are great because they work as a standard controller with some additions (trackpads and back buttons).
The original Steam Controller however lacks a right joystick and a proper dpad. Yes, I know there are touchpads that are supposed to replace them but it’s not the same.
I have one but I barely ever used it.
Lol you can have mine if you want. It was pretty good for older PC games that were designed for mouse and keyboard, but it didn’t really work well for more modern titles designed for Xbox or PlayStation controllers. Also, forget about anything fast paced or competitive since missed and keyboard or a conventional controller just blows it out of the water.
