Daria

I love video game controllers. More specifically, I love specialty game controllers, controllers designed for specific genres or games. I have a large collection of controllers for rhythm games, a number or arcade sticks, yokes and wheels for simulators, light guns, one handed RPG controllers, twisty controllers and a bunch of retro controllers for old consoles. Nothing feels better than playing a game on the controller it was designed for.

In modern times, the game controller has homogenized into the familiar dual analog and has allowed greater portability between systems. Over the last few generations, the placement of the thumbsticks, the type of dpad used, guide buttons, share buttons, track pads, HD Rumble and resistive triggers have been added to try and put unique spins on the now 26 year old design. Most are ancillary to the experience, and these days a game designed for the PS5 can be moved to the Xbox Series X with little to no changes.

Surprisingly, the PC has greatly benefited from this homogenization. Microsoft did much of the work in that regard with the Xbox 360 controller's PC compatibility and Games For Windows Live. It took Sony a bit longer to jump on the bandwagon, but since the PS3 and 4 used bluetooth for their wireless communication protocol, fans were able to jump in and make drivers, and the PS5 controller just works. There are few controllers designed within the last 10 years that will not also work on PC in addition to the console they were originally made for.

That being said, most controllers are designed for a console and not the PC specifically. It hasn't really mattered in the long run, but it has come with its share of annoyances. Attempts to play older, keyboard only games for instance requires interface software like Joy2Key. Trying to get console specific features to work on PC can also be troublesome; adaptive triggers, touch pads, share buttons, you can get these to work on PC, but whether they'll work in game or be remappable to other functions is largely a coin toss. The PC will likely forever be just that little bit more annoying to game on than a console ever will be.

During the Homogenization the third party controller market took off offering every conceivable option someone could want in their controller; xbox layouts, playstation layouts and the return of the six button fight pad are just a sampling of the wide universe available. Every price point is also representative, with "pro" controllers taking perch in the upper echelons of price.

The "pro" controller market is weird. While it's hard to define what a "pro" controller is, you can make the general observation that a pro controller is supposed to be a cost no object no holds barred controller designed for players that demand the best from their input device. Features that one would expect in such "pro" controllers tend to be durability, minimal input lag, and customization of every feature, from remapping to sensitivity adjustments on analog parts. In recent times, pro has also come to mean trigger stop adjustments and additional, remappable buttons on the bottom on the controller. While one can argue that some of these features can cross the line into cheating for multiplayer games, many more argue that the addition of back paddles on controllers has made them more accessible.

I'm in the second camp. My first "pro" controller was an Xbox One Elite controller, which cost around $199. I used two of the four available back paddles to remap the shoulder buttons (L1 and R1 in PS parlance) because I find the bumpers on Xbox One controllers hard to hit if I'm also using the triggers. The Elite also has other "pro" features like replaceable thumbsticks and a dpad, and two profiles to save custom button mappings to.

And in the end, it still feels like an Xbox One Controller. Over the years I've come to decide that I hate the xbox thumbstick layout and that I would prefer to play on a playstation style controller layout. I also just hate the dpad on xbox controllers. I have since the OG Duke, I hated the 360's, and even going to the classic "cross" design of dpads I still can't find myself enjoying using the dpad on a Xbox style controller due to its position and poor feeling. I could use a PS5 controller on PC, and have, but that makes me lose out on the Xbox Series X controller's share button. I don't often take pictures of my gameplay because I don't have a controller with a button that can activate gamebar's screenshot function.

A couple years ago I purchased an 8bitdo Pro 2 controller, for about $50. 8bitdo's "pro" line of controllers certainly is the cheapest of the competition, and it has great value for the money. I really like mine; the playstation layout is good, the back paddles feel great and the shoulder buttons don't give me trouble, and it works well on the switch. But over the last couple months I have started having issues with it. My thumbstick is starting to disintegrate, the additional button below the dpad can't be remapped to be a share button, and I swear I'm starting to get dropped inputs. I hate the remapping software.

I started looking into another controller last month when I got fed up with the 8bitdo's performance in Dark Souls. Having issues with the PS5 controller's battery life, I wasn't pleased to hear the Dual Sense Edge had an even shorter battery life, and I decided to see if there were other controllers that could fit the bill. I looked at SCUF and noticed that they had just launched the SCUF Envision Pro Wireless PC Gaming Controller, and noticed it curiously supported Corsair's iCue, which I use on my PC already. The controller was already sold out on their website and best buy, but I noticed that Best Buy's ebay account (???????) had 10 available for retail price, so I snagged one probably at the last second.

The SCUF Envision Pro is a Playstation layout, wireless PC controller that features:

• Mechanical, clicky switches for the buttons and dpad.

• six programmable paddle buttons (four on the back, two on either side).

• 5 programmable G-Keys with RGB lighting that syncs with iCue Murals

• 3 onboard profiles that let you store profiles for use when you don't want iCue running

• Adjustable Triggers allowing for either a nice analog pull or a rapid fire clicky trigger

• removable faceplate for future customization and easy repair

The controller also comes with dummy plates for two of the back paddle and side paddle buttons if you don't want to use them or have them interfere with the hand feel of the controller or accidentally hit them, and replacement thumbstick that are domed rather than concave if you like that feel.

I've been using it for a couple weeks now and I'd like to talk about it. It only took 1000 words to get here.

Is 95% worth $200?

If other controllers on PC get you to about 90% of what you'd want from a controller, the SCUF Envision Pro gets you to 95%.

Let's talk about what I like first. I love the tactile feel of the dpad and buttons. Firing up 3rd Strike in MAME, I can perform dragon punches about 75% of the time, which is leagues better than the sub 50% I normally get (Just because I like fighting games doesn't mean I'm any good at them). The Dpad is concave but still manages to feel like a good cross dpad. I've yet to accidentally press down back when I meant to just press back for instance. The button click is nice and tight, unlike other mechanical switch controllers I've owned like the Hori Fighting Commander Octa (Great controller for six button systems like the saturn), or the Razer Onza Professional Gaming Controller (which I broke during a heated game of Dark Souls).

The thumbstick feels just the right amount of tight. Xbox One controllers are too loose, and playstation has it just right with the PS5 controller. These feel about the same. They are not hall effect thumbsticks, which feels a bit sore for a $200 no holds barred product, but we'll talk a bit more about that later.

The customization available to the analog parts of the controller is extensive, but I'm not sure if I'd ever want to change it because right out of the box the analog parts feel great on their normal profiles. Despite trying, I've always had issues with how sensitive the triggers and thumbsticks are on the 8bitdo Pro 2, and have often found myself wanting to walk in games only to reach a full sprint barely 10% of the way forward. I was also afraid to set the Pro 2 controller down for fear of accidentally triggering the triggers, a mistake that has cost me NPC loyalty in Dark Souls 3 in the past. No such issues here; there's a nice smooth ramp With the Envision's thumbsticks and triggers, and the dead zones are configured well enough that I'm not afraid of breathing on them.

The controller also has real good hand feel. Long sessions on the 8bitdo Pro 2 has yielded sweaty hands that loose grip on the controller during key moments, or thumbs slipping off their spot on the thumbsticks during inopportune times. Not so on the Envision Pro, which has a rubberized coating on the bottom of the controller for a sure grip, and more concave thumbsticks than the 8bitdo Pro 2 with a grippier texture on the thumbsticks.

For the most part I'm not a controller customizer. Mapping the bumpers (R1 and L1) to the back paddles is usually as far as I go on the "pro" controllers I've owned. But there are some great features in iCue, such as the ability to remap buttons to keyboard or mouse presses. The five customizable g-keys on the bottom of the controller further allow you to add a bunch of features to your controller you might otherwise have to save for a streamdeck or keyboard press. By default four of the buttons are dedicated to volume management (Vol up down, mute, mute mic) and the fifth turns on eco mode, which disables the RGB among other things I haven't quite sussed out, but they can also be remapped to keyboard and mouse presses among other things.

I've spent tons of time with the controller in emulators. The controller reports itself as an xbox 360 controller to the OS, and most game software written in the last 15 or so years is happy to work with it. I've had no issues configuring it in retroarch, PCSX2, MAME and others. The controller, to my surprise, even works on the MiSTer in both wired and wireless modes. Getting it to work took a bit more than expected however, and that's where things start to falter a bit.

The controller operates in two modes: Wired/Wireless with iCue running, and Wired/Wireless with iCue not running. With iCue running, you get full advantage of its remapping power, allowing keyboard and mouse presses, and automatic profile switching based on what application is running, all at the cost of a couple fps (maybe) , slight increased input lag (theoretically), and some slight privacy concerns in re how iCue is essentially sniffing your inputs at all times (I'm sure it's fine).

With iCue not running however your freedom becomes much more limited. You can only have 3 profiles, no more or less, and have to manually switch between them. You can only remap the paddles and side buttons, and only to other button presses. The 5 G-Keys are reverted back to their default behavior and cannot be remapped. For most people this would be fine, but if you were hoping to use those G-keys as Stream Deck buttons while trying to save some CPU for the stream encode, you're going to be out of luck

If you're like me and just need one profile, you might think deleting the profiles that exist on the device would be enough to render it in a "default" state. I went and did that, and when I closed iCue I found the Z axis (The trigger axis) stopped responding to input on both the MiSTer and windows. After a bit of troubleshooting, I determined that this happens when no profiles have been loaded onto the controller. Loading back the default profiles, then editing them one by one, allowed me to get the triggers working.

I'm happy that SCUF included blanks for four of the six paddle/side buttons because frankly, they sucked. The paddles built into the controller feel about as good as the 8BitDo Pro 2 with similar placement, but I found it impossible to reliably hit the other two paddles, and I found myself constantly accidentally hitting the side buttons. I had already remapped them so they triggered nothing, but I still didn't like the feel of accidentally hitting them.

The biggest problem I have with this controller however is the removable faceplate. The faceplate is held on with strong neodymium magnets ensuring a snug fit. But several of the face buttons, including the profile, guide, back and start sit so low profile it's possible to put the faceplate on in such a way that it causes those low profile buttons to be held down. Several times I've accidentally shoved the guide, start and back button under the frame, to the point where I'm considering looking for 3d printed alternatives that made them sit just a bit more proud of the surface.

Worse still, there is a slight flaw in the button layout, which mimics the PS5 in shape, but with a slightly different layout. The Envision Pro's start button is a lot closer to the X/Square button than the PS5's, which has caused me to accidentally hit it when trying to hit the X button. This has been mostly corrected by changing my thumb posture (to a likely more healthier one), but it's still a very annoying issue with no real solution since you can't remap the back, start, guide, A or B buttons at all, iCue running or not.

And one last little design annoyance; despite mimicking the layout of the PS5 controller and including a nice big blank area in the center of the controller, that is not a touch pad and does not have button clicks or touch capability.

Remembering that battery life was one of the big reasons I stayed away from the Dual Sense Edge, I can sadly report that battery life on the Envision Pro is sadly just as poor as the PS5 controller, if not worse. I don't have any hard tests, but it does drain within one day's worth of game play.

And finally we come to one of the more controversial decisions, to use standard potentiometer based analog sticks as opposed to the currently more fashionable hall effect sticks. A lot of people think a $200 controller should use HE stick, and for the most part I agree. That being said, the only (knock on wood) stick drift I've ever had was Nintendo Switch Joycons, and I have 26 year old PS1 Dual Shock controllers who's analog sticks still work perfectly, so I'm not necessarily in camp HE either.

A lot of the concerns I have with this controller are tiny problems, most of which can be overcome. The question that runs through your mind though as you struggle through these problems is "was this really worth $200?" If a $50 8BitDo can get me 90% of the way to a perfect controller experience, is it worth $150 more to reach only 95%? That'll largely depend on your needs and if that 5% meets any or all of them.

The SCUF Envision Pro is definitely going to get a lot more use out of me. I can retire my 8BitDo Pro 2, but I hope I get more than two years out of the SCUF Envision Pro. I'd hate to be eyeing yet another $200 (or more) general gaming controller when I could put that money towards a custom made Maimai DX home controller.