#padbox

The GS is light enough that you can hold it at the same height as a regular controller, but you’ll more likely be resting it on your lap, or a table. Either way it feels natural and balanced in my hands. The dpad and analog stick sit at comfortable positions near the grip, with no stretching needed to reach them. The GS is too wide  to hit the action buttons with your right thumb, but anyone coming from a fightpad or leverless controller should be comfortable with the keyboard style hand placement required. 

When resting my hands on the top row, there’s ample palm space below, and my right thumb falls right on top of the right stick. The sticks are slightly recessed to make using them easier from a more flat hand position, though it should be noted that it can slightly interfere with wider thumbstick toppers if you like to use those. 

On the back of the grip is a single shoulder button, now upgraded from the previous model with a clicky microswitch, to match the switches of the dpad. The dpad comes in split and pivot based variations, with both included in the package. The split dpad is better for games requiring clean separation of cardinal and diagonal directions, while the pivot dpad makes rolling inputs easier to do. Personally, I‘ve tested both and been able to perform as well in all games, though I prefer the pivot style as it's more comfortable across the majority of game genres. 

One issue I have found is that when using the split dpad my inputs can sometimes be eaten by SOCD cleaning when I’m imprecise. Since there’s no pivot to prevent opposite directions from being pushed at the same time, you can hit left and right or up and down together, and because the Padbox GS defaults to the tournament standard neutral SOCD, this cancels both inputs out. I found this happened the most to me in anime fighters, where I was frequently performing jump and super jump cancels. Thankfully, you can change the SOCD settings to ensure your desired input always wins out, whether that’s prioritizing up, or only reading the first or last input. 

How you go about that depends on which variation of the Padbox GS you pick. The GS comes in Essential and Cross Platform variants. The Cross Platform uses Brook’s Gen5X board, costs more and supports PS5, Switch and PC, which is good if you intend to bring this to tournaments, or  play on modern consoles. 

I personally opted for the Essential, which uses GP2040CE, costs less, and supports PS3, Switch, PC, and PS4 and PS5--albeit only when using a passthrough device or converter. I rarely play on anything other than my PC or Switch, and I already use a converter for PS5 at local events, so the Essential variant worked best for me, especially since it opens up a massive set of advanced controller options. 

By remapping the buttons and saving them to multiple profiles using the GP2040CE web config, the Padbox GS goes from a great fighting game controller to an all around great controller. I haven’t found a fighting game controller that can outright replace a standard controller in every scenario, but the Padbox GS is a satisfying substitute in many of them. With its clicky dpad and the rapid fire advantages of an arcade style layout, paired with the hall effect sticks, I’ve had many test sessions that have become multi-hour play sessions because it feels that good. 

One surprising favorite was Stellar Blade. Once I worked out a control scheme that made sense on an arcade layout the action made a lot of sense. Combo strings came naturally, parries were satisfying with the microswitch shoulder button, and I even had an opportunity to push the aiming capabilities of the GS during a small survival horror style area where they take away your sword. 

Assault Spy, a Devil May Cry style action game, worked great as well, allowing me to keep certain weapons charged as I constantly dashed around and kept enemies juggled with other moves. 

Batman Arkham City’s rhythm combat lent itself to the layout, with counters and criticals feeling especially good on the low travel buttons, compared to standard membrane controller switches.

Platform fighters are one of the most persuasive arguments for the GS, with the rapid, precise buttons are made much easier compared to a standard controller layout, but it doesn’t lose the full analog controller or need tilt modifiers like you would need on a standard leverless or rectangle controller. 

Keep in mind that I’m coming from an amateur perspective, but techniques like wavedash, waveshine or other cancels are much easier for me here, by virtue of being able to piano the inputs rather than have them spread along the face buttons and triggers. 

The one caveat is that it is not free of snapback, something competitive players are going to be sensitive to. In my testing, the amount of snapback is comparable to most modern controllers, such as a Sony or Xbox first party controller, though the hall effect sticks do have the advantage of having better centering and deadzones, which can also be adjusted on the Essential variation. 

And of course nearly every 2D game benefitted from the layout and microswitch dpad, making playing retro games and new titles like Absolum feel incredible. (For those interested I’ve put together a showcase with gameplay of a variety of titles).

With the praise out of the way, I did have some issues I needed to get to. 

I was immediately unlucky enough to receive a malfunctioning unit in my first order, which would randomly shut down when rapidly mashing buttons, or after some undetermined amount of time. Thankfully, Arkodd immediately responded to my issue, and I was offered a full replacement for no charge, with Arkodd even going back and forth with me to test issues, revise the firmware, and even the PCB design to try to prevent future issues. 

It’s an unfortunate situation, but the response gave me confidence that should problems arise Arkodd will do right and that the quality and consistency will only improve. The replacement unit I received since hasn’t had any of these problems, so hopefully future units will be free from those issues. 

One notable design weakness is the single shoulder button. Even on the original Padbox I said I would like an additional shoulder button, since that would give more flexibility for games outside of fighters. The original at least had the additional thumb button to offset it, but in the GS the right stick takes that position instead. 

The addition of the stick click buttons might make you think that frees up other buttons, but unfortunately that’s only half true since the right stick button is functionally useless. Due to limitations of the Brook Gen5X board, the R3 button can’t be used, and on the GP2040CE variant, the right stick button mirrors the shoulder button, meaning you can’t make it its own independent button. I ended up using one of the face buttons as R3, so practically speaking, it’s fine, but it ends up with a few limiting or awkward control schemes in games that make heavy use of every button. 

This is a niche consideration on an already niche controller, so that’s probably less of a problem outside of people like me who relentlessly optimize controls. Speaking of, I did replace the linear red switches that come with the GS with Kailh Autumn switches. It lends an additional sense of feedback and satisfaction, and matches the clicky switches of the shoulder button and dpad better. Linear switches are probably a good default choice for most people, since they’re quieter and have fast response, but the clicky switches made a huge difference to me. 

The Padbox comes as fully assembled units or DIY kits that include the case, dpad, wiring and function buttons. For this review I opted for the DIY kit, since I wanted to see what the build process was like, and customize the build with parts I had on hand. 

Full disclosure: I was sent this kit to review, but I wasn’t given any instructions or limitations on what I could say.

With that out of the way, what immediately impressed me was how easy the build process was. The Padbox comes apart with only a few screws, and the dpad, shoulder button and aux buttons are already pre-installed. The wiring harnesses provided are sized appropriately for the available space, and headers for the dpad and shoulder buttons, alongside pre-made dupont connectors made wiring them to the screw terminals simple.

If there’s one thing to note it’s that the Padbox uses a direct USB connection for its USB C jack, rather than the Neutrik Type-D passthrough ports that many custom fightstick builds use. The connector is designed with Brook Fighting Boards in mind, which have pre-populated headers for USB, but I opted to use a RP2040 Advanced Breakout Board I had on hand to get access to the advanced features of GP2040ce. If you do goes this way, make sure you get the latest version of the board with the screw terminals for the extra functions, as those have pre-populated USB headers, otherwise you’ll have to solder on your own like I did. 

You’ll also need to plug into the 5v VCC terminal for the power indicator LED, though if you are somehow doing an even more niche build of a niche product, and using a Brook Wireless board for it, you’ll need to connect to the player indicator LEDs instead, since the 5v terminal won’t output when running on battery. 

Aside from these incredibly niche considerations, the overall build process is fast and painless. I built it all on a weeknight after work, and I even had time to stickerbomb it and test out a few games with it. I’ve had a harder time modding some fully built fightsticks.

Now the most important question: how’s the dpad. In short: they nailed it. No matter what style of game I played it was easy to get my inputs out, with no accidental inputs. After using so many controllers and handhelds, I can tell you this is a hell of an accomplishment. Even mechanical dpads aren’t a silver bullet to this problem, as I’ve seen so many of them with the same kind of satisfying feedback that are miserable in practice. So I’m happy to report that this dpad is not one of them.

One of the first games I tried the Padbox with was Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3’s trial mode, my go to for testing new fighting game controllers. Here it performed better than basically any first party controller dpad, with the combo of the microswitch dpad and larger arcade buttons making it easy to get in rhythm. The same happened in Street Fighter 6, where the extra buttons allowed me to access Drive Functions easier than the standard 8 button layout, and the shoulder button provided comfortable access to the assist function for characters I play with Modern Controls. 

For anyone who plays primarily on pad, I could definitely see this as an upgrade to a regular gamepad or fightpad, especially for those who play claw grip and wouldn’t miss the extra shoulder buttons. With the swappable buttons, an all mechanical controller is even possible, given the growing options for buttons with keyboard style switches. 

Personally, the Padbox won’t likely stay in rotation for playing fighting games, despite how much I like it. The Padbox can’t solve the fundamental problem I have with playing fighting games on pad: it’s  too cramped. As someone particularly sensitive to this issue, I find that putting all the strain on my thumb wears me down faster when performing complex inputs, and the Padbox made it clear that for me, no pad can compete with the comfort of leverless for competitive games. 

But who says you can only use a fighting game controller for fighting games?

Arcade buttons are plenty of fun across multiple genres, and with its hybrid design, the Padbox enables a variety of approaches that both traditional fightsticks and pads can’t provide. I tested it with beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage 4 and Shredder’s Revenge, where the arcade layout made performing combos a joy.

Retro consoles and throwback games are another good candidate, with the tactile feedback a the Padbox’s dpad a definite upgrade to a lot of the membrane dpads and buttons of original controllers, with the bonus of arcade buttons being a lot more fun to mash in the many games that demanded it. 

Action games that make limited use of the right stick for camera control are totally playable with the Padbox, and with the use of GP2040ce, you can even use the extra buttons to create modifiers that give you on the fly access to the dpad or right stick for item hotkeys or camera control.

I even managed to make a playable control scheme for Smash Bros Ultimate, complete with c-stick buttons for tilt and aerial attacks. 

The Padbox might not be my personal choice for serious fighting game competition, but it’ll definitely stay in rotation as one of my alternative controllers for casual fighting, and playing plenty of other genres.  

If there's any additions I'd like to see, it's the addition of additional shoulder and thumb buttons. These would not only give access to an extra shortcut button in fighting games, but enable layouts with extra functions or modifiers, such as tilt modifiers or dual directional input in the style of the Hitbox Crossup.

The Padbox is also a bit lightweight. It comes in a little heavier than a standard controller, but it's spread out across a larger surface area, and alongside the slickness of the 3D printed material, it threatens to slip during those literally sweaty matches. An optional metal bottom plate or a removable weight for the grip might help give it heft for longer play sessions and lap play. 

My favorite part of the Padbox has to be how many possibilities it leaves open. With its form factor, it's easy to start thinking of new ways to mod the Padbox and make it your own. It brings the DIY spirit of arcade sticks to a pad, and I've already seen wild molds replacing the dpad with a split dpad, or building entire new bases for it and adding more buttons.