My first impression of the Gulikit Elves 2 Professional wasn’t significantly optimistic. Now, once I say ‘first impression’, I’m speaking concerning the second I laid eyes on the factor in just a few press pictures on-line. I believe that a few of you testing the pictures on this evaluation is perhaps considering the identical factor. Sure, the apparent throwback to the Sega Saturn is nice, however does a controller of this design actually maintain any weight within the fashionable age?
Effectively, fortunately, the reply to that query is a hearty “Sure.” When the controllers arrived and I unboxed them from their translucent instances (a pleasant contact so as to add additional safety when travelling), I instantly fell in love. The colored ‘Retro’ mannequin specifically, based mostly on the ‘Mannequin 2’ Japanese Saturn, is completely attractive and a stunning homage to Sega’s Mega Drive successor.
The black variant is very nice, too, with the one trace of color being the blue sync button in between the 2 analogue sticks. This, once more, is a nod to the ‘Mannequin 1’ Japanese Saturn, although the jet black casing is maybe extra akin to the Western design. Consider it like a mix of the 2, then. The one draw back with the black model is that mud is of course extra noticeable on darker surfaces, so it exhibits up much more than the ‘Retro’ model.
Holding the controller reveals simply how well-made it’s. It’s bought a hefty weight to it: 190g to be actual. That is lighter than the Change 2 Professional Controller and the 8BitDo Final 2C controller — each of which weigh in at 235g — however the Elves 2 Professional is loads smaller than each, so the load/dimension ratio balances out properly. It doesn’t really feel low-cost, let’s put it that method.
As for the form, sure, it’s slightly unorthodox by fashionable requirements and also you’re missing the longer grips essential to ‘hug’ it along with your palms, however the curved design feels nice. It’s simple sufficient to maneuver from the face buttons and D-pad to the 2 analogue sticks within the center because of the offset positioning, although the previous setup does really feel barely extra pure.
Certainly, you should utilize this controller for nearly any recreation on Change or Change 2, although to say that it’s finest suited to retro titles or preventing video games wouldn’t be inaccurate. The form, the colors, the D-pad design: all of it feels completely suited to retro gaming. For preventing video games specifically, purists would possibly lament the shortage of the six-button setup on the Saturn’s controller, however I felt no concern when testing it out with the likes of Avenue Fighter 6 and Marvel Vs. Capcom Preventing Assortment: Arcade Classics. The D-pad specifically feels nice, however extra on that shortly.
Wanting on the analogue sticks, they utilise Corridor Impact expertise, so that you’re theoretically a protracted lifespan for the Elves. You can too simply take away the caps for alternative if essential; I say ‘simply,’ however they do take a little bit of effort to take away, and this can be a good factor – you don’t need them coming off throughout common play. They’re barely smaller than your common analogue stick – possibly a fraction smaller than these discovered on the Change 2 Pleasure-Con – and the textured grip across the edge is simply begging to choose up grime out of your thumbs over time, however total, they’re very nice.
The identical goes for the ‘floating’ D-pad, too. In truth, I’d say the sensitivity for that is fairly spot on: holding down and rocking the D-pad back and forth yielded completely zero unintended inputs when testing it within the Change settings, and the identical could be stated in retro titles like Streets of Rage 2 and Contra. It really works precisely as supposed and as you’d anticipate. If you wish to go one step additional, you may truly change the D-pad setup between four-directional and eight-directional, relying on the sport you’re taking part in.
The face buttons and shoulder buttons all really feel good: pleasingly ‘clicky’ with out producing an entire lot of noise. Once more, an enormous shoutout goes to the ‘Retro’ mannequin right here: the gray, inexperienced, blue, and yellow ABXY buttons look pretty, and I’ve grown actually fairly keen on the cranberry-coloured shoulder buttons and sync button. Very like the D-pad, you may fiddle with the settings to reassign inputs – fairly good in the event you’re not fussed about doing it on the Change itself.
In truth, there are a lot of various settings you may mess around with. You possibly can regulate vibration depth, analogue stick sensitivity, lifeless zone modes, movement intention assists, turbo mode, APG recording (which mainly permits you to document particular enter combos and repeat them at will), and extra.
That is all carried out through the ‘settings’ button positioned within the centre of the machine (other than APG recording, which has its personal button slightly below). Holding the button down and urgent a corresponding button modifications a particular setting. So, for instance, ‘settings’ + ‘R3’ or ‘L3’ modifications the sensitivity of the chosen analogue stick. There’s loads to study, so it’s value studying and memorising every setting mixture listed within the handbook, however it’s good that there’s no separate app to fret about.
You’ve additionally bought gyro help, three totally different rumble modes (together with its personal ‘HD Rumble’, which feels nice), wired help with the included USB-C cable, and a seize button. However what’s lacking?
Effectively, there’s no ‘C’ button for GameChat, no headphone jack, no NFC help, and no means to wake the Change 2 from sleep mode. These are all arguably ‘good to have’ capabilities, and to be trustworthy you’re by no means going to get a third-party pad that does completely the whole lot. If you happen to’re significantly involved concerning the lack of ‘wake-up’ help, nevertheless, Gulikit has confirmed that it’s going to quickly be the primary third-party producer to supply such help, although how and when this happens has but to be revealed.
Lastly, though the controller does flip off by itself after quarter-hour of inactivity, there’s a teeny, tiny button on the again to show it off manually. This can be a good little contact that a whole lot of producers don’t actually contemplate. After all, whether or not it would truly be of use to you could be very a lot dependent by yourself circumstances, however hey, it’s a great factor to have. The pad will also be used with PC and iOS, with a three-way toggle positioned simply above the off button to change between the three modes.
All in all, although, I might say the Elves 2 Professional might be finest fitted to retro video games and preventing video games relatively than your go-to controller for on a regular basis use. It is an exceptionally well-made pad, and a superb various to Nintendo’s personal SNES and Mega Drive NSO controllers. If you happen to’ve bought an affection for the Sega Saturn, the ‘Retro’ variant specifically is an excellent throwback; simply do not be shocked in the event you begin glancing all the way down to admire it if you actually ought to be maintaining your eyes on the display.
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The pattern used on this evaluation was provided by Gulikit.
