The Playstation 5 is in the early stages of its life cycle which could be the reason why there isn’t a huge amount of gaming peripherals available for it.
But third-party companies have been slowly announcing products dedicated to the ninth-generation console.
Hori is one of these companies and after some major announcements last year they are finally ready to release their Playstation 5 dedicated fight stick.
Hori is a legendary company that has a strong legacy in designing gaming peripherals, excelling in quality and innovation.
They have a huge catalogue of products but are more famously renowned for their excellent fight sticks.
They have already released a ton of great fight sticks for numerous consoles spanning the different generations.
So the announcement of a new fighting stick for the Playstation 5 was met with much adulation.
There are already a few fighting sticks on the market that were designed for the Playstation 4, but through some clever updates are able to work for the Playstation 5.
But this simply means that Hori’s Fighting Stick Alpha is the first officially licensed fight stick for the Playstation 5.
The Fighting Stick Alpha is a slender controller that has been modelled after arcade cabinets in Japan.
It’s a lot wider than other fight sticks giving it a border surface area for players to rest their arms.
It's also quite lighter than most, weighing a mere 3.38 KG, with most fight sticks incorporating a heavy chassis to keep them stable.
However, the Fighting Stick Alpha has two rubber grips attached to the bottom which keeps the controller locked in place at all times.
Another design feature which I am happy to see is that all the control buttons are at the top of the fight stick in a visible area instead of being located at the side of the controller.
The only side feature is the 3.5mm jack which is great as the wires won’t get intertwined with the USB cable.
The stick comes with a USB cable that is situated inside its body. This is an interesting design choice as the cable will be safely secured, but having to constantly open the fight stick and expose its wiring isn’t ideal.
This would be fine if the fight stick is staying in one location, but those who are constantly travelling could wear out the lock with the continuous opening and closing.
The Fighting Stick Alpha is built with eight Hayabusa matte buttons and two smaller buttons assigned to L3 and R3 making ten in total.
This is fantastic as it gives players extra options when assigning their buttons.
Like other fight sticks from Hori, the Hayabusa buttons are much lower with bevelled edges which allows players to press them quicker.
The added matte finish assures that the player's fingers won’t slip off during intense matches.
The joystick is also made from Hayabusa parts, with its build quality being robust and very responsive.
They really held up well during long plays with fast-paced games such as DNF Duel and Guilty Gear Strive.
The rest of the control buttons that would be found on the DualSense are also included granting players access to the touch pad, home button and more.
Having them situated at the top of the controller is perfect as it stops players from pressing the wrong buttons or having to take their eyes off the action to locate them.
The Fighting Stick Alpha also includes extra control buttons that add additional levels of functionality.
The fight stick comes with a lock switch that will disable certain features such as the home, option and share buttons.
This is a nice feature as it allows players to focus on their game without having to worry about accidentally pressing these buttons.
The newly added Function button will enable players to swap through their different profiles on the fly, another great feature that grants players quick access without having to faff with a menu.
These additional buttons greatly improve the controller quality of life functions that professional players will fully welcome.
Hori has finally included a companion app, allowing players to map their buttons and save them as profiles within the controller.
This is one of the fight stick’s best features because I was able to make dedicated profiles for specific games and easily swap between without having to use that game control setting.
The app is very easy to navigate and use making it very accessible to newcomers. The only drawback is that it's only available on PC, making the process slightly tedious having to go back and forth between console and PC.
The Fighting Stick Alpha was built with customisation in mind, and players will be able to pop the lid up and change the buttons with ease while following the colour-coded instructions.
The face plate can also be easily removed at any time with the template being available on Hori’s website
The Fighting Stick Alpha connected to the two consoles and PC with ease through the 10ft USB cable.
It performed perfectly with the different speeds and styles of gameplay, I didn’t experience any input lag either.
That being said I would love to see more Fight Sticks being built with Bluetooth or include a dongle for wireless play.
Verdict 4/5
Hori's Fighting Stick Alpha is another great controller from the esteemed developers that have pulled out all the stops.
The innovative controller is a fantastic companion for the Playstation 5 that performs effortlessly.
With its design geared toward professional players and tournament play, the additional controls and app greatly improve its overall functionality.
