[Jotaku]

I've been playing video games since the days of the Nintendo NES and MSX. Along the way, I also tried the PlayStation and even the Sega Saturn, mostly console at home experiences.

Of course, I did go to arcades when I was younger, but since I mostly played video games at home, Thus, I'm more used to controllers (or gamepads) rather than arcade sticks.

Out of all the controllers I've experienced so far, I used to think the Sega Saturn pad was the best for fighting games.

Recently, I had the opportunity to test out both the Razer Raion and the Hori Fighting Commander Octa.
My conclusion? Personally, as of 2025, I think the Razer Raion is the best fighting game pad available.
To put it simply, I believe the Razer Raion is the final evolutionary form of the Sega Saturn pad.

After some use, the surface can become a bit sticky, which might make inputs less smooth — but that’s easily solved by using Gaming Finger Sleeves.

The Hori Fighting Commander Octa is almost identical in performance to the Razer Raion.
Its D-pad is about 33% smaller than Raion’s, which means your finger doesn't have to move as far — making it slightly less tiring to use due to shorter travel distance of your finger on dpad.

That said, if you're using finger sleeves with the Raion, the D-pad becomes very slick and allows for quick movement, so the larger D-pad isn't really a drawback.

Thanks to the curved inner edge of the D-pad, the Hori Octa makes it easier to sweep your thumb quickly across for inputs like 214 or 236, resulting in faster execution. However, one downside of the Octa is that it requires quite a bit of force to press the D-pad, which can make your fingers tire out more quickly.

To be precise, in terms of performance, the Raion and Octa are virtually the same. But the Raion feels slightly more premium due to its clicky tactile feedback.

So if you have the budget, I’d recommend the Razer Raion or the Hori Fighting Commander Octa Pro.
If not, the standard Hori Fighting Commander Octa is still a great choice.

Again, performance-wise, there’s no real difference between the Octa and Raion — it’s just that the clicky feel of the Raion gives it a more high-end impression. Which performance-wise I tested? I tested something like hard thing to cast such as 632146, continuous wavedash/backdash, etc in terms of speed-wise performance. You can execute 5+ wavedashes in 1.20 sec on both device once used to them.

Personally, I think it would be perfect if, instead of the Raion’s D-pad with its cross-shaped design, it had curved edges or diagonally directional guides like the Octa’s, which make 214 and 236 inputs faster and easier, and also comes with gaming finger sleeves by default due to its large dpad size to shorten the traveling time and to prevent fingers from getting stuck due to the surface becoming rough after long-term play. But that’s probably wishful thinking.