It's no secret that there's some displeasure in regards to the D-pad on Nintendo's Joy-Con controllers. First off, the Joy-Cons don't truly have a D-pad, instead separating the pad into four separate arrow buttons. The D-pad is pretty important when it comes to certain genres, such as 2D platformers and fighting games, limiting the appeal of picking up a title like Celeste or Dragon Ball FighterZ on Switch.
Thankfully, even if Nintendo isn't making Joy-Cons with a D-pad, there are third-party developers who are. In the video above, Jean-Luc, Joey, and Michael discuss their different experiences using Hori's new D-pad Joy-Con controller.
Though Hori's controller does fix the JoyCon's D-pad situation, it creates more than a few other issues as well. The most prominent problem is the battery. Hori's D-pad controller doesn't have its own battery like normal JoyCons, relying entirely on the Switch's charge to function. This means Hori's controllers can only be used in handheld tablet mode, and your Switch's battery drains significantly faster too. Hori's D-pad controllers also lack both the rumble and motion control features.
Hori's D-Pad Joy-Con controllers originally released in Japan. Western versions of the controller--stylized with either Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda themes--are available in the U.S. for $25. According to Nintendo Life, Hori has plans to fix the battery draining issue prior to its western launch.
Update: Hori's JoyCons are now priced at $20, and with Switch firmware 6.0, the battery draining issue has since been fixed. -- February 28, 2019, 5:30 PM PT