When people have asked/complained about controller support on Reddit, I’ve seen some replies claiming that LE “has full controller support” and/or “it plays fine on controller”.
No it doesn’t. Not even close.
The biggest problem with controller support in LE at the moment is that it is only partially implemented. It isn’t full controller support. Some functions can be done via direct button press or navigation via dpad, but many require you to use mouse cursor and find/click on item in the UI. That isn’t full support.
Yes the game is “playable” on controller, but it is clunky and certain functions are nigh unto impossible.
The state of the UI is currently unlike PoE and D4 where every function in the UI can be gotten to via button press either directly or via dpad up-down-left-right navigation. That’s the biggest problem with LE controller support: they haven’t yet made everything reachable via dpad. You HAVE to use mouse functionality. As long as that requirement exists, it is not full controller support. Every function, dropdown, setting, closing of window, etc. MUST be able to be performed by a discrete button press or series of discrete button presses to get there.
It’s similar to coding old-school input fields in HTML forms and making them tabbable in the correct order via keyboard as opposed to forcing the user to use the mouse.
I’m not underestimating how daunting of a task it is, especially when dealing with cascading forms/windows. It takes a concerted effort from the UI dev team to make sure that every single aspect of the UI is reachable via dpad and we’re not there yet.
Secondly, the remap function in settings needs to be expanded for controller. Only a tiny number of the functions are actually remapabble for controller compared to m&k.
Lastly, when a window is opened (inventory, skills, etc.) the left joystick should NOT continue to move the character underneath the window, especially since the joystick is curently needed for QoL tasks. This is incredibly jarring and counterintuitive. When a window is spawned, character movement should be halted, with joystick functionality being resumed once all windows are closed… at least on controller.
This is all actually a fairly big deal from an accessibility perspective IMO. “Just use the joystick” or “Just use a mouse and keyboard dude, you’re on a PC” is not a long-term acceptable solution.
Thanks.