Asus ROG Raikiri Pro Review: Trying Too Hard

Oct 10, 2023

The Asus ROG Raikiri Pro has all the bells and whistles, but tries too hard to do too much and misses the mark on some basics

When it comes to game controllers, pads, or whatever you call them where you’re from, we all like our own. I’ve got fond memories of the GameCube controller, and still crack it out from time to time if I’m ever drawn into a Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament I’ll inevitably fail at, but my favourite modern pad is the Switch Pro Controller. It’s a little on the small side, but I just love the feel of the triggers and the responsiveness of the joysticks. It’s everything the Joy-Con are not, and that makes it an even bigger upgrade.

I’m also weird in that I prefer the standard Xbox controller to the DualSense. While the haptic feedback stunned me in Astro’s Playroom, it was underwhelming in just about every other game I played, and I ended up turning off the adaptive triggers in most games because they just made my fingers ache rather than immersing me in a game of FIFA.

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However, as a keen FPS player, I’ve always wanted a gamepad with additional triggers, but I’ve never been able to justify the cost. My Xbox controller works fine on my PC, so I’ll just use that. Plus, I haven’t properly played an FPS with a controller since Halo 3 because I switched to PC gaming and learned keyboard and mouse for Fortnite and Apex Legends. I did play through the Infinite campaign with a controller because Halo feels wrong with a keyboard, but that was short-lived and I never spent much time in the game’s multiplayer offerings.

And so, my expectations were high when I received the Asus ROG Raikiri Pro. Republic of Gamers is Asus’ premium gaming brand, and this gamepad is resplendent with everything you’d expect from a modern controller with a sky-high price to boot. Retailing at just under £150, it’s got LED strips in a fashionable zig zag down its centre, and a tiny OLED screen that you can customise to show basically anything you want, provided you’re connected to your PC. Is it worth it though, and underneath all the bling, does the Raikiri Pro feel good to use?

First things first, despite the branding of the Raikiri Pro, it’s intended for use with a PC rather than an Xbox. While it does work with the Microsoft console (albeit wired only), it doesn’t have full functionality, which seems a little odd considering the large ‘X’ symbol in the centre, and the clear design cues taken from Microsoft’s own controllers. Given the console itself has built-in Bluetooth connectivity, this omission feels strange.

It’s a little smaller than the standard Xbox pad, which takes a little getting used to, but sits comfortably in the hands. I found myself accidentally knocking the rear paddles at first, but soon muscle memory kicked in and I had no such problems. Speaking of the additional paddles – the main draw for me – they work well when combined with ROG’s Armory Crate software. While the software remains a nightmare to use, customising these triggers is fairly simple and a necessity if you want to get the most out of the pad. I bound my healing items to the four paddles, and found myself popping Med Kits and fixing my Shields with ease, rather than having to reach for the D-pad. That said, the D-pad feels good to use when you need it.

The Raikiri Pro excels in its customisability. Everything on the pad, from basics like button mapping and lighting effects, to more complex deadzone settings and trigger sensitivity, can be customised in Armory Crate, provided you’ve got the controller plugged in with a wire. The biggest let down, however, is that you can’t do any of this wirelessly, or using the OLED screen.

The OLED screen is utterly pointless. You can check your battery percentage, connection status, change profiles, or display a variety of wallpapers on the 1.3” screen. Why? Beats me. If you could use the controller buttons (not just the two miniscule navigation buttons on top of the pad) to mess with settings and customisation all from the controller’s own screen, that would be a game changer. As it stands, all that customisation is locked away if you want to use the pad on Xbox or wirelessly on PC, and all you get in return is a flashing ROG logo.

I like the haptic feedback on the Raikiri Pro, it’s far better than a standard Xbox controller although not quite up there with the DualSense. Other than that, though, it doesn’t excel in many areas. The customisation is great, but should be more accessible. It feels nice to hold, even with my massive hands, and I got used to the placement of the rear triggers after a while. You’re paying for the style here though, and while it does look good, the pointless OLED screen is adding too much to the price tag for the Raikiri Pro to be worth considering.

The Raikiri Pro is halfway to greatness, weighed down by unnecessary additions and pointless features. If Asus can make the OLED screen useful for customising the controls, and bring full Xbox functionality to the controller, it might just have something great on its hands. It just needs to keep the price down while doing so.

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Ben is a Features Editor at TheGamer. You can read his work in Eurogamer, The Guardian, IGN, Kotaku, The Loadout, NME, VICE, or on Twitter @BenSledge.