Recently got the Hori v4 Hayabusa (standard from Amazon) stick in the mail and played some Guilty Gear and Street Fighter (PC usually). These impressions are coming from someone who plays 99% of the time with a Seimitsu LS-40 and Sanwa OBSF-30 buttons on a RAP V3…
The case is your usual recent RAP form factor. A hori options (start) button and pad Home, Share (select), L3, R3 and turbo buttons at the top. There are various switches that either switch between DP/LS/RS, disable the options (start) button, or swap the R3/L3 buttons with the L1/L2 buttons. Overall it sits high compared to a Madcatz TE and has an angled edge so your wrists are comfortable. Like the other RAPs, the stick is very light.
I think the Hayabusa stick is a lot like the Sanwa JLFs. Maybe it was just mine, but the spring tension on mine was very little and the stick felt very loose. However, it was almost effortless moving the stick around. You can chalk this up to user error, but the longer throw on the stick caused me to miss diagonals, especially on half-circle motions and QCFs and QCB. It feels like the diagonal activation area is slightly smaller than Sanwa, but again, could be my unfamiliarity with the stick. I have no idea why people compare the stick to an LS-40, it honestly feels more like a Sanwa JLF that has less tension (or has been broken in) and glides easier.
As for the Kuro buttons. They’re ok. The only thing I like about them is the larger surface area. Other than that, I do not care for them. My buttons squeak (others report theirs do as well) and some of them of get snagged on something when trying to press all the way down. I mean, they’re not as bad at not registering inputs as a Gamerfinger button and they’re maybe a smidge less sensitive than regular Sanwas, but they don’t feel (or sound) that well manufactured. Despite that, they are definitely a huge step above the default Hori buttons on their cheaper sticks. I would guess I use very very slightly more force to activate them compared to Sanwa. Most wouldn’t complain if they had to switch between the two. But I’d rather keep sensitivity and effectiveness than supposed longer durability.
Another reason I like the RAP form factor over TEs is the options (start) button placement. At least for PC I can easily remap select (for slinking) to be a face button and still have my macro PPP button on the face. The bad thing though is that the pad buttons cannot be manually modded unless you know how to hack the board, which I’m not willing to do.
In the end after a couple days playing on it, I swapped the stick and buttons for my usual Seimitsu LS-40 and Sanwa OBSF-30 buttons. Main reasons, I wanted less throw on the stick and more tension, along with slightly more sensitive and better quality buttons.
Overall the stick is nice. They could do with a lower price point for the stick since it’s basically a RAP VX or V3 with a PS4/PS3 PCB. If they would do that, they would definitely blow Madcatz out of the water. For my situation, I basically rebought a $150 V3 and a PS4/PS3 compatible board, which I probably won’t recommend anyone to do. I was just too impatient. I mean it is still cheaper than a PS4 TE2 by $50, and that’s also a main point when comparing the two.
If you’re thinking this’ll be an upgrade over Sanwa parts, it’ll honestly feel more like a side-grade and close to a downgrade. The parts don’t feel much different, and some people might not even like them for the reasons I’ve given. If anyone has any more questions, I’ll be happy to answer.