CRKD NEO S review: Modern nostalgia

I’m a PC gamer through and through. Nothing compares to the feeling of being so close to a screen that my eyes hurt. Obvious detriment to my dry eyes aside, I love being able to customise my user experience as I see fit.

RGB mic to match my trinket-laden setup? Secured. That graphics card I bought before my raging Baldur’s Gate addiction? Upgraded. Mod to romance the elusive Stardew Valley wizard? Installed. I’m not a console hater, but not much can separate me from my PC. This made me indifferent to controllers, much less third-party retro ones. After all, why would I use a controller when my keyboard and mouse work just fine? 

The NEO S isn’t just a relic of the past made to entice those who spent their formative years with the NES gamepad. It combines the comfort and novelty of a retro controller, with the customisation that makes playing on PC a top choice.

The CRKD NEO S retails for a whisker under $100 from all major retailers. If you order directly from the CRKD website, you can bag it for $69, down from $86. If you want to splash your cash and treat yourself to the special edition Hellboy or Rocket League bundle, you can expect to pay $86, a sweet $17 discount from its original price.   

For a controller to sway me, it needs to feel comfortable in my hands. Otherwise, I know I won’t reach for it and it’ll get dumped in the drawer where third-party controllers, lightning cables, and old phones go to die.

Even though it’s not an ergonomic controller in the traditional sense, the CRKD NEO S was built with comfort in mind. The analog sticks are smooth, and I can run around a map with ease. The rounded edges and grooves on the back are comfortable to hold, and I don't feel like I’m straining my fingers reaching for the D-Pad. They’re curved with a smooth texture and are easy to travel to. The buttons have a nice resistance, and you don’t have to press too hard to register input (though you can jump into settings and change this if you wish).

I wouldn’t grant the NEO S any awards for being the most comfortable controller on the market, but it did surprise me. It wasn’t any less comfortable than the Nintendo Switch Lite, and I could play Mario Kart for about two hours before my digits demanded a break. 

Design-wise, the NEO S feels like the lovechild of an NES Gamepad and a Nintendo Switch. I love the visually striking designs that CRKD has to offer, namely the Sakura Blossom and the Brat Green Splatter. I appreciate the homage to the GameBoys and Nintendo 64 controllers of the 90s and early 2000s, with their range of translucent styles. The trade-off with this charming retro-inspired piece is that it’s just not as comfortable as a controller that was made to be ergonomic. Even though it follows components of modern gamepad ergonomics, your decision will ultimately come down to personal preference.

The NEO S is a beautiful, retro-style gamepad with features galore to offer, but if you need a controller for long gaming sessions, this might be one for the shelf.

As far as functionality goes, I love that the NEO S boasts fun features you’ll actually use, like Hall Effect joysticks. If you’ve ever played Mario Kart with JoyCons that are past their prime, you’ll know what I’m talking about. No more being sent off the edge of Rainbow Road to your demise, only precise and responsive control. These bad boys detect input via magnetic sensors instead of physical contact between the joystick components. This means your device will last longer, and you won’t have to battle against stick drift ever again. 

You’ve also got the option of enabling motion play thanks to the internal gyroscope–perfect for racing games like Mario Kart. Even though I usually turn it off, it's comforting to know it's there if I want to spice up my gaming experience. That’s the go with most of the features the NEO S has to offer. If you don’t like a certain feature (sorry rumble vibration), you can turn it off or alter it to your liking. 

You can adjust the sensitivity of your thumbsticks, map your shoulder buttons straight from the device, and even change the actuation of the triggers. This changes how hard you must press each button for the controller to register input. Sounds like a lot to remember off the top of your head, right? Thankfully, you won’t have to. CRKD makes it easy to configure these settings in the app so you can get the most out of whatever game you’re playing.

While I do like that the option is there to map controls straight from the device, it’s much easier to head to the app. If you haven’t personalised a controller before, the CRKD app is a great place to start. Whether you want to make little changes or big adjustments, the app guides you every step of the way. 

After a day of staring at a screen, I need a palette cleanser. Something to prevent me from brooding on the day that was. Sometimes, it's crawling into a fetal position, other times it's fishing minigames.

What I love about the NEO S is that it offers a much-needed respite when I spend too much time on FPS games. While it's easy enough to distract myself by booting up Fields of Mystria, the NEO S takes it a step further. The Bluetooth connection means I can disconnect from my keyboard and mouse, kick my feet up, and take a literal step back from my PC. It's a small change in the scheme of things, but combined with a dim light, some Lo-fi jazz, and a cup of lavender tea, it was the most relaxed I'd felt in a while.

The NEO S won't completely transform your gaming experience, but it does offer the comfort and novelty of a wireless controller. If you're a regular controller user, the novelty will wear off fairly quickly. In fact, you'll probably be back to playing with your keyboard and mouse within a few weeks. But if you're a hardcore PC gamer and want a portable controller that’ll help breathe new life into yet another Stardew Valley farm, the NEO S does a solid job. Obviously, a wireless connection is my favourite way to play, but it's not your only option.

Regardless of whether you choose to connect via USB-C or Bluetooth, CRKD's promise of a seamless setup rang true for the most part. It took some trial and error to enable Bluetooth on the NEO S' part, as the instructions were unclear on how exactly to enable it. Fortunately, a quick Google search was all it took to connect to remedy the problem. Before you even get to pairing, you'll need to pop that bad boy on charge. I often left it plugged in while playing in the morning, then switched to Bluetooth in the evening.

With a full charge, I found the CRKD NEO S lasted between 5-7 hours. For me, that totalled around three days of play. After you’ve charged and connected your device, it's time to hop into your settings to optimise your controls. 

The amount of time you’ll spend controller mapping will depend on what your poison of choice is. I found it easy enough to plug and play life sims like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Touhou’s Izakaya. Even if little tweaking was needed, the main controllers remained the same–the left analog stick to move and buttons to interact with the world around you. When it came to first-person shooters like Valorant, I spent more time mapping controls than actually playing. 

There were so many controls I had to account for, that I often forgot which button was mapped with the corresponding ability. Even once I had a handle on the controls, I still felt like a clunky mess in-game. I couldn’t tap straight, aiming down sights was a death wish, and I couldn’t pivot to enemies nearly as quickly as I would have liked. Even with the bonus of aim-assist, It was pretty obvious that I was playing at a disadvantage.