Games with great controls

[rusty_shackleford]

List games you think are fun to play just because they nailed the controls to the point where controlling the character is enjoyable

Enclave, I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't. Fun action hacky-slashy.
Enclave PC Gameplay 1080P

If perhaps a bit too floaty

[sheet]

F-Zero GX

[logincrash]

"Good controls" are when I don't have to think about controls at all. The less I have to struggle and fumble with controls, the better they are.
And the main strength of video games is interactivity. The shorter the time between my input and the character I'm controlling taking action, the better the controls.
Also, how would you separate good controls from the in-game movement system? For example, I'd argue GTA Vice City has good controls because Tommy takes a step back when I press "S." Meanwhile, GTA 4 has bad controls because Nico has do a full overly-animated physics-based 180 turn when I press "S."
This overly-animated nonsense is bad for immersion too. I don't feel like Arthur Morgan when playing RDR2, I feel like the the rat hiding under his hat and pulling his hair to make him move. Especially during the firefights.

[rusty_shackleford]

Also, how would you separate good controls from the in-game movement system?

If it feels good to use to the point where it either enhances the experience or you don't notice it at all. The later Arkham games added elaborate animations to Batman's movement and it made controlling him much worse.

---

I played Demon's Souls recently and found the controls to be quite enjoyable. Surprisingly, much better than the Dark Souls games I've played. The controls are deliberate but not unresponsive, I felt locked into an action but that was surely the intent of the developer — in Dork Souls it wasn't so much me being locked into an action as excessive input buffering. The animations had good weight behind them. Strange how this seemingly regressed as time went on, perhaps it's just an issue with the PC ports?

[Tangerine]

This overly-animated nonsense is bad for immersion too.

A consequence of artfags getting too much say in the design process.

[J1M]

Oni (2001)
Silver (1999)
Die by the Sword (1998)
Republic Commando (2005)
Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)
Ikaruga (2001)
Ori and the Blind Forest (2015)
Marvel SNAP (2023)
World of Warcraft (2004)

[Vlajdimir Ermenović]

Returnal

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

The gameplay loop in Space Marine 2 is really satisfying and addicting.

[Oyster Sauce]

World of Warcraft
Spider-Man 2
Prototype
Death Stranding
Team Fortress 2
Peak
Outer Wilds

[DecadeRiptide]

Clop

[Mordred]

Every Ys there is.

[stormvermin]

Seconding Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1. They're crisp, deliberate, and simple; the character does exactly what I want when I want it. DS2 introduced a floatiness that imo crippled the game on a fundamental level (in addition to its myriad of other impediments) and while later entries dialed that back, they never fully regained the extreme precision that graced the first two.

[methoxetamine]

Every Ys there is.

Yeah but it can feel like **** at first especially since Falcoms default binds are ********. Agreed though that they all control incredibly once you get used to them

[Tweed]

List games you think are fun to play just because they nailed the controls to the point where controlling the character is enjoyable

Enclave, I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't. Fun action hacky-slashy.
Enclave PC Gameplay 1080P

If perhaps a bit too floaty

Turns to assrape with no lube at the midpoint.

[methoxetamine]

WoW is my #1 answer

[DrSneed]

MGS5 Ground Zeroes

[xXD4rk_s3pher0th22Xx]

homm3

cyka blat

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

MGS5 Ground Zeroes

While I think both MGSVs are the worst Metal Gear games, they do have the best gameplay/controls.

[J1M]

MGS5 Ground Zeroes

While I think both MGSVs are the worst Metal Gear games, they do have the best gameplay/controls.

Nice to see fans finally admitting they were never games.

[Classix]

WoW is my #1 answer

With a SteelSeries MERC Stealth. Had it for years, on my second one. Best keyboard I've ever had. I don't use anything else. Still chugging now.

[Kolgrim]

For me it's games that have arcade like influences since they usually understand how important movement and solid controls are. Examples that come to mind are:
Resident Evil 4 OG
The Tony Hawk series
Sunset Overdrive
Infamous 1 and 2

3D platformers are also an easy answer since good controls are a requirement of the genre.

[SpellSword]

3D platformers are also an easy answer since good controls are a requirement of the genre.

Super Mario 64 had surprisingly good controls for a 3D platformer.

[Rienen]

Controls, to me, are just as much about "feel" as keybinds. Fluidity, subtlety, responsiveness, and attention to detail can do a lot to make or break how something feels to control. It's not an RPG (although some versions did have a "create a player" feature), but the NHL Hockey series on the Sega Genesis will always stand out to me. Teenage me played a ton of sports games, and that series, in particular, always felt great to play. The last few times I tried playing sports games, whether arcade or sim-focused, it felt like my players were wading through mud, with every movement having an inherent and purposeful delay for the sake of "immersive movement".