HORI D-Pad Controller (L) (Zelda) Officially Licensed - Nintendo Switch

I bought this for my new special edition OLED and it looks fantastic and works well so far! I guess the only thing I don't like too much is how the small square button and the small minus button feel "squishy" instead of "clicky" like a regular joycon. But those buttons are rarely used, and the dpad and other buttons feel fantastic.Buyers should be aware of the lack of battery and rumble. This controller is intended to be used only while attached to the Switch (portable use only). It states this clearly in the description, so I won't complain about that.Lastly, I use this with the Satisfye Zen Grip Pro and it fits perfectly. Some of the reviewers here claim it does not fit. It absolutely does. Although I haven't measured precisely, it seems to be pretty much the same shape and size as the official joycon.It's less expensive than an official joycon for a reason. You are losing some of the features of the official product, but you gain a dpad and a great design in the process.The bottom line is if you read the product description carefully and know what you're buying, you truly won't be disappointed.

This d-pad joy-con is great for fighting games and retro games. Great substitute for pro controller and arcade stick, especially if you don't want to carry around or buy these more costly controllers. Only set back, it is hand held mode only. You can not use it if it's detached from console and the minus button is kind of mushy feeling. Other than that, overall it feels great to have a d-pad on Switch. Highly recommend!

DON'T BUY THIS! You can ONLY use it attached to the console. You can not use it to play two player or interactive games that require you to disconnect the controller.

This joycon is lightweight but durable. The zelda design is really cool, and fits in your hand just like original joycons. So far it has no drift and does the job.

This JoyCon only works in handheld mode on the Switch. It would be great if it could work outside of that mode, but it does not.So knowing that limitation which Hori is not trying to hide, this is a good product. Having a proper dpad is a huge improvement over the split buttons on the standard JoyCon. And it's a pretty good dpad. Button feel is pretty subjective and this dpad is a little mushy which I think feels pretty good but if you prefer something more clicky you might be disappointed. It reminds me of the DS Lite dpad. At the very least it works correctly, I have not noticed any incidents where it registers the wrong direction which is an issue that seems to plague most modern dpads these days. The rest of the JoyCon is indistinguishable from the standard JoyCons. Same build, same analog stick, same trigger buttons. I do wish they just sold these in standard JoyCon colors instead of the themed designs, but the Zelda one isn't too gaudy.If you play 2D Switch games portably, this is a great buy.

Everything works exactly as expected. I haven't noticed any "drift" issues yet but I don't know if these replacements even have that issue.The only thing that gets slightly annoying is how the console reacts now when you plug or unplug the power cord while you're playing. Since there's no battery in the replacement Joy-Con, the system will freeze and tell you to attach the Joy-Con to the console and you'll just have to press the "A" button. It sometimes also freezes while the game still plays for a bit prompting you to press the "L" and "R" buttons on the Joy-Cons. I've only played two games after having gotten the replacement Joy-Con and each game did one of the two things. I got the first type of freeze (press "A" type) while playing the physical version of I am Setsuna and was getting the second type of freeze (press "L" and "R" type) while playing the physical version of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.The "problem" is more of a quality of life thing than anything else though and is far from a big deal. However the press "L" and "R" type of freeze might cause some problems while playing more action oriented games as I noticed the game still playing even though I couldn't input any commands until the press "L" and "R" prompt came up. The sound also dips during this time.The only other things I can think of is that it's not entirely shaped like the original Joy-Con nor does it use the same quality materials. Both of these "issues" are only noticeable in one place each that I've noticed anyway. The "-" button is made out of a softer material that is also longer than it needs to be and can "catch" as you try to press it. I've never really needed to press this button for anything though so it's not an issue to me but if you ever need to use it quickly for something, it might cause problems. The other thing is that the Joy-Con's release button is now raised up on a square piece of plastic molded in that spot. It's raised to such an extent that it juts into the tip of whichever finger I have located behind the "L" and "ZL" buttons. It causes a bit of discomfort as the original Joy-Con has the release button more flush with the rest of the back of the controller. It also makes accidentally pressing the release button happen quite a bit more frequently causing other issues. This replacement Joy-Con is designed for handheld mode only and doesn't really ever need to be taken off yet the release button is not only more accessible, it can also be triggered accidentally. It's just a tad bit odd to me.Now that I think more about it, the color options bother me but I'm just nitpicking now. Why only translucent red Mario, black Pokemon and black LoZ styles? Why not normal Joy-Con colors? I would've liked a neon blue one to properly replace the one I originally had or a neon red to match the other side. Or maybe the neon green and purple or whatever other colors the Joy-Cons come in? I got the Mario version because it was the closest one to looking decent with the neon red on on the other side. Again though, I'm just nitpicking at this point.Bottom line is that it works and serves the purposes it was designed for.*EDIT* I went back and read a few other reviews on this and this replacement isn't the same size as the original Joy-Con in other places that I didn't mention in my initial review. I bought myself a grip to go on my Switch a few days ago and while it fits well enough, when I switched out the replacement Joy-Con with the original to see if they were indeed different sizes, I noticed that it fit much better with the original. The grip felt slightly weird when I put it on but I didn't think much of it until I tried it with the original Joy-Con. So if you have accessories that get put onto your Switch, you might want to get a regular replacement Joy-Con instead of this one. As it is, when it's attached to the Switch, it sticks out about a millimeter or so to the left of the controller/system. So anything that wraps around the system or Joy-Con itself might have problems being applied to the Hori replacement due to the size difference and due to how the release button was raised up. I didn't think about any of this as I only have the one accessory for my Switch and it works with the Hori Pad well enough but I can see how this can cause problems with other accessories.Also it might need repeating that this replacement is for handheld mode only. There are no internal mechanisms inside other than those for the buttons and stick. This will not work with the pack in Joy-Con holder controller, it will not work standalone or in anything else that needs it to be removed from the system itself. It will only draw power from the Switch itself and from nothing else. Some people seem to have issues with this even though it's clearly stated that it's for handheld mode only. I've only ever played in handheld mode so this was perfect for me.New bottom line: It works and serves the purposes it was designed for so long as you don't have anything else to add to your Switch system that the slight changes in the size and shape of the Hori Joy-Con might conflict with.That price though...