The CRKD NEO S Purple Wave Is a Solid Choice for Fortnite Festival and Clone Hero Players

Price at time of review: $59.99 | Works on: Switch, iOS, Android, PC.

If you’re a Fortnite Festival or Clone Hero player unsure about picking up the CRKD x Fortnite Festival NEO S Purple Wave controller, I’ve been using it as my main gaming controller and believe it’s a solid pick-up as long as you know exactly what it is and isn’t you’re getting.

The Fortnite Festival Fret Adapter Is Great, But You’ll Need to Learn It

I’m going to split this review into two parts. As the CRKD x Fortnite Festival NEO S Purple Wave can be used as a regular NEO S controller, and that the Fortnite Festival fret adapter separates, I think it makes the most sense to look at both individually.

I normally play Fortnite Festival on expert and, for the most part, can 100 percent most songs. So when I got the Festival controller, I assumed my skill level would translate over. That, embarrassingly, was definitely not the case!

The Festival controller isn’t designed to fully replace your current pad completely. It’s very much its own thing and you are going to need to learn this device as you would a plastic guitar. Once you get your head around that, trust me, you’ll feel differently about it.

For those willing to put the time in, the Festival controller can be a largely rewarding experience. I’ve been using it constantly over the last seven days and while I’m not able to play as well as I can with my regular controller (yet), I’m already seeing improvement from where I was when I started.

Part of the problem I have is that the Festival controller isn’t really suited to every instrument in Fortnite. The speed Kendrick Lamar spits fire isn’t something you can replicate with a single-handed, five button controller no matter how much you practice. I’m sure there will be people who can manage that feat, but the majority simply won’t be able to hit buttons that fast. Especially if you’re older.

Where the Festival controller excels, though, is in pro mode, although the first thing you’re going to want to do is swap the strum button from the bumpers to Up and Down on the d-pad in the Fortnite settings menu. Using the bumpers to strum is a solid idea in principle, but in reality it’s simply too much to process alongside using all five fingers and your opposite index.

I’m also of the mind that Fortnite developer Epic Games needs to add an auto-strum option. Clone Hero has that and it means players are free to press the buttons as they arrive rather than having to hold the controller at awkward angles to fit a strum in. That, admittedly, is a developer issue rather than a CRKD problem, but this one little change would help the Festival controller to be everything it aims to be.

Moving on, let’s talk about comfort. The biggest issue I found is it’s hard to find a position that works over a long period of time. You can’t use it one-handed as you’ll need to hit the back button to activate overdrive, and — once you’ve switched strum to d-pad Up — you’ll need a thumb on the strum button. Sure, your left hand will do most of the work, but you need a second hand to hold the bulk of the controller correctly.

Here’s a simple truth about Fortnite Festival: Playing lead guitar on a regular controller isn’t enjoyable. It’s possible, but it’s one of the most unnatural, often painful experiences out there. Thumbs are not designed to bend constantly like that.

What the NEO S Purple Wave does well is it makes playing lead feel more like you’re playing a plastic guitar. Regular lead — that is, playing on a regular controller — isn’t as possible on the NEO S. If you want an example, try playing Mr. Brightside by The Killers. There’s a section where the button inputs are simply too fast to process on the NEO S. And that’s fine! Because the NEO S is geared towards Festival’s Pro mode. Once you make the switch to Pro, because the NEO S is a substitute for a plastic guitar, suddenly everything feels much more natural, and that’s where the Purple Wave shines brightest.

The more I play with the Festival controller, the more I think Clone Hero players are the ones who will get the most out of it (for now). Clone Hero with a regular controller isn’t a great experience. It works, and is enjoyable enough. But having dedicated fret keys really elevates it. It brings the same level of satisfaction when you nail a hard section as playing with a plastic guitar, and that is just wonderful.

The Fortnite NEO S Controller Has Become My Go-to

Right. You’re going to have to bear with me on this. As a controller for general gaming, the Fortnite NEO S gets a lot wrong. Visually it stuns, and the rectangular design with curved corners makes it stand out. But as a controller, there’s no reason to have a rectangular shape for modern games (it’s amazing for retro emulation, though).

We know controllers need to be something you can grip, so that design decision perplexes just as much as it captivates. The triggers also don’t offer enough resistance, leaving them feeling weak. And the stick caps? They’re flat, which is more usable than the awful convex sticks we see on the Nintendo Switch, but offers less accuracy than the concave alternatives found on Sony and Microsoft controllers.

And yet, the NEO S is a stroke of brilliance for Fortnite Festival players. Allow me to break it down: The programmable back buttons mean hitting overdrive to boost your score is always a fingertip away regardless of whether you’re holding it horizontally or vertical with the fret attachment.

The width of the device horizontally is a thing of brilliance, too. Part of the problem with playing Festival or Clone Hero on a controller is how close in proximity everything is, which makes sense. For most games you want everything within easy reach. But with games where you’re pressing button combinations in rapid succession, your hands start to cramp.

To give you an idea about how close the buttons are or aren’t, the following measurements show the distance from the upper-edge of the Right d-pad to the Square or X button (Y on Nintendo Switch).

As you can see from the above, there isn’t much of a distance in terms of space between the Dualsense — my previous pick to play Fortnite Festival on — and the NEO S Purple Wave. At least on paper.

Now let’s check out the distance across the main body of the controller measured from the far left side directly through the center where the buttons sit. You’ll see where I’m going soon, promise.

What we can take from the two tables is not only is the NEO S wider, it also creates slightly more space between the d-pad and the face buttons. The end result here is a controller that’s perfectly designed for playing Fortnite Festival on.

Using the Dualsense PS5 controller as an example, to reach the outer buttons — Left on the d-pad and Circle — you’ll find yourself pushing your thumbs back into your hand, almost touching your palms. This ends up taking its toll over longer play sessions, which causes cramps. With the NEO S, because of that extra girth, your thumbs don’t ever bend back on themselves, resulting in an experience that is much more comfortable and easy to recommend to serious players.

Verdict

Is the NEO S Purple Wave a must-have for rhythm game fans? I’d wager yes, but you need to be aware of what it is you’re getting. It’s an instrument, and you won’t instantly be good at it. If you’ve seen videos online of people burning through tough-as-nails guitar solos, know that that won’t be you on day one. Sorry! As with any instrument, practice is key.

There are minor gripes, of course, like the fret buttons could be slightly larger, but it’s easy to understand why CRKD went with this size. Kids and people with smaller hands will appreciate the smaller sized buttons, and those (mostly dudes) with larger hands can still make do.

Overall, though? I’ve had a blast with the NEO S. I play Fortnite Festival daily and the sense of progression from where I was a week ago compared to now is satisfying. Plus even without the fret adapter, the controller itself rocks hard in other games like Clone Hero. Simply put, if you’re a music rhythm game player, you’re going to get a lot of satisfying usage out of the Purple Wave.

Disclosure: Review unit provided by PR. | To learn more about my review policy click here. | Alternatively, click here to find out why you can trust me.