Why is it nearly impossible to get controller input in nier automata?

[Doom Sayer]

I use steam input = no input. I emulate ds4 as xbox controller still no input. I have done other various random ♥♥♥♥ and its impossible to get it to work. It has worked on and off for years and due to it randomly not working impossible to fix I havent beaten the game despite having it for a long time.

Duckstation emulator? No issues. PCSX2 emulator? No issues. RPCS3 emulator no issues. Warframe no issues. Opengoal jak ports no issues. Etc etc etc nothing else has ever had controller issues except Nier Automata.

All i want is Specialk, reshade, Far and ds4 inputs but nope it cant do what every other game app does.

I also tried disabling steam, and hiding and unhiding input using hidhide. Only fix is specialk being removed.

EDIT: I think its basically unusable. There is a very small chance game will have ds4 work with specialk and even if it does it will randomly stop working for no reason.

[ultraMario]

In Steam controller settings, did you select "Enabled in game w/o support" in Playstation controller support?

[EleventhStar]

xbox controllers just work better with PC games in general. always been that way.