Dante's "Drive" attack with sword (gamepad)

[Frosty]

Video of the ability in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayO0bAz_6ow

This is my absolute favorite attack in DMC4 and now they've f*cked it up royally in DMC5 by tweaking and overcomplicating the input for it. But fine, I'll live with it. So you are supposed to target + left stick back to forward + melee attack. Now, I can do this just fine with the keyboard. But with the gamepad, it is a complete nightmare. One degree off with the analog stick and Dante does his uppercut (High Roller) every time.

Now I just want to confirm if I'm taking crazy pills here or not. Is anyone else having trouble? Or is there something I'm simply missing? Or time to purchase a new gamepad?

[Mayonnaise Eater]

I don't have any troubles with it. Also on Gamepad.
Do you have the same problem with Calibur and Shuffle?

Oh and something from the demo that I don't have trouble with anymore. The game frequently ate my calibur/shuffle inputs in both demos. I didn't have the problem in full release though.

[FamishedPants]

Have you tried inputting back to forwards with the left analog stick, instead of just forwards? That always works for me.

It's either user input or your controller, friend.

[ΧΙΣΤ]

it's just you, or your gamepad. we've been doing the same input with Nero's shuffle and Calibur just fine since DMC4

[Rachter]

Just play with keyboard lol, I've been playing with keyboard since the beginning and I'm on HaH right now pushing my way through

[Frosty]

Great points! I rarely use Calibur and Shuffle, didn't consider to compare their input responses!
I did some tests and I can do them far more consistently than Drive. 6/10 attempts worked, while Drive only triggered in 1/10 attempts.

So I'm willing to wager that Drive requires far more precision. It seems like you really need to crack the left thumbstick like a whip, perfectly straight line, and hit the melee attack with millisecond timing. And I think that even a slight wobble from an old analog stick kills it.
Also, Dante refuses to do the move at certain camera angles, which is maddening.

Either way, it is good to hear that it works for others since it makes it safe to assume it is a local issue on my end, be it lack of precision or a faulty left stick.

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EDIT: Okay, I went back and tried some deduction. I looked at the attacks Dante was doing instead of Driver and managed to up my Driver consistency considerably. Still a worse combo input than DMC4 but I digress. I'm adding details here for people who might google into this thread. Most of it is a bit "duh!" but combos in DMC5 rarely need such precise thumbstick movement.

Head into practice mode and try to spam the move.
• If he does High Roller it means you didn't pull the thumbstick up sufficiently.
• If he does Stinger it means you didn't pull the thumbstick down sufficiently.
• If he does a normal slash, you didn't pull the thumbstick up AND down sufficiently. Or you went too much sideways in the motion.

Take whatever wrong attack Dante does as feedback and adjust accordingly. Being aggressive and making the thumbstick bounce when going down and then up helped. The clicking sounds are assurances that no movement was undershot and the second click helps time the melee attack input.