Ideally you could visit a game shop and hold the prospective gamepad/joystick in your hands to see if it fits your hands or not. You don't want one that feels too large or too small. One of the gamepads I bought for playing Dreamfall (2006) was a Saitek gamepad that was too large for my dinky little hands.
For the first time in my gaming history, I find myself playing a game that cannot be properly controlled using the keyboard.
I had that problem with Dreamfall (2006). The buttons and keyboard keys weren't the problem. The problem was the way the character moved. I have problems with camera-relative movement when using a keyboard.
I'm looking for a controller, but I'm not interested in pre-set buttons and a lot of bells and whistles (because I'd have no idea how to use them, for a start). I just need a controller that will permit fluid movement instead of requiring the use of the WASD keys for directional aiming.
I think your game will allow programming. There is also software like joytokey that allows you to program your gamepad to emulate a keyboard --
https://joytokey.net/en/posts/category/faq/Is it even possible to integrate a controller with the keyboard, or is it one or the other?
I think using both is the default setting. Certainly it was with Dreamfall. I needed keyboard/mouse for the dexterity to do the "puzzles" and the game automatically switched back from gamepad to keyboard/mouse control when I tried to use the keyboard or mouse instead of the gamepad.
Shows you how little I know about this!
Any suggestions would be welcome and cost is not an issue.
Expect to pay about $20 for a decent gamepad. I'd suggest buying two and using the one you like best.
Besides the size, another thing to consider is how sweaty (and slippery) the gamepad gets while you use it -- an issue I had had with Playstation and XBox controllers -- they'd get all slippery and end up on the floor. So one of the controllers I bought had a little fan inside to cool off your hands and keep them from getting sweaty. I can't find the gamepads I bought at Amazon anymore, but I found this eBay auction
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PS2-Nyko-A...1?hash=item3b4e4de08f:g:epgAAOSw6atfQSkqIt is made by Nyko and called Air Flo Ex fan-cooled controller. Mine is not wireless. It has a USB cable. I may have bought it at a local GameStop and not at Amazon.
https://web.archive.org/web/20050203003345/www.nyko.com/nyko/products/?i=11I can't find the Saitek brand controller I bought either. Unlike the Nyko, it did not have a fan inside. It did have provision not to get sweaty and slippery though. The handles were not solid plastic, but were a grid made of rubbery stuff that allowed ventilation.