MSI Gaming Centre + MSI Mystic Light

MSI Gaming Centre and MSI Mystic Light

Given the ever-increasing complexity and functionality of modern-day peripherals, it is no surprise that we have some software to deal with here. This comes in the form of MSI's Gaming Centre, and Mystic Light. The former acts as a control suite for a lot more than just MSI's mice and keyboards, and we'll be seeing it again in the upcoming review of their Immerse GH70. MSI Mystic Light controls... well, just that. The RGB lighting found on all of MSI's high-end gaming peripherals. The only surprise to me (on going into this review) was that two bits of software were required, and I would like to see - in future - this go down to a single application. This keeps things slimline, whilst also easing user understanding.

I would have liked to have covered both bits of software separately, but this is fairly difficult as one needs the other to work properly. So, we will start by having a simple look at the user interface of both, as well as the additional functions that the Gaming Centre offers its users. I also thought this segment would get potentially confusing if I didn't at least try to differentiate between the two pieces of software within this section. I have said this before, but the RGB and peripheral control ideally need to be in a single software suite.

Gaming Centre

A good UI is utterly vital to the success of an application. If something isn't intuitive to use or easy to navigate around, then a user will quickly lose interest in wishing to use it further. On the surface, and with a deeper dive in, there is little wrong with the Gaming Centre's UI. 'Functional' is the term that comes to mind, but to be honest it is easy enough to navigate. You are presented with three areas in which you can further customize the product in question (conveniently, this goes for any attached headset, mouse, and keyboard). There is a basic 'LED On/Off' with each product, and the GH70 has a battery charge indicator.

For the record, about 10m of charge was enough to juice up the mouse by approximately 6%, so about 100m plugged in should fully recharge the internal battery. Going into the options for each, we find a fairly extensive amount of configuration for each peripheral. I did not really get a chance to use/create any macros for the keyboard, but the functionality to do so is certainly present. I should also mention that both units needed firmware updates straight from the factory. However, the Gaming Centre immediately detected this on connection and initiated a firmware flash with the user's permission. It was quick, easy, and was completed without any further interaction from me.

The software allows the user to customize the keyboard's macros, LEDs, and hotkeys. As I say, whilst I didn't get the time to fiddle with the shortcuts, I was able to have a good look at the LED section. In a word, it's solid, but also presents a small issue which I will get to later. The user can choose from a variety of different preset profiles, as well as change the brightness and/or rapidity of the repeat if applicable. By default, the keyboard runs with a fast speed rainbow cycle. Whilst a little too 'techo' for my eyes, I found that the lighting quality was excellent, and turning down the speed to slow/medium was enough to make the keyboard truly stand out. I liked it a lot, and my fondness for using the keyboard to type on in the first place meant I was enjoying the product a great deal.

If the software provided a good level of functions to the keyboard, it was on another level with the mouse. As you would expect from a custom software suite, the ability to control mouse buttons, LEDs, and settings was all present. My only complaint about this (and the Gaming Centre in general as a standalone application) was that the UI was nowhere near as fluid or nice to use as something like Logitech's Gaming Software or Steelseries' Engine. Both of these apps are very usable whilst also being well laid out, something that the MSI team could maybe take a look at. It's perfectly functional, but notably cluttered and cramped, especially the mouse settings segment.

With that aside, it's all there, and the ability to control DPI, lift off, polling rate, and angle snapping all works well and applies instantly. DPI can be set and switched on the fly using the onboard DPU change button, and the current setting is indicated by a series of 3 red (only) LEDs atop the mouse, near the scroll wheel. I really don't use this functionality on any mouse myself, as in-game sensitivity settings mean my DPI stays consistent and I can play well across numerous titles without having to continually re-adjust. That said, I also only use a 24'' 1080p display. LED control for the mouse is also much the same as the keyboard, allowing the user to either choose from presets, set their own, or even control the individual lighting zones inside the GH70's side mounted light bars. As I have said, I am not an RGB fan, but using worked perfectly well. A small aside, and a gripe (I would guess) is that the LED Sync button straight up didn't respond within the GH70 segment of the Gaming Centre. I couldn't even click it. Getting the two products to sync correctly was, sadly, something I never managed to achieve, but the reason for this may well become apparent in a moment.

Overall, the Gaming Centre is functional and works. To be fair, I guess that is all that can really be asked, though it would be good to see MSI re-work the UI and make it a little cleaner or less cluttered. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, mind, but I have admittedly been spoiled by using long term the two suites I mention above from Logitech and Steelseries. With that, let's move onto the Mystic Light suite.

Mystic Light

On the surface, Mystic Light's UI and initial impressions are very good. The software is a lot more open and better laid out, and it looks as though you are going to be in a for a good experience. All connected devies are shown in a bar similar to that of the Gaming Centre, and selecting each requires a single click. So far, so good. However.

I have said that I really don't like being negative, but I have several questions about the Mystic Light software. My first would be (as I have hinted at) why it exists? The Gaming Centre could easily integrate the functionality offered by Mystic Light, and it would cut down on clutter. A really small example would be both suites offering the options to turn LED's on or off, as well as offering many of the same presets. The second problem I had with it was where both suites seemed to step on the other's toes, as far as RGB goes. Mystic Light seemed to offer marginally more functionality in terms of presets, I will admit, but that didn't detract from my main problem.

It is very, very confusing, and I know I am not alone in feeling this way. It is not an intuitive piece of software, period. I had to do some real Sherlock work to find out how to make certain elements of the UI either open or work at all, and when they did, I was still unsure about what bit of the mouse's LEDs I was controlling and how I was doing it. For example, the 'Colour' section at the bottom right, above the 'Apply' button I could make no headway with, and simply left it alone. I also ran into a problem where the mouse seemed to 'freeze' for a fairly lengthy amount of time, refusing to take any commands as to LEDs (being stuck on static white) until I uninstalled the software, unplugged the mouse, reinstalled the software, and finally re-plugged the mouse back into the PC via USB.

I will say that when it works, the software works well enough, and even wirelessly the mouse was able to pick up on any changes I made, and remembered them. I did try making a few profiles within Mystic Light, and - again - these worked just fine, with me able to change between static, colour shift (red to blue), and rainbow. If MSI can work out the kinks in the Mystic Light software, or simply make it nicer to use, I would be a lot more positive. My experience with the Gaming Centre was far better, and I think MSI should consider simply moving to a single suite.