The D-Pad is fine, for me, don't know what you expect, but I'm not using it so much, don't play fighting games almost at all. It could definitely be better meaning if they would not have used this "circle" but just 4 single buttons, don't know what it's called.
I know that the D-Pad is very important for a lot of people, but not for me, so I don't really pay attention to it.