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Steam Deck - What games suprised you on the deck.

Got my steam deck a week ago, and love this thing. I feel like the this is what I always wanted. It's not a console but a hybrid console/pc/handheld.
you can look at the deck as evolution of gameboy -> gba -> ds -> psp -> 3ds -> vita -> switch -> deck , but that doesn't quite cut it, to me its the tinkering device , like how a modded psp was back in the day but x 1000. Its a pc that has a console asthetic if you want it with verified games, but a pc with its desktop mode and non verified games, complete with jank, oh love that jank... :messenger_smiling_hearts:

Some of the best titles have been older games, indies and fps games from before the battle royal craze.

Been playing...err trying and testing: Thief the dark project (of course I am), Fallout 3, Wizardry 8, Grim Dawn, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and 5, Dues EX -Revision, Dead island, Dead Space, Dark Messiah, Disgaea 2, Flatout 2, Need 4 speed shift, GTA4 , Max Payne, Low Magic age, keeperRL, Stalker SOC, System Shock, Tales of Besaria, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Vampire Survivors, EU4, Geometry Wars, Far Cry 3, Rouge Empire , Avorian, Batman origins, and FEAR.

Got epic , gog, and uplay games to work. Just installed Splinter cell and far cry blood dragon.

So far the most fun and has been on old games, and rogue likes. I haven't even put on Elden Ring or anything more recent then divinity 2 as I have already about maxed out my 768gb storage.

This device has brought me so much joy its insane.

The most shocking was seeing a game like FEAR run at 330 fps on a handheld with dynamic lighting, AA, and full max setting was kinda unreal. Of course i capped it to 45 fps , so now I can get 5.2 hours out of the game. Fear a monster pc game from early 360/ps3 era. It was silky smooth and just felt so perfect. Also GTA4, on a handheld. Something we will not see on switch or anywhere probably because of the gta trilogy backlash.

The controls are so awesome too. Getting them just right, seeing community layouts and macro designs, things you wouldn't think of. Some people have complex movement routines macros for some games. Radials for left mouse pad, and just seen today that you can emulate trackball with momentum and even behavior for sliding and letting go at the end like a real trackball. Multiple button presses, combos, and sentivity layers and mode switches are all possible. Saving and exporting for others to use.

I would love to get Stalker 2012 complete on here, but don't know how to install a mod exe.
Can't stand I can't buy Alpha protocol as it's delisted from all stores (i own it on ps3), and would love it on here.

Out of that list, I have mostly been playing Thief, FEAR, Need for speed shift, Splinter Cell, Vampire Survivors and Rogue Empire.

What games are you playing, if you have a deck, or are you looking forward to?
 
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ahtlas7

Member
I’ll have mine on Wed. …
this isn’t making my waiting easier
Hold On Waiting GIF by Fleischer Studios
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Metal Gear Solid 5 may be the most impressive for me of what I have played. It looks fantastic on the Deck by default and will run at 50+ fps but gobbles the battery up. However, you can go with 40 Hz / 40 fps mode and enable FSR and it still looks just as good but extends your battery life by a good hour and fifteen minutes.

GTA 5 basically looks like it does on the PS4 Pro but runs at better and stable framerates. All that's missing is the HDR.

Really, if any game looks good on a PS4 Pro or med-level PC, it will run great on the Deck in the 40/40 mode. That 40/40 mode is one of its best features IMO.
 

AndrewRyan

Member
Still in the honeymoon phase but yeah it feels like an evolution in gaming. All the little features are good but together add up to something terrific. Like you said; custom community controls for all games, suspending or exiting whenever you like, freedom to tinker, encouragement to tinker and fun tinkering, SD cards work great, Steam, continue on a desktop anytime. Can't imagine going back to a closed system after this.

Here's some games that surprised me both good and bad, mostly due to the small screen.

Nex Machina: One of my favorite games of all time and favorite twin-stick-shooter. It's been a dream come true playing this on a handheld. :messenger_smiling_hearts: Though have to admit am sadly surprised that some of the higher planets are not so great on the small screen due to not being able to see the small projectiles.

Geometry Wars Retro Evolved: This game is a 10/10 and is purrrrfect on the small screen. Loads almost instantly so you can be playing anytime. Love it! It's the first game I tried since it's so small to download but surprised it's still one of my favorites.

Geometry Wars 3: Loved this game on the Vita but felt like cheating since it slows down so much during heavy action. Runs buttery smooth on SD and one of my favorites. Not really surprised but maybe just that twin-stick-shooters are so great on deck.

Devil May Cry 5: Played a few hours on desktop but now on SD it finally clicked and feels perfect on the small screen. Probably the first AAA game I'll complete on SD.

Project Cars 2: Like racing games but surprised how much I've playing them on SD. Been switching between Grid, Grid 2, F1 2015, but it's Project Cars 2 that's been the best experience overall. Wish it had rewind-in-race so I'm still looking for a better game but it's my favorite racer so far.

Grand Theft Auto V: One of my most anticipated games on SD but surprised I didn't like it as much as I'd though on the small screen. Actually deleted from SD card.

SOMA: Got this in a bundle a few years ago but never tried and forgot all about it. Playing on deck for first time and surprised how amazing it is and how I never really heard about it for how great it is.

Metal Gear Rising: Always liked but never finished. Looks and plays perfectly and feels like it was made for the deck. Will definitely be completing this on deck and also a great demo game.
 

bender

What time is it?
Nex Machina: One of my favorite games of all time and favorite twin-stick-shooter. It's been a dream come true playing this on a handheld. :messenger_smiling_hearts: Though have to admit am sadly surprised that some of the higher planets are not so great on the small screen due to not being able to see the small projectiles.

I just installed this today and couldn't get it running. What's the trick? It's easily my favorite Housemarque game.

I've been playing Lost and the Damned today. I missed it and Ballad of Gay Tony when they first came around.
 

AndrewRyan

Member
I just installed this today and couldn't get it running. What's the trick? It's easily my favorite Housemarque game.

It requires the following launch options under the games general settings:
PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1 PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60 %command%

ProtonDB says it's all you need but I also Forced Compatibility to version: GE-Proton7-25.
 

MrMephistoX

Member
It’s not a graphics powerhouse buT Star Wars The Old Republic runs well with community controller layouts: I never got into MMOs or PC gaming in an office chair but I am completely hooked on this game.
 
Halo MCC, pretty much locked 60 Max settings. I still can't believe I can play my favorite games of all time anytime and anywhere I want. A few weeks ago I was sitting at work bored and I thought "fuck it, imma play some Halo."
 
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Apocryphon

Member
Prey 2006, 40K Space Marine, The Ascent, Quantum Break, GTA IV, Insurgency Sandstorm, Amid Evil, Arkham Knight, Human Revolution, Far Cry 2, Spec Ops: The Line, Sleeping Dogs...

Thing is fantastic.
 

Kupfer

Member
What games are you playing, if you have a deck, or are you looking forward to?
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC is just brilliant on the Deck once you set up the controls. I highly recommend to bind gyroaim to L2 when ADS, feels so good.
Pretty much tried the games you wrote about as well and had the same impressions. My PC back in the days was struggling with titles like DOOM 3, DMoM&M, F.E.A.R. , S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC and it just feels so refreshing to replay these games on a handheld device with a better performace than some years ago on my main computer.
Right now I pretty much use the Deck to play some PS4/5 games via chiaki (remote play) only. It's fun to catch up on games on the Deck that I would never sit down in front of the TV and playstation to play.

I would love to get Stalker 2012 complete on here, but don't know how to install a mod exe.
I'm not 100% sure right now, but doesn't the .exe just extract the files to the root directory? You could also try to install the game on your PC and copy the complete game folder to the Deck.
 
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Shout out to fellow Steam Deck owners playing the old school games.
Check these out and shop around 3rd party sites for sales.

Knowing some of you skipped out on Xbox One in favor of PS4, you might have missed some awesome stuff.
Hit it:

Awesome. Already got Crystal Project, but haven't dug in yet. Looks my style.
Also got Dark Deity and Symphony of War for fire emblem /advanced wars style goodness (since Nintendo is too scared to release a game with the word "war" in the title. Imagine if battlefield or cod stopped selling due to skirmishes around the globe...lol. So these games will do nicely until then, and if i want tanks and such i have company of heroes, panzer general 2, hearts of iron 4, and civ (probably a ton others too).

Ryse son of Rome, is that good? Isn't that just quick time events? I like the era and have
Rome total war (not remastered as it takes like 4x the space, and not rome2 as i never liked it, sadly).

One thing that sucks is newer games take up tons of space due to "4k" , which it would be nice if there was different download for lower res versions. A game for 720/1080p like bioshock at 7gb is at least 25-30gb in todays era for 4k. Even if we don't need 4k.
 
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC is just brilliant on the Deck once you set up the controls. I highly recommend to bind gyroaim to L2 when ADS, feels so good.
Pretty much tried the games you wrote about as well and had the same impressions. My PC back in the days was struggling with titles like DOOM 3, DMoM&M, F.E.A.R. , S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC and it just feels so refreshing to replay these games on a handheld device with a better performace than some years ago on my main computer.
Right now I pretty much use the Deck to play some PS4/5 games via chiaki (remote play) only. It's fun to catch up on games on the Deck that I would never sit down in front of the TV and playstation to play.


I'm not 100% sure right now, but doesn't the .exe just extract the files to the root directory? You could also try to install the game on your PC and copy the complete game folder to the Deck.
Any lag with ps4/5 remote play? I want to play cities skylines, I have it on steam but i don't have the $70+ dollars worth of dlc , that i have on ps4. If i could play that....scratch that, my gf will leave.. I already play cities skylines too much, being able to play it everywhere would be the last straw, marriage off...

As for stalker, did you install any mods? I want to install complete but don't know if i have to do that on the prefix or just run it in wine by itself.

Hmm copy over , will try that, thanks.
 

Apocryphon

Member
Awesome. Already got Crystal Project, but haven't dug in yet. Looks my style.
Also got Dark Deity and Symphony of War for fire emblem /advanced wars style goodness (since Nintendo is too scared to release a game with the word "war" in the title. Imagine if battlefield or cod stopped selling due to skirmishes around the globe...lol. So these games will do nicely until then, and if i want tanks and such i have company of heroes, panzer general 2, hearts of iron 4, and civ (probably a ton others too).

Ryse son of Rome, is that good? Isn't that just quick time events? I like the era and have
Rome total war (not remastered as it takes like 4x the space, and not rome2 as i never liked it, sadly).

One thing that sucks is newer games take up tons of space due to "4k" , which it would be nice if there was different download for lower res versions. A game for 720/1080p like bioshock at 7gb is at least 25-30gb in todays era for 4k. Even if we don't need 4k.
Ryse is good. There are certainly quick time events, but the combat is pretty good and not a million miles from the Arkham games. Visually it's still stunning and it looks and runs incredibly on Deck. The only thing that let's it down are the forced ballista turret sections and the formation javelin sections.. though I'm sure they make some people's balls tingle.

It's worth checking out, especially at this price:


 
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Kupfer

Member
Ryse son of Rome, is that good? Isn't that just quick time events? I like the era and have
Rome total war (not remastered as it takes like 4x the space, and not rome2 as i never liked it, sadly).
Great game to have a nice time for a day or two. The story doesn't reinvent anything, but it's well presented and the cutscenes are magnificent. The gameplay CAN be monotonous, I didn't find it monotonous, because after 7 hours you've played through the game anyway and you can unlock some new movesets and finishers over that time. I mean you fight as a trained legionnaire with your sword and spear. It doesn't get much fancier than that, that's just how it was.
I can easily recommend Ryse for 10€.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
This thread is making me want to get a Steam Deck, a device I don't need but man, do I like the idea of playing some PC indies while lying on the couch.

Any word on a Steam Deck 2?
 

Kupfer

Member
Any lag with ps4/5 remote play? I want to play cities skylines, I have it on steam but i don't have the $70+ dollars worth of dlc , that i have on ps4. If i could play that....scratch that, my gf will leave.. I already play cities skylines too much, being able to play it everywhere would be the last straw, marriage off...
:D
It definitely runs better than I thought. Have my PS5 via cable and the Deck via 5ghz frequency on the router. Especially slow paced games work great and you almost do not notice that you're streaming. When charging the Deck and the fan turns on in between to cool the charging IC the picture for me has artifacts for 1-2 frames, no idea what this is related to, but other image errors I had so far rarely, or only when I download something at the same time.
I wouldn't necessarily play competitive online games like this, but I've played through the Mafia 1 remake and Carrion completely streamed from the PS5 to the Deck, and I'm currently playing L.A. Noire and Last Campfire.
It is definitely worth trying out, especially for construction games certainly quite nice.
 
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PhaseJump

Banned
To me valve and stream deck are selfish it’s kinda laughable a handheld from 2010s (3ds) gets more respect.

61SePZyhVaL._AC_SY355_.jpg


Selfishness incarnate. Laughable, even.


Valve is so selfish, developing VR tech and upstreaming to open source projects. How selfish of them to create the greatest handheld and sell it at a subsidized price to grow the market while offering tools and a Linux fork for other vendors to use freely and add value to their competing products. The only handheld console product to uphold a consumer right to repair. Laughable. Selfish. Nintendo's failed 3D gimmick in their handheld that never sold well until they cut the price drastically is much more respectable. Yep.
 
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Denton

Member
How does this game play nowadays? Back then it was critically panned but I enjoyed the hell out of the first two and I don't remember if the issues related to performance, bugs or something else.
It is ok. Better story than first two, but different gameplay. It is a fairly standard third person shooter with no particularly interesting mechanics.
 

PhaseJump

Banned
I'm scared to death this will happen to mine when it gets shipped in October. I'm considering driving to Seattle (3,000 miles away mind you) just to pick it up!

200.gif


It's a toy. Not worth the tank of gas.

If it goes missing in shipping, they will ship another one to you.
 

Shifty

Member
None whatsoever. It's a handheld PC, there's literally no surprise to be had when everything on it has been available elsewhere since moment zero.

Now, if you want to talk brief novelty that'll wear off after a month when the handheld luster starts to fade, it's got that in heaps.
 

Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
None whatsoever. It's a handheld PC, there's literally no surprise to be had when everything on it has been available elsewhere since moment zero.

Now, if you want to talk brief novelty that'll wear off after a month when the handheld luster starts to fade, it's got that in heaps.



I disagree.


The "Switch Effect" lasted years for me and I still get dumbfounded at just how many games look good and I can carry in my backpack. As a PC, you are right in it's not surprising at all that PC games work on Steam however, to discount the form factor is to ignore the thing that makes it special and what makes playing those games special. Elden Ring on the shitter while the kids occupy the TV is a blessing from the heavens.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
I'm scared to death this will happen to mine when it gets shipped in October. I'm considering driving to Seattle (3,000 miles away mind you) just to pick it up!
Tell me about it, I was livid when it happend! :messenger_tears_of_joy:

After calming down I had to re pre order another one. Hopefully next time it comes it wont be such a balls up.
 

Ezquimacore

Banned
Bayonetta 2 at 1080p60fps on cemu and mirrors edge catalyst high-hyper settings at 40 fps. Also fallout 4, forgot the settings but it was pretty nice. Btw I'm using windows.
 

Ogbert

Member
It’s an incredible piece of kit.

About half way through a Fallout 4 playthrough. Absurd that the game is running at a near steady 60fps on a handheld.
 
Having stuff from the PS360 era run like butter has been nice but I’ve been impressed that it could handle things like Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghostwire Tokyo decent.

In Horizon I still have the issue of the frame rate tanking when entering a new area. Thankfully if you just wait a little bit it stops and it runs fine again. Only slightly annoying.

Ghostwire Tokyo took more tweaking but was able to run it at 30 fps for the vast majority of the game.

I’m looking forward to trying out Starfield on it and hopefully the Deck gets enough market share that developers will make custom settings to get a stable 30 fps.
 

Ezquimacore

Banned
It’s an incredible piece of kit.

About half way through a Fallout 4 playthrough. Absurd that the game is running at a near steady 60fps on a handheld.
I tried a desktop 3400g apu a few years ago and I was amazed, but the trick is actually the resolution. Textures at that resolution are easy to run. Also the ram on this thing is insane and new as hell, since apus depend on ram, we have this awesome device.
 
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Shifty

Member
I disagree.


The "Switch Effect" lasted years for me and I still get dumbfounded at just how many games look good and I can carry in my backpack. As a PC, you are right in it's not surprising at all that PC games work on Steam however, to discount the form factor is to ignore the thing that makes it special and what makes playing those games special. Elden Ring on the shitter while the kids occupy the TV is a blessing from the heavens.
I own a Switch and never really felt the "Switch Effect", even when commuting to and from work with it on the daily. For my part, its purpose is just an avenue to access Nintendo games.

Even with the portability concessions accounted for in the games' design and hardware features like quick resume, it always felt like a compromise versus playing them in more ideal conditions like from my sofa or comfy desk chair. Though granted, I don't have kids monopolizing my means of play there.

Anecdotally, I found that running a short-scope arcade game like Alien Soldier on my long-dead Nvidia Shield did a better job of scratching the itch during those moments of downtime than more impressive titles like Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild - something that starts at the beginning every time and doesn't require that "where did i leave off again?" reorientation each time you start it back up.

Spot the fella that hasn’t got a Steam Deck.
Spot the moron whose base standard of argumentation is "I have one therefore those who don't must be jealous".

God help you if you fall into GAF's average 30-40 age bracket.
 
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Pejo

Member
I've been having a goddamn blast playing Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed on this thing. Such an amazing game, and it's a perfect fit for Deck. Also Elden Ring runs surprisingly well on it, though I wouldn't ever choose to play it on the tiny screen vs. my 65" TV.

I dunno why, I've been playing a lot of racing games on Deck for some reason. Seems like a natural fit for "pick up and play" types gaming. Kandagawa Jet Girls, while no Waverace 64, has been kinda fun in a guilty pleasure kind of way.

I tried Ori, and while it looks stunning on the Deck OLED, I don't like playing games on handheld where the character is tiny.

While I know that the experience can vary greatly depending on your wireless router, I have to say I've been fairly impressed with the WiFi connectivity of the Deck too. I tried a few rounds of BlazBlue CF and it's been buttery smooth (at least on my end).

I have Octopath Traveler installed, want to give that a try later.
 

Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
I own a Switch and never really felt the "Switch Effect", even when commuting to and from work with it on the daily. For my part, its purpose is just an avenue to access Nintendo games.

Even with the portability concessions accounted for in the games' design and hardware features like quick resume, it always felt like a compromise versus playing them in more ideal conditions like from my sofa or comfy desk chair. Though granted, I don't have kids monopolizing my means of play there.

Anecdotally, I found that running a short-scope arcade game like Alien Soldier on my long-dead Nvidia Shield did a better job of scratching the itch during those moments of downtime than more impressive titles like Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild - something that starts at the beginning every time and doesn't require that "where did i leave off again?" reorientation each time you start it back up.


Yeah, even though I have a solid game room with my consoles , life just tends to get in the way of gaming. I didn't get back into having me time for gaming in earnest till the switch came out. I guess it's why phone games are so popular, the pickup and play ability (I tend to hate mobile games but whateves) The SwitchDeck combo is probably the best for me since PSwii60 ...maybe ever.
 

kiphalfton

Member
If/when I get the steam deck it will very likely lead to playing games in my steam library I would have never otherwise gotten around to. Mainly because they are older games and would probably look like ass on a big screen, but will look serviceable on a smaller screen.

Yeah, even though I have a solid game room with my consoles , life just tends to get in the way of gaming. I didn't get back into having me time for gaming in earnest till the switch came out. I guess it's why phone games are so popular, the pickup and play ability (I tend to hate mobile games but whateves) The SwitchDeck combo is probably the best for me since PSwii60 ...maybe ever.

I spend SO much time on my phone, that if I can take a fraction of that time and devote it to gaming I could probably finish at least one game a month.

For whatever reason it's hard for me to sit down, put my phone away, and just game on my console. It's even harder on PC.
 
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Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
If/when I get the steam deck it will very likely lead to playing games in my steam library I would have never otherwise gotten around to. Mainly because they are older games and would probably look like ass on a big screen, but will look serviceable on a smaller screen.



I spend SO much time on my phone, that if I can take a fraction of that time and devote it to gaming I could probably finish at least one game a month.

For whatever reason it's hard for me to sit down, put my phone away, and just game on my console. It's even harder on PC.
As I get older, portability is the best ability. I bought a gaming monitor for my Series S/X and when I get time its great but what is better for me, playing Ace Combat in the parking lot waiting for the wife to get the kids from Karate.
 

Apocryphon

Member
This thread is making me want to get a Steam Deck, a device I don't need but man, do I like the idea of playing some PC indies while lying on the couch.

Any word on a Steam Deck 2?
No, we won't see any meaningful change in the internals for some time. They are still struggling to fulfill orders of the current version.

You don't need it, but you can also say that about most electronic entertainment devices. If you can afford it you won't be disappointed my friend 😊
 
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