The Steam Deck is an impressive handheld gaming PC, capable of running some of the latest and greatest games at playable framerates. But some genres are better suited for this device than others. Adam has been busy trying out over 20 RPGs on the Steam Deck to see just how well this hardware can run them. In this video he gives us some insights into how some of the most beloved role playing games play on the Steam Deck.
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00:00 – Intro
01:08 – Testing Notes
01:48 – Baldur’s Gate 3
02:20 – Disco Elysium
02:53 – Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Definitive Edition
03:27 – Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition
04:20 – Edge of Eternity
04:50 – Fallout 4
05:18 – Final Fantasy VII
05:46 – Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
06:04 – Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remastered
06:28 – Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age
07:18 – Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition
08:02 – The Last Remnent
08:27 – Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
09:00 – Octopath Traveler
09:33 – Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
10:01 – Persona 4 Golden
10:43 – Scarlet Nexus
11:25 – Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster
11:58 – Tales of Arise
12:43 – Torchlight 3
13:27 – Torment: Tides of Numenera
13:52 – Yakuza: Like a Dragon
14:22 – Outro
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I want someone to test 22 RPGs but the rocket propelled grenade ones.
You skip the best final fantasy?! Sheeesh lol Need to see a version of FF9 on the steam deck, with the mods installed if possible. Great review of these games, thanks for all your work!
Tales of Arise also plays extremely well and looks great on the Aya Neo, despite the Deck having generally better FPS in most games. Looks great on either handheld imo.
I find the non-changeable 720p to be a thing on MANY games, and you'd think maybe Valve would have considered the resolution when factoring in just how many games can't do the full screen without small bars. Other than that the deck is pretty great. Just need that dual-boot support!
Imagine if the next version of steam deck use ryzen7000 APU (30 Watt) that has the same power as rtx3060 (60 Watt). It should run every game on 720p very smoothly and can set graphic as high as possible or even run on 1080p medium settings.
A lot of the games you played are Japanese who tend to optimize games for consoles with PC as an after thought. The 16:9 forced aspect ratio doesn't surprise me at all.
its now the "final fantasy-deck or rpg classic deck" for me and now i want it but the other handheld can it too and costs much less money 😀
I wouldn't consider Fallout 4 an FPS , but thanks for including it. Wonder if you can play it with a few mods.
ya the glorious eggroll proton fix will give games with audio issues a fix, haven't seen a comment explaining it tho so if you're curious its because those games use codecs that are native to windows and can't legally be included in the framework that runs the deck.
Can you do a video on visual novels?
The Last Remnant is on Steam? I don't see it.
I mean it will still run FFXV better than the "Final Fantasy XV Limited Edition PS4 Slim". 60fps is great, but this is a handheld and 30fps for a game like this is far from unplayable… (or Square Enix and Sony at least seemed to think so…)
Persona 4 is now Deck verified.
can you mod fo4 on the steam deck?
Unfortunately. The "DEFINITIVE" edition of Dragon quest 11 isn't definitive at all. The graphics for example are the worst compared to the first ever released versions. So if you want the best optic the game has to offer, don't buy the actual definitive edition.
I wish they'd move the right analogue stick down a bit. Jeez. They on crack when they design this?
Steam Deck is cool but I think I will wait for hardware upgrade.
Medium and high settings dipping below 60 fps or teetering around 40 fps for the price is 100% NOT worth it. I don't care that it is portable. I feel there are way better options for portable gaming.
Persona 4 is now verified.
Can I put enough money into my steam account to buy the steam deck?
Great idea, let's pick the genre of game that is typically AWFUL to play on the go… They tried this shit with mobile and all it did was introduce a new subsection of gamers that are even worse than the OG RPG bummers! The control scheme may be better, but it's not KB and mouse, and the games are too long winded and convoluted for a good on the go experience.
A compromised RPG like Pokemon works because it's designed around the hardware and was always designed to be played on the go… But then just look at other systems that try and push large scale grand RPGS, it DOESN'T WORK. Sure it looks good and may even control well, but experiences like that are just not suitable on the go, as most will quickly realise.
Suppose this is the issue though, consumers are stupid and don't know what they actually want / need – Then you have a section of bedroom dwellers that will buy it anyway and just play in in their room, NEXT to their computer… Which begs the question why did they even buy a deck?
In short, what a stupid video to make.
Hey what are your settings for Edge of Eternity? I tried it on Medium but could only hang out in the 30s range
Also curious about battery life on the go. It is a handheld
So how hot does the deck get after an hour?
And The Witcher 3 ???
You didn't cover it, but I saw Disgaea there at the end. nods approvingly
Literally most of the problems you had could be fixed with a little googling. Nocturne runs perfect using Proton GE the same work around also worked for Persona 4 at the time before it got verified. A little research goes a long way.
10:10 It's now listed as Verified and
-crashes-freezes after a few seconds of playing back WMV cutscenes.However we have audio now.
Ah yes, a fellow man of culture
Playing games with Japanese voices when the game gives you the option
Gaming Windows laptop with RTX 3050 and Nintendo Switch (playing Guardians of the Galaxy GOTY cloud version nice experience) and Switch 2 when released. NO for this without Windows and small screen for the most respected Baldur's Gate like games and Pillars of Eternity 2 (in 4k unthinkable detailed armors and weapons must try any who didn't)
Great video thanks
I wanted to see Elden Ring on the Deck. Overall do you recommend the Deck?
Dude, you didn't do ONE dungeon and dragons RPG review…????? WTF are you doing? !@#$ off to anime, ya weeb? What a waste of our time….
I want to buy steam deck but ended up with switch cause steam deck is not for sale in my country 🙁
This list was WAY JRPG heavy. And what did we learn? JRPG = 16×9 aspect ratio only and lots of other quirks (and ugly UI design). There are so many much better games that you missed. Kind of a strange list.
I don't know if I like this Steam Deck. Looks like it needs a faster processor and video. Maybe the Steam Deck 2 will be better. I wouldn't waste my money on this.
Given this was done before valve added the change in hertz update. A bunch of these games would be perfect to play in 40fps/40hertz
I honestly think JRPGs is one of the most brutal tests for the Steam Deck since Japanese studios often don't stick to typical PC conventions when making a PC Port, often they come with all kinds of quirks, like fixed resolutions, limited amount of screen modes, framerates etc. I mean even looking at a new game like FFVII Remake, you can't actually choose between dynamic resolution and framerate limit, they are combined. So choosing 60fps will yield a very blurry image even if you force it to the new 40fps cap offered by the new Steam Deck firmware. The only way I could do it was to add a mod to remove dynamic resolution. Which is a shame, since it Dynamic Resolution isn't necessarily a bad feature. With that being said, I still find the Steam Deck absolutely BRILLIANT! 😀
you dont need to max out all settings on a small screen, you can use an ''optimal settings''
Fallout 4 is definitely not an fps lol.
Tales of Arise is exactly the reason I'm getting a Deck. Thank you for the info!
I soo want this but I gotta get through my vita backlog. Will def keep this console on my xmas list.
4:28 "Performance in the opening areas was rough though, with framerates hanging in the high thirties and low forties."
Uh… That's rough? For a handheld?
My man, you've obviously never played a PS1 game on real PS1 hardware… lol Your tolerance for "low" framerates seems a bit low.
If I can get a graphically intensive game to run in the teens, I'll take it. I remember playing emulated N64 games on old 1990's Celeron hardware.
We're talking 3 frames per second. Truly unplayable, but still a "Holy smokes, it's actually running!" feeling. Anything that ran over 10 was "playable", so I
think we're all a bit spoiled to be thinking that anything over 20 is unplayable or even rough… On a handheld gaming PC.
DIABLO III???
…but can I play Peglin™ on it ?
Test ffxi please
Have you tried any of the Falcom games? Trails of Cold Steel, Trails in the Sky, Ys, etc.?