Oliver Stogden's Reviews
Mudborne is a fairly complex puzzle game. If you're after a game that requires plenty of logical thinking and some planning, then you'll probably enjoy your time with this one. But if you're after a relaxing game that lets you settle down on an evening and enjoy some downtime, this probably isn't a game for you. It does, however, run beautifully on the Steam Deck, requiring no configuration to get working. With a low TDP Limit required for 60 FPS, you can't ask for much more.
The First Berserker: Khazan is an enjoyable title for a specific group of people. The combat is tight and responsive, just what you want for a skill-based game such as a Souls-like. The story is decent, although I would have liked to have a bit more background information about the empire that Khazan served and any actual information on what kind of person Khazan is, but maybe that's for another time. The game's presentation is unique with the cel-shading, but it works well. To top it all off, The First Berserker: Khazan runs great on the Steam Deck. We can't push the visuals too hard, but we do get a decent-looking game at 60 FPS, and we can lower the frame rate to gain some battery life if we choose.
Wanderstop is delightfully relaxing. The story about Alta and her life contains some serious notes, but that doesn't change the fact that this is one of the most enjoyable "cozy" games I've played in a while. The intricacies of making tea and interacting with your customers are interesting and engaging, and I'm glad I got the chance to have this experience. To top it all off, the game runs great on the Steam Deck. You can adjust the graphics to aim for visual quality or battery life, the controls work perfectly well, and the Deck's native resolution is supported.
Knights in Tight Spaces does pretty much everything right for a tactical deck-builder. It has many cards, presents information clearly to the player, and has various difficulty options to make the game balanced for everyone. The RNG of drawing cards can be a little frustrating, but it's all part of the game and is a small issue compared to the fun that can be had here. Performance on Steam Deck isn't the best considering how the game is presented, but it's still perfectly playable, and if you can overlook some small text, you can have a great time playing Knights in Tight Spaces on your Steam Deck.
Two Point Museum is brave in that it takes aim at an industry that is usually not regarded as all that interesting and tries to make a fun game out of it. Unfortunately, this was attempted by injecting a lot of "humor," which just didn't pay off for me. I'd have much preferred a more authentic museum experience with real fish and exhibits rather than being hit with a joke-a-minute, which rarely pays off. If you can tolerate the comedy, the gameplay works well and there's still an enjoyable experience to be found here. That being said, Two Point Museum does run great on the Steam Deck, so if you have had your eye on this one and a bit of silliness doesn't put you off, you shouldn't hesitate to get it to play on your handheld.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure isn't just a quick cash-in on the popular IP. The game feels like it was made by a team that knew how beloved the IP was and has been careful to retain its charm while also offering a complete and competent game that's perfect for kids and that adults will likely enjoy, too. It also runs great on the Steam Deck, with fully working controls and easy-going system requirements that mean you get plenty of battery life to explore your tropical island. It's a great way to relax at the end of the day.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. could have been a great game. The core mechanics are solid, the fighting feels good, and there's plenty of depth to the combat system with all the combos you can learn, but all of this is marred by the fact that it's a primarily online game with a pretty terrible online system in place right now. Performance on the Steam Deck is good, holding 60 FPS throughout, and it has a great control scheme as well. The battery life is a bit disappointing, but Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. likely isn't a game you'll play for a long time in one sitting.
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a brutal tale that feels like it came straight out of a storybook. From its visual style to its excellent narration, right down to its cast of characters, the developers didn't hold back from certain actions if they thought it served the story well to take them, and that's a great thing. I can wholeheartedly recommend that you try Tails of Iron 2 when you can. Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter also runs great on the Steam Deck, with excellent controls, a smooth 60 FPS experience, and great battery life. There isn't much you can say against it, so don't worry about playing this one on the go.
Star Wars Outlaws might have had a rough launch, but many updates have been applied which make it a decent and enjoyable experience. There are a few rough edges here and there, but if you can get past those frustrations which you're hopefully now aware of if you've read this review, then you'll be able to enjoy a brand-new and shiny Star Wars adventure. Sadly, the forced ray-tracing means the game cannot run at an acceptable level on the Steam Deck, so you'll need a more powerful device to play this one.
SpellForce: Conquest of Eo is a unique and interesting turn-based strategy. While the focus might not be as much on expanding your empire as it is in games like Civilization, the focus instead of questlines, story, and the world's lore enriches the game and places it in another category altogether. If you're a fan of turn-based strategy and tactical turn-based battles, SpellForce: Conquest of EO might just be the game for you. As a bonus, SpellForce: Conquest of Eo works flawlessly on the Steam Deck, with a good control scheme and the ability to run the game at 30 FPS with no issues.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best adventure games of recent memory because it truly captures that sense of "adventure." Minor niggles concerning inventory management and story pacing don't deter from the solid gameplay, the intriguing story as a whole, and the immersive environments making you feel like you are playing an Indiana Jones movie. The solid voice acting is a cherry on top. As for how the game runs on the Steam Deck, well it's up to you whether it is "playable" or not. I did find it playable and enjoyable. The image is quite blurry, but I didn't find that it hindered playing the game; having said that, it's understandable if those visuals offend your eyes. But if you want to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and a Steam Deck is all you have, it is an option to play it. I would just recommend you use a desktop instead if possible.
Fairy Tail 2 is a simplistic approach to the JRPG genre. It has an easy-to-understand combat system, a fairly straightforward storyline, and minimal effort required on the part of the player to maximize the efficiency of equipment and items. It's a good compromise for someone who wants the gameplay and storyline of a JRPG without all the unnecessary party management. The story might be a little simplistic, but overall, the game is a good time. The game runs pretty well on Steam Deck. You won't be getting a 60 FPS experience here, but 40 FPS with the occasional drop was perfectly fine for my playthrough. The controls work beautifully, and although we do get black borders due to the lack of proper resolution support, the game itself plays fine.
The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remasters should scratch that nostalgic itch you have for these games, but if you didn't play them when they were new, you might want to give these games a miss. They're products of their time and don't hold up too well with antiquated gameplay, lack of quality-of-life features we've come to expect nowadays, and visuals that still belong 20 years ago. However, the games perform flawlessly on the Steam Deck. They require very little power draw to achieve 60 FPS and have good controller support. The only flaw I found was that the map is too far zoomed in on the first game's map screen, but aside from that, everything works as you would hope.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a solid improvement on the previous title. Whether or not the addition of the career mode, some new aircraft, and some new scenarios are worth the price tag of an entirely new game or not likely depends on how into this kind of game you are. If you are just into the free flight modes and seeing the world, the 2020 game edition does that almost as well. When playing on the Steam Deck, it might initially seem fine. If you're flying a single prop plane, a fighter jet, or even a small private jet, the performance can be fine, often staying above 25 FPS. But if you try to fly a jetliner, you'll often be playing at around 15-20 FPS, with frequent crashes making the game unplayable. Hopefully, this is just an issue with Proton right now and can be fixed, as well as Asobo optimizing the game, but I wouldn't purchase Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 to play on a Steam Deck.
Planet Coaster 2 isn't revolutionary, but it builds upon the success of Planet Coaster 1, with some neat additions such as Water Parks and some extra variety to what you can build. For what you get, I would say the price is reasonable. Yes, there are some rough edges right now, but these aren't serious dealbreakers and are fixable, so I would still recommend this game to anyone looking for a park builder. Steam Deck performance is middling. Yes, the control scheme works really well for a controller, and there is a Steam Deck preset given in the graphics menu, but the CPU load is pretty heavy, and as you start to get thousands of guests, you will have to accept playing at 20-25 FPS. When the guest limit of 6,000 gets removed in December, I could see serious performance issues for Steam Deck players if the game isn't optimized more, so it's something to be aware of.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster mostly stays true to the original, for better or worse. While some improvements have been made to AI pathfinding, visuals, and quality of life, a couple of 20-year-old relics remain. For old players, this might fuel their nostalgia; for newer players to the series, it might just prove a little frustrating. Regardless, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is not a game to be taken seriously, and if you can sit back and laugh with it, you'll have a good time. Performance on the Steam Deck isn't the best, but it's to be expected when you're dealing with large amounts of AI, given the Steam Deck's weaker CPU. Although we can occasionally see dips into the 20s, most of the game runs at 30 FPS, and you can play from start to finish on the Steam Deck and still have a good time. Controller support is also excellent.
Farming Simulator 25 talks a big game about the new features it has over previous iterations of the series. But those changes aren't quite big enough for me to recommend that you dive in right now. Give mods some time to catch up to the level they are in Farming Simulator 22, fix a couple of collision bugs I encountered, and maybe go on a sale, and then it's worth the upgrade. It runs well on the Steam Deck for the most part. The controls are great, and while performance in larger multiplayer games borders on unplayable, if you play solo or with a small group, it should run just fine.
VED has an interesting premise both for the storyline and for the gameplay mechanics. Sadly, the story suffers from poor pacing and inconsistencies. It really feels like the game would benefit from being a slightly longer adventure, not an 8-hour one, but I suppose the developers have to draw the line at some point. Poor voice acting and somewhat repetitive, if well-drawn, art also let the game down for its world-building. One thing you can't fault VED on, however, is how it runs on the Steam Deck. It provides an essentially flawless experience with great battery life, even on the highest settings. Controller support is also top-notch here.
[REDACTED] is a game the developers should be proud of. The combat is fast-paced and smooth, and the variety of upgrades keeps the gameplay fresh, even though the world is quite repetitive. While I wish the game had more content so it lasted longer, it is a budget title and priced accordingly. I wouldn't say no to some DLC that added a set of biomes to play through, though that might be difficult with the game closely following The Callisto Protocol's world. As far as how [REDACTED] plays on the Steam Deck, I can't offer any criticisms here. The game is basically flawless. The controls work well, the graphics can be run on their highest settings, and we can keep a modest TDP limit, all of which make [REDACTED] a great game to play on your Steam Deck.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure starts off with a strange story, which quickly turns into a perplexing one and ends up being slightly bizarre and worrying. If you wanted to continue Max's story from the original Life is Strange, this should satisfy that desire. The original game is referenced quite heavily throughout, so if you haven't played the original Life is Strange, I recommend you do so before playing Double Exposure to get a full grasp of everything mentioned. If you don't fancy playing the first game, then Double Exposure does explain some of the events that take place so you can get by. You just might not fully appreciate everything mentioned. The gameplay is pretty middling. There's nothing particularly interesting going on here, and Max's powers of going between timelines, while novel, are on the basic side, and you use them for the same thing over and over again. The story more than makes up for this, though, and as the game progresses, it takes over more and more from the gameplay. As for Steam Deck performance, it isn't quite as performant as I'd like. You will have to accept some frame rate drops from 30 FPS to make the game look "OK," but I played the entire game through on my Steam Deck, so while I would recommend you use a more powerful device to play this if you have one available, don't hold off on buying Life is Strange: Double Exposure if all you have to it play on is a Steam Deck.