Welcome to this week’s version of the Steam Deck Weekly. The busy season has begun with video games we’ve been trying ahead to taking part in together with Dragon’s Dogma 2, Horizon Forbidden West Full Version, and in addition console exclusives like Rise of the Ronin and Princess Peach: Showtime. Earlier than that, I’ve been taking part in some notable video games for evaluate and Steam Deck impressions over the previous couple of weeks. I’ll cowl a few of them as we speak, together with one I waited for fixes to play on Steam Deck. Earlier than the information and new Steam Deck Verified video games, let’s get into the critiques and impressions first.
Steam Deck Recreation Evaluations & Impressions
WWE 2K24 Steam Deck Evaluation
Again once I performed WWE 2K23 on Steam Deck, it felt shockingly good on Steam Deck regardless of a number of points that additionally affected the PC model. WWE 2K23 was additionally value getting for anybody who skipped the previous couple of years of wrestling video games with its enhancements and additions. I used to be curious to see how WWE 2K24 could be, and the way the workforce constructed on final 12 months’s sport. I’ve now spent per week with it on each Steam Deck and Xbox Sequence X. I’m going to concentrate on WWE 2K24 performed on Steam Deck OLED for this evaluate.
Earlier than attending to the evaluate, WWE 2K24 on Steam had a difficulty the place individuals who performed it via the early unlock (together with myself) misplaced our save knowledge. That won’t be a difficulty for brand new gamers, however it was actually disappointing seeing that occur. With that out of the way in which, WWE 2K24 has been spectacular in most methods, and a superb step ahead from WWE 2K23, however the on-line servers appear to be the one actual hurdle the sport has. It’s simply Visible Idea’s greatest WWE sport but, and the concentrate on WrestleMania is superb. Barring the showcase which has been enjoyable to play, the brand new match sorts, roster additions, and extra are good. The menus are a bit sluggish although, particularly within the modes that require on-line.
For those who’re new to 2K’s WWE or sports activities video games usually, they normally are wonderful with gameplay, however some are let down by monetization and server points. WWE 2K24’s gameplay, visuals, and presentation are all wonderful, however there are a number of too many annoyances within the interface and cargo instances on each Steam Deck and Xbox Sequence X for some modes. You’ll be able to ignore these in case you simply wish to play the Showcase story after which offline with buddies, however hold that in thoughts. I solely attempt them out in the course of the launch month after which keep on with taking part in these video games offline or with buddies on-line when attainable.
For this WWE 2K24 Steam Deck and PC port evaluate, I examined a number of celebrity matches, on-line, group creations, and extra. The net appears to have a difficulty the place it has an error and replaces human opponents with AI. I’m unsure if this is identical as on Home windows, however hold that in thoughts if you wish to play on Steam Deck. I verified this on a number of Proton variations. The group creations and downloads all work superb, albeit with some gradual menus.
On the graphics aspect, WWE 2K24 enables you to alter texture high quality, monitor used, allow windowed mode, toggle v-sync, use an non-compulsory 30fps cap for the motion digital camera, toggle shadows, alter shadow high quality, alter shader high quality, toggle anti-aliasing (FXAA or TAA), toggle reflections, use upscaling (sadly solely FSR 1.0 or linear), alter upscaling sharpness, toggle depth of area, toggle movement blur, alter viewers density (as much as 100), and allow multi-superstar efficiency mode.
After making an attempt out many choices, I ended up turning shadows to low or off (higher for matches with a number of superstars) for a 60fps goal. Past that, I left textures at excessive, shaders at excessive, and enabled FSR 1. I turned most different issues off. WWE 2K24 on Steam Deck performs nice, however there are a number of server-related points and one particular graphics difficulty that I cowl beneath. It masses shortly and is even higher than final 12 months’s sport.
WWE 2K24 has some visible glitches that happen on Steam Deck whatever the Proton model (GE, experimental, 9.0 beta, bleeding edge, or default) and graphics choices that happen in some menus and in particular conditions throughout matches. That is principally my solely criticism with the sport on Steam Deck proper now. Barring that, it’s one other wonderful wrestling sport to play on the go, and one which runs nicely on Valve’s handheld. Fortunately Valve is looking into it. The MGS HD video games obtained mounted finally so I hope this one does too.
Yearly sports activities video games are all the time exhausting to advocate with out caveats given how they often don’t change a lot between releases, however Visible Ideas has gotten to a stage the place the WWE 2K video games are actually good for essentially the most half. WWE 2K24 has a number of points on Steam Deck holding it again, however is in any other case an excellent transportable wrestling expertise. It’s value grabbing in case you skipped the previous couple of video games for certain.
WWE 2K24 Steam Deck Evaluation Rating:4/5
Summerhouse Steam Deck Evaluation
Summerhouse from Friedemann is an interactive toy sport hybrid about constructing beautiful homes with no guidelines. It jogged my memory of Townscaper, and the way I’ve that put in on my cellphone and iPad to only boot up every now and then to mess around with. Summerhouse takes issues a bit additional with how far more you are able to do, and it impressed me with its aesthetic and vibe. All the things about Summerhouse has a really homely feeling, and thi is elevated by its audio design.
For its low asking value, I’ve no complaints with Summerhouse, barring a minor controller-related difficulty I bumped into on Steam Deck. Barring that, it performs nice on the system, and appears beautiful on the Steam Deck OLED. I hope it does come to iPad sooner or later in addition to that is one thing I’d love put in on each system I personal. For those who’ve wished to construct your individual nostalgic dream home or simply mess around with a artistic interactive toy, Summerhouse is for you.
Summerhouse Steam Deck Evaluation Rating:4.5/5
The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered Steam Deck impressions
When Furyu’s The Legend of Legacy hit Nintendo 3DS in North America via Atlus and Europe via NIS America, it was marketed with well-known employees from SaGa and different franchises being concerned within the mission. Since then, we’ve seen that frequently with Furyu’s video games, however The Legend of Legacy was all the time a flawed however nice RPG again then on 3DS. It had some technical points on 3DS as nicely, however I loved my time with it and adored the soundtrack. After it was launched, we had Furyu’s The Alliance Alive for 3DS which noticed a remaster on consoles and PC platforms. I hoped that we’d additionally see The Legend of Legacy dropped at trendy techniques after that.
Quick ahead to this month and The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered hits Steam, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Change within the West via NIS America. I’ve been taking part in it on Steam Deck, PS5, and Change. Shaun can be doing a full evaluate of the Change model, however I wished to cowl the Steam Deck model and the way it feels to revisit The Legend of Legacy in 2024. Since The Legend of Legacy on 3DS, I’ve performed nearly each localized Furyu sport, and all the time take pleasure in sure elements from them whereas being let down in others. Crymachina has been the very best one up to now, however I used to be curious how I’d really feel revisiting The Legend of Legacy. Booting it up gave me some nostalgia, and I even obtained my 3DS out of storage to attempt it there for a bit. I sadly misplaced my unique save file via some backup difficulty, however I did replay the opening there to see the way it compares to this new The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered launch.
The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered retains the beautiful aesthetic, and it scales fairly nicely on trendy screens. It additionally appears nice on Change in handheld mode. The PS5 model is crisper than Change when working docked although. On Steam Deck, you may pressure the sport via the Steam Deck’s settings to run at a a lot increased decision like 4K. This can be a waste of energy, however the sport doesn’t battle in any respect.
The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is Steam Deck Verified already. It helps controllers and keyboard enter choices. I couldn’t get my mouse engaged on Steam Deck in-game to check although. The sport is capped at 30fps on all platforms together with PC and PS5. You’ll be able to alter the show mode (fullscreen, borderless, windowed), decision (4K all the way down to 864×486), anti-aliasing high quality (off, x2, x4, x8), and rendering scale (balanced, high quality, or efficiency).
Even when taking part in docked on my 1440p 144hz monitor, I had no bother working The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered at 1440p. It appears crisp and feels nice to play. Masashi Hamauzu’s rating stays wonderful, and I’m happy that one other 3DS RPG has been dropped at trendy consoles and PC platforms. Keep tuned for Shaun’s full evaluate of the Change model.
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story Steam Deck Impressions
When Digital Eclipse introduced Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story because the second quantity of its Gold Grasp Sequence, I used to be very excited as a result of Jeff Minter is a creator I’ve all the time revered through the years. I nonetheless have fond reminiscences of taking part in the DOS model of Llamatron, and adored TxK on PS Vita a few years in the past. The factor is, I’d not paid a lot consideration to Jeff’s older video games outdoors Llamatron, and this interactive documentary launch felt good to expertise all of it. Shaun already lined the sport in his full 5/5 evaluate, however I wished to spotlight the way it appears and feels on Steam Deck proper now at launch.
The Making of Karateka was a surprisingly good launch that felt just like the type of package deal you’d get in case you purchased the last word blu-ray version of your favourite film with all of the bonus extras, however just for a online game. Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is a bit completely different because it doesn’t concentrate on a single sport, however the early days of a selected and necessary creator within the business. Having not too long ago gotten a Steam Deck OLED, the discharge date for this assortment couldn’t have been timed higher. Jeff Minter’s video games have all the time regarded putting they usually completely swimsuit OLED shows.
On Steam Deck, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story enables you to alter the decision and display screen mode, however nothing else. It really works out of the field close to completely. The one difficulty I’ve run into that hasn’t been mounted but (the workforce is engaged on it) is one which causes a glitched transition once you stop particular video games within the assortment to return to the menu. Barring that, all the pieces works completely docked or on the Steam Deck’s personal show. I additionally examined this on my Steam Deck (LCD). Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story helps Steam Cloud, however is a 16:9 sport so anticipate black bars on the highest and backside. It has full controller help with solely Xbox button prompts.
The Making of Karateka noticed Digital Eclipse set the bar supremely excessive, however I feel Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story exhibits that the workforce is able to overdelivering as soon as once more, and surpassing how good that prior launch was. Given the a part of Jeff Minter’s profession this ends at, I hope Digital Eclipse does a second launch specializing in his later video games together with the cell ones. Till then, Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is a vital launch in 2024 on Steam Deck in case you care about video games historical past or like Jeff Minter’s video games.
Information
There was fairly a bit of stories this previous week. I don’t have time to cowl all the pieces, so I’ve centered on the highlights right here.
Capcom has launched its greatest Dragon’s Dogma 2 trailer but forward of the sport’s launch subsequent week on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Sequence X. This trailer options Ian McShane, and exhibits off fairly a bit from the sport that we haven’t seen earlier than. Watch it beneath:
Capcom additionally introduced that the Monster Hunter Tales (the unique sport) remaster launches on June 14th worldwide for Steam and consoles. This remaster options upgraded visuals, new voice appearing, and content material by no means launched outdoors Japan earlier than.
The excellent Granblue Fantasy: Relink obtained its first main replace this week bringing in Lucilius with a brand new Proud problem quest, new paid DLC, and extra with the subsequent replace set for April. A brand new showcase for the sport can be coming subsequent month to disclose extra of what gamers can anticipate. Take a look at a screenshot from the replace beneath:
Surmount, the mountain-climbing sport, from builders Jasper Oprel and Indiana-Jonas and writer popagenda launches on Could ninth. It appears pretty and I’m going to verify I cowl it on Steam Deck. Watch the trailer for it beneath:
505 Video games and developer Rabbit & Bear Studios launched a brand new trailer earlier than the sport’s launch for the upcoming SRPG Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Each Shaun and myself are trying ahead to this. It releases on April twenty third for Steam, Change, and different consoles. Watch the pre-launch trailer beneath:
MidBoss is lastly releasing Learn Solely Recollections: Neurovoider, the sequel to Learn Solely Recollections, on Could sixteenth for Steam and consoles. I forgot how lengthy I’ve been trying ahead to this for, however the wait is almost over. Watch the brand new trailer beneath:
SFB Video games’ throwback survival horror sport Crow Nation launches on Could ninth for Steam and PlayStation worldwide. It even options an non-compulsory exploration mode to take away the survival horror and simply be a puzzle sport. I’ve been trying ahead to this for some time now.
CROW COUNTRY launches Could ninth! on Steam & PS5. Wishlist to be reminded on launch day & try the demo.
A survival horror sport with a RE1/FFVII aesthetic. Locked doorways, rusty keys, and environments that evoke pre-rendered artwork (however are literally full 3D)
Hyperlinks below- pic.twitter.com/knwNDrW8RX— Adam Vian (@SFBDim) March 14, 2024
Devolver Digital will launch the sniper puzzle sport hybrid Youngsters of the Solar on April ninth for PC by way of Steam worldwide. It additionally simply obtained Steam Deck Verified, and appears wonderful. I’ll be reviewing this sooner or later. Watch the trailer for it beneath:
New Steam Deck Verified & Playable video games for the week
- Youngsters of the Solar – Verified
- CLeM – Verified
- FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 – Playable
- Spacebase DF-9 – Playable
- STORY OF SEASONS: A Fantastic Life – Playable
- The Thaumaturge – Unsupported
- Wildmender – Verified
Steam Deck Recreation Gross sales & Reductions
The massive Steam Spring Sale is on proper now, and I’ve a separate article on 10 nice sport suggestions for discounted titles within the Steam sale. Ensure that to examine that and your wishlist out to determine what you wish to seize. Additionally take a look at websites like gg.offers to make sure you get the very best deal attainable for a selected sport.
That’s all for this week’s version of the Steam Deck Weekly. There’s extra Steam Deck protection taking place this week since I skipped final week. As common, you may learn all our previous and future Steam Deck protection right here. In case you have any suggestions for this function or what else you’d prefer to see us do across the Steam Deck, tell us within the feedback beneath. I hope you all have an important day, and thanks for studying.
