On February 25, 2022, Valve launched the Steam Deck to the world; a handheld gaming PC designed to – as described by Valve themselves – play each recreation obtainable on Steam, inside motive, in a conveyable kind issue. Whereas this particular objective hasn’t fully been met inside the system’s inaugural yr, trying again on the journey that each the {hardware} and software program have made since launch, it’s wild to see simply how well-represented RPGs have been all through this whole journey.
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Whilst early because the Steam Deck’s launch day, Valve made a degree that Elden Ring – our RPG of the 12 months 2022, and which launched on the identical date because the Steam Deck {hardware} – labored from the phrase go. Valve even went so far as to patch in particular optimizations on their finish that ended up making the sport, in some methods, run smoother on SteamOS than on its natively supported Home windows. Different main RPGs launched later within the yr additionally noticed day-1 help, together with video games just like the PC ports of Judgment and Misplaced Judgment, Persona 5 Royal, and Last Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade’s Steam launch – to call just a few.
Whereas the Steam Deck has been a superb piece of {hardware} to play video games like Vampire Survivors and Hades on, it’s been my very own expertise that the overwhelming majority of my playtime with the gadget has been with titles like Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (roughly fully making certain I’ll by no means be returning to my Change model’s save file), The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails, and even a surprisingly great amount of Last Fantasy XI.
Most just lately, I’ve discovered myself enamored to Octopath Traveler II on the system, and as a longtime PC gamer, I can safely say that outdoors of first-party Nintendo video games it has fully changed my Change for my common rotation of programs I’ll actively decide up and play. With the ability to play a few of my favourite RPGs, each new and previous, on the identical piece of {hardware} is immensely interesting – and regardless of my preliminary misgivings about how the system seemed, it’s been astonishingly ergonomic, lending itself properly to enjoying it in mattress. A feat that I lengthy deserted making an attempt with my Change, because of the close to inevitability of hand cramps when lounging to 1 facet.
Valve succeeded in making an interesting gadget that anybody – even when they aren’t a PC gamer, and by no means wish to be one – may discover a motive to make use of. For RPG followers, nonetheless, I feel the Steam Deck represents one thing much more than that, owing to its very nature of PC compatibility.
Steam Deck is the one console-like {hardware} able to enjoying each mainline, numbered Last Fantasy. Whereas the Pixel Remasters of I by means of VI can be obtainable on Change and PlayStation this yr, titles like XI and XIII stay locked on their authentic platforms and PC; when you can play the latter on Xbox, that’s solely owing to Microsoft’s personal efforts to maintain Xbox 360 video games accessible on current-generation Xbox consoles. The one platform actually able to enjoying each Last Fantasy is PC; and, subsequently, Steam Deck.
This phenomenon isn’t simply true to Last Fantasy, both; the identical could be stated for a lot of sequence. Nihon Falcom’s personal Ys and Trails sequence each have the whole thing of their localized lineups obtainable on PC, whereas any given console solely has a fraction of the titles obtainable. Aquaplus’ Utawarerumono franchise may properly be a PC unique transferring ahead as Monochrome Mobius’ PlayStation variations have but to see a localization. Even the extremely well-liked Witcher franchise has the primary recreation unique to PC, regardless of the gross sales and acclaim the follow-ups have acquired. After all, even for RPGs that haven’t acquired native PC ports, emulation – which the Steam Deck is finally very able to – helps fill in these gaps in its library as properly.
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On the finish of the day, there actually isn’t any different fashionable platform that gives such a variety of playable RPGs than the Steam Deck. You would say that for any variety of genres, I’m positive, nevertheless it’s exhausting to think about another that matches the system higher than the one all of us adore. Individuals will look again on the Steam Deck’s first yr for a wide range of causes, and are available away with wildly totally different ideas, however for me, the defining attribute of all of it was how shortly it turned a staple of my RPG library.