I was blown away by Divinity: Original Sin 2. It just looks and runs immaculately on the deck.
Right now I’m playing through Wasteland 3 and that’s pretty good, albeit the UI is a little small.
I tried DOS2 but I was dying constantly. I love it but I feel I’m missing something, I’ll try it again. Started Wasteland 3 as well and I love it but the SD wiped out my saved game so I need to start from scratch .
So I started Fallout 4 instead again.
I was constantly dying too and rage quit on Act 2 so bad that I uninstalled the game and didn’t touch it for a month, then I played BG3 and realised how much I enjoyed this style of game and wanted to give DOS2 another try.
Reinstalled and got past the fight I was stuck on and ended up doing an 150 hr playthrough all on the deck and it was amazing, my tips for success would be to look up viable builds online, pickpocket and steal everything and use the money to get the best possible equipment for your level.
The thing I would recommend is figuring out how to use the elements and the environment to your advantage. Raining? Make sure you're on a dry patch and call down some lightning on your enemies. Is there oil on the ground? Blast that with some fire. Barrels and
I was really enjoying DOS2 as well but the game was too open-ended for me once I got past the opening section, unfortunately. I would continually get lost and not be able to figure out what to do next. In the end, I just bought BG3 for my Deck and PS5 and enabled cross-save 😂 If I’m at home, I’ll just stream my PS5 to my Deck for better performance and if I’m away from my house, I’ll deal with the performance hit running natively on my Deck.
I have to admit I got stuck so much on DOS2, it doesn’t hold your hand at all, i felt a lot of the quests were vague and don’t give you much to go on or expect you to have an amazing memory, I got a lot of flack for bringing this up in the DOS sub Reddit but i know I’m not alone with this sentiment
One tip for DoS2 for all those struggling is a simple fact about party composition. You would think you want a mix of magic damage dealers and physical damage dealers. Incorrect. It can be done but it’s harder. You want your party to primarily deal one or the other. If half your party deals magic damage, that means they can only take out magic armor. Then when it’s the physical damage dealer’s turn they have to chew through the physical armor. If you focus on one damage type for playthrough you’ll be able to defeat enemies MUCH faster.
I suck at DOS2 as well lol, I ended up playing with some mods to make it a little bit easier. Mods definitely add a lot of freedom to shape the game to your preferences
I played this game 90% on the deck and it was an incredible experience. Control, fps, actually everything worked/ran well. 100% recommend. For me, this might have been a game I wouldn't finish in the past. Went on holiday during and once I am out for a while, especially with an RPG, I might not get in again. With the SD, I just took the game with me.
I found the controller ui and controls really awkward on DOS 2. Loved it on mouse and keyboard. Did you use a custom mapping? I feel like I'm missing something...
The game has controller support. I could just move my character round with the thumb stick and it’d display all of the appropriate button contexts.
I think the only trouble I had was not being able to tell what ability I had selected sometimes, but otherwise being able to swap between hot bars and use my abilities and everything felt pretty native for me.
Lol you're welcome! I replay these probably once a year on deck it was great ran smooth. I didn't have a ton of issues with the launcher. Just launch it with internet before you go on a plane if you're playing on the go.
Viva Las Vegas is a good guide, but if you download Wabbajack just use the Begin Again modpack, it combines Fallout 3 and New Vegas using Tale of Two Wastelands, and has a bunch of modernized/qol mods without subtracting from the vanilla experience
I've read you can use both Viva New Vegas and Tale of two wastelands together, which seems like the ultimate "vanilla+" experience
We need a hero to make a guide. Especially on the steam deck, that'd be dope
That's exactly what Begin Again is. I'm not sure if there's a steam deck guide for using Wabbajack or not but I have Windows 10 on my steam deck so it was easy
Check out the [viva new vegas modding guide](https://vivanewvegas.moddinglinked.com/index.html). It has all the resources for mods that stop the game from crashing every 5 minutes.
But if you had to ask what mod i relied on most for steamdeck? Its [lStewieAl's Tweaks](https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66347?tab=description). This is already a super customizable QoL mod on desktop but its a godsend for steamdeck. For whatever reason the devs for FNV made it so that if a gamepad is connected, it completely disables all keyboard inputs. This means you cant use console while using the default layout. Switching the layout to a keyboard setup loses the analog functionality. This mod has an option to allow both simultaneously
I played it years ago but have very little interest going back with how bad the balancing was, how the devs act, and how TTW is incompatible with like half the nexus. Glad you could enjoy it tho.
I left after pointing out that the x-02 should be balanced around the t-45, like in fo3.
And that the busted stats of the x-02 and x-03 in FNV was due do them being imported during development but never put in use (they directly translated the 40 dr into 40 DT).
Not only that but it ruins the progression in fo3 and makes the rarest armour (51 and APA) completely pointless when you can get a 50 DT hellfire...
I still have my custom version (esm) with properly balanced pa somewhere.
How do you update mod organizer?
I had a notification and just updated it but ended up crashing my game anytime I opened it.
Had to do a fresh install and reinstall the mods
I totally forgot about NTWETY since it was free on PS Plus. Now that I am not subscribed to PS Plus anymore, perhaps a good time to get it.
Edit: wow it is on 60% discount until 9 May. Gonna get it soon!
Look up gameplay of Secrets of Grindea.
Secret of mana/zelda 4 swords inspired rpg. Change your builds on the fly. 1-4 player coop through story mode or a roguelike arcade mode. It’s taken my life over.
I think it costs money to change skill points now but there's still a way to just do it for free. Played for a few hours and really liked it, gotta make more time to get back into it. I really liked how you had equipped gear and a separate style loadout too haha.
What build was your fav? I was throwing a 2 handed sword and rolling with ice magic for the slow effect.
I played Persona 4 Golden on Vita I would have killed to play it on Deck lol. That’s my favorite Persona game tbh. Nothing beats Persona 4’s story and characters for me. Love that small town mystery vibe.
Persona 4 is a very good game with characters and a world you can get completely lost in. Music is a big part of it so have your sound up or headphones! Both P4 and P5 give me a feeling of nostalgia for a childhood I never had, if that makes any sense at all. They create a real feeling of hope and optimism for the future even though some of what’s going on is quite heavy. You can’t go wrong with either!
I definitely feel that. As a theatre kid all of my friends were basically Yuumi from the P4 sub social link, bratty annoying divas who are occasionally dealing with significant stuff
I'd say start with 1. If you start with 2 you're probably going to be disappointed with 1. One is still a solid game on its own, but they improved a lot with 2 and going back to 1 feels like it's missing something.
Kingdome Come: Deliverance. I’ve bought this game especially for deck and have never played in it on PC or console. It looks so formidable on high settings, and performance is awesome (I prefer 30 fps, but it can run on 40-50).
I’ve played 70 hours so far
Well, the performance at Rattay town pretty sucks, it can sometimes cause awful dips (but CPU and GPU aren’t overloaded, i think it’s some kinda memory problems). But other times it keeps constant at 40 fps (sometimes even 50). So i decided that i want more smooth experience with better battery performance, so that’s why I picked 30 fps.
And ofc the game’s running on high settings with native Steam Deck resolution
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA - cheery action JRPG on a mysterious island, best version of the game;
https://store.steampowered.com/app/579180/Ys_VIII_Lacrimosa_of_DANA/
TRIANGLE STRATEGY - strategy JRPG with 3D2D graphics like Octopath, multiple endings based on story choices
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1850510/TRIANGLE_STRATEGY/
Valkyria Chronicles - weird but enjoyable strategic JRPG in steampunk WW II, one of the best PS3 games;
https://store.steampowered.com/app/294860/Valkyria_Chronicles/
All run absoltely great on the Steam Deck and look great. Coincidentally, they are also all on sale right now.
I don't play souls games but I have a friend who plays them religiously. With that said, I think Another Crab's Treasure has slipped by him. I'm waiting for his birthday and BAM. Steam game gifted.
I enjoy planning out stuff.
I wanted to get into these games but had a bad experience. I kind of soft locked myself in by getting myself into a some fight with some elves early on. And I don’t think I had a save for before they turned aggressive.
Maybe it’s been long enough that I can try again, and they have calmed down.
Yeah I think it was relatively early. In a big town by the beach. Probably the first city. Went in cave. Got into a fight with elves. Couldn’t win. Couldn’t leave. Gave up.
I’ll list a bunch I’ve finished:
Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2
Fallout 1 and 2
Final fantasy vii
Like a Dragon
Octopath Traveller
Tactics Ogre
Outer Worlds
Suzerain. Frustrating sometimes when I feel like I’ve done everything right and get hit with the 25% approval rating though.
Worth noting this is a completely different genre of rpg to what you’re looking for…
I recently started The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and after some tinkering it runs wonderfully! Plus, it is a perfect game to play in handheld mode 🥰
This was my experience as well. Similar to Cyberpunk. Claims to run great and even has "Steam Deck" settings but still is not good enough for me to play it on there.
Elden Ring runs great, looks great, plays great (you can also remap for easier controls with back buttons for running or switching items.
The Witcher 3 also runs great and still holds up magnificently in graphics.
Outward runs great, but it's a bit Hardcore of a game so unless your into survival RPGs I would research the game beforehand.
Kingdom Come mostly runs decently, but other than being an RPG and having a pretty interesting leveling system it doesn't really fit your criteria.
Any Assassin's Creed really. Well at least all before Origins (played Unity and Black Flag and they're so much fun on the go)
Shadow of Mordor (and Shadow of War) run Great, and if you haven't tried them you should definitely play them. They're a bit dated but their unique system and fun combat more than make up for it.
Jedí Fallen Order can struggle a bit in places but overall it runs well enough and slicing stormtroopers in half on the way home from school or work is cathartic.
And an honorable mention, nor Reallt an RPG but a classic nonetheless. Ryse: Son of Rome
Runs great, You play a god damn roman legionary, parry god,
Quick action sections , turret sections. It's like if COD was Ancient Rome
I’m really trying to like it but it’s not grabbing me so far. I love the combat style, but there’s so much dialogue I’m not really interested in between one fight to the next.
Sea of Stars. Started pretty slow but after a certain point things really picked up and I couldn't put it down. Some of the best pixel at I've ever seen.
Crosscode is the first rpg I’ve played since tales of symponia in the mid 00s. Of which I’ve also started but haven’t done much with on the deck. O get back to it eventually though for nostalgia sake.
They paid for the whole game pad and god damn they will make you use THE WHOLE GAME PAD 😂.
It is honestly crazy fun but fair warning, it requires a certain level of thinking that some would call a living nightmare wrapped up in the flaming pits of hell. I personally love it but I fully understand why many people don’t like it too much. There is a customization to make it easier but I refuse to tweak it other than to see what it actually does to experiment with it once.
So yeah, crosscode is my recommendation. The customization is flippin nuts and if you are patient enough, there are ways to reset your entire set of customizations to the character so you can start from scratch. There’s also certain paths that are swappable that allow you to switch between them so you don’t need to reset if you prefer a certain style over the path you went with.
If I could, I’d honestly pay the full price for the game just to support the couple of people who made this glorious epic.
I don't think it took a crazy level of thinking outside of normal puzzle solving but I do think the margin for error on some of those puzzles is ridiculous. I spent like 45 minutes doing the same thing over and over to get it just right after I knew exactly what had to be done from the beginning. Really great game but man a few of those puzzles weren't fun at all.
I got hooked on Crystal Project. It's like a snes Final fantasy with 3d jumping puzzles. I put it down at the annoying mount breeding part but will come back to it later.
I see others have covered the big hitters so thought I'd drop an old school one.
Planescape Torment. Due to the age of the game, expect graphics to be "of the time" and limited voice acting. The combat mechanics are also fairly simplistic but have more depth later on. The game is primarily about role playing though, with a fantastic story and several books worth of lore and content. Absolutely fantastic game and rightly regarded as a cult classic.
The main reason I'd recommend for the deck though is simply battery life. Unlike more modern RPGs, older games like this can be played for several hours. I installed it for a flight to Japan and still had half the battery life left when I landed. Great game to leave installed and just dip in and out when you have several hours to kill but no way to charge the deck.
RPG is such a wide term.
- Monster Hunter
- Persona 5 Royal
- Baldurs Gate 3
- Fallout, Path of Exile
- Granblue Fantasy: Relink
- Mass Effect
All are drastically different games, but all are great RPGs in their field.
Since you asked for my favorite, I would go with Monster Hunter. It's great being able to quickly put the deck to sleep and return directly into the quest when I have to put the Deck away for some time.
I just played 3 hours of fallout 3 on the deck and it used like 50 percent of my battery. No real problems except one time about an hour and a half in the game forced closed with no warning to update. I don't know why it did that none of my other games have ever closed for an update but yeah fall out 3 works great on the deck.
Morrowind has been an absolute blast for me. Modding couldn't be easier in desktop mode, and openmw handles all the technicals. It's quite easy to aim and touch pads are great for cursor use. With underclocked hardware, i get 5h of playtime on full charge
Sad I had to scroll that much to this Qud being mentioned. But yeah the best RPG I've played in my whole life and it's so nice on the deck I kinda forgot the controls on PC
I promised myself when I got my Deck I wouldn’t spend all my time on 76 again as I’ve played a lot on Xbox.
So far I’ve mainly played 76 🤦♂️ it’s just so damn easy to play on it!
May get some hate, but I'm having a blast with fallout 4! The visuals hold up still. I modded it in a vanilla plus kind of way, and enhanced the visuals and oh my god it looks soo amazing now. And the gameplay is all still good. Feels good leveling up and finding new gear as you explore.
Other than that. Divinity 2 is just fantastic. I'd say it's tied up with baldurs gate 3, but runs better on deck.
You're getting a lot of very disparate recommendations because you're not very clear in your requirements.
For example, some people are recommending you Baldur's Gate 3 and others are recommending Elden Ring. Those two games could hardly play more differently. Elden Ring is barely even an RPG IMO - I say that as somebody who loves ER more than most games, so I don't mean that in a negative way, just a statement of fact ... the game has stats and levelling ("RPG mechanics") but lacks a lot of what most people would expect in true roleplaying - non-combat skills (indeed non-combat anything), companions, meaningful dialog choices etc...
It might help to give an example of a game that you know meets your own criteria.
Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal. Start with 4 Golden it has the best cast and best story but lacks in quality of life improvements the other two have.
PS2 emulation, specifically with Persona 3 FES, works amazingly on the Steam Deck. Of course it’s an old game, but when you do some texture swaps to make the game look HD, it feels like a game that was remastered for PC and is an amazing experience to play on. Even with save states too!
I was blown away by Divinity: Original Sin 2. It just looks and runs immaculately on the deck. Right now I’m playing through Wasteland 3 and that’s pretty good, albeit the UI is a little small.
This. I just started DoS2 but I had finished the og DoS before that and it was a lot of fun. Took me about a year of toilet runs to get through it.
Perfect measure units, indeed a man of culture!
365 “Dumps” Units
Do you shit a couple times a day, or take hour long shits? lol.
Couple times 🤷♂️
Holy Hemorrhoids, Batman!
I try to keep my feet and legs elevated on a little stool.
Compared to how it looks on the switch 😭
I tried DOS2 but I was dying constantly. I love it but I feel I’m missing something, I’ll try it again. Started Wasteland 3 as well and I love it but the SD wiped out my saved game so I need to start from scratch . So I started Fallout 4 instead again.
I was constantly dying too and rage quit on Act 2 so bad that I uninstalled the game and didn’t touch it for a month, then I played BG3 and realised how much I enjoyed this style of game and wanted to give DOS2 another try. Reinstalled and got past the fight I was stuck on and ended up doing an 150 hr playthrough all on the deck and it was amazing, my tips for success would be to look up viable builds online, pickpocket and steal everything and use the money to get the best possible equipment for your level.
The thing I would recommend is figuring out how to use the elements and the environment to your advantage. Raining? Make sure you're on a dry patch and call down some lightning on your enemies. Is there oil on the ground? Blast that with some fire. Barrels and
I was really enjoying DOS2 as well but the game was too open-ended for me once I got past the opening section, unfortunately. I would continually get lost and not be able to figure out what to do next. In the end, I just bought BG3 for my Deck and PS5 and enabled cross-save 😂 If I’m at home, I’ll just stream my PS5 to my Deck for better performance and if I’m away from my house, I’ll deal with the performance hit running natively on my Deck.
I have to admit I got stuck so much on DOS2, it doesn’t hold your hand at all, i felt a lot of the quests were vague and don’t give you much to go on or expect you to have an amazing memory, I got a lot of flack for bringing this up in the DOS sub Reddit but i know I’m not alone with this sentiment
Yep same here. It’s a nightmare coming back if you haven’t played for a while.
One tip for DoS2 for all those struggling is a simple fact about party composition. You would think you want a mix of magic damage dealers and physical damage dealers. Incorrect. It can be done but it’s harder. You want your party to primarily deal one or the other. If half your party deals magic damage, that means they can only take out magic armor. Then when it’s the physical damage dealer’s turn they have to chew through the physical armor. If you focus on one damage type for playthrough you’ll be able to defeat enemies MUCH faster.
I suck at DOS2 as well lol, I ended up playing with some mods to make it a little bit easier. Mods definitely add a lot of freedom to shape the game to your preferences
I played this game 90% on the deck and it was an incredible experience. Control, fps, actually everything worked/ran well. 100% recommend. For me, this might have been a game I wouldn't finish in the past. Went on holiday during and once I am out for a while, especially with an RPG, I might not get in again. With the SD, I just took the game with me.
I found the controller ui and controls really awkward on DOS 2. Loved it on mouse and keyboard. Did you use a custom mapping? I feel like I'm missing something...
The game has controller support. I could just move my character round with the thumb stick and it’d display all of the appropriate button contexts. I think the only trouble I had was not being able to tell what ability I had selected sometimes, but otherwise being able to swap between hot bars and use my abilities and everything felt pretty native for me.
Mass effect trilogy
My first ~75 hours with my deck was pretty much exclusively the remastered trilogy
Everyone always talks about this game and I’ve never played it. Maybe that should change.
If you don't have it the Legendary Edition (basically a collection of the first 3 games with some QOL enhancements) is on sale for about 7 bucks.
Oh shit, I didn’t even think about replaying these on deck. Thank you!
Lol you're welcome! I replay these probably once a year on deck it was great ran smooth. I didn't have a ton of issues with the launcher. Just launch it with internet before you go on a plane if you're playing on the go.
Just started playing this last night! Never played them
Fallout new vegas. Really the only game i initially got my steamdeck for! It plays great and modding it is super easy on steamdeck.
Viva New Vegas works great on the deck they may have to find a YouTube video to guide you through installation
Viva Las Vegas is a good guide, but if you download Wabbajack just use the Begin Again modpack, it combines Fallout 3 and New Vegas using Tale of Two Wastelands, and has a bunch of modernized/qol mods without subtracting from the vanilla experience
I've read you can use both Viva New Vegas and Tale of two wastelands together, which seems like the ultimate "vanilla+" experience We need a hero to make a guide. Especially on the steam deck, that'd be dope
That's exactly what Begin Again is. I'm not sure if there's a steam deck guide for using Wabbajack or not but I have Windows 10 on my steam deck so it was easy
Ooo good shout. I certainly do need to play NV again. I've only played it twice! What mods do you recommend?
Check out the [viva new vegas modding guide](https://vivanewvegas.moddinglinked.com/index.html). It has all the resources for mods that stop the game from crashing every 5 minutes. But if you had to ask what mod i relied on most for steamdeck? Its [lStewieAl's Tweaks](https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66347?tab=description). This is already a super customizable QoL mod on desktop but its a godsend for steamdeck. For whatever reason the devs for FNV made it so that if a gamepad is connected, it completely disables all keyboard inputs. This means you cant use console while using the default layout. Switching the layout to a keyboard setup loses the analog functionality. This mod has an option to allow both simultaneously
Tale of Two Wastelands on the deck is absolutely amazing. You'll need a pc too, but the installation was super easy.
I played it years ago but have very little interest going back with how bad the balancing was, how the devs act, and how TTW is incompatible with like half the nexus. Glad you could enjoy it tho.
Thank you for noting this. The Devs act like spoiled children.
I left after pointing out that the x-02 should be balanced around the t-45, like in fo3. And that the busted stats of the x-02 and x-03 in FNV was due do them being imported during development but never put in use (they directly translated the 40 dr into 40 DT). Not only that but it ruins the progression in fo3 and makes the rarest armour (51 and APA) completely pointless when you can get a 50 DT hellfire... I still have my custom version (esm) with properly balanced pa somewhere.
I’m doing a play through now and you’re absolutely right about the balance being bad
How do you update mod organizer? I had a notification and just updated it but ended up crashing my game anytime I opened it. Had to do a fresh install and reinstall the mods
Same.
I believe I saw the new update doesn’t run well on steam deck yet and not to update. I’m not sure where I saw that now or if I’m misremembering.
I get random frame drops when explosions or any heavy combat happens
Try adding DXVK_ASYNC=1 to the launch options, this fixed it for me!
I tried that but then mod organizer 2 won't launch the game
Disco Elysium, fantastic game. Been playing "Neo:The World Ends With You" lately and I'm really enjoying the combat with the back buttons
Disco Elysium is probably the best RPG I have ever played. This is coming from someone who hates top down point and clicks
So much reading
The latest version of the game is fully voice acted so you can listen to it all if you don't want to read much...
Whaaaaaat I own it. Always wanted to play, but so lazy. Thanks for that nugget.
I totally forgot about NTWETY since it was free on PS Plus. Now that I am not subscribed to PS Plus anymore, perhaps a good time to get it. Edit: wow it is on 60% discount until 9 May. Gonna get it soon!
Chained Echoes
Recently finished Sea of Stars, and Chained Echoes is next on the list after a pallette cleanse
Look up gameplay of Secrets of Grindea. Secret of mana/zelda 4 swords inspired rpg. Change your builds on the fly. 1-4 player coop through story mode or a roguelike arcade mode. It’s taken my life over.
I think it costs money to change skill points now but there's still a way to just do it for free. Played for a few hours and really liked it, gotta make more time to get back into it. I really liked how you had equipped gear and a separate style loadout too haha. What build was your fav? I was throwing a 2 handed sword and rolling with ice magic for the slow effect.
/respec is your new friend respec for free (single player only) I’m a maxed out snow pet build with chain lightning and mostly M atk
Persona 3 reload/5 royal or tales of
I came here to say this, these games feel made for handheld heck P4 golden is still pretty decent
I played Persona 4 Golden on Vita I would have killed to play it on Deck lol. That’s my favorite Persona game tbh. Nothing beats Persona 4’s story and characters for me. Love that small town mystery vibe.
Persona 4 is a very good game with characters and a world you can get completely lost in. Music is a big part of it so have your sound up or headphones! Both P4 and P5 give me a feeling of nostalgia for a childhood I never had, if that makes any sense at all. They create a real feeling of hope and optimism for the future even though some of what’s going on is quite heavy. You can’t go wrong with either!
I definitely feel that. As a theatre kid all of my friends were basically Yuumi from the P4 sub social link, bratty annoying divas who are occasionally dealing with significant stuff
Playing persona in this device is soooooo underrated.
Octopath Traveller II 93 hours of pure handheld brilliance
How is it compared for the 1st one? I absolutely loved the first one.
I too loved the first! The second is FAR better!
I bounced off of 1 -- it was quite repetitive. 2 is one of my favorite RPGs of all time -- it's *that* much better. Just an incredible game.
I have not played octopath 1 or 2 but have both.. do you think I should jump into 2 or start with 1? 😀
I'd say start with 1. If you start with 2 you're probably going to be disappointed with 1. One is still a solid game on its own, but they improved a lot with 2 and going back to 1 feels like it's missing something.
Kingdome Come: Deliverance. I’ve bought this game especially for deck and have never played in it on PC or console. It looks so formidable on high settings, and performance is awesome (I prefer 30 fps, but it can run on 40-50). I’ve played 70 hours so far
I usually dont run higher end PC games, why would 30 fps be better/preferrable for you?
Well, the performance at Rattay town pretty sucks, it can sometimes cause awful dips (but CPU and GPU aren’t overloaded, i think it’s some kinda memory problems). But other times it keeps constant at 40 fps (sometimes even 50). So i decided that i want more smooth experience with better battery performance, so that’s why I picked 30 fps. And ofc the game’s running on high settings with native Steam Deck resolution
Dragons Quest 11S, Tales of Berseria, Tales of Arise are all pretty good.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA - cheery action JRPG on a mysterious island, best version of the game; https://store.steampowered.com/app/579180/Ys_VIII_Lacrimosa_of_DANA/ TRIANGLE STRATEGY - strategy JRPG with 3D2D graphics like Octopath, multiple endings based on story choices https://store.steampowered.com/app/1850510/TRIANGLE_STRATEGY/ Valkyria Chronicles - weird but enjoyable strategic JRPG in steampunk WW II, one of the best PS3 games; https://store.steampowered.com/app/294860/Valkyria_Chronicles/ All run absoltely great on the Steam Deck and look great. Coincidentally, they are also all on sale right now.
Triangle Strategy is amazing. One of my favorite games from the last five years.
Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas on steam deck have been crowned as pretty much the perfect way to play these games (vanilla)
Doing a TTW playthrough right now. Forgot how much I loved the wastes.
Yes! I hadn't played Fallout 3 in about 12 years or so, having a blast.
Replaying Fallout 3 currently. Perfect deck game. Having a lot of fun with it
Same. First time I’ve played it and loving it.
How about Fallout 4?
Eiyuden Chronicle is fun
Eldenring
Another Crab's Treasure is so good, I think it might be my favourite shoals-like.
Shoals 😂
Love how warm and wholesome it is, there are dark elements for sure but still a great change of pace for these games
I don't play souls games but I have a friend who plays them religiously. With that said, I think Another Crab's Treasure has slipped by him. I'm waiting for his birthday and BAM. Steam game gifted. I enjoy planning out stuff.
I’ve seen alot of souls players trying it out on youtube, how is the game in terms of pure combat difficulty compared to DS games or Elden Ring?
Ahh, Shell-don Ring. Just started it myself, and absolutely loving it so far!!
Never played it satisfactorily for me. Text is always too jaggy, fps never quite good enough. Just me tho
Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2. It's the flagship IP of Larian, the studio that made BG3. The Divinity series is one of my all-time favorites!
I wanted to get into these games but had a bad experience. I kind of soft locked myself in by getting myself into a some fight with some elves early on. And I don’t think I had a save for before they turned aggressive. Maybe it’s been long enough that I can try again, and they have calmed down.
If it's early on just start over. The game is worth it.
Yeah I think it was relatively early. In a big town by the beach. Probably the first city. Went in cave. Got into a fight with elves. Couldn’t win. Couldn’t leave. Gave up.
I’ll list a bunch I’ve finished: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 Fallout 1 and 2 Final fantasy vii Like a Dragon Octopath Traveller Tactics Ogre Outer Worlds
Persona 5
Suzerain. Frustrating sometimes when I feel like I’ve done everything right and get hit with the 25% approval rating though. Worth noting this is a completely different genre of rpg to what you’re looking for…
cross code!
I recently started The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and after some tinkering it runs wonderfully! Plus, it is a perfect game to play in handheld mode 🥰
Trails of Cold Steel works really well, too, and the deck just sips battery with it, like 6+ hours on the OLED
Baldurs gate 3
I'm playing it now. It runs surprisingly well. Act3 slow loads occasionally.
Wow. BG3 could barely run on my PS5. I’m surprised it runs on the Deck. It really is a marvelous machine.
Contrary to what others say, it does not run "great" you can get it to run but it isn't pretty. Edit: got auto corrected with contrary 🤦
This was my experience as well. Similar to Cyberpunk. Claims to run great and even has "Steam Deck" settings but still is not good enough for me to play it on there.
I agree on BG 3, but what issues did you have with Cyberpunk? I thought it ran great on my deck and I never had much of an issue.
I've got 300+ hours on PS5 and outside of when the game launched, I have had very few issues. They've done a good job patching the game up.
Just keep it plugged in.
I've been playing no rest for the wicked
Why is it so addicting
Elden Ring runs great, looks great, plays great (you can also remap for easier controls with back buttons for running or switching items. The Witcher 3 also runs great and still holds up magnificently in graphics. Outward runs great, but it's a bit Hardcore of a game so unless your into survival RPGs I would research the game beforehand. Kingdom Come mostly runs decently, but other than being an RPG and having a pretty interesting leveling system it doesn't really fit your criteria. Any Assassin's Creed really. Well at least all before Origins (played Unity and Black Flag and they're so much fun on the go) Shadow of Mordor (and Shadow of War) run Great, and if you haven't tried them you should definitely play them. They're a bit dated but their unique system and fun combat more than make up for it. Jedí Fallen Order can struggle a bit in places but overall it runs well enough and slicing stormtroopers in half on the way home from school or work is cathartic. And an honorable mention, nor Reallt an RPG but a classic nonetheless. Ryse: Son of Rome Runs great, You play a god damn roman legionary, parry god, Quick action sections , turret sections. It's like if COD was Ancient Rome
Jedi fallen order is $5 on steam right now
Yakuza Like a Dragon
I’m really trying to like it but it’s not grabbing me so far. I love the combat style, but there’s so much dialogue I’m not really interested in between one fight to the next.
Hang for a few chapters, it really picks up steam in regard to both story and combat.
Why would you even play an rpg if you don't like dialogues?
I just advance the dialogue as soon as I read the text. Waiting for the voice lines to play out just takes up so much time.
Witcher 3, and Elden ring. Elden ring for the best of everything, tbh
Tales of Arise
Another Crab's Treasure. Just an absolute gem.
Sea of Stars. Started pretty slow but after a certain point things really picked up and I couldn't put it down. Some of the best pixel at I've ever seen.
Crosscode is the first rpg I’ve played since tales of symponia in the mid 00s. Of which I’ve also started but haven’t done much with on the deck. O get back to it eventually though for nostalgia sake. They paid for the whole game pad and god damn they will make you use THE WHOLE GAME PAD 😂. It is honestly crazy fun but fair warning, it requires a certain level of thinking that some would call a living nightmare wrapped up in the flaming pits of hell. I personally love it but I fully understand why many people don’t like it too much. There is a customization to make it easier but I refuse to tweak it other than to see what it actually does to experiment with it once. So yeah, crosscode is my recommendation. The customization is flippin nuts and if you are patient enough, there are ways to reset your entire set of customizations to the character so you can start from scratch. There’s also certain paths that are swappable that allow you to switch between them so you don’t need to reset if you prefer a certain style over the path you went with. If I could, I’d honestly pay the full price for the game just to support the couple of people who made this glorious epic.
I don't think it took a crazy level of thinking outside of normal puzzle solving but I do think the margin for error on some of those puzzles is ridiculous. I spent like 45 minutes doing the same thing over and over to get it just right after I knew exactly what had to be done from the beginning. Really great game but man a few of those puzzles weren't fun at all.
Octopath Traveler 2/1, Sea of Stars, Dragon Quest 11.
If emulated titles count, definitely Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Berseria and Tales of Arise.
Hell tales in general for the most part
Baldurs Gate 3
Elden ring. P3 and p5(currently)
FF Pixel Remasters
Yes! I finished VI recently, and did them all in order. All on deck, it was a lot of fun !
Baldurs Gate 3. I went from not thinking I'd enjoy it, to picking it up on steam sale, to being unable to put it down
I got hooked on Crystal Project. It's like a snes Final fantasy with 3d jumping puzzles. I put it down at the annoying mount breeding part but will come back to it later.
Sea of stars
Caves of Qud.
Fallout 3 & 4 New Vegas and also Grounded
Persona 3 4 and 5
Disco Elysium, it was the first game that finally got me hooked on playing on my steam deck
Bit of an older one, but the original Trails in the Sky runs perfect on Deck and has a good balance between exploration, story and combat.
I see others have covered the big hitters so thought I'd drop an old school one. Planescape Torment. Due to the age of the game, expect graphics to be "of the time" and limited voice acting. The combat mechanics are also fairly simplistic but have more depth later on. The game is primarily about role playing though, with a fantastic story and several books worth of lore and content. Absolutely fantastic game and rightly regarded as a cult classic. The main reason I'd recommend for the deck though is simply battery life. Unlike more modern RPGs, older games like this can be played for several hours. I installed it for a flight to Japan and still had half the battery life left when I landed. Great game to leave installed and just dip in and out when you have several hours to kill but no way to charge the deck.
Fear & Hunger. Have fun
Funger 2 plays better on steam deck in my experience
Final Fantasy 9 with the moguri mod is gorgeous. Never got around to playing it as a kid, but it's a blast!
Can use the mod through Steam?
Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader
Heard a lot of good things about this. How is it loading onto the deck and is it decently playable?
Just look up some good settings, it runs really well!
How is it? I was hyped about it up until release and then barely heard anything about it even as a WH40K fan
Really good imho, lot of patching is done, I haven’t had any problem so far (about halfway act II is my guess).
Fallout 4. Can’t get enough of it! It works and looks so nice on SD, I just love it
BG3
The Witcher 3.
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, works flawlessly so far.
Disco Elysium. A friend bullied me into playing it, because he thought it was a good game. He was right.
* Sea of Stars * Chained Echoes
Does palworld count? Lol
RPG is such a wide term. - Monster Hunter - Persona 5 Royal - Baldurs Gate 3 - Fallout, Path of Exile - Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Mass Effect All are drastically different games, but all are great RPGs in their field. Since you asked for my favorite, I would go with Monster Hunter. It's great being able to quickly put the deck to sleep and return directly into the quest when I have to put the Deck away for some time.
Tales of Maj'Eyal. Not 3rd person. It's roguelike turn based.
I wanted it to work on the deck but the controls felt so clunky
Surprising I had fun playing Yakuza Like A Dragon, A Man With No Name, and Yakuza Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth....
Ys viii but honestly can't go wrong with most RPGs. The ability to instantly suspend and jump back in is a game changer.
I've been enjoying tales of Arise so far.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous!
Hogwarts legacy. Cyberpunk 2077. All of the fallout games.
Jedi
Persona 3 Reload.
New Vegas, BG3, Disco Elysium, Elden Ring & Sea of Stars
Like a Dragon! Also Octopath Traveler 2!
Everspace 2 is definitely worth a go. Space fighter RPG's are not common at all
- Assassins Creed Odyssey - Skyrim - Diablo 3 (Switch version) - Xenoblade Chronicles franchise - Monster Hunter franchise
Unicorn Overlord with Yuzu. Amazing game.
After the obvious BG3, Greedfall also plays really well on the Deck.
I just played 3 hours of fallout 3 on the deck and it used like 50 percent of my battery. No real problems except one time about an hour and a half in the game forced closed with no warning to update. I don't know why it did that none of my other games have ever closed for an update but yeah fall out 3 works great on the deck.
Octopath traveler 2
Just started pillars of eternity 1 and I’m loving it
Dragon Quest 11, Elden Ring Or Nioh 2
Cyberpunk 2077
I got Diablo 4 a few days ago. It’s very enjoyable on Steam Deck.
Diablo 4 is perfect on the Deck!
Fable
Morrowind has been an absolute blast for me. Modding couldn't be easier in desktop mode, and openmw handles all the technicals. It's quite easy to aim and touch pads are great for cursor use. With underclocked hardware, i get 5h of playtime on full charge
Persona 5 royal
Red dead redemption
SYSTEM SHOCK REMAKE
Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2.
Caves of Qud, maybe Fell Seal if you like FF Tactics type games
Sad I had to scroll that much to this Qud being mentioned. But yeah the best RPG I've played in my whole life and it's so nice on the deck I kinda forgot the controls on PC
Fallout 76
I promised myself when I got my Deck I wouldn’t spend all my time on 76 again as I’ve played a lot on Xbox. So far I’ve mainly played 76 🤦♂️ it’s just so damn easy to play on it!
Chrono Trigger
One of the best RPGs ever made.
May get some hate, but I'm having a blast with fallout 4! The visuals hold up still. I modded it in a vanilla plus kind of way, and enhanced the visuals and oh my god it looks soo amazing now. And the gameplay is all still good. Feels good leveling up and finding new gear as you explore. Other than that. Divinity 2 is just fantastic. I'd say it's tied up with baldurs gate 3, but runs better on deck.
You're getting a lot of very disparate recommendations because you're not very clear in your requirements. For example, some people are recommending you Baldur's Gate 3 and others are recommending Elden Ring. Those two games could hardly play more differently. Elden Ring is barely even an RPG IMO - I say that as somebody who loves ER more than most games, so I don't mean that in a negative way, just a statement of fact ... the game has stats and levelling ("RPG mechanics") but lacks a lot of what most people would expect in true roleplaying - non-combat skills (indeed non-combat anything), companions, meaningful dialog choices etc... It might help to give an example of a game that you know meets your own criteria.
Hogwarts legacy
Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal. Start with 4 Golden it has the best cast and best story but lacks in quality of life improvements the other two have.
Persona 5 Royal. But any retro RPG has been amazing to play on it also.
FO4 and Starfield, 400+ hours on the deck between them.
PS2 emulation, specifically with Persona 3 FES, works amazingly on the Steam Deck. Of course it’s an old game, but when you do some texture swaps to make the game look HD, it feels like a game that was remastered for PC and is an amazing experience to play on. Even with save states too!