I recently realized that I bought my Steam Deck in the end of October last year, meaning that it has been one whole year since I got the console!
Today I’m writing about what led me to get the Deck and my experience with it during this year. Read at your own discretion: you might end up feeling like getting one yourself if you don’t have one already.
Why did I get a Steam Deck?
I started thinking about purchasing a Steam Deck because a lot of indie games are released first (or exclusively) for PC. I had my Xbox Series S but I felt I was missing out on titles I really wanted to try out! Since the majority of the video games I want to play are not graphically demanding, I also didn’t want to invest in a gaming PC.
Plus, being a sofa gamer played a factor: a handheld console felt very appealing to me. And having family across the ocean means that each year I take at least two 10h+ flights, so that’s another plus for a handheld.
Then, I visited my sister and my brother-in-law let me try out his Steam Deck. After just a few hours I was sold! When I got back home, I ordered myself a Steam Deck OLED 512GB for €569.
My early thoughts
The first two games I played on the Deck were Wytchwood and Moonstone Island. They were both verified games and ran great. I experienced some stuttering playing Moonstone Island but it seemed to be an issue that also happened on PC.
I loved Wytchwood, but Moonstone Island might just be the best game to try first on the Deck! The pixel art is reminiscent of the older Pokémon games, and I just didn’t get the same cozy feeling when I played it on a big TV.
As someone that grew up playing Pokémon and other games through emulation, I just had to install EmuDeck. There is a running meme on the Steam Deck subreddit that people will install a lot of ROMs, try them out once to never play them again. And yes, that was basically what happened. I played Sailor Moon: Another Story until Ami’s story arc. What can I say, that game is harder than I remembered!
It was also really exciting to be able to try out mods! I’ve installed many Stardew Valley mods, mostly related to quality of life improvements. It was not too hard to figure out how to install them, but it’s worth mentioning that I am somewhat tech-savvy.
I found out that it was possible to stream Xbox games locally or through the cloud using a software called XBPlay. Sadly, it left the Steam store recently (it could have been due to pressure from Microsoft prior to the ROG Xbox Ally release), but it was a great option to run my Xbox games on the Deck without having to install Windows on it.
I also remember feeling so excited (and a little overwhelmed) purchasing games during my first big Steam sale! Now that I’ve already experienced a few sales, I even wrote about how to not give in to the FOMO and keep your backlog manageable.
Finding compatible games
Games on Steam are either Steam Deck verified, playable or unsupported, while for some others, support is still unknown.
I wondered at first how often I’d find games I can’t play on the Deck at all. It can be really confusing to see all the different labels, in particular when it says playable as you need to investigate a disclaimer such as the one below.
During this year, I’ve gotten playable games that ran perfectly, and I’ve gotten verified games that did not work well at all. I decided I would just get any games that say they at least have controller support, even if compatibility is still unknown, as this happens very often for new indie releases. And I just don’t get the ones that say they’re unsupported. I’ve read that there are workarounds to play unsupported games on the Deck, but I’ve just never really needed to.
Steam refunds are really easy to request and there were a couple of instances where I had to get them for games that did not run well, so it’s another plus for the Deck.
There are a few games that I chose not to get on Steam because I think they will be too graphically demanding for the Deck, even if the store says they’re playable. To name one, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I prefer to purchase such games on my Xbox.
Playing docked and accessories
At first I looked into either getting the official dock, which comes with an extra charger, or a third-party dock. Then I actually got neither, because I found out that the USB-C hub/multiport adapter I use with my Mac to connect accessories also works with the Deck. To play on my TV, I just have to plug in the Steam Deck charger and the HDMI cable to the hub and pair my Xbox controller to the Deck.
My LG monitor works as a docking station so I don’t even need the hub to play on it. I just plug in the USB-C cable to the Steam Deck, which also supplies energy, a mouse dongle to the monitor and pair my bluetooth keyboard. This setup is really neat. I played Tiny Glade and The Sims 4 that way and they worked great.
I never really plug in the Steam Deck to my monitor, just to the TV, but it’s nice to have this option. Handheld remains my favourite way to play, though.
When it comes to other accessories, I only got a screen protector. I like the way the Steam Deck looks and I don’t feel that a case is needed. And since it already comes with its own travel case, I didn’t have to purchase one separately.
My complaints
Now to talk about the not-so-nice things.
The weight
The Steam Deck is heavy! When I play it handheld, I lay it on a pillow so my arms don’t get tired. However, I think that the ergonomics end up compensating for this extra weight – you don’t really need to use ergonomic grips like with the Switch. When researching, I saw some complaints that the Deck was uncomfortable for people with small hands, but that was not the case for me.
The store
The store experience in the Deck is really sub-optimal to say the least, and I haven’t seen it improve much this past year.
Things that should work but don’t can be really annoying: for example, if you look at images from a game and then exit the full-screen gallery, you end up on the screen you saw before you went to that store page. When I was testing this behavior for this post, I actually couldn’t expand the images at all. Also, the only way I can order my wishlist is by using the touch screen, but even then, sometimes it just doesn’t work. I’m sure I can think of even more examples, but you get the idea: the store is a mess.
Tinkering and troubleshooting
I tried to play an online co-op game using my wireless headphones just to conclude that the microphone doesn’t work on the Deck, after 20 minutes of Googling for a possible solution.
When I first played a game docked, I thought the resolution looked really bad. After troubleshooting online, I found out that this can be fixed easily by setting the game to run in native resolution. Why is this not set by default!?
I think when people say that the Steam Deck needs some tinkering, it might be because of situations like those: you expect something to work out of the box, and when it doesn’t, it requires you to search online for a solution. And you realize that just like you, others faced the same issues. It can be really frustrating.
Every now and again the WiFi disconnects while I’m in a game (even if it works perfectly in other devices). Once, I played for hours until realizing I was offline and my play time for that game was wrong in my profile, because Steam doesn’t compute it in this case. For some people this might not matter much, but personally I want my Steam Replay to be accurate.
Was it still worth it?
Absolutely!
I feel that the Steam Deck still has a ways to go when it comes to the overall user experience. But its actual performance running the sort of games I enjoy, the massive offering from the Steam library and the low prices from sales, all make up for its flaws.
If you own a Steam Deck, what’s your personal experience like? If you don’t have one: did you pick another handheld, or are you considering getting one at all?
And: should I try playing Sailor Moon: Another Story once again?
Thank you for reading,
-Luna
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