New to Steam Deck and PC gaming, I'm looking for game recommendations...
I got an OLED 1 TB for my birthday yesterday and I'm looking for titles I can download to play when I'm off shore on a ship. I like FPS games but am always looking for the next adventure. What do you suggest?
Edit- are there any Lemmy communities I should be checking out too? Aside from this one?
Portal 1 and 2. The spin off Aperture Desk Job is also an introductory game for the Steam Deck, explaining all the controls.
Apart from that there should be a top games played on Steam Deck somewhere around here.
When you start playing shooters on the Deck try to get comfortable with gyro aiming and maybe flick stick. Many games don't have aim assist on the PC, so aiming with a stick is harder than on consoles.
Risk of Rain 2. It's actually not First person, but Third person shooter. There's endless content due to the random nature. It's very difficult in the beginning imo but gets better as you learn the game and how to curate your items a bit
It's an FPS, it plays great on the Deck, it supports simultaneous mouse and gamepad (so you can have faster/precise aiming but still use game controls), and it's tons of fun.
Get Heroic Launcher to add games from GoG, Epic, and Amazon Gaming (make sure to turn off Steam Runtime, Esync, and the anti-cheats in your settings; turn on per each game if you need them).
On top of all the great suggestions here I'd like to point out that the deck is a great emulation machine. Everything up to the ps2 era runs flawlessly but it can also do pretty well with Wii u, ps3 and Switch emulation too but performance will vary from title to title.
It's also a great fallback in case the deck gets unhappy about not having a network connection (YMMV but some people have pretty bad issues with this) and steam games won't start. Non steam games work just fine regardless of whether or not you have an internet connection.
Yakuza 0 is a great entry point to the series and runs really well on the Steam Deck. I recently finished Dredge and really enjoyed it on the Deck. Lonely Mountain Downhill is a enjoyable skill-based mountain biking game that's a lot of fun to explore and has a ton of content. Snowrunner is a chill game that works well on the Deck too...it's kinda like Dark Souls for trucks, but meditative. Hollow Knight is great and looks really good on the OLED screen. Pretty much any of the Fallout games are a good choice; New Vegas is probably the best overall but you'll need to use Desktop Mode to get some community patches in there while Fallout 4 is not as good story-wise but has better moment-to-moment gameplay feel. Hades is a great run-based roguelike that looks and works great on the Deck. I played the entirety of Jedi Fallen Order on the Steam Deck and it was great. Dead Cells and Scourgebringer are great action roguelikes that feel great to play and run well on the Deck. And while Baldurs Gate 3 is Larian's latest triumph, it can run into performance issues in the latter half of the game on the Deck; Divinity: Original Sin 2 was their prior game and it runs very well on the Deck and is a great game in its own right.
There's probably a lot more, but that's off the top of my head!
S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise, if you're familiar with modding you can make the games look even better. Try to play the first 3 games in chronological order before jumping into GAMMA or Anomaly. HBD btw!
Do you have Internet in the ship? The biggest potential issue is that many games need an Internet connection once every few days to recheck the license.
I don't play that many FPS games these days, but I would highly recommend DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal, they both run fantastic and are great games.
Cyberpunk is pretty good these days as well. Titanfall 2 is a great game and goes on sale for super cheap, but when EA switched it from using the origin launcher to the EA app it apparently caused some issues with the game crashing or refusing to run sometimes. I haven't tried it myself since the changeover, so I don't know how bad the problem actually is.
I can probably provide more recommendations for adventure games, but I'd need some examples of what kind of games you like.
Just a tip: when asking for game recommendations, it usually helps narrow things down if you give some examples of games you've already played and enjoyed.
Saints Row III plays wonderfully, and has a great mix of quick and longer play objectives, which really makes it fit the times and places I play on my SteamDeck.
First of all, make a habit of checking IsThereAnyDeal before getting any PC game. There are lots of PC game stores, many selling Steam keys for less than Steam. Or you could get a bundle with some games you like, some you would never think of, for less than the price of 1. Right now I think Fanatical is about the best of the bundlers, Humble sometimes has good stuff too.
You might want to get more of your games on GoG than Steam. It's a little more work to set up Heroic to handle GoG, but after that it is pretty close to automatic. Once you have a GoG game working, it is never going to say "I know there is an update out there and I refuse to play until you download all 50 ziggabytes of it on your tethering".
I'm not particularly fond of FPSes, so I can't help you there. If you haven't already played Batman Arkham or the new Tomb Raider games on a console, catch up on those? The Humble Mind-Bending Masterpieces bundle is fantastic, being stuck on a couple of puzzles and having them roll around in your mind during dull ship duties could work together. Fanatical's 3 for $5 BYO Relentless bundle has Red Faction Guerilla, Void Scrappers, Graveyard Keeper or Neverinth?
Xcom 2 is pretty much the only game I've been able to play in handheld but that's skill issue on my part. It's turn based tactical combat, it's been a lot of fun for me, maybe try it out
If you like platformers, I highly recommend Pizza Tower.
The platforming is as if Wario Land and Sonic had a baby. And it's more refined than both of those games. The art is amazing, and it's reminiscent of old cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and Courage the Cowardly Dog. And don't even get me started about the music, there's some absolute bangers in there and the tracks add a lot to every level.
Just tried Severed Steel this week after trying the demo for the studios next game on next fest last week. It's an incredible movement shooter with a great soundtrack and really satisfying gameplay. Highly recommend. Regularly goes on sale for five dollars and it's a steel at that price. :)
I really like how Rimworld plays. It's a colony sim with the ability to control pawns. And there are many great mods to help improve and change base gameplay
I don't know how much the Navy still resembles my time, but back then if you didn't want your PSP stolen by some shitbag, you painted it pink. Nobody ever stole pink electronics.
'Metal gear 5, the phantom pain' and 'Death Standing' both look amazing on the deck and are worth checking out if you don't mind Kojima studio's whole deal!
Prey (2017) is an awesome FPS/immersive Sim. As in, it plays like a shooter but how you take each engagement is highly up to you. You can go in guns blazing, there's usually some way to use the environment, go out of your way to get robot helpers, mind control one of the enemy, sneak past entirely. It's one of my all time faves because it has depth but draws you in like an fps. I love stuff like obra din but don't always have the energy to get lost in them.
And the plot is awesome. Not a ton of replay ability (imo, but I'm difficult there) but definitely a meaty amount of time. highly recommend headphones.
Haven't run it on the deck but a quick search shows people are really happy with it's performance there.
Lemmy communities you should keep an eye out for is: !gamedeals@lemmy.world for freebees and discounts. The other social media site that shall not be named also has a similar community with the same name.
As for new games when in doubt, Humble Bundle. They currently have some fantastic game deals right now if you are a fan of Capcom or Indi games. Outside of the Destiny 2 bundle I've heard nothing but positives from them.
Now as you say you are new to PC gaming I'm going to recommend you some niche/personal fav games of mine that either aren't on consoles, or aren't know well on consoles.
Antichamber, a first person "shooter", that's more of a mind bending puzzle game. The most atmospheric game I've played and a wonderful time.
Most thing from Valve, Half Life 1 & 2, Left for Dead, etc. All good fund and often onsale for dirt cheap. Get it if you find it for the right price. The YouTube series "Freeman's Mind" is worth a watch if you want a see what the gameplay is like.
Portal 1 & 2, Valve FPS and puzzle games. Well known, and obviously recommended. Play in order is advised.
Slime Rancher if you are looking for a framing game in the first person
Star Wars Dark Forces, Star Wars in the Doom Engine. Not the biggest fan but it's the first in a series of fun adventure games.
Star Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II, This is an interesting genera of game. It is a FPS, but it's in the mission structure of the old doom games. With a narrative of Star Wars. There are light sabers, and you can cut off your enemies limbs. Fun time
Star Wars Jedi Knight II/Jedi Academe, aka Dark Forces III. Same as the first game but you get your saber quicker. Had a blast with academe.
Super Hot: Super. Hot. Super. Hot. Super. Hot.
Team Fortress 2. Team based hero FPS before Overwatch. I've heard the quality went down recently but I haven't checked.
Wolfenstein The New Order. Just a very angry dude killing nazi's what's there not to love.
If there's any retro games you like, consider emulating!
Also, just wanted to say that I enjoy docking my deck to the TV and playing with a controller. Been playing Ark Survival Evolved with my brother all week
Receiver 2 is a twist on the FPS/shooter genre where you need to more meticulously operate your weapon. The game happens inside a weird dream-like world. I think it has a native Linux version.
Crypt of the Necrodancer is a great rogue-like music-based game. Best game of 2015 imho. Has a native Linux version.