Sackboy: A Big Adventure

Posted:  Oct 27, 2022
SDHQ BUILD SCORE: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarNo Star
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Disclaimer: This is an initial impression of the game. Our review and recommended settings will be updated when we've completed a full and thorough analysis of how it performs on Steam Deck. Check back soon for our full analysis!

Review

Sackboy is finally making a return and debuting on PC! In this 3D platformer, you must go on an epic journey to save Craftworld from the evil Vex. Platform your way across a unique world using the tools we have all come to know and love from LittleBigPlanet to take down enemies and overcome the challenges you face. And with full 4 player coop, you can do this all with a friend! While it isn't LittleBigPlanet, it is still a competent game that does what it does well!

On the performance side, I will say I am impressed to a degree. It can't hit 60 FPS without some sacrifices, mainly to render scale, but it does hit 40 FPS fairly easily and under low battery drain. With some tweaking, I was able to keep most quality options at high, except for dynamic shadows at medium, and render scale at 100% to get 40 FPS stable for 98% of the time so far. I did notice in the world map the framerate could drop at times to 38, but this didn't happen in the game to the point where there was an issue.

I did encounter a couple odd things though. First, I expected to find FSR 2.0 as it was reported that it would be included in the game, but I couldn't find it. I do believe the game could run a lot better with it implemented, but it is running stable for the most part. There are a couple of spots in levels that do hit a bit hard, usually ones with certain camera angles that view large chunks of the level, but this was mitigated with a slightly higher TDP limit.

I also noticed that some costumes might actually hit performance quite hard. This was prevalent when using the Connor costume (from Detroit Become Human). I did initially think it could be a physics issue, maybe the hair or clothing, but other costumes with it didn't affect performance. There may be other costumes that do this, but so far, Connor is the only one. This was actually fixed by turning off Enhanced Hair Visuals, which also made the hair look a bit better too.

I also noticed there is no resolution options apart from 1280x720. So knocking resolution down to upscale for performance won't work. I can see 60 FPS working with reduced render scale, but this could make the game look pretty bad, so I will have to play around with it later. Signing into PlayStation was a bit on the harder side too. You can scan the QR code, but it didn't work for me. And trying to use the virtual keyboard for manually putting it in kept closing the window, so I would connect a keyboard for that.

Overall, the game runs pretty well. Other than the few hiccups I got, and the lack of FSR 2.0, I am impressed it can hold 40 FPS. It surprised me that this game wasn't verified immediately like other PlayStation titles, but I am happy to say it easily should be!

Screenshots:

Comparisons:

Left ImageRight Image
Left ImageRight Image

This was before I changed the Enhanced Hair Visual option off, but I still wanted to show the difference I encountered.

Stills:

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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SDHQ's Build Score Breakdown

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a competent and fun 3D platformer and, with the right settings, can be an enjoyable experience on the Steam Deck.

Build Score

Performance: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarNo Star
VISUALS: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarNo Star
Stability: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarNo StarNo Star
Controls: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarFull Star
Battery: 
Full StarFull StarFull StarFull StarNo Star
Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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Current Price: 
$59.99
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6 comments on “Sackboy: A Big Adventure”

  1. Thank you so much for getting the settings out so quickly. I really appreciate it and your settings are always on point.

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